Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Thoughts On Scripture From Kenton Cheek

These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

If I obey the Lord, life will go well for me.  I notice that it doesn’t say easy, it says well.  I know that I will not see all of this wellness in this life, but I know I will experience the fullness of His wellness in the next.  For instance, telling the honest truth is not always easy and sometimes the truth causes the boat to be rocked or upsets the applecart, but long term, truth and honesty does a world of good for the health of my relationships.  Obedience can be disruptive to the worldly status quo, but all things work out for the good for those that love Him and are called according to His good purpose.

⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[a] 5} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.

The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God, and yet here we are told that there is only one God.  The Trinity is a theological solution, not a problem.  Three persons in one God.  This forms the basis for the Great Commandment of Jesus Christ, to love God, love others and love ourselves in holy and healthy ways is the greatest commandment of all and it sums up all the law and the prophets.

⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

It is vital to make the Word of God part of our daily life and to pass on the principles of the Bible to our children and grandchildren so that future generations will know and fear the Lord and be blessed that it will go well with them also.

¹⁰ When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, ¹¹ houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied, ¹² be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

I must be careful to give the Lord all the praise and all the glory for what happens in my life.  My strength, intellect, everything comes from Him and so He deserves the credit, my worship and undivided affection.

¹³ Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. ¹⁴ Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; ¹⁵ for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. ¹⁶ Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. ¹⁷ Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.

Yahweh is the only true and living God; there is no one who is His equal and that is part of what makes Him holy.  There is no one beside Him.  Yes, there are false gods, idols, dead saints, angels and demons that people worship, but no one is like our God.  There can only be one Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent God, otherwise He would not be omni anything.

¹⁸ Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, ¹⁹ thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.

My mother in law reminded me just the other day of a phrase that my Grandma Cheek used to say, “always do what is right.”  Deuteronomy 6:18 reminds me of her wise, goldy words.

²⁰ In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” ²¹ tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. ²³ But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴ The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. ²⁵ And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”

People ask us why we serve the Lord.  It is helpful to have our testimony ready to share with them. 

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

—I Peter 3:14-16