Come Alive

"And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." Deut. 8:2-3 (NKJV) 

I'm delightfully submerged in the One Year Bible reading. We are in Deuteronomy and the people of God are on the outskirts of the promised land. They are so close. 

Reading the Bible in context is a beautiful thing. This time around, I'm noticing how many times the text reads "remember."

Remember your God. Remember what He did for you. Remember. Remember. Do not forget. 

 

This particular passage speaks about how circumstances cloud our memories. The people of Israel are no longer in Exodus. They are now settled in a great land.

Being settled has a way of clouding our memory and judgment. We start to think we delivered ourselves from the slavery of Egypt. We start to think that we are the ones with power to get wealth, not our gracious God.

Remembering our God helps us to keep things in perspective. He led us here with his mighty power. We didn't lead ourselves. 

Obeying His commands guarantees that things will go well for us. What I mean by guarantee is that God blesses obedience. None of us is immune from trouble and tribulation in this world. Jesus did say we could be of good cheer because He overcame the world. 

During this passage, Moses is reminding the people of Israel of all the things God wants them to know and obey. Jesus knew this passage very well. When being tempted (see Matthew 4:4) He used this passage of Scripture. 

Indeed, man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

These days, my husband and I say the same thing to our kids. We make it applicable by telling them that we all need to read our Bibles. The best way to know the word of God is to read our Bible.

These words of life come alive. They came alive for Jesus when He was tempted by the devil. They came alive for me when my thoughts and the faith I profess were not matching. I was praying in faith and my thoughts were reflecting unbelief. Deuteronomy to the rescue. Through the pages of the Bible, I read that God is who He says He is and He can do what He says He will do. 

I repented. I proceeded to pray with trust and remember who my powerful God is. 

I'm not sure if you are walking through a perilous path as the children of Israel once did. I'm not sure if like me, you are struggling to believe that your prayers are going to get answered. 

I am here to encourage you to let the words of God come alive. 

Remember your God. Open His book. Come alive by the Spirit of the living God.