{"id":22566,"date":"2022-07-27T22:00:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-28T05:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_26_1-11-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-07-19T16:42:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-19T23:42:41","slug":"deuteronomy_26_12-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy_26_12-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Because You Are God\u2019s Treasured Possession"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy\u00a0 26:12-19\u00a0 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 26:12-19\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 26:12 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse\u00a0<\/strong>12:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>To tithe means to give one tenth of your income to the church.\u00a0 A \u201ctithe\u201d literally means \u201cone tenth\u201d.\u00a0 This verse tells us two of God\u2019s purposes for tithing: to supply the needs of those who have dedicated their working careers to serving in the church \u2013 \u201cthat they may eat in your towns and be satisfied\u201d \u2013 and to enable the church to reach people in need \u2013 \u201cthe alien, the fatherless and the widow\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0There are other good reasons to tithe: tithing is a reminder that every good gift ultimately comes from God, it\u2019s a practical way to put God first, and it\u2019s us giving God room to bless us even more.<\/p>\n

(By the way,\u00a0what is the significance of \u201cthe third year\u201d?\u00a0 Why is it called \u201cthe year of the tithe\u201d?\u00a0 It is not entirely clear and has been the subject of some debate among scholars.\u00a0 In any event, this verse shows us the importance of tithing and a couple reasons why God wants us to tithe.)<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 26:13-17 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then say to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God: “I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them.
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the\u00a0LORD\u00a0my God; I have done everything you commanded me.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You have declared this day that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 13-17:<\/strong>\u00a0 God made us to obey Him perfectly, \u201cto keep all His commands\u201d (v18) \u201cwith all your heart and with all your soul\u201d (v16).\u00a0 And like the Israelites in verse 17, we sometimes declare and even sing that we will obey Him perfectly.\u00a0 But how can anyone say \u201cI have not turned aside from Your commands\u201d (v13) and \u201cdone everything You commanded me\u201d (v14)?\u00a0 None of us can.\u00a0 If perfect obedience is the condition we must meet for God to bless us, then none of us deserve God\u2019s blessing.\u00a0 But praise God.\u00a0 Although our obedience to Him was far from perfect, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to obey God\u2019s commands perfectly.\u00a0 Jesus also died on the cross for our sins.\u00a0 So by being in Christ and by trusting in\u00a0His<\/em>\u00a0perfect obedience, we mercifully get to receive all of God\u2019s complete blessings and His inheritance for us.\u00a0 Thank You Jesus!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 26:18 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0has declared this day that you are his people,\u00a0his treasured possession<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 18:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0This verse shows what God\u2019s heart is like for you.\u00a0 You are \u201cHis treasured possession\u201d, His people.\u00a0\u00a0See also Deuteronomy 7:6.\u00a0 Since we are God\u2019s treasured possession, we are to stay close to God.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 26:19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, as he promised.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 19:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0We often think that God is the one deserving of praise, fame and honour high above all nations.\u00a0 And He is.\u00a0 But here God flips the script and says to His people, \u201cI want to set\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>in praise, fame and honour high above all nations\u201d.\u00a0 It shows that we serve a humble God who loves to lift His children up and set them on His shoulders.\u00a0 You are God\u2019s \u201ctreasured possession\u201d (v18).\u00a0 Just as a parent is proud when others praise their child, God\u2019s desire is that His children would live such exceptional lives that others will give praise, fame and honour not just to them but to the God they are living for.\u00a0 \u201cLet your light shine before men, \u201c Jesus says, \u201cthat they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.\u201d (Matthew 5:16)<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that I am Your treasured possession!\u00a0 Thank You for sending Jesus for me, and that His perfect obedience won me Your perfect blessing. Because You love me, may I seek to love You with all my heart and soul, in the way I speak, think, live and give.\u00a0 May I live such an exceptional life that others give You praise, fame and honour.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 26:12-19\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 26:12 (NIV)
\n12\u00a0\u00a0When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verse\u00a012:\u00a0\u00a0To tithe means to give one tenth of your income to the church.\u00a0 A \u201ctithe\u201d literally means \u201cone tenth\u201d.\u00a0 This verse tells us two of God\u2019s purposes for tithing: to supply the needs of those who have dedicated their working careers to serving in the church \u2013 \u201cthat they may eat in your towns and be satisfied\u201d \u2013 and to enable the church to reach people in need \u2013 \u201cthe alien, the fatherless and the widow\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0There are other good reasons to tithe: tithing is a reminder that every good gift ultimately comes from God, it\u2019s a practical way to put God first, and it\u2019s us giving God room to bless us even more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22566","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\/22566","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=22566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22569,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22566\/revisions\/22569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}