After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9-11

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.  Deuteronomy 9:4-6

Day 46 of my chronological study of the Bible with The Daily Bible® - In Chronological Order (NIV®) (available by purchase through Amazon - author F. LaGard Smith) focuses once again on Moses exhortations to the Israelites as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. As I have posted for the past two days, Moses and the Israelites know that Moses will not be entering the Land, but he loves the Israelites and seeks to impart both encouragements and warnings for those he loves.

Re-emphasizing the exhortations to avoid arrogance and to instead be humble, Moses sets the record straight with the Israelites that God's gift of the Promised Land to them was "not because of [their] righteousness" but instead due to the wickedness of the inhabitants of the Land and "to accomplish what [God] swore to Abraham, Issac, Jacob" and their descendants.  Yesterday, my post was about how our skills and abilities do not produce wealth - instead it is God who produces such wealth, and that any skills and abilities that contribute to such wealth building all come from God.  Today, the angle is that we don't deserve how God blesses us - we all have some degree of the Promised Land in our life - this is true for every single one of us because what we all deserve is death as we all sin (Romans 3:23, 1 John 1:8), not one of us is righteous (Psalm 14:3, Psalm 53:3, Romans 3:10-11), and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). 

God, please help me be humble.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who - out of great mercy and compassion - has humbled me and helped become less arrogant - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such mercy and compassion because I am STILL arrogant - please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Jonah 4

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” v10-11

Jonah's self-righteous attitude leads him to grow angry over not just the Lord's compassion for Nineveh (see v1-4), but also over how he believes the Lord fails to shelter him from the heat (see v7-9).  

In Jesus' day, the Jewish leaders cared more about their own opinion, status and comfort than about others' - in defiance of God's law as laid out by Moses (see Matthew 23, Exodus 20 and Matthew 22:37-40). 

All are deserving of God's grace and salvation - it's not up to us to decide...only God can do this.  We must put God first, then others....humility (vs self-righteousness and arrogance).  

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, what an awesome God You are that You are so full of grace and compassion. You love me and You saved me while I was still sinning...and I continue to do so.  Thank You for Your love and grace. I am not worth such love.  I am often harsh with my words and actions.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

Jonah 4

But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?” v10-11

Arrogance, selfishness and righteousness are at the core of Jonah's anger at God's compassion.  God's response to Jonah is difficult for me today as I see much of myself in Jonah.  I often feel like I know what is best, I am critical of those who disagree with my view and I get angry or grumble/complain about those who criticize me.  

God is sovereign.  God is good.  And I must remember that His thoughts and ways are not my own and that I must come around to His way of thinking not vice versa.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

I must become present to what God IS doing in my life NOT what He is NOT doing in my life.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God, God of all creation, the First and the Last and You are my Lord and Savior, having loved and chosen me while I was still sinning and even before I was born.  Thank You Jesus for adopting me as You son but please forgive me for my arrogance, selfishness, and righteousness.  Help me overcome and turn from such sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself strength.  Please heal and cure her of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Help me serve You, my family, my church and others. Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

1 John 1

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. v8-10

John, like Peter does, spends much of his energy warning us about false teachers and teachings (see also commentary here).  We must not be deceived, and on this topic John warns us even further that we must not make false claims about our righteousness and our holiness.

... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God....Romans 3:23

We all need Christ to cleanse us of our sins, as He CAN, and He WILL.  We of course must truly repent and turn from our sins towards Christ and renew our minds (Romans 12:2).

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, what a great God You are, You suffered and died for me, so that I would not be slave to my sins and so that I would have eternity in Heaven with You.  You did this knowing everything about me, including my sin.  You continue to forgive me when I come to You and You protect, encourage, guide, provide, etc.  How awesome You are!  Thank You Jesus for coming into my heart and my life.  I need You desperately.  Please forgive me for my lack of action.  Help me serve others as if serving You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength.  Give Lisa strength.  Please heal and cure her of this cancer.  Help her rid herself of the chemo side effects and be protected from harsh side effects from radiation.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

Titus 3

But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. v9

Although Paul's intent here was to write about the self-righteous Jewish leaders who would argue and focus on the law for the sake of being right.  However, I think this verse can be equally applied towards anyone who focuses their energies on being right and arguing with others to pump themselves up.  I am sometimes guilty of such a sin.

My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God and You are so full of grace and mercy even though I am not deserving.  Thank You Jesus!  Please forgive me for my self-righteousness.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Help me love others as You do.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give me strength. Give Lisa strength, comfort and freedom from pain.  Help me lead and serve Lisa, Zach and Dustin.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.