Maranatha Grace Church

Brothers and Sisters,

We live in a very individualistic society; people believe that they should put their interest first above everything else. Achan thought the same way, he put his interest above the welfare of a whole nation. But the sinful act of that one person caused thirty six men to lose their lives and trouble to come on the people of God.

¹⁰ The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? ¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. ¹² That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction. (Joshua 7)

Please read Joshua 7 - 9. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters, 

God's blessings are generational blessings. We find his promises to bless the children of those who love him throughout the Bible. One such promise is found in Psalms 112:1-2, "Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed."

Since the next generation must carry the torch of blessings,  they must remember what the Lord has done for this present generation, for their parents and  their grandparents. "⁴ So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, ⁵ and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶ to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ⁷ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.” (Joshua 6)

Please read Joshua 4 - 6. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea^[a] for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.^[b] 11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.(Joshua 2:10-11).

Our God is greater, stronger, and more powerful than any other. His power should bring fear to our hearts, as it did to the people of Jericho. 

Please read Joshua 1-3. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

³⁰ How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up? (Deuteronomy 32)

This verse shows that with a good partner and with God on your side, you can accomplish ten times more than you can accomplish alone, not twice, but ten times more.  

Matthew 18:19 in the New Testament tells us something that is beyond our human understanding, it is like we have a blank check in heaven if we can find someone to agree with us.  Jesus told his disciples, “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." The difficult part is to find that one person to agree with about anything. 

Please read Deuteronomy 32 - 34.And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

²⁹ The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29)

Please read Deuteronomy 39 - 31. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless ou!

Brothers and Sisters,

We need not wait until problems befall us to turn to the Lord. To keep those problems from coming into our lives in the first place is "to serve the Lord, our God, with happiness and with gladness of heart, when we have abundance of everything" (Deuteronomy 28:47). It is not enough to go to the motion of serving the Lord, we must serve him with happiness and gladness of heart.

Please read Deuteronomy 26 - 28. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters, 

²¹ If you make a vow to the Lord your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. ²³ Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the Lord your God with your own mouth. (Deuteronomy 23)

The warning concerning the making of a vow reminds us that our words matter. The Lord Jesus went a step further when he told his disciples, "But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken." (Matthew 12:36) If we want our words to be powerful, it is important that we restrain ourselves from telling too many jokes, innocent ones or not. 

Please read Deuteronomy 23 - 25. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

¹⁵ One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.(Deuteronomy 19)

In a lawsuit the first to speak seems right, until someone comes forward and cross-examines. (Proverbs 18:17)

Please read Deuteronomy 18 - 22. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

⁷ If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need.(Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

I hope that none of you look down upon those who have less than yourself. God is generous to the prosperous and the impoverished, so we should reciprocate the generosity to our fellow brothers and sisters who are in need. 

Please read Deuteronomy 15-17. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

⁴ You must not worship the Lord your God in their way. ⁵ But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go;(Deuteronomy 12:4-5)

For the Israelites, place of worship was not left to the opinion of an individual; They had to worship God at His prescribed place and among other worshippers of God.Today it may not be easy to find the place where God wants you to worship, but it is out there. There is a place where He wants you to worship, he has not called us to follow him in isolation.

Please read Deuteronomy 12-14. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— ²⁷ the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known." (Deuteronomy 11)

As it was for the Israelites so it is for us; we have to make a choice. We can choose to obey and to love God and receive a blessing, or we can choose to follow other gods and be cursed. It is a choice between life and death, between light and darkness. Choose the Lord. 

Please read Deuteronomy 8 - 11. And Listen

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

We must not say  “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today."(Deuteronomy 8:17-18). It was not easy to come to this country and put in the hours to become the professionals, i.e. nurses, engineers, etc, that we are now. But never forget it is God who has allowed us to be prosperous.

Please read Deuteronomy 6-8. And Listen.

May the Lord richly Bless you.

Brothers and Sisters,

There is more to sin than sin that people can see. The tenth commandment deals with what happens in our minds and in our hearts, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Deuteronomy 5:21). An attitude of gratitude will go a long way in helping us overcome covetousness and jealousy. 

Please read Deuteronomy 3 - 6. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you,

Brothers and Sisters,

Please read Numbers 36 - Deuteronomy 2. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

We are living under grace not under the law, however the law is useful to us since it reveals the ugliness of sin, and consequently it gives us a better appreciation of the grace found in the Lord Jesus.  

The Lord told Moses:

²⁹ “‘This is to have the force of law for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.³⁰ “‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

³¹ “‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.³² “‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.

³³ “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’” (Numbers 35)

Please read Numbers 31 - 35. And Listen.

May the Lord richly bless you!