STEVE WEBB - 0:00  
We can't manipulate God.

INTRO S12E320 - 0:10  
Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, and podcasting since 2004, I'm your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily show where we are reading through the entire Bible in a year. Today's Monday, so we'll read from one of the books of the Law. We're in Deuteronomy  which is the last book we'll read from the Law. And our chapters today are 13th through 15th. I'm calling today's episode, “What's In It For You?”. The show notes page for today's episode is at lifespringmedia.com/s12e320. My email address is steve@lifespringmedia.com. Let's begin.

DEUTERONOMY 13 (CEB) - 0:46  
Deuteronomy, chapter 13. (1) Now if a prophet or a dream interpreter appears among you and performs a sign or wonder for you, (2) and the sign or wonder that was spoken actually occurs; if he says: “Come on! We should follow other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced—“and we should worship them,” (3) you must not listen to that prophet’s or dream interpreter’s words, because the LORD your God is testing you to see if you love the LORD your God with all your mind and all your being. (4) You must follow the LORD your God alone! Revere him! Follow his commandments! Obey his voice! Worship him! Cling to him—no other! (5) That prophet or dream interpreter must be executed because he encouraged you to turn away from the LORD your God who brought you out of Egypt, who redeemed you from the house of slavery; they tried to lead you away from the path the LORD your God commanded you to take. Remove such evil from your community!

(6) Similarly, if one of your relatives—even one of your own siblings—or your own son or daughter or your dear spouse or best friend entices you secretly, if someone like that says: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones that neither you nor your ancestors have experienced, (7) gods from all the neighboring peoples, whether nearby or far away, from one end of the earth to the other— (8) don’t give in to them! Don’t obey them! Don’t have any mercy on them! Don’t have compassion on them and don’t protect them! (9) Instead, you must execute them. Your own hand must be against them from the beginning of the execution; the hand of all the people will be involved at the end. (10) Stone them until they are dead because they desired to lead you away from the LORD your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (11) All Israel will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again.

(12) Or if you hear about one of your towns the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, that (13) certain wicked people have gone out from your community and they’ve led the citizens of their town astray by saying: “Come on! We should follow and worship other gods”—ones you haven’t experienced before; (14) at that point you must look into this situation very carefully to see if it’s true. And if it’s definitely true that this detestable thing was done in your community, (15) you must completely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the sword. Place it and all that is in it under the ban. Put its animals to the sword. (16) Gather all the plunder into the middle of the town’s square. Then burn the city and all of its plunder as an entirely burned offering to the LORD your God. It must remain a heap of rubble forever. It must not be rebuilt. (17) Don’t hold on to any of the banned items—this will ensure that the LORD turns from his great anger and is compassionate to you, showing you mercy and multiplying you just like he swore to your ancestors. (18) You must definitely obey the LORD your God’s voice, keeping all his commandments that I am giving you right now, by doing what is right in the LORD your God’s eyes! 

DEUTERONOMY 14 (CEV) - 3:50  
Deuteronomy, chapter 14. (1) People of Israel, you are the Lord's children, so when you mourn for the dead, you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead. (2) Out of all the nations on this earth, the Lord your God chose you to be his own. You belong to the Lord, so don't behave like those who worship other gods.

(3) Don't eat any disgusting animals.

(4-5) You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. (6) It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud.

(7) But don't eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. (8) And don't eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don't even touch a dead pig!

(9) You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, (10) and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean.

(11) You can eat any clean bird. (12-18) But don't eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes. You must not eat bats. (19) Swarming insects are unclean, so don't eat them. (20) However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects.

(21) You belong to the Lord your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don't eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

(22) People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. (23) Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the Lord your God.

(24) But suppose you can't carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the Lord gives you a big harvest, (25) then sell this part and take the money there instead. (26) When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. (27) And since people of the Levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you.

(28) Every third year, instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration, bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse. (29) The Levites have no land of their own, so you must give them food from the storehouse. You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the Lord your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do. 

DEUTERONOMY 15 (GNT) - 6:55  
Deuteronomy, chapter 15. (1) “At the end of every seventh year you are to cancel the debts of those who owe you money. (2) This is how it is to be done. Each of you who has lent money to any Israelite is to cancel the debt; you must not try to collect the money; the Lord himself has declared the debt canceled. (3) You may collect what a foreigner owes you, but you must not collect what any of your own people owe you.

(4) “The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you. Not one of your people will be poor (5) if you obey him and carefully observe everything that I command you today. (6) The Lord will bless you, as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any; you will have control over many nations, but no nation will have control over you.

(7) “If in any of the towns in the land that the Lord your God is giving you there are Israelites in need, then do not be selfish and refuse to help them. (8) Instead, be generous and lend them as much as they need. (9) Do not refuse to lend them something, just because the year when debts are canceled is near. Do not let such an evil thought enter your mind. If you refuse to make the loan, they will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be held guilty. (10) Give to them freely and unselfishly, and the Lord will bless you in everything you do. (11) There will always be some Israelites who are poor and in need, and so I command you to be generous to them.

(12) “If any Israelites, male or female, sell themselves to you as slaves, you are to release them after they have served you for six years. When the seventh year comes, you must let them go free. (13) When you set them free, do not send them away empty-handed. (14) Give to them generously from what the Lord has blessed you with—sheep, grain, and wine. (15) Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God set you free; that is why I am now giving you this command.

(16) “But your slave may not want to leave; he may love you and your family and be content to stay. (17) Then take him to the door of your house and there pierce his ear; he will then be your slave for life. Treat your female slave in the same way. (18) Do not be resentful when you set slaves free; after all, they have served you for six years at half the cost of hired servants. Do this, and the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

(19) “Set aside for the Lord your God all the first-born males of your cattle and sheep; don't use any of these cattle for work and don't shear any of these sheep. (20) Each year you and your family are to eat them in the Lord's presence at the one place of worship. (21) But if there is anything wrong with the animals, if they are crippled or blind or have any other serious defect, you must not sacrifice them to the Lord your God. (22) You may eat such animals at home. All of you, whether ritually clean or unclean, may eat them, just as you eat deer or antelope. (23) But do not use their blood for food; instead, you must pour it out on the ground like water.

COMMENTS - 9:50  
Have you ever heard someone make a statement like, "You should give without any expectation of receiving anything in return"? I'm sure you probably have. And, in general, I agree with that statement as it relates to our attitude toward people. We shouldn't give with the expectation of receiving something back from them. If we do get something back, great, but we don't give with the motivation of getting something back.

Do you agree with that? It seems like a good way to avoid being disappointed if they don't reciprocate, doesn't it? And if we only give to those who have the ability to give something back to us, we probably won't be giving to people who really need the help. So there's that.

But in Deuteronomy 15, today, the people were told to be generous to those in need, because God would bless them for it. So doesn't it seem to you it does to me anyway, that it's okay for us to be generous with the expectation that there will be a blessing for us from God.

And, of course, this is not the only place that this principle is spoken of in the Bible. In Luke 6:38, for example, Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Well, to tell you the truth, I would much rather receive a blessing from God than from man. How about you?

Then here's something else. Because God has made it clear that he will bless us when we give. I don't think it's bad that we expect a blessing from him, but we need to remember that we can't manipulate God. He will never be beholden to us. We can't obligate him. This promise of His that we've been talking about does not give us license to say, “Okay, God, I gave $1,000 to such and such. So you have to give $1,000 back to me.” Well, it doesn't work that way, in my opinion. God blesses us in ways that we might not see until we see Him in heaven. Sure, sometimes he does bless his materially but not always. He might bless us with good health or the friendship of someone or keeping something we own from breaking. The possibilities are endless. And sometimes it might just be the satisfaction of knowing that we did something good for somebody.

The point I'm trying to make here is this. Don't be mercenary in you're giving give cheerfully and generously out of the goodness of your heart. And as a plus, I believe that's when God is most generous in returning a blessing.

Now, one more thing, in Deuteronomy 15, here, God spoke about slaves. Well, these days, the subject of slavery is triggering for some people. And I've spoken about it a few times here on the show, so I won't address it today. But I will have a link to one of the shows I did on the show notes page at lifespringmedia.com/s12e320. If you haven't heard what I have to say about slavery, if you think that God condones slavery, or if you're just curious to see what I had to say, go to the show notes page, find that link and listen to that show.

But what do you think about what I said today? Go to the show notes page at lifespringmedia.com/s12e320, and let me know. Tomorrow is History Tuesday, and we'll read the first five chapters of Ezra.

Boost. 

ON THIS DATE IN CHURCH HISTORY - 13:01  
On this date in church history, July 18, the year 64. Roman Emperor Nero blamed Christians for an extensive fire that destroyed most of the city of Rome. His accusation brought about the first great wave of persecution on the church.

And on this date in church history, July 18, 1681, Georg Neumark died. He was a German educator, hymnist and composer. Twice during his life he lost everything he owned, once to robbers and once to fire. He wrote the hymn, “If Thou But Suffer God To Guide Thee”.

PRAISE REPORT - 13:57  
Well today, I have a praise, but it's also more. And it came in back on July 1, but my email system put it in the spam folder, so I didn't see it until just a couple of days ago. If you've been a Lifespring Family member for a while, you probably remember that Sean of San Pedro asked for prayer for his father-in-law, Howie. Howie was in the hospital with COVID, and for some time, it looked like he wasn't going to make it. Well after several months Howie did recover enough to go home but he needed physical therapy and, praise the Lord, he's doing very well now. Well, Howie’s wife is Ann. She's written short notes a few times and has also generously donated to the show and since Sean has a jingle, I thought it appropriate that Ann of Phoenix [Phoenix jingle plays] have that jingle. They live in Phoenix.

So here's what Ann wrote: “Dear Steve, when I was growing up, I didn't realize the importance of, and the power of, prayer. When people said that they would pray for us I never understood and I thought prayers were just empty words. However, when I grew up and learned more about God's word, I came to the understanding that prayer is such a wonderful, beautiful gift we give each other. This update is a long time coming. But I wanted to say thank you to you and the Lifespring family for all of your prayers for Howie. We also had prayer warriors from our previous ministry and friends praying for him as well as family. One prayer is all we need. But hundreds of prayers helped fill a large void that we will forever be grateful for. It was by God's grace, Howie made it through and is still with us. We had nurses and doctors telling us they were so happy to see him alive because others in his condition didn't make it and it gave them hope. They were all so amazing, like God handpicked them for this time.

We've been through a lot in our lives together. One of our daughters was gone for a few years, and it was by the grace of God, she's still alive. Another one of our daughters was hospitalized with pneumonia and asthma a s a baby. And again, God's grace got us through. It was tough. But God has blessed us with three amazing daughters and sons-in-law and three grandsons and one on the way.”

And just an aside, that one on the way is coming to Sean of San Pedro and his wife, Brittaney.

Back to Ann here, “When Howie went into the hospital and was there for 71 days, I panicked. I honestly don't know why, because we have literally seen God perform miracles over and over again. However, as I look back, I see God was all over his time there. I felt his presence, also, but not knowing what his plan was going to be was really hard.”

Stopping again. Ann I can really relate to that. Because when our son Steven was in the hospital, we didn't know if he was going to make it either. And we put our life in his hands, but at the same time, it was like, what is it going to be Lord, we trust you, if you want to take him, okay, but we'd rather not lose him. So Ann, I understand that.

She continues here. “I think I panicked because I never thought about life without him. His brother passed away from COVID and other health issues just a year prior. And we were all shocked and saddened. But it was by God's grace that Howie is still with us. And we believe God has a purpose for the rest of his life. I often wonder if Howie’s brother fulfilled his purpose.”

I'll stop again here. Ann I know I'm probably not telling you anything you don't know here, but our life is in God's hands. And I don't think he'll allow us to be taken away until his purpose is fulfilled. That could be a really long discussion. But I just don't think God allows us to check into heaven early or late. God has His timing, we just have to trust that.

Getting back to Ann here. She said, “We don't deserve his grace any more than our neighbor. But we are forever grateful.” And that's true. None of us deserves his grace. Ann says, “Prayer to our Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, is what kept us going. We are not eloquent prayer warriors, but we pray from our hearts, all choppy and messed up. And we know that God hears us all always. We don't get what we want. But we do get what we need. It is very challenging to go through tough times and remain in peace. But that is our human side.

“Maybe God allowed us to go through this so I could understand residual trauma and what the girls who were trafficked, and our ministry helped, were still living with us. Maybe God helped show my husband more joy in life. Maybe when we're strong again, we will start a support group for those going through COVID. God will reveal to us one day. But for now, I wanted to say thank you for sharing God's Word through your podcast. It gave me comfort and peace when I was alone at night crying, or driving in the car to go see him at the hospital in the early mornings, and again, when I headed home at night. Your podcast gives me peace again. And I wait until the end so I can hear the prayers you so eloquently pray.”

Haha. I never thought of myself as being an eloquent pray-er. You're very kind, Ann, thank you.

She says, “May God bring you and your family even closer to Him. May He put a hedge of protection around you all. May He give you all peace and comfort. And may He provide financially and physically so you can continue to live out his great commission to love God with all of your heart and bring others to do the same. With warmest blessings to you and your family, Signed Ann and Howie.”

Well, Ann, oh my goodness, thank you so much for that email. Thank you for sharing how God has been faithful. And thank you for your very, very kind words. God bless you.

And, Beloved, this is why we pray together here on the show. So I thank *you* for joining your heart with mine as we pray, which we'll do right now.

CLOSING PRAYER – 19:35
Our heavenly, Father, how very good you are to us, Lord. How you lavish blessings on your children. You are so good to us and so faithful to your promise. And we are so undeserving, as Ann said. Yet because of Your grace and your love, because of Jesus sacrifice and the faith you gave us to invite him to be our Lord and Savior, you've made us heirs with him. That's something that's beyond comprehension, Lord, and we thank you now, and throughout all of eternity. Hallelujah. We praise you, Lord. And Lord, help us to have generous hearts show us how to give in a way that is pleasing to you. And Father again, I ask that you bless Howie and Ann and show them what's next for them as they seek your will. You healed Howie because you have a plan for them. I know that. I believe it. And I pray God that you would reveal the next step to them. I thank You, Lord, for the Lifespring family. And I ask that you bless them in a special way. And I pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

If you have a prayer request or a praise, let us know go to prayer.lifespringmedia.com.

OUTRO S12E320 - 20:46  
If you've got a comment on today's show, go to lifespringmedia.com/s12e320. Email me at steve@lifespringmedia.com, and I will certainly try to respond to you faster than I did today to Ann. I have to check that spam folder multiple times a day, and I hate that but sometimes I'll find it nugget in there. Anyway, thanks to the team: Kirsty Sean of San Pedro and Denise. I thank God for you every day.

And thanks to the Lifespring family sat streamers. You know who you are, even if I don't, I just want you to know I appreciate you very much. Beloved, what a privilege it's been being part of your day today. Thank you. And are you glad the show is here? Are you getting something out of it then please help to support it lifespringmedia.com/support. It's all about value-for-value. If you get value from the show, send some of that value back.

Now, until tomorrow, may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb.

Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai