Sermon Notes PDF Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates .… (Deut. 11:18-20) Battle for the Mind Whether we know it or not, we are in ; and, ultimately, it is a battle for our minds. On the one side stands the Lord God, who provides us with the truth we need. On the other side stand the powers of darkness, who endlessly lie to us. The path to victory goes through . Victory belongs to the one who learns this. The Blessings of Obedience (Deut. 11:1-32) Deut. 11:1-7. Remember: if we are to live faithful lives, it is critical that we remember that we were once slaves and that God has set us free. Lasting ruin: The Pharaoh of the Exodus may have been Ramses the Great; Egypt declined after him and never regained its former glory. Dathan and Abiram: Two rebels whom God punished by having the earth swallow them up in an earthquake. (Num. 16) 11:8-17. Most of Egypt is flat, and its life depends on an extensive series of irrigation canals drawn from the Nile River. Israel is mostly hilly and depends on rainfall. God’s promise is that the rain will come if Israel is obedient. In this sense, the land of Israel is under God’s care, rather than under the care of canal workers. All your heart and soul: God wants our love, not just our rituals. If you love God, it is not a burden to serve Him (1 John 5:3). We are not slaves, but children of a benevolent Father. 11:18-21. Symbols: Israel was to build their lives around the Word of God. Orthodox Jews take this text literally, binding Scriptures on their foreheads and wrists (phylacteries) and attaching them to their doorframes (mezuzahs). Christians adopt the precept behind this statute: we commit Scriptures to our minds, to the work of our hands, to our homes, and to all we do. 11:22-25. Territory: Israel would have inherited the entire Levant if it had been obedient—all the way from the Sinai Peninsula to the Euphrates River. Though it came close to occupying this entire stretch in the days of Solomon, Israel never really reached its intended borders because of persistent disobedience. 11:26-32. Gerizim and Ebal: Two tall hills in the northern part of the central mountains. Gerizim has a dozen springs on it and is still the headquarters of the Samaritan religion—hence the mount of blessings. Ebal is dry, barren and still largely uninhabited— hence the mount of curses. Living in the Word of God Realize that everyone you know is engaged in a life and death battle with spiritual forces (Eph. 2:1-2; 6:12). Some will win, others will lose, but there won’t . Recognize that the evil one’s power lies in his ability to deceive. When the devil lies, he is . (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Tim. 4:1) Trust the Word of God to light up the room of your life. Through the Scriptures, we are able to make sense of the world and then to know what to do. The Scriptures can make us mature. (Deut. 8:5; Psalm 119:105; Matt. 4:4; 2 Tim. 3:16-17) from pagan media, entertainment, and ideas. Stop underestimating the power such media have. (Eph. 5:11; 1 Thess. 5:22; James 4:4) Spend time every day meditating on and praying through the Word of God. TAWG (time alone with God) opens a place in our minds for God to bless us. on the Word all day long, interpreting your experiences in light of the Word. (Psalm 119:97) What does the Bible tell me about the things I am experiencing today? Obey the Word. is the best teacher. (James 1:22-23) The simple man who obeys the Bible understands it infinitely better than even the scholar who can read it in 16 languages but who doesn’t obey it. Discovery Bible Study (DBS): A Powerful Tool DBS is an inductive Bible study that asks the same eight questions regardless of the chosen biblical text. It leads us to discover God’s will for our personal lives. DBS can be used evangelistically, in classroom settings, in small groups, for training leaders, for private Bible study—in short, in any venue. Anyone can do DBS: it is simple enough to put on a bookmark, and even those who don’t know Jesus can use it. For more information, go to https://northboulevard.com/teaching/discovery-bible-study The key to DBS is . Without this key, DBS is powerless. So when using DBS, expect obedience, and hold yourself and others accountable to it. God’s blessings are reserved for those who obey, not for those who merely hear. “The Devil doesn’t fear austerity but holy obedience.” – Francis de Sales Your notes: