King James Daily Bible Study: God of Peace
Date: Monday March 07, 2011
Chapters: Deuteronomy 17-20
Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://www.imfollowingjesus.com/bible-march-7
Details of Today's Reading: Perfect sacrifices, penalties for idolatry, dealing with controversy, choosing a king, providing for the Levites, the abominations of the Canaanites, Christ foretold, cities of refuge, and the false witness.

Hello My Friend/Guest,
The word evil is defined as any wrong doing, immoral, mischievous, or malicious (hateful) act committed in principle or practice. In other words, any thought or action that is immoral, hateful, or wrong is evil and God hates evil. The Bible says, “See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - I Thessalonians 5:15-23.

As Moses continues to give the Israelites instructions on how they were to act and reminders of the blessings from God, past, present, and future, Moses gave strict instructions to remove all evil from their presence. God wanted every appearance of evil to be removed, even if it meant killing the one person who caused it to happen.

“Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination unto the LORD thy God. If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing his covenant, And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought in Israel: Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.” - Deuteronomy 17:1-5.

As Christians we are to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, meaning we are to offer ourselves to God spotless. In other words, if you are going to live for God do it wholeheartedly, you can not have God in your life and live in the world too, it's as if you are serving another god to Him. Now, God knows we are going to sin every now and then, even when serving Him, but there is a difference between presenting yourself as spotless or a blemish. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” - Romans 12:1-3.

God is adamant about removing all evil thoughts or actions from our lives and anyone who would cause such. It was important for the Israelites to drive out the heathens that were possessing the land. God already knew that these people would not accept Him and He was perfectly fine with that, but He would not have His own people doing the things that they were doing.

“For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” - Deuteronomy 18:14-18.

The prophet Moses speaks of is none other than Jesus Christ Himself, everything from the sacrifices, to the tabernacle, to the law was a representative of Christ that would one day come in the flesh. “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect...But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;..For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” - Hebrews 10:1,12,14. The amazing thing about God is that He is perfectly fine if a person does not want to accept Him, while He loves all and does want all to accept Him, He rather them go about their own business then mix in with His people and corrupt them. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” - II Peter 3:9.

God promised that He would be there for and assist the Israelites in possessing the land He promised them, but it was going to be a battle. However, if the Israelites wanted the best God had to offer they would have to put their faith and trust in Him, who would in turn show them how to possess it in a godly way, with His leadership.

“When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” - Deuteronomy 20:1-4.

Why did God choose for them to possess a land already possessed by heathens? While God promises to give His people the best life, He wants us to learn to appreciate it. God will always give us the best, but He does want us to work for it in order to learn to appreciate it. However, the incredible thing is that God has an amazing place waiting for all who put their faith and trust in His Son. We are rewarded eternal life for accepting Him, but you can be sure that in order to learn to appreciate that gift we will have to do some work and endure some suffering here on earth first. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.” - Titus 3:5-8.

The world does not see God as the God of peace that we as Christians see Him as, even some Christians will question God, especially when something evil happens to them or someone they love. While my mom is a faithful Christian, to this day she still has a hard time forgiving people that harassed my brother ten years ago and questions why God allowed it to happen in the first place. Can I tell you that everything we go through, whether it is joy, sorrow, grief, or suffering, works together for our own good. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28. One day we will be able to look back and say, “So, that is why You put me through that?” and you will be able to see that God is truly the God of peace and had a good reason for what He put you through.

Jesus Christ Revealed: Today Jesus is revealed through the prophet God would send to speak His Word. “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” - John 14:10.

Thanks and God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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