Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi GAMErs! 

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 9:1-12.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 9:1-3 (NIV)
1  Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky.
2  The people are strong and tall–Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: “Who can stand up against the Anakites?”
3  But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.
 
On verses 1-3:  Moses acknowledged that as part of conquering the promised land the Israelites would need to face a strong and tall people called the Anakites.  Yet Moses reminds the Israelites that the Lord will go ahead of them like a devouring fire and help the Israelites to overcome them quickly.
 
Here we see that recurring theme in Deuteronomy again:  with God there may be seemingly gigantic challenges in front of you, but God goes ahead of you so you don’t need to be afraid.  With God, you can conquer the giants in front of you.

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 8:1-9.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 8:1 (NIV)
1  Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers.
 
On verse 1:  Whenever you read the Bible, a helpful question to ask yourself is, “What does this passage teach me about who God is?”  Each of the verses here in this passage teaches us something about God.
 
Verse 1 teaches us that God is our King and Commander General.  Just as God commanded the Israelites for their good and their growth, so every one of His commands is for our good and for our growth.

Deuteronomy 8:2 (NIV)
2  Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
 
Verse 2 teaches us that God is our Teacher who tests us to see what is in our heart.  Just as God led the Israelites for 40 years in the desert to see what is in their heart, so God puts us in situations so that He can see what we will do with the freedom He has given to us.

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 7:1-11.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 7:1-2 (NIV)
1  When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations–the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you–
2  and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy.
 
On verses 1-2:  As a young Christian, I was really impacted by the “can do” attitude that the Bible would teach followers of Jesus to have.  Whenever I would read the Bible in high school, the lesson that would impact me over and over is that no matter how tough the odds and how difficult the challenge, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).   That is no accident, and not simply a function of my own bias or background, for that is truly what the Bible teaches. 
 
We see Moses inculcating that “can do” attitude in the Israelites here.  The Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites were all larger and stronger than the Israelites (v1).  Yet God chose the Israelites and would enable the Israelites to overpower these larger and stronger nations. 

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 6:1-13.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 6:1-3 (NIV)
1  These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
2  so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.
3  Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
 
On verses 1-3:  Why did God direct Moses to teach this current generation of Israelites his commands?  It’s so that they and the generations after them would fear (i.e. reverence, trust, and honour) the Lord (v2) and so that they would enjoy long (i.e. a full) life.  In other words, God’s purpose for teaching His Word is not for entertainment or expanding one’s knowledge.  Rather, God’s purpose for teaching us His Word is to effect life change, that we would know God better and love Him more.

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 5:1-22.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 5:1-3 (NIV)
1  Moses summoned all Israel and said: Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them.
2  The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.
3  It was not with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.
 
On verses 1-3:  Moses reminds this current generation of Israelites that God’s commandments were not just for their ancestors or for an older generation that is long gone.  Rather, they are relevant for them as well (v3).  Likewise, God’s Word is not a relic of the past, or something that belongs in a museum.  Rather, God’s Word is relevant for us, for “all of us who are alive here today”.