The LORD Is Our Portion - Deuteronomy 10-12

Deuteronomy 10:9 (ESV)

Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God said to him.)

This might be one of the hardest truths to live out in our faith toward God.  The tribe of Levi is an example and/or template for all believers.  Whereas the rest of the tribes will be allotted a portion of the promised land, Levi will get no land.   There “lot” in life was the LORD.    That almost makes having God as your “lot” is a consolation prize.   Having a special relationship with God IS NOT a consultation prices.     We tend to put all things of this earth as our preferred “lots” in life.  But unless we are willing to give up all for God (as the tribe of Levi was required to do), we can’t really fully embrace what God wants for us.  In addition, we will actually miss out on what God actually has for us.   This is a weekly prayer list to remind us to be like the tribe of Levi ... making Him our portion:

Luke 14:33 (ESV)

33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

NOTHING IN YOU THAT HAS NOT DIED WILL EVER BE RAISED FROM THE DEAD. 

(C.S. Lewis- Mere Christianity)

MONDAY

Luke 14:26 (ESV)

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

TUESDAY 

Matthew 10:39 (ESV)

39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

WEDNESDAY 

Matthew 16:25 (ESV)

25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

THURSDAY 

Mark 8:35 (ESV)

35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

FRIDAY 

Luke 9:24 (ESV)

24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

SATURDAY 

Luke 17:33 (ESV)

33 Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

SUNDAY 

John 12:25 (ESV)

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Quit Judging Others - James 4-5

James 4:12 (ESV)

There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

God reserves the right to judge people.  We do not.  There are a number of verses in God’s word about God being THE judge:

Isaiah 33:22 (ESV)

For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver;

the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Psalms 50:4 (ESV)

He calls to the heavens above

and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

Ecclesiastes 12:14 (ESV)

For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Hebrews 12:23 (ESV)

and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

There are also a lot of verses, like the above, that tell us NOT to judge others:

Matthew 7:1 (ESV)

“Judge not, that you be not judged.

Luke 6:37 (ESV)

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

John 8:7 (ESV)

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Romans 2:1 (ESV)

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

James 2:13 (ESV)

For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

We are not the judge of others.  We don’t have the holiness to do so.  God is the perfect judge because He is perfectly holy.   Only those without sin can judge those with sin.   

God Delivers - Acts 11-12

Acts 12:6-11 (ESV)

Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

God can work miracles in the worst of all situations.   We don’t doubt that we can in our heads, we know the Bible teaches us this. But when it comes to practical belief, the type that squeals all of our emotional fears, we often doubt the truth.   In the above passage Peter is awestruck about God’s moving the way He did.   Later, when Peter goes to the place everyone is praying for him (undoubtedly his release) they can’t believe he is in their midst (Acts 12:12-17).   When God moves in our midst in these ways we are awestruck and brought to a place of praise.   But we are still somewhat amazed.   God is working in miraculous ways all the time, that we don’t see and don’t always look like the above.  But the God who moved to get Peter out of prison is our God.  He still moves in the same way.   

God WILL Vindicate His People - Zephaniah

Zephaniah 2:8-10 (ESV)

“I have heard the taunts of Moab

and the revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts against their territory.

Therefore, as I live,” declares the LORD of hosts,

the God of Israel,

“Moab shall become like Sodom,

and the Ammonites like Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,

and a waste forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”

This shall be their lot in return for their pride,

because they taunted and boasted

against the people of the LORD of hosts.

God WILL destroy the enemies of His people.   Yes, there are times they triumph.  Yes, there are times they taunt.    Yes, there are times when we are not sure we will survive them.  But God will turn them into ruin as He did Sodom and Gomorrah.    In their pride they will be brought low.    God will get the victory because He is the LORD of hosts.   

Life Sucks! Ecclesiastes 3-4

Ecclesiastes 4:2-3 (ESV)

And I thought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Before we can understand the above passage (which sounds awful depressing) we need to remember what the writer has begun to talk about in the previous passages.  He has been writing on a theme about injustice and oppression from the most powerful against the less powerful:

Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 (ESV)

Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.

Ecclesiastes 4:1 (ESV)

Again I saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them.

From this point the writer writes the above verses because of this oppression (that can’t seem to be defeated).  He states that the dead are better than the living.  He goes on to conclude that even the unborn are better than the dead or living.  

When oppression rules the earth the oppressed don’t have many places to hide.   The entire cannon of scripture, of course, can answer this quandary, but the writer of Ecclesiastes is making a point in this book.  He is trying to get the reader to realize that life is hard (vain) and that there are NO solutions found in this life to cure the ills of this life.  That is why the book concludes as follows:

 Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV)

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

This is why he writes these verses about an unborn child better than the living or the dead.  He is telling us that without a perspective that our entire duty on earth is to Fear God, nothing else matters.   We get caught up in this life and it is all vain.   A person would be better never born if that person is going to reject the Fear of the Lord.   

We Sow - God Decides What We Reap - Psalms 125-127

Psalms 126:6 (ESV)

He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.

This section of the psalms are songs that were song when the people of Israel would go to the Temple for worship during one of the feast times.   They were songs of rejoicing and praise and worship.   In the above line we find one of the precious of all certainties of God’s word.  It states that those who take God’s word (the seed) and go in the  compassion of the Spirit to sow the seed, will most assuredly come back with blessings.   This called the law of the harvest.   Paul used it to warn the Galatians of the negative side of the law of the harvest by stating it this way:

Galatians 6:7 (ESV)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

He went on to add the positive side of it:

Galatians 6:8 (ESV)

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

When we sow in the Spirit we will reap from the Spirit eternal life.   That is the above song of the ascents.  God wants us to know as we seek to worship Him in the Spirit we will return from that worship with abundant blessings.  That blessing may not be characterized in the way we always think, however.   God gives us eternal blessings for what we reap in the Spirit.  We don’t see them like we might think, or want, or expect.   But that does not diminish the truth of the above verse.  We are to reap with passion the seed God gives us.  It is His choice how He decides what type “sheaves” look like that we reap from that sowing.   

Skip the Arrogant Part and Stay in Humility - 2 Chronicles 29-32

2 Chronicles 32:24-25 (ESV)

In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death, and he prayed to the LORD, and he answered him and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud. Therefore wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem.

Well, there is a life legacy many people have.  They serve God and then their heart gets full of themselves and don’t serve God.  The God brings discipline in the form of some suffering and they humble themselves and return to God.   God then removes His wrath.   It seems it would be wise to drop the middle part between when we start serving God and finish serving God.   But we all seem to have that middle part where we, in our pride, think more of ourselves than we should.   God wants us to be in a state of humility.    God will exalt us if we do.  

Here is a great prayer list to ask for God’s humility throughout life:

MONDAY 

O Lord, open my lips,

That my mouth may declare Your praise.

For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;

You are not pleased with burnt offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:15-17 NASB)

TUESDAY 

For thus says the high and exalted One

Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,

"I dwell on a high and holy place,

And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit

In order to revive the spirit of the lowly

And to revive the heart of the contrite." (Isaiah 57:15 NASB)

WEDNESDAY- LIKE DAVID:

1 Samuel 24:13-14

As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? After whom do you pursue? After a dead dog! After a flea!

THURSDAY 

Luke 14:11 (ESV Strong's)

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

FRIDAY - AS SAID OF JOB

Job 25:6 (ESV)

6 how much less man, who is a maggot,

and the son of man, who is a worm!”

Job 33:6 (ESV) (Elihu)

Behold, I am toward God as you are;

I too was pinched off from a piece of clay.

SATURDAY 

1 Chronicles 17:16-17 (ESV Strong's)

David's Prayer

Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “WHO AM I, O LORD GOD, AND WHAT IS MY HOUSE, THAT YOU HAVE BROUGHT ME THUS FAR? And this was a small thing in your eyes, O God. You have also spoken of your servant's house for a great while to come, and have shown me future generations, O Lord God!

SUNDAY

1 Corinthians 15:10 (ESV Strong's)

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.