Deuteronomy 5 "Honoring Our Parents"

“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you (the 5th commandment); that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which the LORD your God gives you.” (v.16)

Honor for fathers and mothers is an essential building block for the stability and health of all society. If the younger generations are constantly at war with older generations, the foundations of society will be destroyed. Rebellion is costly, and many have paid a high price personally for their rebellion against their parents.

The year was 1727. The place was a small bookshop in Lichfield, England. A man who kept bursting into violent fits of coughing was packing books to sell in his market stall in Uttoxeter. Between coughs he asked his 18-year-old son to take the books that day. But the young man, deeply engrossed in the Latin classic he was reading, heard him but ignored the request. The stagecoach arrived, and the father stepped out into the pouring rain with his load of books to take the 20-mile ride to the market. 


Fifty years later an elderly man stood for hours in the pouring rain at a market stall in Uttoxeter. When the storm finally subsided, he slowly walked back to a waiting carriage and returned home. There he bowed his head and sobbed. That man was the famous literary genius Samuel Johnson. He was still haunted by the memory of what he did so long ago.  - Herbert Vander Lugt (Our Daily Bread)

Honoring our parents is more than an obligation. It’s also a privilege. As children we honor them by obedience; as adults, by frequent calls or visits and self-sacrificing care. Missed opportunities to show love and honor may bring deep regret years later. 

Don't miss the opportunity
, To honor and obey


The parents God has given you—
For they'll be gone someday. —Sper

The Truth: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’” (Ephesians 6:1-3)

Deuteronomy 4 "Listen And Obey"

"Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” (vv.1-2)

In our text the Israelites finally enter into the good land God had appointed for them, and as they entered He told them how they could obtain His blessing. He called them to do what every parent since Adam and Eve has called their children to do: listen and obey. And neither God’s desire to bless His children nor the way to obtain that blessing has changed one bit over that period of time; we must listen and obey His word.

God has warned His people that there is great danger in tampering with His word. But it is so difficult to keep on the straight and narrow, isn’t it? Some have decided that because it is so difficult, there must be something wrong with the Bible itself. So they decide to adjust the Word of God to fit their lifestyle, instead of letting the Word of God adjust them. 

We all must guard against this temptation to allow ourselves to judge the Word instead of it judging and changing us. How can it change us? When it painfully points to our sins of omission and commission, it forces us into a corner where we have to make a decision. Will we deny our guilt, deaden our conscience, and compromise our integrity? Or will we simply stop, quiet ourselves before the Creator, and once again ask for His forgiveness?

I fear that many in the world today ignore biblical standards and simply do what is right in their own mind. The prevailing philosophy seems to be, "whatever makes you happy," or "whatever makes you feel good," throwing ethics, morals, laws, and even common sense to the wind. Obedience to any authority, let alone God's Word, to them is refutable. 

However, in light of who God is, and the sacrifice He gave to redeem us back to Him, obedience to His commands makes perfect sense. It is simply what should be done. We are fools to disobey or count lightly the consequences of a life spent in rebellion to His Word. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'LORD, LORD,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." Therefore, it seems reasonable for us to listen and obey.

The Truth: "Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD." (Isaiah 1:18).   

Deuteronomy 3 "God Shows His Faithfulness "

And I (Moses) commanded Joshua at that time saying, "Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings: so shall the LORD do to all the kingdoms where you pass. You shall not fear them: for the LORD your God He shall fight for you.” (v.21-22)

Joshua had a huge job to do – to bring a whole nation into a land where they would not be welcome, and where they would have to fight to possess what God had rightfully given to them. With this huge challenge in front of him, Moses was now encouraging Joshua not to fear what kingdoms may lie ahead, but to consider what God has done and what He has promised, “That He will fight for you.” This was just the beginning of how God would show His faithfulness to His people in the promise land.

So too the Lord has provided miraculous victories in the lives of His people today. Many can testify to the life changing events because of His love and patience in drawing them unto Himself. Remembering God’s past faithfulness is key to present and future victory.

This year was my 6th year anniversary of God's protective hand on my life by delivering me through open heart surgery (quadruple bypass), through the skill He had given others, and restoring me to complete health. I give praise to Him for every breath I've drawn, every experience I've had over the past 6 years He extended to me. 

Thank you Lord for Your faithfulness and all the victories given to me in my life, both small and great. You have so graciously provided for me. Forgive me for wanting more and help me in whatever state I am in, to be content. Amen.

Blessed beyond understanding.

Thus says the LORD to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.’ (2 Chronicles 20:15b)

Deuteronomy 2 "Moses Recalls The Desert Years"

“And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the LORD had sworn to them.” (v.14) 

If you travel to the Sinai Peninsula today, you find that from Kadesh Barnea to the Brook of Zered is only 50 miles, but it took the children of Israel 38 years to travel that distance. It wasn’t that they were lost; Moses knew how to get there. Rather it was their disobedience and the fact that they would not believe or trust the Lord, even though He was showing His power and faithfulness to them daily, that they wandered all those years. 

As a result, God allowed an entire generation of Israelites to die because they would not follow Him to the place where He wanted to bless them. They wasted their lives going in circles and letting the sin of the surrounding peoples rub off on them and their children. 

Today many believers still get stuck somewhere between Kedesh Barnea and Zered in their Christian life. Through disobedience and lack of faith, we can wander round and round in circles, never arriving at the place God wants for us. Better to "press towards the goal for the the prize of the upward call of God in Christ," than to wander or settle for less than God has for us because we get tired of the journey.

God also told His people here in chapter 2 not to meddle with certain people groups that they passed. He was warning them not to get entangled in the affairs of the world. And that’s true for us as well; if we ignore the warning of God and get too mixed up in the value system of this unbelieving world, we will find ourselves again going around and around the same mountain, wandering in circles because we ignored God’s will for our lives and attempted to do things our own way.

The Truth: "One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13–14).

Deuteronomy 1 “Trust In The Lord”

The book of Deuteronomy is a review of the Israelites history, a reminder of how their fathers failed miserably but how God saw them through mercifully. 

The biggest failure of God’s people was one of trust. God told them through Moses to take the land of the Amorites, that He had given it to them. However, they decided to send in spies first, to check it out. This shifted them now from the place of obedience to evaluation. Big failure, for who is God's counsel? 

Later, God tells His people through Moses not to go to war against the Amorites as He would not be with them due of their earlier unbelief and they should turn into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea to avoid conflict. However again, the children of Israel did not heed God’s counsel but did what they thought was right in their own eyes. Another big failure! 

The lesson eventually learned by the Israelites and a good one for us as well, wherever God directs us, is the correct path. Ours is not to question, or evaluate His direction in our lives, we must simply trust in Him.

The Truth
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

John 21 "Keep Following Me"

"Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” (vv.18-19)

Here Jesus spoke of Peter’s past, reminding him of his younger days when he had less responsibility and could do (more or less) as he pleased. Most of us know what these younger years were like. Jesus also spoke of Peter’s future, when another would bind him (gird you) and carry Peter to a place he would not want to go – a place with stretched out hands, crucified on a cross. It would be by this death he would glorify God. 

Ancient writers have documented that, about thirty-four years after this, Peter was crucified; and that he deemed it so glorious a thing to die for Christ that he begged to be crucified with his head downwards, not considering himself worthy to die in the same posture in which his Lord did. 

After speaking to Peter about his death, Jesus gave these last words to him, "Follow Me." Peter had followed Christ, but not continuously in the past. Scripture tells in Johns’ gospel that Peter even denied knowing Jesus three times shortly after His arrest in the garden, and he even went back to his former occupation of fishing. However he was later restored by Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias and called to follow steadfastly in the ways of the Lord and to Feed His Sheep (vv.15-25).

We too, despite our pasted, are to keep following Jesus. The command ‘Follow me’ is a present imperative, which literally means Keep on following me. Even though we may have denied Christ in the past, He knows His children - His Spirit calls us to repentance, and to keep following Him, giving our attention to; His Word, His calling, exhorting and serving others, and exercising the gifts God has given us. Then in so doing we like Peter become restored in Christ. 

The Truth: "Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. (1 Timothy 4:13-16)

John 20 "Doubting Thomas"

And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (vv.26-29)

After eight days: The idea here is that Jesus had an additional meeting with the disciples (now including Thomas) eight days after the first one. And again Jesus enters the room in the same mysterious and remarkable way in which He had before in verse 19 (the doors being shut, and stood in the midst). Jesus also gave the same greeting (Peace to you!). 

At this meeting Jesus grants Thomas the evidence he demanded in verse 25, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side." Jesus was not obligated to do this; He could have rightly demanded faith from Thomas on the basis of the reliable evidence from others. Yet in His mercy and kindness, Jesus gave Thomas what he asked for. 

Jesus then gives Thomas a command, "Do not be unbelieving, but believing." Jesus was generous and merciful to Thomas and his unbelief, but He did not praise his unbelief. Jesus wanted to move him from doubt and unbelief to faith. Because Thomas did not believe in the resurrected Jesus, Jesus considered him unbelieving. Thomas’ response was an immediate transition from declared unbelief (John 20:25) to radical belief (John 20:28). He addressed Jesus with titles of deity, calling Him Lord and God. It is also significant that Jesus accepted these titles, and did not tell Thomas, “Don’t call Me that.”

Peter later says to those who believed, “Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). 

The lesson here for us is, true faith comes from the reliance upon the Word of God, and not on the eyes of man. For trusting in what one sees is not trust at all, it requires no faith. But relying on God's Word, even when we can not see the outcome, is evidence of a much "stronger faith."

The Truth: But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” (Luke 5:5)

John 19 "It Is Finished"

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished and He bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (v.30)

Those who witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus saw His hours of agony and heard Him cry out in a loud voice, “It is finished!” as He gave up His spirit (John 19:30). His final words from the cross were not a cry of painful defeat but of triumph, because He had accomplished all that the Father sent Him to do. In that deep darkness when God hid His face and could not look upon His Son, the rocks split, the veil ripped and the graves were opened (Matthew 27:51-52) and His work of salvation was complete. 

No one took Jesus’ life from Him; He, in a manner unlike any man, gave up His spirit. Death had no righteous hold over the sinless Son of God. He stood in the place of sinners, but was never a sinner Himself. So He could not die unless He gave up His spirit. As Jesus said, I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. (John 10:17-18)

Jesus died that we might live, He suffered that we might rejoice, He took our condemnation that we might have justification. His finished sacrificial work on the cross brought the gift of salvation to all. But His free gift must be accepted. One must believe in His death, burial and resurrection in order to become adoptive sons/daughters, and heirs to His kingdom. If you have not yet received His free gift, I invite you to do so today. Simply pray the prayer to the right of this page (connect with God) to become an heir to His kingdom.

The Truth: He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.  But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Revelation 21:6-8)