DEUTERONOMY

Today is Tuesday as I look at the book of Deuteronomy.  Deuteronomy means "Second Law".  We have the law recorded again in chapter five of Deuteronomy.  I started reading in chapter eight this morning and here are a few thoughts I marked to share:   1) CHASTENING- Deut. 8:5 says:  "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee."  God chastens us as His children.  It is not a sign of His wrath toward us, but His love toward us.  Not His anger at our sin, but His desire to correct us.  A loving father chastens his son.  An abusive father inflicts his wrath upon his son.  Not to correct, but to punish and to release his own anger and wrath.  Not so with God!  God only corrects out of His Love towards us and His desire to make us the best we can be.  Chastening is not a beating, it is discipline that is used to guide, correct, teach, and reinforce teaching.  It is pain for a positive purpose.  Whether the pain be physical (a spanking), emotional (time out, sit in the corner, go to your room, etc), social (grounded for a day or two or more), etc; it is all for the purpose of bring about a positive change in the life of the child and build a stronger relationship between the parent and the child.  That is biblical chastening, and that is what we get from our loving God!   2) NOT "ME", BUT "HE" - In Deut. 8:17,18, it says:  "And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. (18) But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God:  for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day."   The credit is not to be directed to "me", but to "He"... GOD!!  God gives us what we have and it comes from His hand, not ours.  Never be self centered, but God centered!   3) GIVE AS WE ARE ABLE- Deut. 16:17, says:  "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee."  God wants us to give as we are able, and HE knows what we are able to give.  We should give as He directs us to give.  The tithe and offerings are His in the first place, but after that we give as God guides us to give.  It is all His anyway.    4) PERTAINETH- Where do we get the idea of a lady wearing dresses and men wearing pants?  I'm sure that is our customs and society establishing these things over the many years, but what if any scriptural basis do we?  Well, there is one!  Deut. 22:5 says:  "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment:  for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God."  Not only does it say a woman should not dress like a man, but a man cannot wear a woman's garments.  That is considered an abomination by God!  Now, I don't know any real Christian that thinks that cross dressing by men is a decent thing to do, but it applies both ways.  This is the only verse that tells us that we should dress according to our sex, whether male or female, and of course, each society dictates to some degree what that difference is.   Well, hope you have a great day, I'm out of time once again.  I'm thinking that next year, I will be reading ten chapters a day, because I have more I want to write about in each mornings reading and if I cut down the reading a bit, I can increase what I write about.  Hope that it will help as well.  Have a blessed day!  Pastor Mike Mutchler