Sanctified to serve Him

Just want to let you know that although I have gone quiet on my daily readings, I have NOT given up, in fact, I have been trying hard to catch-up. Since my last post (a month ago), I have covered Deuteronomy 30-34, Joshua 1-24, Judges 1-21, Ruth 1-4, 1st Samuel 1-24, and some chapters from Psalms (7, 27, 31, 34, 52, 56, 120, 140-142), which is a total of 27 days from http://www.bibleinayear.org/. So, no I did not manage to do much catching up. :-(

How can I do justice to all that the Lord has said through these chapters? I simply can't, there is just so much to write about. One thing that sticks to my mind as I look back now is that I remember getting depressed reading about how human nature forces us to behave like the Israelites in Deuteronomy, Joshua and Judges - they were singularly unable to rise above their human nature and serve God, and today we are much the same way. We all have weaknesses in our lives that the Lord deals with, and some of these weaknesses have become such strongholds that we continually fall back into the same sins. But compared to the Israelites of old, we are so priviledged to have Jesus already come to die for us, and also to have Him tell us that He has removed our sins. Without Jesus, we simply cannot fulfill what we are made to do - to worship God.

Rejoice!

I have definitely fallen behind in my daily scripture reading. It has been almost a month since my last post, and I have only covered 14 days of bible reading from http://www.bibleinayear.org/ - Numbers 28-36, Deuteronomy 1-29. :-(

As I recall the chapters that I have read, I am reminded that we are commanded by God to rejoice in Him. In the book of Deuteronomy alone, it was commanded 8 times (or more): Deuteronomy 12:7, 12:12, 12:18, 14:26, 16:11, 16:14, 16:15, 26:11, and probably summarised in the verse "... you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house ..." (Deut 26:11, New King James version). It does not say "you will rejoice" nor does it say "it's good for you to rejoice", it says "you shall rejoice, which implies that what is required is a conscious effort to rejoice in Him, even as we remember God's awesome grace in our everyday lives.

I have to confess that this is an area of failing in my life. Whenever the troubles at work becomes too much to bear, I tend to start looking for things of the world to retore my peace and joy - be it training or dreams about "extravagent luxuries". I'm struggling with what it means to derive joy from the Lord - I am sure that He blesses us with material things out of love, just as I want to give R1 & R2 nice things, but I sometimes find it hard to make sure that I am seeking Him and not His blessings.