The Small Branch

 From Hebrews 5:  11  Concerning him we have much to say, and  it is  difficult to explain, since you have become poor listeners.   12  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.   13  For everyone who partakes  only  of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.   14  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil. And continuing in Hebrews 6:1a Therefore  leaving  the  elementary teaching about the  Christ, let us press on to  maturity,     When a baby is born, he or she is  completely  dependent on others for food.  A baby must be nursed or fed a bottle each time he is hungry.  As he grows, he starts eating other foods, "pre-chewed" or mashed, still cooked and fed to him by another.  Eventually, he can feed himself

 Deuteronomy 23-34 (These are my notes from my reading.) If you knew you were about to die, what would your last words be?  The end of Deuteronomy gives us Moses' last words.  God tells him that he is not going with the people, that he is about to die.  So Moses continues to remind them of the Law.  He gives them an exercise of blessing and cursing and stone memorials when they cross the Jordan to remind them why they are there.  He mediates a covenant between Israel and God while they are in Moab.  Moses even tells them that he knows they will break the covenant and suffer all the curses God has pronounced for disobedience.  But he also encourages them with what will happen when they return to the Lord even while exiled in foreign lands.  Moses reminds them that they are chosen by God, for God, because of God and God is faithful even when we are not.  Moses challenges the people to choose life by choosing God and being obedient, even knowing that they will, as they have in the pas

 Deuteronomy 10-22 (These are my notes from my reading.)  Moses continues the reminders for the people, making sure they remember that, above all, they must love and serve God alone.  God has chosen Israel to be His own people.  He chose them because of who He is - "the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God" (10:17).  While we cannot expect our lives to be a cakewalk just because we obey God, He does promise the Israelites rewards for obedience and punishments for disobedience.  The trouble they have is their inability to obey. All humans are born with a sin nature that makes us slaves to sin.  We can only obey God when we repent and believe in Jesus and His finished work on the cross.  Only then are we capable of obedience to all these laws Moses reminds the people of.  Only then do we obey out of right motives - love and respect for God.  What happens when people continually disobey?  This is a habitual pattern of deliberate sin and G

 I've been thinking about something lately in my own life and I thought I'd share a few things I have realized.  First, no one's salvation depends on me.  Salvation depends on God alone.  I, therefore, do not have to do everything.  I don't have to say "yes" to every opportunity.  I don't have to say "no" to my family so I can do something for the church.  I don't have to say "yes" when people ask me to do things for them.    Does that mean I'm going to shut down and do nothing?  Of course not.   The point is that I need to be careful to do what God is calling me to do and only what He is calling me to do.  Anything else is a distraction.  God has called me first to be His.  This means my top priority needs to be my relationship with Him - worship, prayer, Bible study, etc.  Secondly, He has called me to be a wife and a mom.  That means that my family needs to be my priority right behind God.  After that, He has called me to so

 Deuteronomy 1-9 (these are my notes from my reading)  Reminders.  We all need them.  A note on our calendar about a birthday or anniversary.  A list of instructions to accomplish something.  Recipes for our favorite meal.  To do lists.  Address books.  On and on we could list reminders in our lives.  None of us have perfect memories and, even if we did have a perfect memory, we wouldn't act on everything we remember perfectly.  Especially after 40 years.  Most of Deuteronomy is a reminder.  Moses makes sure the generation that were children when the Law was given, when Israel first came to the promised land's borders, when God punished them, that these now adults and leaders of Israel remember what God has done and what He has said.  Moses reminds them of their parents' sin when God wanted them to enter the promised land.  He reminds them of the consequences of that sin and their wanderings in the wilderness.  Mostly, he reminds them of God's instructions, His Law.  On

 Numbers 31-36 (These are my notes from my reading.)  Sometimes it is hard to read Scripture.  We read about war and ruthless killing, but we must always keep in mind the sovereignty of God.  The Midianites had been given years of chances to surrender to the One True God.  They were not killed randomly or even because of their land.  They were killed because of their sin.  God used Israel to punish the Midianites for their sin.  Their time was done.  They no longer had a chance to repent.  We don't know how or why God chooses that time, but it is His  choice, not ours.  We don't have to understand His ways, we can't (Isaiah 55:8).  We must ruthlessly eliminate sin from our lives.  Here, this is done by killing all the men and the women who are no longer innocent.  There are sacrifices to God for atonement and to give Him glory.  We must "kill" relationships that lead us to sin.  We must "kill" circumstances, thoughts, objects, whatever leads us to sin.  

 Numbers 16-30 (These are my notes from my reading.)  Leadership can be a lonely place.  When God chooses leaders, He doesn't promise them that everyone will willingly follow them.  The important thing to remember is that God  is the leader.  He may choose people to lead under Him, but He is in charge.  When we rebel against God's chosen leaders, we are really rebelling against God.  When we question the leaders, thinking we know best, we are questioning God.  This means that, if we have a problem with a leader, we need to go to God with it so that He can show us what, if anything we should do.  But we have to be willing to be shown that we are wrong and we just need to follow.  God also takes care of the leaders He places over His people.  He shows the people His choice and provides for all their needs.  God expects His leaders to respect Him and to show the people that He is holy.  Leaders are held to a higher standard.  When Moses and Aaron act in frustration, no matter how