Love and Obey the Lord.

So this is the first blog post I have written in quite awhile.   Life sure does change quickly whether we realize it or not.  Anyways I want to dedicate this post to talking about the love of God and obeying him.

In my bible reading a came across  chapter 11 of Deuteronomy.  If you get the chance you should read the entire chapter.  As I was reading a few verses stood out.

"Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."
     -Deuteronomy 11:18-21(NIV)


The children of Israel were given commandments and told to abide by them and life would be great.  As many people know, they didn't always follow the commands.  We thousands of years later look back on them as a bunch of whiney people that would constantly complain about things.  The Lord would get angry and then the people would repent and everything was a-okay until they started complaining again.

But are we so different?  I know I can get into this rut of "on Sunday you go to church, read your bible everyday, pray before meals and bedtime, etc. "
We may not complain about being in bondage but we might complain about our jobs, our living conditions, and so on.

And what about the good times?  Do we constantly praise God for all the good things he has placed in our lives?  I know I fail to do so.    Hebrews 13:15 says "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise- the fruit of lips that confess his name. "  

Here are some lyrics of a song called Million Voices by BarlowGirl
"How can we be silent
When a fire burns inside of us?
'Cause we're a million strong and getting stronger still
They'll remember we were here
With a million voices breaking silence till
They'll remember we where here."

How awesome would that be if all the Christians in the world joined together in living so differently that people took notice and couldn't resist asking what made that individual so different.  And now a shout out to my Dad's favorite song.  Listen to the Sidewalk Prophet's "Live like That." Really inspiring song.  
Anyway.  What really struck me about these verses is the fact that they were supposed to put reminders everywhere, teach their children, and constantly talk about what they were supposed to do and about, I think, how good the Lord is.  They were constantly reminded about the Lord and the wonderful things he had done for them.  I think in our modern day, we lost something really valueable in not dong that.  My dorm room has scripture verses everywhere.  Mom gave me an envelope with a verses in it that I pick out one a day and hang it on my bulletin board.  I know that I look forward to picking out a verse.  So every time I sit at my desk, I have constant reminders of God's love, promises and things that I should do or act like.  I think we all should have little reminders everywhere of God.  


The Lord that created everything loves us.   He sent he only and beloved son to die a horrible death for each one of us.  How he loves us.

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us, oh,
Oh, how He loves us,
How He loves us all

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us, oh,
Oh, how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
So Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about the way...

He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.
Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us,
Oh, how He loves.

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh, how He loves us...
Oh, how He loves us...
Oh, how He loves us.

The Lord of all creation loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us.  So what are we going to do?

-Courts Mcgee