Your Identity – Not What People See Or Think - Day 2
OPENING PRAYER:
Father, open my mind and heart to Your Word today. Help me to believe what You say is true. Amen.
The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him. And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised. Deuteronomy 26:16-19 NIV
REFLECT:
Moses speaks to the people of Israel, as God speaks to each one of His believers today. It is a covenant promise between Himself and anyone who comes to Him and declares Him as Lord and Savior of their life. The promise is simple and direct: It is true but must be accepted and believed. If you give your heart, evidenced by a life of obedience, to Him THEN He has declared you to be His “treasured possession.” You are a “people holy to the Lord your God,” all reliably based on His promise to you. The Hebrew word for treasured possession is segula. It is used in Deuteronomy 7:6 and 14:2, “The Lord has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession (segula).” In Ecclesiastes 2:8 it is the “treasure of kings” (segula). In Malachi 3:16-17 “my treasured possession” (segula) refers to “those who feared the Lord” and looks forward to the end times. The Lord chooses to assign this identity to those who respond to Him. We do nothing to earn it.
APPLY:
Moses speaks to the people of Israel, as God speaks to each one of His believers today. It is a covenant promise between Himself and anyone who comes to Him and declares Him as Lord and Savior of their life. The promise is simple and direct: It is true but must be accepted and believed. If you give your heart, evidenced by a life of obedience, to Him THEN He has declared you to be His “treasured possession.” You are a “people holy to the Lord your God,” all reliably based on His promise to you. The Hebrew word for treasured possession is segula. It is used in Deuteronomy 7:6 and 14:2, “The Lord has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession (segula).” In Ecclesiastes 2:8 it is the “treasure of kings” (segula). In Malachi 3:16-17 “my treasured possession” (segula) refers to “those who feared the Lord” and looks forward to the end times. The Lord chooses to assign this identity to those who respond to Him. We do nothing to earn it.
APPLICATION:
Hearing the phrase “treasured possession” must stir thoughts or pictures in your mind, even emotions in your heart. To be someone’s treasure is to be seen of tremendous personal value in their eyes. What do you consider to be a treasured possession of your own? How do you care for and protect it? How do you set it apart as something more precious than all the rest? Can you grasp being God’s treasured possession? Repeat this aloud about yourself – “I am God’s treasured possession. I am His segula.”
CLOSING PRAYER:
Dear Father God, I know that You declare me to be Your treasured possession. This is not to create pride, but value, in me. Help me to accept these words that You speak over me. Move me to live in the assurance of Your love and work in me, even as I struggle at times in my Christian walk. Help me to bring others to a place of accepting Your promise for their lives and future. In Jesus name, Amen.
WORSHIP: