Agape Devotions

Read: Deuteronomy 14.3-16.17; Psalm 106 No devotionals today (Sunday)

Read : Deuteronomy 12:1-14:2; Psalm 105 "Charlatans" Verses chosen for meditation: Deuteronomy 13:1-3 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. Reflect God’s instruction to the people of Israel was clear: do not follow the ways of false prophets or a dreamer of dreams even if their signs and wonders came to pass. No doubt, there were plenty of such charlatans in the days of Moses. As Israel settled into the land of Canaan, travelling false prophets might come by to entice the people of God to follow their ways; and not the ways of Yahweh.  It would be tempting to do so. Especially when the people get distracted and witnessed false signs and wonders coming into “reality”. Yet, Yahweh’s warning was very...

READ : Deuteronomy 10-11/Psalm 104 REFLECT : In Deuteronomy 9 Moses imparts a critical teaching to the people of Israel. Do not go into the land that God is giving you and think that you are there because of your own righteousness. They are inheriting the land because of the wickedness of the people in Canaan and because of God’s faithfulness to his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses then continued to explain why the people should never think that it is their own righteousness. Moses recounts how the people have been stubborn and rebellious from the day Moses came to them in Egypt and they still are till this day. In fact, the only reason the people are still alive and remain as God’s people is because of Moses’ constant intercession on their behalf. The Lord listened to Moses and did not destroy the people. We noted in the last lesson that this should have caused humility in their hearts, knowing that they were entering into the promised land and enjoying the presence of God...

READ : Deuteronomy 8-9 / Psalm 103 Verse chosen for meditation: Deuteronomy 8:3 3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. REFLECT This verse has one of the Bible’s most famous sayings, probably because Jesus quoted it when Satan tempted him. The word “bread” here refers to food in general. The saying is not to deny the goodness of material things and certainly not suggesting that we have no need for food. What it does suggest is that life in its fullest sense requires something more than physical nourishment. To be fully alive, we need something more than any material thing. This something is the connection to God, our source of life. This verse speaks not only to those suffering with lack of physical needs, like the Israelites in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:1-6),...

  READ  Verses chosen for devotion - Deuteronomy 6:20-25 20  “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’  21  then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.  22  And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.  23  And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.  24  And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.  25  And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment befor...

Read Deuteronomy 4:44-5:33; Psalm 101 Verse chosen for meditation: Deuteronomy 5:29 ESV 29 Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants[a] forever! Reflect This is Moses' second message to the Israelites, consisting of a review of the commandments given earlier to the previous generation, but with slight changes to the ones mentioned in Exodus 20. The changes are the reasons for observing Sabbath, which in the earlier version had it as God, the creator, rested on the seventh day, but in this latter edition, it'd been changed to God, the redeemer, delivered them out of Egypt. And the addition of land to an already long list of things that were not supposed to be coveted since they would be inheriting plots of land once they were in the Promised Land.  Reading the passage the first round gave me the feeling that God is a killjoy, with all the 'dos and don'ts' and st...

TITLE: READ : DEUTERONOMY 4:1-43; PSALM 100 TEXT FOR REFLECTION : DEUTERONOMY 4:15-16 Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the  Lord  spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire,  beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves... REFLECT What does perfection look like? What would we liken infinity to? With what known form can one depict God? Every image of God that we can conjure in our minds would at best be self-limiting. For example, if one were to depict God as a warrior with all the attributes of a great warrior, that would allow devotees to understand God's power and invincibility. Yet looking at God in all His splendour and might, how could anyone understand God's mercy and sacrifice for His enemies who are no larger than a drop in the ocean? Any image that we may try to create of God will limit God's true nature. The only depiction of himself that God would allow is in the for...