{"id":21955,"date":"2022-06-14T22:00:24","date_gmt":"2022-06-15T05:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_7_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-06-15T12:35:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-15T19:35:56","slug":"deuteronomy_7_12-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_7_12-26\/","title":{"rendered":"The Blessing of the \u201cLittle By Little\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy\u00a0 7:12-26\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Hi\u00a0 GAMErs!<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 7:12-26.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 7:12-15 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land–your grain, new wine and oil–the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.
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\nOn verses 12-15:\u00a0Through verses 13-14 I am reminded that whether it\u2019s family and children, material and financial wealth, or physical health,\u00a0every good thing we have in life is a blessing from God<\/strong>.\u00a0 As James 1:17 says, \u201cevery good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father\u201d.\u00a0 So when we experience any good gift, let\u2019s be sure to thank God.<\/p>\n

Also, these verses show God\u2019s clear desire to bless His people.\u00a0 That has always God\u2019s plan: to bless people.\u00a0 The problem, however, is that our sin got in the way, cutting us from God and from much of His blessings.\u00a0 The great news is that in Jesus Christ we have forgiveness of sins and full restoration to the blessings God has for us.\u00a0 Much of that restoration and blessing we can experience in our lives today, even in a world still broken by sin.\u00a0 The totality of that restoration and blessing we will know when we get to heaven.<\/p>\n

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Deuteronomy 7:16-21 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You must destroy all the peoples the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You may say to yourselves, “These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?”
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But do not be afraid of them;\u00a0remember well what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God did<\/strong>\u00a0to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God brought you out. The\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Moreover, the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do not be terrified by them, for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.<\/em>On verses 16-21:\u00a0 One the big themes of Deuteronomy is: don\u2019t be afraid of those who are bigger and stronger than you.\u00a0 The truly great one in your midst is not them, but God.\u00a0 As verse 21 says, \u201cDo not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 7:22-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them.
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\nOn verses 22-24:\u00a0 God promises the Israelites that they will conquer the nations surrounding them and that God will drive them out, but notice how: \u201clittle by little\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(v22).\u00a0 In fact, God emphasizes it in verse 22: \u201cYou will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.\u201d<\/p>\n

If God wanted to, God could have driven out the nations occupying the promised land all in an instant.\u00a0 He could have given His people the Israelites vacant possession of the promised land “all at once” if He so pleased.\u00a0 So why didn’t He?\u00a0 Why did God instead decide to drive out the nations “little by little”?\u00a0 God gives His reason in verse 22: \u00a0“You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once,\u00a0or the wild animals will multiply around you<\/em>.” In other words, if God emptied out the promised land too quickly, the Israelites would not have enough time to properly take control of it.\u00a0 They would have no idea how to manage it all.\u00a0 Wild animals and possibly bandits would begin to settle in those areas where they did not have proper control.<\/p>\n

In the same way, many of us crave overnight success.\u00a0 We want to get big, rich and famous fast.\u00a0 But\u00a0if God let you have every blessing He planned for you all at once,<\/strong>\u00a0we would not have the time or the wisdom to manage everything.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0For with every blessing comes responsibilities and challenges too.<\/p>\n

Also,\u00a0if God gave all of His promised blessings to us at once, we would not appreciate it as much.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0We would take it for granted, living with a sense of entitlement and never knowing what it means to fight for God\u2019s destiny for our lives.\u00a0\u00a0God gives us success little by little so that we would cherish every victory a little more and learn more along the way.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe the reason God hasn’t given you more yet is because He’s still teaching you to appreciate and use what you already have.\u00a0 Rather than simply craving more, focus on being as faithful and teachable as you can with what God has already given you.<\/p>\n

Instead of giving it to us \u201call at once\u201d, God lets us take the territory little by little as we learn to trust Him more and more.\u00a0 As Proverbs 13:11 (ESV) says: “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers\u00a0little by little<\/strong>\u00a0will increase it.”<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 7:25-26 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.
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\nOn verses 25-26:\u00a0 When the Israelites saw the way that other nations worshiped other gods, there were certain things that attracted them \u2013 the silver and gold that they saw encasing their idols, for example.\u00a0 Yet God says: don\u2019t covet that silver or gold and don\u2019t bring that idol into your house.\u00a0 Likewise, there may be certain elements of other religions that we might find attractive, but don\u2019t let that be a reason to bring the whole thing into your life, for worshiping anything other than God Himself will be a snare.<\/p>\n

Thank You, Lord, that instead of giving us every blessing all at once, You let us receive, enjoy, and manage those blessings little by little.\u00a0 That way we won’t be too overwhelmed, too spoiled, or unable to manage.\u00a0 May I cherish and manage wisely what You have already given to me so that I’m ready for the blessings that are to come.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi\u00a0 GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 7:12-26.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 7:12-15 (NIV)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.
\n13\u00a0\u00a0He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land–your grain, new wine and oil–the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you.
\n14\u00a0\u00a0You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.
\n15\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 12-15:\u00a0Through verses 13-14 I am reminded that whether it\u2019s family and children, material and financial wealth, or physical health,\u00a0every good thing we have in life is a blessing from God.\u00a0 As James 1:17 says, \u201cevery good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father\u201d.\u00a0 So when we experience any good gift, let\u2019s be sure to thank God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21955"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22099,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21955\/revisions\/22099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}