What Does The Lord Require Of You?

"WHAT DOES THE LORD REQUIRE OF YOU"

TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 10:12-22

INTRODUCTION

Right at this moment things are looking pretty good for the building of our fellowship hall. We are this close to having our permits.

One thing this struggle with the county has reinforced once again in our minds, is the power of prayer. Every time that we have bathed our visits to the county with prayer, things have gone great. And the one time that it slip just about everyone’s mind that Ronnie was going down there, and we didn’t pray, the bottom fell threw and the roof caved in. And this past week we all did some serious praying, and all those who the last time were just looking for things to block are efforts were as helpful and as nice as can be. Don’t tell me prayer doesn’t work.

This whole ordeal at times has been very frustrating. And perhaps the most frustrating thing has been trying to figure out exactly what the people issuing permits, would require us to do. It would have been great and it would have made sense if they would have said from the start, "okay, if you all want us to approve your plans you need to do this and this and this". As I said it would have been nice, but it didn’t happen that way. Each time we went down they gave us something else to do. What they told us to correct we did, and then when we went down they told us of something else that needed to be done. It seemed like this cycle would never end.

It was like we were constantly in the dark as to what the requirements were. It was really hard to figure out what was expected of us. We were never sure what we were to do.

I think we all have experienced this frustration before in our own lives, whether trying to get permits, an A on a report card, trying to satisfy our boss or trying to please a family member. It is frustrating and hard to measure up when they don’t tell us know what they want us do, when they don’t let us know what the requirements are.

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "What does God want me to do, What does God require of me?

If you have, you can be thankful, because God is not like; the county permit office, and he is not like our teachers, employers or spouse. God does not keep us in the dark, He tells us exactly what He requires from His people.

Today we will be studying Deuteronomy 10:12-22, and as we study this text we will see that God has spelled out in clear and specific detail what He expects from His people.

And as we study this passage from God’s Word (that was delivered by to the Israelites over 3,000 years ago) we can be certain that we who have experienced a far greater deliverance (a deliverance from the power of sin, and an eternal promise land in heaven), we can be certain that we will be expected to meet these requirements as well.

[Deuteronomy 10:12-22]

I. WHAT GOD’S PEOPLE OWE GOD. (12,13)

A. GOD’S PEOPLE MUST FEAR GOD.

1. When people are told to fear God, they may respond in this way; Don’t we have enough things to fear? Many people fear; disease, they fear the economy, they fear war, they fear for their safety, they fear for their families safety, they fear being ridiculed, THEY FEAR BEING REJECTED, they fear being alone and they fear death. With all these other fears why do we have to fear God to?

2. The fear of God is a prevalent Biblical doctrine. We find this concept mentioned from The book of Genesis to the book of Revelation, and in over 30 books in between. So therefore we can readily see that this is a prevalent teaching that we must understand.

3. What does it mean to fear God? Is this the fear of terror or tread? No, the fear of God is an attitude of reverence and awe that His people show to Him because they love Him and respect His power and greatness.

In the book of proverbs we read that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge". Our fear of God is the starting point of our knowledge and of our relationship to God. When we recognize who God is, "The Almighty, The Creator, Our Savior, Our Provider", we then will bow in humble adoration before Him.

4.The fear of the ungodly/sinful makes them run away from God (as it should, "it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, Heb 10:31), but the fear godly/saved causes them to fall to their knees in loving submission to God.. (Those who fear Him, trust in the Lord for he is their help and shield, Ps115:11).