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Inspiring Gratitude – and Happy Thanksgiving from our Team!

November 22, 2017 by Ali Shaw 2 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving from your DoNotDepart team! We are so thankful for you! While we love doing what we do, we know our ministry wouldn’t exist with out our dear readers. So, to encourage you as you prepare for the “big day” of gratitude and praise, we’d like to share this image with you— feel free to download it, save it, and share it on your social media. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram and share the image directly from there.

If you’d like some Thanksgiving articles to prompt praise, here are a few articles and posts from around the web that you might find helpful:

“When You Don’t Feel Thankful” (by Lindsey Bell at The M.O.M. Initiative.) A good read for anyone who has experienced loss near the holidays or when we need a change in perspective.
“How Can We Give Thanks in All Circumstances?” from DesiringGod.org. “If the joy Jesus promises is real and you believe him, there’s no circumstance that can steal your thanksgiving.”
“Look through the Lens of Thanksgiving” — from DesiringGod.org. When you can’t see much (or anything) in your life to be thankful for, or when misery is more prominent that joy in your life, look through the lens of thanksgiving and see how God changes your perspective.
“A Thanksgiving Hallelujah “– from (in)Courage.me. If you’re hurting this Thanksgiving, your giving of thanks may be a true sacrifice of praise. This post has beautiful encouragement!
“Gratitude is the Catalyst” from (in)courage. Gratitude is important because it spurs thoughts, action, and intention.
“Thanksgiving, Thanksfeeling, and the Glory of God” – Pastor John Piper explains to us that not all thanksgivings are true thanks”feelings.” This post will really help you check the posture of your heart while giving thanks.
And last but not least, our thanksgiving series from 2014 where:
- Patti (and her son) reminded us that God loves us regardless and forever, with an abundance of forgiveness.
- Kathy reminded us that God is our refuge, protector, and strength in times of trouble.
- Lisa so powerfully shared that even with all the bruises on our souls, God still has purposes for each of us, and that means we can still share love.
- Lindsey pinpointed one really good reason to give thanks (hint: it has to do with Christ).
- Caroline shared that we can rejoice any day and here’s why.
- Ali highlighted that our best response is to turn this gratitude into praise for His light.

Do you feel thankful? We have links to posts that will prompt praise. Happy Thanksgiving friends!

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We pray that you’d be greatly blessed as you worship the Lord and give Him all the praise and thanksgiving due His name!

Happy Thanksgiving to your and yours from your DND Team: Ali, Alyssa, Caroline, Jaime, Lisa, and Patti.

Review Week – Memorizing Deuteronomy 30:11-20

November 20, 2017 by Lisa Burgess Leave a Comment

Pick out a favorite verse from Deuteronomy 30:11-20 to pray about this week. No new verse to memorize.

No New Verse

This week is our scheduled break week for memorization as we each prepare for Thanksgiving with family and friends.

However, if you’d like to stay in your routine, use this week to review, catch up on previous verses, or even look ahead to the final two verses.

Pray a Verse

See all the verses below. Or look at the graphic for all the verses we’ve learned so far and the last two verses. (Click on the image to see a larger version.) Do you have a favorite verse?

Pick a verse that most applies to you this week, and pray over it, asking God to make its truth evident in your own life.

May God continue to bless you as you choose life through His Word.

Deuteronomy 30:11 For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’
14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.
16 If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,
18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,
20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Advent & A Jesse Tree {Let the Children Come}

November 17, 2017 by Jaime Hilton 1 Comment

For two-thousand years (give or take!) people have been celebrating Christmas, developing songs, stories, and traditions to tell this most wondrous event, when the infinite God became a humble and helpless baby. Several of these early traditions remain prevalent in our culture. In our family, they have merged together in a daily, worship experience that allows us to align our hearts with the true meaning of Christmas. It is, hands down, my favorite part of the holidays.

Advent, from the Latin word for “coming”, has been celebrated by the church since the early 4^th century as a time to prepare. The early church encouraged one another to wait in expectation for the second coming of Jesus by remembering his first coming in Bethlehem. Three purple candles and a pink candle sit together in a wreath, usually of evergreen, around a white candle. During the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, we light one new candle each week, gathering together to sing and read Scripture related to the themes Joy, Peace, Love, and Hope.

From this tradition, emerged the Advent Calendar, meant to mark each day leading up to Christmas (rather than each week, as the candles do). Little windows or boxes are opened to reveal a small gift or sweet. We have a Dickensian style house with twenty-four numbered doors that my husband and I fill, sometime after Thanksgiving, with a piece of chocolate for each of our children. Once we went so far as to put M&M’s in the doors for the weeknights and Hershey Kisses in the days for Sunday, but that was a lot of extra work! In addition to making the entire season fun, we tell our kids to remember Psalm 119:103, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

Finally, the Jesse Tree, which dates back nearly as early as the Advent season, is based on Isaiah 11:1-4, and uses handmade ornaments hung on a tree to tell God’s redemptive plan for mankind from Creation to the birth of Jesus. When my oldest (now 11) was around 5, we used The Jesus Story Book Bible and some paper ornaments I found from Keeping Life Creative. Since our apartment was small and our Christmas tree already full, we hung them on our Advent wreath. Or to be more accurate, we string them together on a piece of twine which then wraps around the wreath, giving the same effect. We start the season reading about the perfection of Eden and our relationship with God, and end on Christmas Eve with the birth of Jesus, whose life and death made that relationship possible again. The wreath turned out to be a perfect picture of that circle of restoration.

We start the season reading about the perfection of our relationship with God, and end with the birth of Jesus, who made that relationship possible again.

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Story time in our house, between December 1st and the 25th, is sacred. We light the candles, enjoy a piece of candy, sing, and tell the story behind every ornament hanging on the wreath before we add a new one to the chain. As the Story is told day after day, our anticipation for Christmas grows, a shadow of the Church eagerly waiting for Christ’s return. As the kids get older, they can take on more responsibility for telling the stories, reading Scripture, or even making new ornaments. However the tradition evolves over the years, I am confident that my children will grow up knowing the reason we celebrate this season.

We tell each other the Story over and over again, eagerly anticipating Christmas Day, a shadow of the Church waiting for Christ’s return.

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Bad Consequences – Memorize Deuteronomy 30:18

November 13, 2017 by Lisa Burgess Leave a Comment

Today’s declaration has consequences. Memorize Deuteronomy 30:18 with us this week.

Learn This Week

“I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.”
Deuteronomy 30:18 (ESV)

Memory Tips

Notice that Moses doesn’t simply “say” this; he “declares” it. He is announcing something important. As you practice reciting it, you can declare it, too.

“I DECLARE . . .”

Again, it’s “today.” This is the fourth of five times in this section of scripture that Moses points out “today.”

“. . . to you TODAY, . . .”

Sometimes it’s easy to confuse “will” and “shall” when we’re learning a verse. The meaning is the same, but in this verse we see “shall” twice (except in NIV).

“. . . that you SHALL surely perish. You SHALL . . . “

A thought is repeated within this verse, using different words: perishing and not living long.

“. . . NOT LIVE LONG . . . “

And again, “land” is mentioned (as in verse 16), both entering and possessing.

“. . . in the LAND that you are going over the Jordan to ENTER and POSSESS.”

Next Week: Break

For Thanksgiving week, we’ll take a break from adding any new verses.

Study Guide

Use our accompanying study guide for this verse to think more about its meaning and its application in your own life: “I Declare – Study Guide for Deuteronomy 30:18”

Today’s declaration has consequences. Memorize #Deuteronomy30 v18 with us. #HideHisWord

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I Declare – Study Guide for Deuteronomy 30:18

November 10, 2017 by Lisa Burgess Leave a Comment

Moses is making a declaration in Deuteronomy 30:18. Use this study guide to examine how this applies to your life.

“I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.”
Deuteronomy 30:18

Download the study guide as a PDF here: Study Guide Deuteronomy 30:18

Deuteronomy 30:18

“I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.”

1. I Declare

If X happens, then I will do Y.

If/then planning is a surprisingly motivating strategy. This is the second time in our verses that Moses used it. What was the “if” part of this setup (v17)? What is the “then” result in v18? What if/then scenario are you currently experiencing in your own life? What would you like to change?

2. Today

This is the fourth of five times we’ll memorize “today” in this section of verses. List the things Moses did “today” in:

Deuteronomy 30:11
Deuteronomy 30:15
Deuteronomy 30:16
Deuteronomy 30:18
Deuteronomy 30:19

Read other verses when no waiting was required. What is happening in these “today’s”?

Luke 19:9
Luke 23:43
Hebrews 3:13
Hebrews 13:8

3. Perish

Look up “perish” (H6 – abad) in Blue Letter Bible or another Hebrew lexicon. What does it mean?

Who else is declared to perish in the Old Testament?

Psalm 1:6
Psalm 9:5
Psalm 73:27
Proverbs 21:28

What do we learn in the New Testament about how God views perishing?

Matthew 18:14
John 3:16
John 10:28
2 Peter 3:9

4. Enter and Possess

What is the difference between entering a land and possessing a land? The Israelites were promised both for obedience. What is the equivalent of our inheritance today?

Romans 8:16-17
Colossians 1:12-14
Ephesians 1:11
1 Peter 1:3-4

5. Not Live Long

Adam and Eve were also told they would surely die if they disobeyed (Genesis 2:17). But they continued to “live” afterwards. What did God mean? What did Moses mean in Deuteronomy 30:18 that the Israelites would not live long in the land? Have you wandered in and out of the land that God set up for you to enter and possess? Where are you living today?

Click on the image below for a downloadable PDF.
Study Guide Deuteronomy 30:18

Use this Study Guide for #Deuteronomy30 v18 to apply to your life today. #HideHisWord

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For memorization help, we gather at the Hide His Word Facebook group.

For more in-depth discussion on the study, share at the Do Not Depart Community Facebook group.

See the whole series here.

As the Heart Turns – Memorize Deuteronomy 30:17

November 6, 2017 by Lisa Burgess Leave a Comment

The direction your heart turns can make a big difference. Memorize Deuteronomy 30:17 with us this week to see how the sequence works.

Memorize this week

“But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,”
Deuteronomy 30:17 (ESV)

The Sequence

First, the choice was set up (Deuteronomy 30:15).

Life or death

Then, we heard the good news (Deuteronomy 30:16).

If obey, then blessed

Now, the other shoe begins to drop (Deuteronomy 30:17).

But if you don’t

Next week we’ll learn the conclusion of that statement (Deuteronomy 30:18).

But . . . but

As you memorize verse 17 this week, remember there are 2 “but”s:

But if

and

But are

It’s also helpful to notice the subjects of the three phrases in this verse.

Your heart
You
[You]

Then learn the three verb phrases.

Turns away
Will not hear
Are drawn away

Finally, put it all together:

“But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,”

Only 3 to Go

Verse 17 is a short verse, especially compared to last week’s verse 16. Continue working on both and reviewing all the verses you’ve learned so far. After this week, we only have three verses left to learn.

Whether you have memorized all the verses or are only reading along, we pray that you are being blessed by your time with God through these words.

Download this week’s study guide here: “If Your Heart Turns Away”

As the Heart Turns – Memorize #Deuteronomy30 v17 #HideHisWord

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If Your Heart Turns Away {Study Guide for Deuteronomy 30:17}

November 5, 2017 by Patti Brown Leave a Comment

From the moment they could crawl I began teaching my children to come to me when I called. Gently training them to respond to my voice was an assurance against future danger.

I would call their names with a sing-songy voice and when they reached me they would be met with big hugs and kisses. They knew Mama loved them, and that coming to me was a happy choice!

As they grew and became increasingly mobile, we usually hit a point in toddlerhood, most often in a public place (why oh why?), when they had to face the consequences of not coming when Mama called. The playground at the park seemed to be a common setting. I always let them know well beforehand that we would have to leave, but when the time came, every once in a while one of my toddlers would run in the opposite direction.

The short-sightedness of a toddler running away from his mother in a park is obvious. Stay in an exposed location with no source of food and water, or go with the person who loves you the most and takes care of your every need? It is a silly thing to even contemplate, but isn’t that the sort of choice you and I face every day?

How many times do we turn and look toward things other than our heavenly Father to fulfill our needs? The playground of the material world is filled with bright, shiny objects luring us to a place of no shelter, and away from the source of everything: the Lord God.

Deuteronomy 30:17 is the beginning of another if/then pair. Last week we looked at the results of obedience. This week we begin to look at the results of disobedience.

“But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them,” – Deuteronomy 30:17

What are the “other gods” in your life?

Download and print the study guide for Deuteronomy 30:17. We’d love to have you join the discussion in our community group as we dig deeper into this verse this week.

Printable Study Guide for Deuteronomy 30:17

Download this week’s free study guide on Deuteronomy 30:17.

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If You – Memorize Deuteronomy 30:16

October 30, 2017 by Lisa Burgess 2 Comments

If you learn this verse, then you will be blessed. It’s long. But it’s worth it.

Memorize this week

“If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”
Deuteronomy 30:16 (ESV)

If . . . Then

If you panic, by seeing how many words are in this verse, by thinking you’ll never memorize it, by questioning why you’re doing this anyway, then you will get discouraged and stop trying and eventually quit.

But that is the opposite of this verse.

Instead of being a negative if/then statement, Deuteronomy 30:16 is a positive if/then statement.

Deuteronomy 30:16 assures us that God is active, that God is good, and that God wants to bless us.

Despite its length and wordiness, we CAN memorize even this verse. Don’t worry about getting it word-perfect this week. The details will come in time as you add on the remaining 4 verses in upcoming weeks (yes, that’s all we have left!).

For now, learn it enough to be life-giving, not life-draining.

Deuteronomy 30:15 set up the choice for us (choose life and good or death and evil). Deuteronomy 30:16 now begins explaining the answers.

Let’s break it down. By chunking it, we can do this.

Think in 3’s.

1. If

For the IF section, there are 3 “by”s. They explain how to obey.

“If you obey…, by loving…, by walking…, and by keeping…”

by loving
by walking
by keeping

Under the last one, “keeping,” there are 3 things:

“…and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules…”

his commandments
his statues
his rules

2. Then

For the THEN section, see 3 good results of obedience:

“…then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you…”
Deuteronomy 30:16 (ESV)

live
multiply
bless

Under the last one, “bless,” there are 3 phrases:

“…will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”

in the land
you are entering
take possession of it

3. “The LORD your God”

Also, you’ll see “the LORD your God” 3 times.

“…obey the commandments of the LORD your God…, loving the LORD your God, …and the LORD your God will bless you…”

the commandments of “the LORD your God”
by loving “the LORD your God”
and “the LORD your God” will bless

If seeing these chunks helps you, use them. If not, use what works best for you.

God Will Bless You

Lastly, whether you memorize any of these words or not, remember this:

God doesn’t promise us a problem-free life if we follow Him, but He does promise us a blessed one.

Our blessings may differ in details, but we can trust they are for our good and His glory.

Download this week’s study guide here

If you memorize #Deuteronomy 30 v16, then you will be blessed. #HideHisWord

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If…Then…

October 27, 2017 by Jaime Hilton Leave a Comment

For five weeks we have been studying and memorizing these beautiful verses about God’s commands. We know what the command is (easy) and we know what it is not (out of reach). In verse fifteen Moses reminds the people as plainly as he can, God is giving them a choice: life and good or death and evil. Now we get to unpack the consequences.

“Consequence”, the result or effect of an action or condition, is a buzzword in my parenting circles. Typically, we have a negative association. If you don’t finish your chores, you won’t get dessert! If you push another child, you will be in time out! There will be consequences for your actions, young lady!

But of course, consequences can be good too. If you are nice to kids on the playground, you might make friends! If you make your bed every day this week, you will get a sticker for your chart.

In our verse this week, Moses sums up the condition and lays out the good consequences that will follow obedience. Bottom line, if you love the Lord your God, you will be blessed. It will be worth it!

If you studied the context of Deuteronomy 30 a few weeks ago, you may remember learning about the Mosaic and Palestinian covenants. One difference that really stood out to me is that the Mosaic covenant is conditional. The blessings promised are dependent on Israel’s obedience to the Law. But the Palestinian covenant is an extension of the original Abrahamic covenant, which unconditionally promises that possession of the land will come about because of the eternal faithfulness of God.

In other words, this is not about salvation through works.

That being said, obedience to God’s commands leads to some pretty amazing consequences: life, growth, honor – all the things that people really want when they look closely at their heart.

Moses may have summed up the choice between the good life and death into this compact little sentence, but I hope you will find the consequences of careful study to be a richer understanding of the abundance God has in store for you.

Click here to download and print your Study Guide for Deuteronomy 30-16

Obedience to God’s commands leads to amazing consequences. Study sheet for Deuteronomy 30:16

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Here Are Your Options – Memorize Deuteronomy 30:15

October 23, 2017 by Lisa Burgess Leave a Comment

We have options. Do they get any plainer than this?

Memorize This Week

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.”
Deuteronomy 30:15 (ESV)

The Choice Is Yours

See? We are doing this. We made a choice and we are memorizing Deuteronomy 30:11-20, one verse at a time.

This week we have another simple verse. (But be forewarned—next week is a long verse. Read ahead if you can!)

Moses lays down the ultimate invitation here.

This is it; this is the life-changing choice.

He first sets up two good options (life and good). Then two bad options (death and evil). Later in verse 19 we’ll see they’re phrased as good/bad (life and death) and good/bad (blessing and curse) instead of good/good and bad/bad in verse 15.

So as you memorize verse 15 this week, look for the areas in your life where you can “see” the choices you have to make. Make them visible as you recite this verse.

We’ll learn the consequences of these choices in upcoming verses.

Download this week’s study guide.