Deuteronomy 15

“Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do. There will always be some in the land who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭15:10-11‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/deu.15.10-11.nlt

We must always have a compassionate and giving heart for the poor.  We must not forget them. There's such a growing number of homeless people in America. God blesses us with so much so we can give back to those in need. Love this reminder to give more freely.

Deuteronomy 6:12
"...be careful not to forget the Lord, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt."

This scripture really stood out to me and seemed to be more applicable to the GMG discussion question:The greatest commandment is that we love God. When things are going well, it is easy to lose our focus on Him and the blessing He gives. What steps are you taking to ensure that God remains the focus of your life during the good and bad times?

I find this verse to be so true.  Leading up to the above scripture says, "When you have eaten your fill in this land...." We tend to get comfortable once we've reached a certain status, or accomplished a particular goal.. and sometimes qw don't spend enough time in the word, prayer or simply fully relying on God like we once did when we had no other options. I'm guilty of this. 

Here are a few steps to keep you focused on God during the good/bad from a working and busy woman's perspective:
 -When you come from home from work, go right to the bedroom and read the word.  Either end the day or start the day with scripture
-Have scripture reminders/notifications on your bible app
-Use your commute time to hear a sermon
-Pray for your week and what's on your heart Sunday evenings.

Just a few things that help me.   



 

Mark 8
s: “Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?” “Twelve,” they said. “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?” “Seven,” they said. “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.

‭‭Mark‬ ‭8:17-21, NLT‬‬

O:  Jesus is trying to get his people to understand and have faith in God. He provides miraculous wonders right in front of them and for them on this journey, and they still don't understand and complain and worry.  Jesus is frustrated.

A: Jesus  talks about the hardness of the heart. I think when your heart is open, your mind becomes open. And you shine. We are always forgetting the works God does for us in our daily lives, big and small. And we go right back to our ways of complaining, arguing and worrying. We have to get back to a stronger faith and a deeper knowing.

P: God forgive us of our lack of faith and forgetfulness of all you have done, are doing And plan to do.  Renew our hearts and minds, Lord. Amen.

I can relate to putting my own plans and goals first and not really considering what Gods plans might be for me.  Definitely something to pray on.

TBG wrote:

Mark 2

Scripture
2:18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
 
2:24 And the Pharisees were saying to him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"
 
Observation
They felt Jesus was not as holy and religious as John and the Pharisees. They had a hard time accepting Jesus because He was not what they were expecting and they did not understand His purposes.
 
In verse 20-22 we see Jesus telling them that a new work is being done. And we, as readers see the first glimpse of the new covenant and new way God was going to work in man and relate to man. This new work won’t fit the old paradigm.
 
Application
Do we have hard time accepting Christ in our lives because discipleship is not offering us what we are expecting or we do not understand what God is trying to do?
 
Even as believers we can be pushing against or not submitting to God’s leading, direction and will because of these same reasons; it is not taking us where we want to go and we cannot understand where God is going.
 
That has always been the struggle for me, being about God’s priorities and plans and not my own. I think I need to spend more time thinking about God and what He wants and less time always obsessed with my own ideas, plans, desire and goals.
 
Prayer
The words from this worship song come to my mind: Jesus, my passion in life is to know You. May all other goals bow down to this journey of loving You more. Hear my hearts cry and my prayer for this life. Above all else, give me Yourself.

Wow this a great observation. I also admire the trust of the people and people God appointed to lead. Nowadays we question everything.

TBG wrote:

Numbers 10
 
This is a beautiful picture of God’s leading and the people’s trust.
 
S: 10:35 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, "Arise, O LORD, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.
 
O: Moses understood that it was the power of God that was protecting them and overcoming for them. But, notice he said God’s enemies, not his or Israel’s enemies. It was God’s agenda that was important and anyone that was against God, not Moses or Israel.
 
A: We need to understand also that it is not for us to succeed, for us to overcome, but for God to overcome in us first, then through us.