Newsletter #391 - May 2011 - By Shepherds Chapel - http://www.shepherdschapel.com/

Charity can be translated as love in most cases in the Bible. Our Father's love for His children balances everything. Love conquers all. In some cases, we deserve tough love from our Father. He only chastises those that He loves. When Father chastises you, understand that He is doing it for your own good. Let's begin in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

This is the greatest commandment according to Jesus Christ. God expects us to fear Him, love and serve Him. The word "fear" may be translated "revere".

Deuteronomy 10:13 To keep the commandments of the LORD, and His statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

God is preparing Israel to enter the promised land. This is a type for us, today. We also are preparing to enter the promised land, that is to say the millennium.

Deuteronomy 10:14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 15 Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

This is the chosen seed through which Messiah would be born. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ made salvation available to every soul on earth.

Deuteronomy 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

God doesn't show favoritism or take bribes. You can't buy your way in. You must earn your way in with love.

Deuteronomy 10:18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. 19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

God loves all His children whether they be orphans, widows or foreigners. You should love them also. This doesn't apply to foreigners who are trying to kill you. God expect us to protect ourselves.

Deuteronomy 10:20 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave, and swear by His name. 21 He is thy praise, and He is thy God, That hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

Terrible would be better translated awesome. Your Father is awesome, and He loves you. Return His love.

Deuteronomy 10:22 Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

Only seventy of Jacob's family went into bondage to Egypt. Now the seed of Israel is as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea as God promised Abraham. Where are they today? If you know history, the ten tribes of Israel settled Europe and then migrated to the United States and Canada. Skip with me to Chapter 11.

Deuteronomy 11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

Love God, and He will bless you. The former rain allows seeds to germinate and grow into plants. The latter rain allows the plant to mature and grow fruit. Do things God's way, and you will always have plenty.

Deuteronomy 11:15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

Notice there were conditions to receive God's blessings. Allow yourself to be pulled away to other god's and see how much rain you get.

Deuteronomy 11:17 And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and He shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you. 18 Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

This refers to the practice of writing Scripture on sheets of paper and placing them in a box to be worn on the forehead. Make sure you bind the Word in your mind.

Deuteronomy 11:19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Teach your children God's Word. Teach them about God's love for them. Teach your children that we receive God's blessings, when we love and serve Him.

Deuteronomy 11:20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

Place the power of God's Word over your life, and nothing evil will be able to enter therein.

Deuteronomy 11:21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

You can't claim the blessings, unless you meet the conditions. Don't ever overlook the "ifs". You must love and serve God.

Deuteronomy 11:22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him; 23 Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

With God's help, Israel was able to conquer mightier and more numerous nations. With God's help, we can conquer any enemy, including Satan.

Deuteronomy 11:24 Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. 25 There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

The outcome isn't so pleasant for those who don't do things God's way. Leviticus 26 states that God can also make you run at the sound of a rustling leaf, and fall when no one pursues after you. The choice is yours.

Deuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; 27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: 28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

The choice is entirely up to you. You can have God's blessings or a curse. Why would anyone choose the latter? Let's go to the great Book of Matthew in the New Testament.

Matthew 22:35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, 36 "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?"

They didn't realize the Living Word was standing before them. Listen and learn.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment.

This commandment is spiritual, and covers the first five commandments which pertain to God.

Matthew 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

This commandment is civil, and covers all of the commandments that pertains to all relationships with other people.

Matthew 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

If you love God, you try to keep all the commandments. We all fall short from time to time. Thank goodness for repentance and forgiveness. Love your Father. That is the greatest commandment of all. Let's go to 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

Charity is love. When God's Spirit is in you, people can sense the love coming from within you. Tongues should be translated languages.

1 Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

You may have all kinds of gifts, but if you don't love your Father, the gifts you have are wort nothing. God isn't going to bless you, unless you love Him. The choice is yours. You may receive a blessing, or a curse.

1 Corinthians 13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

Love isn't proud, nor does it parade itself.

1 Corinthians 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

Love is not rude. It isn't easily provoked to anger and thinks no evil. Are we able to fit this description perfectly? No, but we try. And, Father counts that as good.

1 Corinthians 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

Stick with God's truth. You will always be blessed.

1 Corinthians 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

While all other gifts may fail, love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

Perfect means mature. When we mature, that which we partially understood becomes complete.

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

When we mature, we no longer need childish things.

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

To see through a glass, darkly, means that it seems like a riddle. What I know in part, I will know completely, even as God knows me.

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

You may have all the other gifts in the world, but without love they are nothing. Love your Father, and He will love you.

In His service,
Arnold Murray