Your Father will fight for you...

Deuteronomy 1:30-31
30 Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.”(WEB)

In today's Bible passage, Moses tells the people of Israel how God promised to go before them and fight for them. Verse 31 is the key to why God has committed to fight for Israel... The NIV Bible, says verse 31 this way... and in the wilderness. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.” (NIV)

The reason why God provides for us and promises to fight for us is that He has a Father's heart towards us. When He looks at us, He sees His beloved little ones and His ferocious love rises up so that He might carry us in all of life's difficulties. My prayer today is that each and every one of us would know that our heavenly Father has promised to really be a father to us in every way that we need Him. And He promises to fight for us when we need to be rescued!

2 Corinthians 6:17-18
17 Therefore,“‘Come out from among them, and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing. I will receive you. 18 I will be to you a Father. You will be to me sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (WEB)

Blessed are the peacemakers...

Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. (WEB)

Our elder brother is called "The Prince of Peace", so it stands to reason that His siblings would love peace as well. In today's reading from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that one of the distinctives of God's children is that they love peace.

God has promised every believer the peace that passes understanding. The peace that comes from God will guard our heart and our mind and will be our umpire. My prayer today, is that each one who is part of our Father's amazing family, would be peacemakers in all that we do so that we would be recognized by those around us as children of God.

2 Corinthians 13:11
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Be perfected, be comforted, be of the same mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you. (WEB)

The Lord is my shepherd...

Psalm 23
1 Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in Yahweh’s house forever. (WEB)

A young shepherd boy named David learned an invaluable lesson while tending his father's flock... Through loving, protecting and laying his own life down for the sheep under his care, David learned something of the heart of God. ...He has the heart of a shepherd too!

In Hebrews 13:20, Jesus is called the Great Shepherd of His sheep. In John 10, Jesus tells us how His sheep hear His voice and always follow Him. In verse 11, Jesus even says that the shepherd lays down His own life for the sheep.

No matter where we go or what we do, God's shepherding heart is watching over us. He provides for us, He protects us, and He restores us. May this revelation go deeper into all of our hearts today. We are not alone in this world, for we live all the days of our lives under the Great Shepherd's care.

Hebrews 13:20-21
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, 21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (WEB)