January 16, 2014 – Thursday

Start Time: 5:40 A.M.

End Time: 6:20 A.M.

Title: Release for Debt Slaves

Scriptures: Deuteronomy 15:1 – 23  

God’s Message / God’s Promise / God’s Commands:

→ Moses continued telling the people God’s commandments and he said that after every end of 7 years, there is to be a general forgiveness of debt.  This is how it is to be done every creditor is to give up his right to whatever he has let his neighbor have; he is not to make his neighbor, his countrymen, give it back; because a general forgiveness has been ordered by the Lord.  A man of another nation may be forced to make payment of his debt, but if your brother has anything of yours, let it go.  There will be no poor among them because God will bless them certainly in the land that He gave them, if only they give ear to the voice of the Lord their God and take care to keep all His orders.  For the Lord their God will give them His blessing as He said He would; they will let other nations have the use of their money but they will not make use of theirs.  They will be rulers over a number of nations, but they will be their rulers.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who is in the business of setting slaves free!  Even in the beginning, God showed that He wants everyone to be free and never in debt.  That’s why He made a command to free everyone after the end of every 7 years.  He never wants His people to be indebted to someone else because He is a God who provides and blesses!

Ø God is a God who doesn’t want any of His people poor!  He wants His people to be rulers and lenders to others and not the other way around.  In this passage, you can clearly see that God wants His people to be lifted up or raised up above the rest because He has chosen them and He is their God!  It’s good to be part of God’s family because we are sure to be blessed and that we will never be poor in Him!  Hallelujah!

→ If in any of their towns in the land which the Lord their God is giving them, there is a poor man, one of their countrymen, then they are not to let their heart be hard or their hand shut to him; but let their hand be open to give him the use of whatever he is in need of.  And see that there is no evil thought in your heart, moving you to say to yourself, the seventh year is near, the year of forgiveness, and so looking coldly on your poor countryman, you give him nothing; and he will make an outcry to the Lord against you, and it will be judged as sin in you.  But it is right for them to give to him, without grief of heart; for because of this, the blessing of the Lord their God will be on all their work and on everything to which they put their hand.  For there will never be a time when there are no poor in the land; and so God gives orders to them that they let their hand be open to their countrymen, to those who are poor and in need in their land.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who ensures every one of His people is taken cared of!  He made sure that there’s no poor among His people, not because everyone will be rich but because the poor will have the rich to provide for their needs.  And those rich people that do so will be blessed by the Lord to become a more blessing to others!  This is how God operates!  He does not make everyone the same, but He ensures that everyone is taken cared of!  Praise God!  And those who take care of His people are truly and wonderfully blessed.  Everything they touch will be blessed so it is better to do the work of the Lord for God will outpour more of His blessings on You!  That’s why people who serve God continue to serve Him all their lives!

→ If one of their countrymen, a Hebrew man or woman becomes their servant for a price and does work for them six years, in the seventh year let the man or woman go free.  And when they make him free, do not let him go away with nothing in his hands.  But give him freely from your flock and from your grain and your wine; in the measure of the wealth which the Lord your God has given them, they are to give to him.  They are to keep in their minds that they themselves, were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord their God made them free; but if the male or female servant say to them that they have no desire to go away from them, because they and their family are dear to him/her and he is happy with them; then they are to take a sharp-pointed instrument, driving it to his/her ear into the door, and he or she will be their servant forever.  They are not to let it seem hard for them to send him/her away free; for he/she has been working for them for six years, which is twice the regular time for a servant and the blessing of the Lord their God will be on them in everything they do.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who sets the captives free and He does not set them free empty handed!  Hallelujah!  When Jesus leads us to freedom, HE does not allow us to be free with nothing on our hands!  The slaves, or we, are given the chance to plunder our captors!  Not because our captors are evil but the captors that are willing to be plundered by their slaves are blessed by God entirely in everything that they do!  What an amazing God indeed!  A great twist in everything!  The Year of Forgiveness is truly a great year of blessings and provisions but note that the receiver of these blessings must let go of what they have first!  The slaves will have to let go of their slaves life, which is all what they have as a slave.  The captors will have to let the slaves plunder them freely and willingly, which is letting go of what they currently own!  What a great God we serve!  It is by letting go that we receive blessings from the Lord!

Ø God is a God who gives His people the power to choose!  As a slave, at the end of the 7^th year, they are to be released however if the slave decides to remain as a slave, he or she has that choice.  The captor or master will then forever own them.  Still in a different perspective, both are still blessed.  The slave will have what he or she wanted to be under his or her captor’s hand always.  The captors will have the chance of having the slave forever.  Still a win win situation for both sides!  God really thought thru of everything!  Amazing!

→  All the first males to come to birth in their herd and flock are to be holy to the Lord their God; the first birth of their ox is not to be used for work, the wool of their first lamb is not to be cut; but year by year, they and all their house are to take a meal of it before the Lord, in the place of His selection.  But if there has any mark on it; if it is blind or has damaged legs, or if there is anything wrong with it, it may not be offered to the Lord their God.  It may be used for food in their houses; the unclean and the clean may take of it, as of the gazelle and the roe.  Only do not take its blood for food, but let it drained out on the earth like water.

NOTES:

Ø God is a God who gives and requires the best!  He gives His people the best and so He wants the best from us as well!  Every first born are His, only representing that He should be priority in our lives!  That’s why everything that is first is His!  We should make God our number one as He makes us His!  Let’s give Him what He deserves, nothing but only the BEST!

Application / Realization:

Ø God wants us free and He wants us to be free rich!  The Lord has always been an advocate of being free!  He wants His people to be free from whatever is enslaving them but the greatest part of all is that HE wants them to be free with a life that is rich!  He does not set us free empty handed; HE ensures that we have resources to start a new life with Him!  What an awesome God we have!

Ø God does not want anyone in His people to be poor!  And those who are, He ensures that they are provided.  He allows the rich to bless the poor so that He may bless the rich with everything their hands touches!

Ø God makes sure that we are all taken care of.  He makes sure that His provision is evident in our lives and that our lives in Him are totally secure and provided for!

Ø God is a God who gives us choices and He blesses those choices, especially when it is under His will.  So make the right choice in life.  Never doubt God’s capability and just fully lean and trust in Him for He knows what’s best for all of us.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank You!  You are great and awesome!  You take care of me and ensures that everything in my life is well provided for.  Great and mighty, amazing in power and love You are. I am truly blessed to have You as my God for You not only sets me free from slavery, You set me free RICH in You!  Father I am blown away with Your love, Your goodness, and Your Grace!  I cannot imagine anything or anyone who can think this way towards their children or people.  Only You God and that’s why there is truly none like You Lord.  Holy Spirit, help me to totally trust and surrender in You for You plan best for my life.  Give me the heart that is assured in You Jesus.  Cast away all doubts and help me to live in Faith in You.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!