I love DEUTERONOMY!

Deuteronomy 28

^1-6 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world....^11-14 God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won't have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you'll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don't swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.

Deuteronomy 29

¹ These are the terms of the Covenant that God commanded Moses to make with the People of Israel in the land of Moab, renewing the Covenant he made with them at Horeb... ^2-4 Moses called all Israel together and said, You've seen with your own eyes everything that God did in Egypt to Pharaoh and his servants, and to the land itself— the massive trials to which you were eyewitnesses, the great signs and miracle-wonders. But God didn't give you an understanding heart or perceptive eyes or attentive ears until right now, this very day.

^5-6 I took you through the wilderness for forty years and through all that time the clothes on your backs didn't wear out, the sandals on your feet didn't wear out, and you lived well without bread and wine and beer, proving to you that I am in fact God, your God. ^14-21amGod, our God, yes, but also with those who are not here today. You know the conditions in which we lived in Egypt and how we crisscrossed through nations in our travels. You got an eyeful of their obscenities, their wood and stone, silver and gold junk-gods. Don't let down your guard lest even now, today, someone—man or woman, clan or tribe—gets sidetracked from God, our God, and gets involved with the no-gods of the nations; lest some poisonous weed sprout and spread among you, a person who hears the words of the Covenant-oath but exempts himself, thinking, "I'll live just the way I please, thank you," and ends up ruining life for everybody. God making it with you who are standing here today in the Presence of won't let him off the hook. I'm not making this Covenant and its oath with you alone. I

Deuteronomy 30

^1-5 Here's what will happen. While you're out among the nations where God has dispersed you and the blessings and curses come in just the way I have set them before you, and you and your children take them seriously and come back to God, your God, and obey him with your whole heart and soul according to everything that I command you today, God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he'll have compassion on you; he'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered. No matter how far away you end up, God, your God, will get you out of there and bring you back to the land your ancestors once possessed. It will be yours again. He will give you a good life and make you more numerous than your ancestors.

^6-7 God, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children's hearts, freeing you to love God, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live. God, your God, will put all these curses on your enemies who hated you and were out to get you.

^8-9 And you will make a new start, listening obediently to God, keeping all his commandments that I'm commanding you today. God, your God, will outdo himself in making things go well for you: you'll have babies, get calves, grow crops, and enjoy an all-around good life. Yes, God will start enjoying you again, making things go well for you just as he enjoyed doing it for your ancestors.

¹⁰ But only if you listen obediently to God, your God, and keep the commandments and regulations written in this Book of Revelation. Nothing halfhearted here; you must return to God, your God, totally, heart and soul, holding nothing back.

^11-14 This commandment that I'm commanding you today isn't too much for you, it's not out of your reach. It's not on a high mountain—you don't have to get mountaineers to climb the peak and bring it down to your level and explain it before you can live it. And it's not across the ocean—you don't have to send sailors out to get it, bring it back, and then explain it before you can live it. No. The word is right here and now—as near as the tongue in your mouth, as near as the heart in your chest. Just do it!

¹⁵ Look at what I've done for you today: I've placed in front of you
Life and Good
Death and Evil.

I LOVE how Moses preached it! He was about to die, and BAM! I mean, this just... explains the whole concept of a relationship with God.

He can bless us if we obey Him. If we disobey, we will fall into the destructive consequences of our own choice. But when we realize that, and turn back to God (for realz), He's not like, "Well, I told you so!" But rather, He will OUT DO Himself in restoring us and putting us right back in place.

How great is our God!

It's funny how people would have a problem with the old testament. They say it promotes slavery. But if you read it as a whole, you see that God set a higher standard for the people that would be called by His Name. A standard of compassion, and love, where every soul MATTERS.

You could be rich or poor, slave or free, native or foreign, male or female... born or unborn... you mattered to God, and He set laws in place to protect you, to restore you, and to provide you with second and third chances when life went wrong.

The Israelites were the ONLY ancient nation to permanently release slaves... and not just when they earned it, but every 7 years - whether they paid their price or not. They were the ONLY ancient nation to demand by law restitution for the harm or murder of a slave. They were the ONLY nation to create inheritance laws that protected women. They were the only ancient nation to demand restitution for the harm of an unborn life.

They did so because God was their God! Because He gave Moses the wisdom to set laws that would bless the people - ALL the people. And every time I read Deuteronomy I'm like, "Wow! God You cared! And You still care!"

I just love it.