"Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing."

                                    -Deuteronomy 7:26

My Bible reading this week has found me in the book of Deuteronomy - my favorite Old Testament book. Though all Scripture is given by inspiration of God (II Timothy 3:16), this particular book has always been especially dear to my heart, and I'm always anxious to see what ways God chooses to speak to me through it.

Anyway, last night as I came to this passage I began to reflect on the importance of living a sanctified (i.e. set apart) life. The Lord made abundantly clear the absolute necessity of staying away from those things which defile, and these words apply just as much to us today as they did to the Israelites the day they were written. No, these are not some archaic tenets that can simply be discarded by Christians of the 21st century; they are in fact more relevant today than ever before, as evil continues to abound more and more (Matthew 24:12), and the need to be separate from the world thus increases.

The word "lest" in this passage indicates that the two actions spoken of are directly related. That is, bringing a "cursed thing" into one's home inevitably causes them to become cursed as well ("lest thou be a cursed thing like it"). In the day and age in which we live, Satan has made it exceedingly easy to bring such "cursed things" into our homes (and thus into our hearts) by means of MP3s, DVDs, magazines, the Internet, video games, and television. Though these things are not sinful in themselves, many people have lost out with the Lord because of temptation faced on the Internet, obsession over video games, and idolizing a box we call the television.

We read in II Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." When we give our heart to the Lord, everything should change. The music we listen to, the videos we watch, the clothes we wear, and the people we hang out with. If nothing changes, then we probably haven't really changed either.

"The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

                            -Deuteronomy 7:7-8

I was reading in Deuteronomy earlier tonight, and these verses have been on my heart ever since. I know that many times in my walk with God I have questioned how He could possibly love me, and why He chooses to use someone like me when there are countless people out there with so much more to offer Him. But through this Scripture we catch a small glimpse of why God picked us, out of all people, to be ambassadors for His Kingdom: to put in quite simply, He loves us.

Moses told the Israelites that the Lord didn't choose them because they were large in number. They were in fact very few in number. But, in reality, that is one of the reasons God did choose them, for Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:27, 29, "...God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty...That no flesh should glory in his presence." In other words, God delights in using those whom the world would classify as a nobody, because then He gets 100% of the glory for all that He accomplishes through them. When the Lord made a young shepherd (David) king over His people, the credit for His success couldn't be given to previously acquired academic skills or good social standing; God got it all. Likewise, when God uses people like me and you, all who see His working us will say with certainty, "God is doing something great through them." 

So if you've ever asked yourself, "Why did God choose me?", then know today that it wasn't because you had something special to offer Him. It was because He loved you - it was because He made you.

Have you ever had one of those days where God somehow finds a way to speak to you through everything that happens? That's the kind of day I've had. This week we went on a camping trip, and the Lord ministered to me through the most peculiar of ways. For example, last night at around 3:00 A.M., our dog went into some kind of frenzy, barking hysterically. Obviously, when you're surrounded by woods and are half asleep, you expect the worst. We shot out of our air mattresses, only to realize it was a raccoon scampering through our campsite. As I laid back down, I began wondering to myself why we are so easily scared when God is right there with us all the time. I've read about God's omnipotence, and even blogged about it, but God had to send a hungry raccoon up to our tent in order to teach me what it really means.


Then, on the way home, it seemed like almost every song that came on the radio was hand-chosen by God. Songs I'd heard dozens of times suddenly took on a new meaning as the Lord began opening my eyes to what I thought I already saw (don't you love it when that happens?). In only a short time, my Heavenly Father taught be about dependence, love, faith, and more. But perhaps the greatest lesson I learned today was about contentment.

After I had a bite to eat this evening, I went outside to feed and water my ducks. After they ate their supper, they then marched over to their little swimming pool from which almost all the water had evaporated due to the extreme heat we've had today; but to my surprise, instead of waddling back to their pen, they swam anyway. They had the time of their life swimming in no more than a half inch of water! As they did their best to bathe themselves in water that barely covered the tops of their feet, I began to wonder what life would be like if we, as Christians, had this kind of contentment. What if, instead of focusing on all that we wish we had, we were satisfied with what God has already given us. Sure, it would be nice if we had more money, a bigger home, and a nicer car - but is it really necessary? The world around us may have all that their hearts could ever desire, but God showed me today that being satisfied with just a little brings more joy than does discontentment in the midst of material abundance.

Are you seeking/longing after earthly gain? If so, know that "godliness with contentment" is gain in itself (I Timothy 6:6). No matter who you are, there's always going to be somebody better off than you, and thus you'll always be faced with the temptation to want more, but only in God's grace will your heart be able to find satisfaction.

"And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

                            -Eph. 6:17

In the first century, before the days of armored tanks and automatic weapons, the sword was the primary offensive tool used in battle. No, it wasn't some relic that could be found hanging over one's fireplace, or a plastic children's toy; it was a deadly weapon. For this reason, Paul chose the sword as a fitting symbol of God's Word.

But as good an illustration as this may be, we read in Hebrews 4:12 that the Bible is in fact "sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." When faced with spiritual battles, we are no less than doomed to failure if we enter the battleground without our sword.

"And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada...went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:"

                            -II Samuel 23:20

In our walk with God, we will face our fair share of battles. And just like what happened to Benaiah, those battles often take place in the most inconvenient of circumstances. In this case, Benaiah's battle took place in the middle of a pit right in the dead of winter! When we encounter such situations spiritually, we don't have time to run and get a Bible, or to flip through our concordance until we find the desired Scripture; we've got to know the Word, and make our decisions according to Its teaching - often without a minute to spare. The fact is, by the time we get off the phone with our pastor asking for verses on predestination, the window of opportunity to witness to our friend or neighbor may well be past.

"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

                            Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Finally, we memorize Scripture because it is an express commandment from the Lord. Memorizing God's precious Word is no more optional than church attendance or prayer, and we should make whatever sacrifices necessary to ensure that it is part of our daily lives.

Up until about two and a half years ago, my spiritual life was like one big roller coaster ride. I would constantly flip back and forth between serving the Lord and serving myself, and I never stayed in the same place for very long. But then, in January of '08, I had a life-changing experience with God and I've since found that commitment I once lacked.

Since that day, my life has changed drastically. I have no desire of any kind to return to the ways of this world, and to be honest, I've done almost everything imaginable to ensure that I don't. Sounds good, right? To an extent, it is; but we've got be careful that we steer clear of the idea that we can somehow earn God's love. Let me explain:

After I truly gave my life to God, I developed a very systematic routine of serving Him. I decided on an amount of time I wanted to spend praying every day, and would actually mark down my new daily total after I spent any amount of time in prayer. I also had a daily quota when it came to Bible reading, Scripture memorization, and a set number of minutes I had to spend reviewing past memory verses. If, at the end of the day, I had completed my "to do list", I considered it a good day; if otherwise, I felt almost as if I had sinned and vowed to do better next time.

I looked at my routine as a sort of "safety net." I told myself that if I began to drift from God, my prayer schedule, Bible reading plan, etc., would keep me from drifting too far. Rather than depending on the Lord to catch me when I fall, I depended on my self-imposed rules to keep me in line. I guess I thought it was impossible to drift from God if you were being so careful to make Him a part of every day. I was wrong.

I've discovered that my legalistic view of how I could please God was anything but a safety net; it was a stumblingblock. Instead of keeping me in line, these rules only served to burn me out spiritually and cause me to drift from the Lord - the very thing I was trying to avoid.

Routines are by no means sinful; in fact, I plan on carrying on with much of the routine I've developed. But instead of going to bed asking myself, "How much time did I spend praying today?", I will now ask, "Do you think God is pleased with how you spent your day?"  Rather than asking, "How many chapters of the Bible did you read today, and what is your weekly total of memorized verses?", I'll be asking myself, "What did you learn from your Bible studies today, and how can you make sure you are a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only?" 

The reason I write this is not to encourage you to abandon all of your spiritual disciplines. But I am asking you to examine your heart and see if perhaps you are depending on good works more than you are depending on grace. Take my word for it, it doesn't work.

"Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

                            -Galatians 3:3

As of late, I have taken a special interest in photography (you can probably tell from my last two posts). My favorite thing to photograph is wildlife, flowers, and just nature in general. As a result, I recently created a new blog through which I will be sharing some of my favorite shots, and I wanted to let you know about it. You can check it out here. While you're there, feel free to leave me a comment or two, and if you'd like to know when I add more photos, go ahead and follow me! Please keep in mind, though, that it is still a work in progress, and that more features will be added in the near future.


And don't worry! I will continue posting regularly here at A Look at Life from a Deerstand. The regular devotions and encouragement will continue!

                                         


Last week we went to the park with my family, and one of my cousins pointed this tree out to me. At the time I just thought it was a pretty cool tree, and so I took a few pictures of it. But last night the Lord began to minister to me and show me the spiritual principles to be learned here.

Just like this tree, "the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is" shall be as a tree "planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7, 8) Because Christians have a constant supply of spiritual nourishment, we should be able to bring forth fruit in our lives continually. When hardships fill our life, and at times when anybody else would throw in the towel, we can continue to press on.

While everybody else is looking for the meaning of life in sinful things, we have found are own little oasis from which we may drink continually. While the world around us perishes with thirst, we can not only survive, but we can thrive!

If you've done much reading on my sidebar, then you know that I enjoy raising ducks. Don't ask me why, I just do. I suppose there's just something about it that appeals to me. Anyway, after having ducks for a little more than a year now, I've noticed some very interesting similarities between us Christians and these feathery creatures.

First of all, ducks are completely defenseless to predators. The only hope they have of escaping the claws of a hungry raccoon is to fly away (which most domestic breeds can't even do). They have no teeth, so they can't bite; they have no claws, so they can't scratch. They are totally helpless.

Second of all, they know only one voice: the voice of their master: the one who feeds them, takes care of them, etc. My mom has actually whistled at my ducks the same way that I do, and they won't even lift their heads. But if I whistle, they go into a frenzy thinking it's time for dinner. Whether it's time to eat or not, when I call, they respond.

Do you see what I'm getting at? As Christians, we are completely defenseless against the devil apart from Christ. The only protection we have is found in the shadow of His wings (Psalm 17:8). Furthermore, true Christians respond only to the voice of their master. The Lord even said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:" (John 10:27) When the devil tries to deceive us, we should be able to know immediately that it is not the Master speaking, and discard everything he says. He may appear as an angel of light (II Corinthians 11:14), and even disguise his voice to sound like the Lord's, but a Holy Ghost filled Christian should still be able to discern which voice is that the of the good Shepherd (John 10:14).

This post is a little unusual, I know, but I wanted to share with you this amazing video. I think that so often Christians allow themselves to be burdened with the guilt of past sins, not realizing that they are forgiven, and removed from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). To be completely honest, there have been times in my walk with God that I've been kept up at nights dwelling on sins that God doesn't even hold against me anymore. If you have ever done this, or perhaps are even doing it now, please watch this video. You won't regret it!

So tomorrow I, and a couple of my cousins, are starting a Scripture memory group. Each week one of us chooses a verse for the group to memorize together, and shares a few thoughts on why they chose that passage, etc., etc. This week it will be my turn to pick, and I have selected I Kings 8:56 as the first verse for our group to study:

"Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant."

I love this verse because it tells us to just what extent God keeps His promises. He won't do just most of what He says He will; He does it all. If He says He'll meet all our needs in Christ Jesus, then He'll meet all of our needs in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). If He says He'll never leave or forsake us, then He'll never leave or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). Simply put, God doesn't lie, and He will fulfill every promise He has ever made.

Just as Solomon testified that not one word of all the Lord's good promise had failed to come to pass, we also can say with assurance that God has always been, and will ever be, faithful to keep His Word. As the Scriptures say, it is impossible for Him not to (Hebrews 6:18). When all else is falling down around us, the promises of God are a sure and steady foundation, and we can stand upon them with confidence.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

                            -Matthew 5:10, 11 

In the past, I've spend a lot of time focusing on how privileged American Christians are. But the fact is, even American Christian will face a degree of persecution (II Tim. 3:12), and we need to be prepared for when it comes.

If you have been serving the Lord very long, then you've probably faced persecution for it. No, I'm not talking about going to jail; I'm talking about being made fun of, criticized, and mistreated because of your faith. If you have ever experienced any of these things then, rest assured, great is your reward in heaven. By enduring persecution, you are taking part in Christ's suffering (I Pet 4:13), and we should rejoice when we face such trials (Acts 5:41). After all, if we're being mistreated because of our faith, that is an indication we are doing our job right: living out our faith for all the world to see.


In my life, I've heard many people say that they don't think America will ever become like other nations, and take away our Bibles, and our right to worship. Admittedly, I've probably said that a few times myself. But the truth is, we can't be sure. Who knows? It could be that next year being a Christian will be against the law. But what about today? If you were arrested on the charge of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you? If they looked at the visited websites on your browser, would they conclude you are a Christian? If they looked at your DVD collection, your CD collection, and even the clothes in your closet, would they say, "Never mind. We see now that you are not a follower of Christ. You are just like everybody else."? If so, then be aware that God will probably say the same words to you on Judgment Day.


As a final thought, I heard once that life is like a never-ending downward escalator. Being a Christian requires turning around, and running full speed in the opposite direction. Naturally, you'll get a few awkward glances as you march your way up, but what else do you expect? If you don't bump any shoulders, it's probably because you're heading in the same direction as everybody else.

Nathan from over at Whispered Roars was kind enough to award me the True Faith blogging award. To show my gratitude, I would like to pass along this award to a few people who's faith clearly shines through in their blogging.

1. Camden at Counter Cultural. His blog, as well as his encouraging comments, have been a blessing to me many times. If you don't already follow him, then let me encourage you to do so. I'm sure you'll be motivated by His Biblically based posts.
2.  Carissa from Rejoice Always is constantly posting something encouraging, edifying, and thought provoking. If you like to be challenged in your faith, check out her blog!
3. Micah Leake has learned how to trust in the Lord in good times as well as in the bad. Check out her blog, Unfading Beauty, if you want to learn to do the same.

Out of the numerous blogs I follow, these are the three I believe to be most deserving of this award. I didn't just randomly pick them; I intentionally selected the ones with authors who I believe to have True Faith. Click the links, follow the blogs and, while you're there there, leave them a comment or two!

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God."

                            -Matthew 5:9 

All you have to do is turn on the news and you'll soon realize that peace is not abounding in this world by any means. Violence runs rampant at both a national and local level, and even homes are being torn apart because of society's inability to simply get along. The saddest part of it all is that this spirit of strife and discord has even found its way into the church itself! How foolish we must look to the world as we claim to worship Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), while arguing and backbiting over things that are often insignificant!

As Matthew Henry wrote, "The peace-makers are happy. They love, and desire, and delight in peace; and study to be quiet. They keep the peace that it be not broken, and recover it when it is broken. If the peace-makers are blessed, woe to the peace-breakers!"* Did you see it? If being a peace-maker brings God's blessing, then surely being a peace-breaker will provoke His wrath! In fact, in the book of Proverbs, we find that "he that soweth discord among brethren" (6:16-19) is an abomination in the sight of God.

In order to be a peace-maker on a larger scale, we must first make peace with those we are close with. Is there somebody in your family, your church, or even in your neighborhood that you need to make peace with? If so, don't delay in doing so today! As Christ said, the peace-makers "shall be called the children of God." If you want to be a witness for Christ, being a peace-maker is one of the best ways to let people about the change He has made in your life.

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men."

                            -Romans 12:18

* Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary