Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 4:15-31.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 4:15-19 (NIV)
15  You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully,
16  so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,
17  or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,
18  or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.
19  And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars–all the heavenly array–do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.
 
On verses 15-19:  As silly as bowing down in worship to a statue might sound to some of us, the fact is that we all have this tendency, if we’re not careful, to worship created things instead of the Creator.  Whether it’s money, fame, sex, food, another person, ourselves, we are all prone to taking something good that God gave us and turning into something we throw ourselves at as if it’s our reason for being.   But in so doing, we end up worshiping something that is far less than the One who is truly worthy of our worship.  Not only do we cheat Him of our worship, but we cheat ourselves as well, because you’ll never be truly satisfied or at peace worshiping anything other than God. 

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 3:18-29.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 3:18-20 (NIV)
18  I commanded you at that time: “The LORD your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites.
19  However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you,
20  until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”
 
On verses 18-20:  Here Moses commands the fighting Israelite men to fight for one another and to make sure each Israelite tribe gets its land before any Israelite fighting man could go back and enjoy his own land.  Moses was challenging every Israelite fighting man to put the team’s interests ahead of his own individual interests.  Great teams achieve great things when each member puts the interests of the team ahead of their own. 

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 2:16-37.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 2:16-23 (NIV)
16  Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,
17  the LORD said to me,
18  “Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.
19  When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”
20  (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
21  They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.
22  The LORD had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.
23  And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.)
 
On verses 16-23:  When you read these verses it becomes clear that the Israelites were not the only ones that God had been protecting and leading the way for.  In verses 18-21 we read about how God was with the Ammonites and enabled them to drive out a strong and formidable force in the Rephaites, who were known to be much larger in size, and takeover their land.  In verse 22 we read about how God was with the descendants of Esau and enabled them to drive out the Horites and takeover their land.  Moses speaks to the Israelites this way to drive home a number of points that are good for us to learn as well:

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 1:34-46.
 
Deuteronomy 1:34-36 (NIV)
34  When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore:
35  “Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers,
36  except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
 
On verses 34-36:  Caleb’s story shows us that just because the people around you are not responding to God with faith, that doesn’t mean you have to follow their lead.  Like Caleb you can choose a unique path of responding to God with faith, even when those around you are not.  Dare to be different in a good way, and you will be uniquely blessed in the process.
 
Caleb’s story also shows us that when we follow God wholeheartedly, not only are we blessed, but those who come after us will be blessed as well.  There’s a generational blessing that comes when a person decides to respond to God in faith.

Hi  GAMErs!

Today we begin the book of Deuteronomy.  You might say that Deuteronomy was Jesus’ favourite book in the Old Testament.  When Jesus was asked what was God’s greatest commandment, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5.  When Jesus was being tempted by the devil, Jesus fought back with quotations from Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16, and 6:13. Since Jesus saw the power and importance of Deuteronomy and kept this book close to His heart, I pray we would do the same.

Here is some background information on Deuteronomy that you might find helpful:
–        Deuteronomy is the fifth book in the Old Testament.  It is also the fifth and final book of the Pentateuch (a name for the first five books in the Bible, also sometimes called the Torah).
 
–        It is widely believed, and with good reason, that Moses was responsible for the writing of the entire Pentateuch including Deuteronomy (other than the last chapter describing Moses’ death).