Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 8:1-10.

“1 “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers.  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.  3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.  4 Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.  5 Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.  6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him.  7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills;  8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;  9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.  10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”  Deuteronomy 8:1-10.

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Some may wonder why we don’t skip parts of Scripture.  Or, they may wonder when we get to the Psalms or the New Testament.  We are not impatient.  We delight to be in the middle of Deuteronomy.  We find riches in every chapter.  We live “by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord”.  Verse 3.  See also Jesus’ quote of this Scripture in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4.

When we read about the Promised Land in verses 7-9, we think about our land, United States.  It is also “a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills;  a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey;  a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper”.

So, let us eat and be satisfied.  Let us bless the Lord our God for the good land which He has given us.  Verse 10.

How can we bless our LORD?  

Let us proclaim the excellencies of our LORD.   

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God;  you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”  1 Peter 2:9-10.

Let us use every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD to “proclaim His excellencies”.  Let us use every impulse of our thanks (for every word of the LORD and for every piece of the good land) to “proclaim His excellencies”.   

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 7:17-26.

“17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I;  how can I dispossess them?’  18 you shall not be afraid of them;  you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:  19 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out.  So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.  20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish.  21 You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.  22 The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little;  you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you.  23 But the Lord your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed.  24 He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven;  no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them.  25 The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire;  you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.  26 You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban;  you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.”  Deuteronomy 7:17-26.

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We should not be afraid of our enemies.  We should remember what the LORD our God has done for us.  We should remember Who the LORD our God is, a great and awesome God.  We should have faith that God will destroy our enemies.

“And what more shall I say?  For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”  Hebrews 11:32-34.

How can we better remember what the LORD our God has done for us?  How can we better remember Who the LORD our God is?  How can we build our faith? 

We read and meditate on God’s Word. 

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it;  for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”  Joshua 1:8.

“2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.”  Psalm 1:2-3.

“4 One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.
5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.”  Psalm 27:4-6.

“11 I shall remember the deeds of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all Your work
And muse on Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy;
What god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
You have made known Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have by Your power redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph.  Selah.”  Psalm 77:11-15.

See Psalm 18:31-50 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+18&version=NASB

Other doctrine exhorts us to focus on our self and be wiser and be stronger and use our alleged free-will to do more good.

Reformed Doctrine exhorts us to focus on God and His wisdom and His strength and His works from “Unconditional Election” to “Limited Atonement” to “Irresistible Grace” to “Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L”, “I”, and “P” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.

“68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of David His servant—
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
71 Salvation from our enemies,
And from the hand of all who hate us;
72 To show mercy toward our fathers,
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.”  Luke 1:68-75.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 7:12-16.

“12 “Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers.  13 He will love you and bless you and multiply you;  He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.  14 You shall be blessed above all peoples;  there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle.  15 The Lord will remove from you all sickness;  and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.  16 You shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will deliver to you;  your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.”  Deuteronomy 7:12-16.

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“For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”  And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.  For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.  In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”  Hebrews 6:13-20.

“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.  Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:

‘Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish;
For I am accomplishing a work in your days,
A work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.’”  Acts 13:38-41.

“For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.  For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;  for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.”  Romans 4:13-15.

“However, the Law is not of faith;  on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.”  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations:  even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.  Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.  He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.  What I am saying is this:  the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.  For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise;  but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.”  Galatians 3:12-18.

Daily, and even moment by moment, we experience so many of the good and glorious ways that God loves us, blesses us, and multiplies us.  Yet, there is one fulfillment of this promise that so exceeds the other fulfillments such that John could speak of the fulfillment of the promise in a single fulfillment.  “This is the promise which He Himself made to us:  eternal life.”  1 John 2:25.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 7:1-11.

“1 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2 and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them.  You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them.  3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.  4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods;  then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you.  5 But thus you shall do to them:  you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.  6 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God;  the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

7 “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  9 Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;  10 but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them;  He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.  11 Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.”

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Today’s Scripture leads us to consider “Unconditional Election”, the “U” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you …”  Verses 7-8.  There were no conditions supplied by Israel that caused God to elect Israel to be His chosen people.  God simply chose Israel, because He loved Israel.

“And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac;  for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”  Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

What shall we say then?  There is no injustice with God, is there?  May it never be!  For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”  So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.”  So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”  Romans 9:10-18.

Many reject such “Unconditional Election” also known as predestination.  They form their own doctrine on the basis that they think that it is unfair for God to arbitrarily chose whom He will save based solely on His desire.  They think salvation should be determined by man (man’s wisdom, man’s alleged free-will, man’s works, or man’s faith).

The Apostle Paul anticipated that objection.

“You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault?  For who resists His will?”  On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God?  The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?”  Romans 9:19-20.

Paul continues:  “Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”  Romans 9:21-23.

God is not unjust because He did not choose everyone to be saved.  Consider that if an earthly judge pardoned everyone and did not punish anyone, we would think he or she is most unjust.

Article 1.  As all men have sinned in Adam, lie under the curse, and are deserving of eternal death, God would have done no injustice by leaving them all to perish, and delivering them over to condemnation on account of sin, according to the words of the apostle, Romans 3:19, “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”   And verse 23:  “for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”   And Romans 6:23:”for the wages of sin is death.”  FIRST HEAD OF DOCTRINE Of Divine Predestination  Canons of Dordt.  

God shows forth His lovingkindness in saving His elect.  God shows forth His justice in punishing the rest.  God delights in exercising both lovingkindness and justice.  “Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:23-24.

Moreover, “Unconditional Election” makes logical sense when we consider the first point of “Total Depravity”, the “T” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation.  If man is totally depraved, “dead in sin”, then there is no condition that man could produce that could motivate God to choose him.  Man’s only chance for salvation is that God would unconditionally elect him.

“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.  Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith;  and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Ephesians 2:1-8.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 6:16-25.

“16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.  17 You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.  18 You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, 19 by driving out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’  21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand.  22 Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household;  23 He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’  24 So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today.  25 It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.”  Deuteronomy 6:16-25.

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What does the Law mean?  Or, in other words, what is the purpose of the Law?

When today’s Scripture starts to answer the question by reminding Israel that they were “slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt”, then it leads us toward consideration that we were slaves to sin.

When today’s Scripture then moves to a focus on the LORD and what He did, “great and distressing signs and wonders”, then it leads us to also focus on the LORD and His greatness so that we generally hope in Him.

When today’s Scripture states that the LORD “brought us out from there (Egypt, symbolizing sin) in order to bring us in” (the Promised Land, symbolizing righteousness), then it leads us to specifically believe that the LORD will both bring us out of sin and bring us into righteousness.

When today’s Scripture concludes that “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.”, then it leads us to question whether such righteousness will be our righteousness or God’s righteousness.

“For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”  Romans 10:3-4.

In summary, today’s Scripture leads us toward faith in Christ, “the summing up of all things in Christ”.  Today’s Scripture leads us toward the short direct answer of the purpose of the Law in Galatians 3:24:  “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us.  In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.”  Ephesians 1:7-12.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 6:10-15.

“Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  You shall fear only the Lord your God;  and you shall worship Him and swear by His name.  You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God;  otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.”  Deuteronomy 6:10-15.

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About one week ago at the fellowship time after the worship service, I approached a retired seminary professor to discuss Psalm 44, the Scripture for the sermon that we heard that day.  He said that the “prosperity plus” 1920’s in which people did not seek God were followed by the “dirty thirties” (1930’s, some of the years of the Great Depression in which many people were unemployed, homeless, hungry,  and dirty).  The professor did not use these exact words, but my impression of his message was that God was saying and directing events:  “OK, you don’t need me?  Let us see.”

The professor then talked about German-occupation in the Netherlands in the early 1940’s.  I asked him if people attended church then.  He exclaimed:  “Yes!  The churches were packed!  People were crying out to God.”

I think of difficult financial times in my life described in “Letters to Harry” a/k/a “Gold Mining” that is tagged at the top of my web site.  I may have had difficulty financially, but I had prosperity spiritually as I desperately sought out God and Scriptures.

Today’s Scripture points out our tendency to forget about God during times of financial prosperity and warns us:  “… watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”  Verse 12.

So, if we are going through tough times (whatever they may be) and you find yourself seeking the LORD, rejoice!  But, if everything seems to be going your way, “… watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord”.

“And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;  and perseverance, proven character;  and proven character, hope;  and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  Romans 5:3-5.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

“1 Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.  3 O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, O Israel!  The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!  5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:1-9.

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Certainly, these are all good things to do.  We should be wise and have enough will-power to do them.   But, our hope is not in our wisdom or in our will-power.  Our hope is in God.  We may and should write God’s Word on our doorposts and our gates.  But, we need more for God to write His Word on our hearts.  We may exercise lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness.  But, we need more for God to exercise His lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness.  Today, at our worship service, we may learn what we should do.  But, we need more to learn about what God has done.

“Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;  but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:23-24.

“Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.  “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it;  and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”  Jeremiah 31:31-34.

“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  … We love, because He first loved us.”  1 John 4:9-10 and 19.

“1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your faithfulness by night,
3 With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,
With resounding music upon the lyre.
4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,
I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.”  Psalm 94:1-4.

Other doctrine focuses on man, man’s wisdom, man’s alleged free-will, man’s works, and even man’s faith.

Reformed Doctrine knows that a focus on man will only reveal “Total Depravity”, the “T” of “TULIP”.

Rather, than a focus on man, Reformed Doctrine focuses on God, God’s wisdom, God’s will, God’s works, and the faith that comes from God as a gift.  From “Unconditional Election” to “Limited Atonement” to “Irresistible Grace” to Preservation of the Saints”, the “U”, “L” “I” and “P” of “TULIP”, Reformed Doctrine declares God’s lovingkindness, justice, and faithfulness and sings for joy at the works of His hands.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 5:22-33.

“22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more.  He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.  23 And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders.  24 You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire;  we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.  25 Now then why should we die?  For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die.  26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?  27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says;  then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’

28 “The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you.  They have done well in all that they have spoken.  29 Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!  30 Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.”  31 But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess.’  32 So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you;  you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.  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.”  Deuteronomy 5:22-33.

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God rewards faith and obedience.  God is good and does good to the righteous.

That does not mean that we try to have faith and obey God through our own wisdom and will-power.  We remember that our only hope is that we “were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”  Romans 7:4.  ” I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”  Ezekiel 36:27.  “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”  Galatians 5:25.

Our faith believes that God rewards those who seek him.  “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6.

“13 “Oh that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 “I would quickly subdue their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 “Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 “But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”  Psalm 81:13-16.

“1 How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
2 When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
4 Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.”  Psalm 128:1-4.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory;  No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”  Psalm 84:11.

The promise that it will go well with us if we have faith and obey through God’s grace does not only extend to our self, the blessing extends to our children after us.  “Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!”  Verse 29.  “So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”  Deuteronomy 4:40.

In conclusion, so many parents want to provide for their children so that it may go well for their children after them.  But, they think that money is the best way to provide for them.  Today’s Scripture should encourage all of us parents to live righteous lives full of faith and obedience through God’s grace teaching our children God’s most Holy and Precious Word.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 5:16-21.

“16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.

17 ‘You shall not murder.

18 ‘You shall not commit adultery.

19 ‘You shall not steal.

20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’”  Deuteronomy 5:16-21.

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“What shall we say then?  Is the Law sin?  May it never be!  On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”  But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind;  for apart from the Law sin is dead.  I was once alive apart from the Law;  but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;  and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;  for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”  Romans 7:7-11.

“Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.”  Romans 7:4-6.

“For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;  for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are:  immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”  Galatians 5:14-25.

Today’s devotion comes from Deuteronomy 5:11-15.

“11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

12 ‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.  13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God;  in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.  15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm;  therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.”  Deuteronomy 5:11-15.

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Generally, the purpose of the fourth commandment (“Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy”), like the rest of the commandments, is to lead us to Christ.  “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.  But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.  For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”  Galatians 3:24-26.

Specifically,  the purpose of the fourth commandment (“Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy”) is to lead us to the Lord of the Sabbath Who is Christ.  “And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.  The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”  And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;  how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?”  Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  Mark 2:23-28.

For those who are joined to this Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ, He gives us true eternal rest:  from slavery to dead works unto freedom in Christ, from deadness in sin unto fountains of living water bearing fruit by the Holy Spirit, and later from slavery to world’s corruptions unto Heaven’s holiness and other perfections.

“For the Law was given through Moses;  grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.”  John 1:17.

And, this is how the intent of the third commandment (“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain”) is accomplished through God’s grace working in us, we rightly confess and worship Christ.  We glorify Christ by giving Him meaningful and full credit as Lord of the Sabbath and otherwise.

Q. 99.  What is required in the third commandment? 

 A.  That we, not only by cursing or perjury, but also by rash swearing, must not profane or abuse the name of God;  nor by silence or connivance be partakers of these horrible sins in others;  and, briefly, that we use the holy name of God no otherwise than with fear and reverence;  so that He may be rightly confessed and worshiped by us, and be glorified in all our words and works.  Heidelberg Catechism. 

Question 112:  What is required in the third commandment? 

Answer:  The third commandment requires, That the name of God, his titles, attributes, ordinances, the Word, sacraments, prayer, oaths, vows, lots, his works, and:  Whatsoever else there is whereby he makes himself known, be holy and reverently used in thought, meditation, word, and writing;  by an holy profession, and Answerable conversation, to the glory of God, and the good of ourselves, and others.  Westminster Larger Catechism.