LEARNING DAILY

 

Deuteronomy 30:15-16, “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.”     Moses

 

“Beloved, there is now set before us life and death, good and evil, in that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another, to walk in His ways …. Therefore let us choose life.”         John Winthrop

 

I have included above the words spoken by John Winthrop to those on the ship before stepping on the shores of the New World.  Yes, he took them from the words spoken by Moses before the people of Israel stepped into the Promised Land. 

 

These are words of choices for each of us this day; they are choices each of us must make as individuals and as a nation.  They are words of promises to us; words that give hope and encouragement.  But, they are words of warning.  They are choices between “life and good, death and evil”. 

 

Too many believe that God is just waiting for people to commit sin so He can punish or destroy them.  That is not the God I follow!  He has established rules, laws to follow in order that He might bring blessings upon us.  What He has established for us to follow are not “guidelines” but are laws – His ways, His commandments bring blessings when followed.  However, when individuals and nations do not follow them consequences occur.  When nations fail to follow the order God has established, judgments fall on that nation.  As we have seen He always sends warnings, calling us back to Him.  When those warnings are ignored all the people of that nation – both the just and unjust – endure those consequences. 

 

Today the choice both Moses and John Winthrop set before their people is set before us.   Each of us must decide for ourselves what we will choose.  But as a nation we must also decide what we will choose.  We have seen warning s given to us to return to God, to repent of our sins.  We have chosen to ignore them and basically told God we can handle life without Him; we are able to handle things without Him.  God’s people must be in prayer, humbling themselves, seeing God and turning from their wicked ways.  It is the only way I see that we will prevent judgment on this nation.

 

I have written the last few days after reading a book by Jonathan Cahn.  I referenced it previously and I would suggest finding it and reading through it.  The name of it is The Harbinger II, The Return.  It is an interesting read, provoking one to really think through some things. Let me end today with a section he wrote regarding today’s scripture.

 

“So which will it be,” I said, “life or death?’

 

“The answer to that, he said, “lies with us.  For there is set before us judgment and redemption, life and death.  It is His will that we find life.  And it is only in return that we can find it.  If the end is to be blessing and redemption, then it will have been the will of God.  But if the end is to be judgment, then it will have been our own.  So the voice of God is calling, ‘Return to Me, and I will return to you.’  In other words…”

 

“In other word…”

 

“Choose life.”

 

“For this man who needs amazing kind of grace

For forgiveness and a price I couldn’t pay

I’m not perfect so I thank God every day

There was Jesus

There was Jesus!”   Zack Williams

 

Even when I can’t feel it You’re working

You never stop working!    Michael W. Smith

 

If you receive this blog through email, you can go to the regular blog page by moving your cursor to the top of the page and click on LEARNING DAILY header.  Then you can see the archived articles and comment section. You can also leave a comment by clicking on the date in the Comment Section.