15 November 2021 | Dear Aunt Sevvy, Recently we went to the house of some Adventist friends from church for dinner. As I was with her in the kitchen, I saw her open a cupboard. She was standing so her body partially blocked it, but I saw her take out a bottle, and pour some […] Source: https://atoday.org/74484-2/
Tuesday: Life and Good, Death and Evil, Blessings and Curses
Toward the end of the book of Deuteronomy, after a long discourse on what will happen to the people if they disobey the Lord and violate the covenant promises, Deuteronomy 30 begins with a promise that even if they fell into disobedience and were punished with exile, God would nevertheless restore them to the land.
That is, if they repented and turned from their evil ways.
Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20. What are the options presented to ancient Israel here, and how do these options reflect what we have seen all through the Bible?
Image © Dave OConnell at Goodsalt.com
The Lord is very clear: He, Yahweh, has set before them one of two options, basically what He did with Adam and Eve in Eden. In fact, the Hebrew words for “good” (tov) and “evil” (ra‘) in Deuteronomy 30:15 are the same Hebrew words used in Genesis for the tree of the knowledge of “good” (tov) and “evil” (ra‘). Here, as in all through the Bible, there is no middle ground, no neutral place to be. They will either serve the Lord and have life, or they will choose death. It’s the same for us, as well.
Life, goodness, blessing, in contrast to what? Death, evil, and curses. In the end, though, one justly could argue that God really offers them only the good, only life, and only blessings. But if they turn away from Him, these bad things will be the natural result, because they no longer have His special protection.
However we understand it, the people are presented with these options. It’s very clear, too, the reality of their free will, their free choices. These verses, along with so much of the Bible, Old and New Testament, make no sense apart from the sacred gift of free will, free choice.
In a real sense, the Lord said to them: Therefore, with the free will that I have given you — choose life, choose blessing, choose goodness, not death, evil, and curses.
It seems so obvious what the correct choice would be, doesn’t it not? And yet, we know what happened. The great controversy was as real then as it is now, and we should learn from Israel’s example what can happen if we don’t give ourselves wholly to the Lord and choose life and all that this choice entails.
| Read Deuteronomy 30:20. Notice here the link between love and obedience. What must Israel do in order to be faithful to the Lord? How do the same principles apply to us today? |
Amen!
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/tuesday-life-and-good-death-and-evil-blessings-and-curses/
He Is Our Shield and Sword
Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! Deuteronomy 33:29.
He who serves under the blood-stained banner of Emmanuel often has that to do which calls for heroic effort and patient endurance. But the soldier of the cross stands unshrinkingly in the forefront of the battle. As the enemy presses the attack against him, he turns to the Stronghold for aid; and as he brings to the Lord the promises of the Word, he is strengthened for the duties of the hour. He realizes his need of strength from above…. Relying upon that power, he is enabled to present the message of salvation so forcibly that it awakens an answering chord in other minds.—Gospel Workers, 16.
While Paul possessed high intellectual endowments, his life revealed the power of a rarer wisdom, which gave him quickness of insight and sympathy of heart, and brought him into close touch with others, enabling him to arouse their better nature and inspire them to strive for a higher life. His heart was filled with an earnest love for the Corinthian believers…. He knew that at every step in the Christian pathway they would be opposed by the synagogue of Satan, and that they would have to engage in conflicts daily…. But he knew also that in Christ crucified they were offered power sufficient to convert the soul, and divinely adapted to enable them to resist all temptations to evil. With faith in God as their armor, and with His Word as their weapon of warfare, they would be supplied with an inner power that would enable them to turn aside the attacks of the enemy.—The Acts of the Apostles, 307.
With God at Dawn p. 321
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Prayer Requests
—-Desperate cry from a mother’s heart for my kids and grandkids very sick with covid. Emily
—-Please pray for my son Kenny he is a truck driver and have a heart attack while working. the company doesn’t care just wants him to bring the truck back now then go to the er. May our father in heaven protect him and heal him. And protect people on the road he driving on. Helen
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Dear Friends,
When I was in first grade, our class visited a dairy that was a few blocks from our school. Our teacher lined us up in two lines, and watched us carefully as we walked in front of her. Once inside the dairy, we looked around at all the new sights and sounds. It smelled so sickening in there, I wanted to leave. As I looked around, I finally found the source of that repulsive odor. On the floor was a large puddle of milk that had spilled and soured. Its stink affected the whole room. Seventy years have passed since that day, and most of the memory of that dairy has faded away, but I still can remember that room that had the sour milk and its disgusting smell.
How often we are like that sour milk. Our words and actions affect not only us, but they also has an effect upon others. By the things that we do, by the words that we say, by our interaction with those around us our influence can be sweet-smelling or it can cause others to turn away in disgust. Solomon puts it this way, “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” Ecc 10:1
How careful we must be that we do not emit a “stinking savor” like that fly-filled ointment to those around us. Whether they are a well-loved family member, our dear friend, or someone who may repulse us as much as that dairy was repulsive to me so many years ago, our Dear Saviour desires us to treat them as He would. Does our life point those around us to the Meek and Lowly Jesus Who “suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously”? 1 Peter 2:23 By our patient endurance under trial or even under the day to day stresses of life we can tell for the Great Light of the World Who has bidden us to be lights to others. “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt 5:14-16
May we treat others as we ourselves want to be treated, that they may be drawn to the Loving Redeemer. (Luke 6:31) May our influence be fragrant with the goodness of God. May we heed the words of Paul, “Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Rom 12:17-21
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/he-is-our-shield-and-sword.html
Adventist and Catholic Partnership In AMITA Health Ends
AMITA health is a joint operating company formed by Adventist Midwest Health and Ascension’s Alexian Brothers Health System in 2015. It’s much more common for planned mergers between health care systems to fall apart than it is for already-established health systems, such as AMITA, to fracture, said Michael Buchanio, a senior principal at management consulting firm […] Source: https://atoday.org/experts-speculate-that-disagreement-at-heart-of-adventist-and-catholic-healthcare-system-split/
Pastor Ian Sweeney Elected for a TED Post
Pastor Ian Sweeney, President of the British Union Conference (BUC), has been voted to a new position of Field Secretary at the Trans-European Division (TED). The vote came about after an end of year meeting by the Division’s Executive Committee members on Sunday, 14 November 2021.
Sweeney responded to his new appointment by saying, “I am very honoured and surprised to have been asked to serve as Field Secretary – although I am somewhat conflicted, as I had recently been appointed to serve a…Source: https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2021-11-15/pastor-ian-sweeney-elected-for-a-ted-post/
