DEUTERONOMY & JOSHUA

Today it's the middle of the morning before I get to write in my blog.  I hope I can share a few things I looked at this morning.  Here they are:   1) OVERTAKEN WITH BLESSINGS & COMMANDED BLESSINGS!  In Deuteronomy 28, we see that God told Israel that if they would obey His voice and commandments that they would be blessed!  The way God says it is wonderful.  In verse 2, "And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God."   Imagine blessings coming up on you and overtaken you.  This means you could not outrun the blessings of God if you are doing right!  Wow!  Isn't that wonderful?  AND, in verse 8, God says:  "The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." Here we see that God will command blessings upon us!  And God mentions "storehouses", plural!  Not just one storehouse, but many.  Oh how we need God's commanded blessings upon us!   2) THOU SHALT BE MAD (crazy)! - Not only are the blessings mentioned in chapter 28 of Deuteronomy, but the curses are as well.  God lists many terrible curses that will come upon the children of Israel if they do not obey the LORD.  Verse 34 says:  "So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see."  God is saying that all of these curses will drive you mad (crazy) when you see the effects of your disobedience!  Crop failure, sicknesses, destructiion from enemies, famine, pestilence, vs. 37 "And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.", and vs. 53 "And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:"  Wouldn't this drive you MAD???   3) NOT VERY FAR AWAY- Deut. 30:14  "But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."  God's Word is not very far away at all.  verses 12,13 tell us that you don't have to go looking all over to find God's commandments but His Word is so close to us.  Thank you Jesus!!   4) MONUMENTS- In Joshua 4, verses 6 and 21 we have this question:  "What mean ye by these stones?"  God had one leader from each tribe take a stone out of the dry riverbed of Jordan to set up at the next camp and pile together.  God said that one day their children would ask them "What mean ye by these stones?"  They would serve as a monument that God brought His children over the river Jordan on dry ground and that God delivered them from Egypt and brought them into the promised land.  It became a monument to the children.  We need these things in our lives as well to show to the next generation and to remind us of God's blessings in our lives.   Hope these things help you today.  May God bless.  Pastor Mike Mutchler