Deuteronomy 29:
16 " Surely you remember how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we travelled through the lands of enemy nations as we left.
17 You have seen their detestable idols made of wood, stone, silver & gold.
18 The Lord made this covenant with you so that no man, woman, family or tribe among you would turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no fruit amongst you would bear bitter and poisonous fruit.
19 Let none of you who hear these warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking 'I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This would lead to utter ruin!

This scripture makes me think of two things, one being of the Proverbs parable of a dog returning to it's own vomit and about the scripture about a righteous man bowing to worldly temptations being like a muddied creek or a polluted well,
and the other being God's covenant with us so "that no man, woman, family or tribe among you would turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no fruit amongst you would bear bitter and poisonous fruit." Also, "Let none of you who hear these warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking 'I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This would lead to utter ruin!"

The cause for prayer for our unsaved family members and friends is again pressed into my heart this morning. As well as grief for ways that I have turned and looked back upon Egypt, and thankfullness to God for protecting me from desiring to do as I used to do.

"Let none of you who hear these warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking 'I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This would lead to utter ruin!"


You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
Words of Jesus Christ in John 8:23-24

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
Words of Jesus Christ in John 11:25-26


"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!"
Words of Jesus Christ in Mark 7:6-9


You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
Words of Jesus Christ in John 5:39-40



These scriptures make me feel sad but that sadness is mixed with the hope that the Lord gives us for salvation through Him. I would say it's a bittersweet feeling, but it's not, it's mostly sweet. God is so good that He gives us so many opportunities to turn to Him, to say " Jesus I want to know you. Will you show yourself to me?" I pray that our family members and friends will not be able to say that they do not know of God because they haven't heard of Him through us. I also pray that our family members and friends will not look upon as, the Christians that they know personally, and see a muddied creek. A polluted well. I would not want to drink from a polluted well or a muddied creek. I want to make God look good, not bad. Of course, I am a saved sinner and will always have sin right here to struggle with but am I fighting it? Am I making an effort to be different? Or am I lounging lazily in it, telling myself that I am forgiven? 'Presuming upon the grace of God'? I know there are times when I have/will do just that, and I thank God that He is so full of mercy towards me. Yet I still must make my commitment be to stay as pure as I can, keeping at bay any pollutants that may come in with my power. The rest that I can't control, this is in God's hands. Let me do what work I can do to join hands with the Lord and work out my salvation with fear and trembling.

Not too long ago I made a mistake and thought that I could handle going out on the town with some ladies I am close with (none of them saved)and how quickly I was reminded of how these kinds of outings were a part of Egypt for me, how quickly I felt and knew that which was sin for me once again~ the drinks were flowing out of the bar,the behavior getting looser and more daring from one of our friends,and I,
standing there thinking, 'What in the world am I doing here, doing as these people do?" Of course, these are my friends and I love them but by 'these people' the thought was the people who live this way,becoming drunk, acting irrationally,needing to be covered. And then during my quiet time the next afternoon(!) I was struck by the scripture about a righteous man who bows down to worldly temptations being like a muddied creek or a polluted well. And my heart was sad. I do not want to be that muddy creek or polluted well! "Let none of you who hear these warnings of this curse consider themselves immune, thinking 'I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' This can also be applied to the Christian living out life in this world,I think.So, while this is a small example maybe, compared to worshipping idols made of wood, stone, silver & gold but for me to continue getting together in that way with those friends would be for me to continue in what I now know is for sure sin for me. Worshipping an idol of wanting to do what these girls do, but no, I cannot-should not- do as they do for now, it is sin for me. All I have to say is, thank you God for bringing me out of Egypt and for protecting me from going back!


Please, Lord, remind us to pray for our unsaved family members and friends regularly, because this is a big deal, this is their soul for eternity and their life here on Earth too, and Lord please remind us regularly of
"this covenant with you so that no man, woman, family or tribe amongst(us) would turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other nations, and so that no fruit amongst (us) would bear bitter and poisonous fruit." Thank You God for giving every one of us chances to turn from our own ways and trust in You and Your ways, and thank you for hearing our prayers!
Also, please remind us also that none of us who hear these warnings of this curse should consider ourselves immune, thinking 'I am safe, even though I am walking in my own stubborn way.' because this would lead to utter ruin. Thank you Lord, for Your provision for us Your children and for keeping us safe every day!