Deuteronomy 14:2

"For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."  My life is not my life.  God has taken me as His own possession.  Wow.

Deuteronomy 13:4

"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, and cling to Him."   This reminds me to 'cling to the old rugged cross.'

Deuteronomy 12:32

"Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it."  Something I've heard and  try to say often around MBC is 'in the essentials-unity, in the non-essentials-liberty, and in all things-charity.'

Deuteronomy 11:16

"Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them."  This is a warning for me and us all.

Deuteronomy 10:19

"So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt."  I pray that those outside our church will feel the love of Christ from our church.

Checklist of Basic Commands of Jesus

(The following is from a long time church planter:  George Patterson)

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            New Testament disciple making fosters loving submission to the Lord before all else.  Just before ascending to glory our Supreme Commander said that He had all authority in Heaven and earth, and he ordered His followers to make disciples by teaching them to obey all His commands (Matthew 28:18-20).  The first 3,000 believers in Jerusalem began at once to obey those commands (Acts 2:36-47).  Their obedience suggests these seven foundational commands of Jesus:

CHECKLIST OF BASIC COMMANDS OF JESUS

o   Repent and believe (Mark 1:15; John 3:16; 20:22)

o   Baptize new believers, enabling them to lead the new, holy life that baptism initiates (Matthew 28:18-20)

o   Break bread together often (the Lord’s Supper, Luke 22:14-20)

o   Love God and others (Luke 10:25-37; John 13:34; Matthew 6:44)

o   Pray using Jesus’ name (Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 6:38)

o   Give to meet needs (Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 6:38)

o   Make disciples (Matthew 7:24-29; 28:18-20)

            These basic orders for Jesus’ followers undergird all Christian life and ministry.  Jesus said that to obey His words is to build on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27).

Deuteronomy 9:6

"Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this land to possess, for you are a stubborn people."  This verse reminds me that I don't earn God's blessing.  God is simply a gracious God who wants to bless His people.

Deuteronomy 8:2

"You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not."  This verse jumps out at me because it VERY important what is in our heart.  The LORD knows what is in our heart.

Deuteronomy 7:21

"You shall not dread them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God."  This verse jumped out at me because God's presence in our midst should be comforting and give us courage.

Deuteronomy 6:5

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Since Jesus quoted it, then we would do well to meditate on it extra.

Deuteronomy 5:33

"You shall walk in all the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess."  To me, living for the Christian is walking with God.  That is the life.  That is what life is for.

Deuteronomy 4:9

"Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons."  The words "keep your soul diligently" leaped off the page to me.  What strong words.  The NIV does not word it this way so that is one blessing of studying a different translation.

Deuteronomy 3:22

"Do not fear them for the LORD your God is the one fighting for you."  This verse jumps out at me because we neglect the power of God so often in our daily lives.

Deuteronomy 2:7

"For the LORD your God has blessed you in all that you have done; He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness.  These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing."  This verse jumps out at me because we don't always consider times of wandering through the wilderness to be times of blessing or times of sensing God's provision.  I can enjoy the Lord's blessing and provision no matter my circumstances.

Deuteronomy 1:38

"Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter there; encourage him, for he will cause Israel to inherit it."  This jumped out at me because Moses was missing out on the blessing but still expected to encourage Joshua who would lead the people into the promise land.  As God's people and leaders, reproducing and training leaders is a big part of our task.

Pastor as Leader

"Leaders must model what they believe their followers should do," quoted from Bill Hull in Choose the Life.  God's Word is changing me, and I want to point people to HEAR GOD'S VOICE and ACT ON GOD'S DIRECTION through consistent personal Bible study.  The major motivation behind this blog is exactly that.

The People of God

The People of God

“For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.” (Deuteronomy 7:6, NIV) “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10, NIV)

Please don’t miss the Lord’s emphasis on us being the “People of God” as Marion Baptist Church. I try to emphasize it each week in the greeting of this very article. Moses reminds us in Deuteronomy that there was a higher calling for the Israelites. Peter reminds us in the book by his name that there is a higher calling for us at the church.

Satan wants us to minimize the role of the church (the role of the people of God) in each others’ lives, in our community and in our world. Jim Cymbala points out, “(Satan wants Christians) to think that ‘church’ is only a place you visit on Sundays…if you can spare the time.” While most of us would say that we want God to bless Marion Baptist Church, the reality is that many do not really see how God could use them daily to be a blessing to the church (people of God). Please join me in praying that God will show us, the people of God called Marion Baptist Church, how we belong to God to use our time, money and energy for His glory.