The Bible- the most important book

Deuteronomy 30v1 "I have given you a choice between blessing and a curse"
How do we choose blessing? From the rest of the chapter:
1. remember the Lord your God
2. Stay together in community
3. Love God with all your heart
4. Be obedient to God's word
5. Keep all of his laws
6. Worship Him alone
7. Be faithful to the Lord
So how do we receive blessing? We trust God and follow his ways. We do not choose the blessing but rather follow the Lord's commands and the blessing will come.

The Bible- the most important book

Deuteronomy 11v8 "Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today so that you may have strength to go in and take over the land I am giving you" Commands are not only a set of rules. They are designed for a far greater purpose. To be obedient to God's purposes produces a spirit of further obedience, grows morals, establishes social morals, strengthens relationships and brings integrity. All of these things are applicable both personally and within a community. Strength comes from integrity. As we follow our God's commands we grow in integrity. God continually strengthens us and pushes us to continue to grow in our integrity. Jesus needs us to be strong but to rely on his strength and grow in this through following his commands.

The Bible- the most important book

Journal entry 8/3/10 Deuteronomy 7v22 "the wild animals would multiply too quickly for you" God is also a logical God. He can see and foresee trouble, blessing and situations that we cannot predict or have the wisdom to see. He is giving the Israelites the land and mighty and powerful nations cannot stand against them. However he is careful not to give them the land too quickly as the remains of battle will draw too many animals to the area and they will overcome and multiply too quickly for the Israelites. Through this he is teaching further the Israelites patience and trust. I need to continue to trust God that his logic is greater than mine. Help me to trust you.

The Bible- the most important book

Journal entry 7/3/10 Deuteronomy 6v6 "And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today" Wholehearted commitment is not something that is common in our society. We give a small slice of ourselves to so many things. We are consumed with filling our life with attending things, making programs that to truly give wholeheartedly to something is rare. I get good at giving my heart to many things yet forgetting the most important thing- Jesus in my life and what his salvation means to me. Lord Jesus may I truly give you my whole heart.

The bible- the most important book

Deutoronomy 3v28 "But commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across and will cause them to inherit the land" Moses was being told that he would not enter the promised land because of his and the peoples past sins. Yet his role as a leader was not complete. He continued to hear from God and be obedient to him. God called him to commission the next leader of the people and to strengthen and encourage him as he would lead the people into the promised land. As a leader I need to continue to raise up others in my place and strengthen and encourage them even if I may not see the promised land. This is a humbling knowledge.

The bible- The most important book

Deuteronomy 1:30 "The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you as he did for you in Egypt...." "There you saw how the Lord your God carried you as a father carries his son".
What struck me today about this reading is that God goes before me. He walks my path before I do and he knows what and where I will go. Then He is willing to fight my battles for me. How do I know this? through the battles he has fought and won for me in the past and through His word. My God will fight for me- awesome! Not only that he will then carry me if I need him to. I can rely on His strength to get me through- He is there for me. What I need to do is to open myself up to listen to what He has to say to me and live in a way that allows God to show me the path that He has for me. I need to hear God and live guided by the Holy Spirit. My God will fight for me and walk before me!!!

The importance of the Bible

How good is it getting resourced? I love to read and I also love to find out more of what God has for me. So to read more books about how to get into God more just makes sense to me. But then I hear some people saying that stores like Word bookstore and Koorong are spiritual attacks on the church through materialism and profiteering. It makes me reflect on how I most vitally hear from God. I need to be open to what others have to say and can learn from them but ultimately I need to be in God's word daily to hear what he may be saying or teaching me. That is why I endeavour to journal everyday. Do I think the stores or the books are a spiritual attack- no- but I certainly think there is a great potential trap in reading what people might say and forgetting to read what God has to say personally to us through his word. So from now on you will continue to get my book reviews on the blog but you will also daily get my journal entry- I hope that this encourages you to get into your Bible first and foremost as the greatest book in the world and the most effective way to hear from God.
Jon

Degenerative language

It is official- the English language is degenerative. Has this form of communication become so diseased that we are no longer able to converse in ways that do not include regular vulgarities or an over reliance on linguistic crutches to hold ourselves upright?

We shall begin with the latter. How often do we hear the word like? What formerly was used in a non-threatening, descriptive manner has become the dominant use of a pause that creates overly stilted, awkward conversations. It has become so ingrained in our cultural conversations. Not only is it a crutch to rely on but a habit so deeply formed that to even consider going without it for a period of half an hour requires a depth of self control not often seen. Next time you feel the need to observe a linguistic monster that is out of control just have a listen to the conversation at university or work and make a tally of how many times the phrase is used- unbelievable!!

Of far greater concern to me is the commonality of the use of conceptual language and vulgarities without even blinking an eyelid. For example the use of the word promiscuous in any number of top ten music hits over the last few years has impacted significantly on young minds. A ten year old now has a concept of this word and what it means to them and the relationship that it has to everyday life. It was not meant to be this way, where children are exposed to language that is far beyond what their life experience and development allows. Then there is the vulgar language. It has become so ingrained in our culture now that many of the words that were seen as vulgar seem to come out almost automatically as a form of speech. It seems that very few people are offended when a vulgar word is used within conversation. Does anyone else cringe when they hear obscenities fired at them with incredible frequency within a short space of time conversing with another individual? When does slang stop being slang to become a part of the actual speech of a language? Have you ever thought of that? I will tell you. It is by usage. The more an expression is used, the more it will become an accepted part of speech. The main concern with this is that I believe language is more a reflection of the way we think. To take that one step further I believe that what comes out of our mouths is not only a reflection of our thought pattern but where our heart is at. From Matthew 12: 34b-35 “For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good things stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him”. What we say reflects what our heart is. In James 3:10 he writes “Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be”. Inconsistency in our speech pollutes our character and witness. Speech is more than words; it is a reflection of the heart.

So degeneration of the language itself may be natural or just seem to happen as a result of digression of speech. However what is this really and truly reflecting about our society? Where are people’s hearts truly at? How do we really think about others around us?

My challenge for you is to be known as someone with a clean mouth. This may require God’s and others help in cleaning up your heart first. As we seek to be a community that genuinely accepts people for who they are and promotes a come as you are culture we will and do have broken people, as we all are, come into our community. Our challenge is to be a place where the culture says we can accept that but we believe that Jesus can help you grow and become clean in all areas of your life. This will take time and out of this I believe that our language will be upheld with integrity as we get our hearts right with God. I also challenge you to pray to Jesus and ask him to help you maintain clean speech and see what a wonderful witness this can be to the world around you.

In Christ

Jon Joyce