King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Sunday, March 15, 2020
Chapters: Deuteronomy 11-13
Message: Do The First Works
Hello My Friend,
It occurred to me the way the world is reacting to this coronavirus things must be similar to this in Russia or in Egypt years ago when people feared the famine that was to come and sold themselves to the country. I sure pray that we do not become like that, but let me tell you, we are only one election away from that becoming a reality in our country. Today, is the National Day of Prayer, this ought to be what every saved, born again Christian ought to be praying for, God’s protection, blessing, and healing of our land. And we ought to be using this time to pray for the lost, to show them that there is nothing to fear as long as they trust Jesus as their Saviour. As I have said before, and I will say it until God brings me home, America is a mirror of Israel, this is God warning us that it is time for this nation to repent, and that means His people, not the heathens who do not know Him, His people. “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” – Revelation 2:2-5.
Christians, repent! Get back to God’s work, remove the sin, preach the Gospel, expose all the false religions, and wait for God to restore this nation. We still have time, we can overcome this, but every Christian needs to come together and do the first works. Moses continues to instruct the new generation on what they can expect from God once they get into the promised land, he reminds them the importance of keeping those commands, and should they then they will never hunger.
“And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did. Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.” – Deuteronomy 11:2-3,7-9,12-15.
“the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it,” Of all the countries in the world, why do you think that God chose Canaan? This was the land He gave to Abraham, and passed it down to Isaac and Jacob, a land that was full of idolatry. Why was His eyes always upon it from the start? Well, here is the answer. “Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” – Deuteronomy 9:5. We know that God loves to prove Himself by blessing His people with the best of the best. Let me tell you, the country of Israel is about the size of Florida, if that, but it became a great and powerful nation in a very short amount of time because God loves to make something great out of the remnants. There is a key to God’s blessings though, keep our heart on Him, or else we will get caught up in all the things, losing sight of their source. Moses reminds Israel of the blessings that come, but there are curses should they forget God gave it to them.
“Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.” – Deuteronomy 11:16-19,26-29.
“that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.” Frontlet; A medicament or preparation to be applied to the forehead. The frontlets, also called phylacteries in the New Testament were strips of parchment with four passages written upon them, Exodus 13:2-10, Exodus 13:11-17, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 6:13-23, in a special ink prepared for the purpose. These parchments were made into a headband, with a piece of leather and worn upon the forehead as a reminder to keep the Lord’s feasts, His commands because they were the best medicine for the mind, body, and soul. “I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;” There is a warning that comes with all blessings, we must heed the commands of God. God has blessed me tremendously this year, and it started out horrible, but I am careful to keep praising Him, and acknowledging that He is the source, and asking for His mercies and grace to keep me serving Him faithfully. I am also asking that He keep my heart tender and trusting Him as my provider, letting Him that although I know He can do anything I ask believing, I must also work to eat. Keep in mind that God does not expect perfection, He knows we are not, what He expects is faithfulness, and sincere confession. When we receive Christ as Saviour we are not the same people we once were, we are new creatures. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;” – II Corinthians 5:17-18.
Since we are new creatures in Christ, we are not to do as the heathen or even our fathers, we are to do what God asks of us. Why? Why not? If we want God’s blessings beyond our salvation it would be wise to follow His commands, and they are not grievous by the way. It is time we stop doing what we think is right in our own eyes and do what is right in God’s. Moses tells Israel the same thing.
“Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the LORD your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD: And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.” – Deuteronomy 12:8-14.
“And ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God,” Rejoice Christian! You do not need to live life as a pauper, you can live and abundant life, just trust God, follow His commands, and remember where you got everything. Let me tell you, we are all guilty of taking God’s rest from His tests and afflictions for granted, we get lax, stop depending on God as our source, and get caught up in all the glory that comes as people recognize us. Why keep our dependence on Him? It keeps us faithful because Satan is lurking about in our pride and egos, just waiting to get us to lose sight of God, and stop depending on Him all together. And when we stop depending on Him. That is of course, when God brings affliction once more so that we get that reminder that He gets the glory. Moses reminds Israel how important it is to do what God asks, if they want to keep the blessings coming.
“Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” – Deuteronomy 12:28-32.
“thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” Why do we need to follow God’s Word exactly, and not add or remove one dot? We are not required to do more as so many religions enforce because God keeps it simple, He does not want to confuse us, and make it impossible. We are also not to take our salvation for granted and use it to justify living a sinful life. That is more of an insult to God than adding strict rules because what they are doing is diminishing God’s Word, meaning making it of little value. It is very important that we live in a way that pleases Him, not to keep our salvation, but to keep the world accountable, and that includes false religion. God warns the Israelites, and all of us to keep His commands so that we do not fall into the trap of false religion.
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.” – Deuteronomy 13:1-5.
“for the LORD your God proveth you,” Did you know that God allows these false religions to prove us, He wants to see if we are going to trust Him or that false prophet that tells you that it is okay to receive Christ and live as sinful as your flesh desires. Do you know how many false religions there are? Stop falling for them. Start living for Christ. Otherwise, you will live a life of bondage, much worse than you ever did in the world. Remember, we saved by grace though our faith alone in Jesus Christ, repent and get back to work, so that He may bless you much more abundantly while you are here. “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” – Matthew 24:12-13,45-46.
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your endless mercies and grace to save a sinner like me when I accepted Your Son as my Saviour. I will never forget the day that I dedicated my life to You, I too was doing what was right in my own eyes until I got in Your Word and discovered it was wrong. Thank You for loving me so much that You wanted me to learn and teach the truth to the world, and thank You for using me, I know I fail You, and yet, You love me, and continue to bless me for my faithfulness. Lord, Lead me and guide me, search my heart, know my thoughts see if their be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. If there is anything in me, help me to remove it completely so I do not hinder Your blessings. Keep my heart tender, always giving glory to You, and let me not forget You are my source for all things, and not to lose my dependence on You. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: https://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus Missions: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2020 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.