72 - "Don't Stay Discouraged" Joshua 1-3

Dear Kids,  “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful whatever you have inherited. "Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it...Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.

How can we grasp an ironclad hold on this?  Don't stay discouraged.  God is with you! What I see in the Book of Joshua:  The severity of what is wrong in places like Haiti is a heart-wrenching insight into a fraction of the picture of the severity of what’s wrong in our own hearts.  

And Oh! The Wonder of a Beautiful God moving through history, our story, to move us into holiness. Oh! The enormity of what He is doing in our lives. 

“Be strong and very courageous." So, right where you are fixed with all emotion and involvement and commitment and confusion---God is with you in the midst of your mess.  But make no mistake, you’re a beautiful mess. I know this firsthand today. I stood at Costco's with tears streaming down my eyes. I had just learned that I had been "left out" of a gathering that I so wanted to be a part of. I've felt like a "third wheel" most of my life and let the circumstance of today rule my thoughts that I was an uninvited loser. I couldn't stop crying. I was stuck in the thought that "no one wants what I have to offer." What God brought to mind with people curiously staring at me as I stood sobbing in the Costco cafe line was this---God is with me in this. God knows. Don't stay discouraged. I got out of it. 

So, this night I want you all to know you are all deeply loved! I hope you know you were loved and prayed for if you read this someday and I'm no longer here.  I hope you know in deep places how much you were loved growing up to this very day.  

PHOTO:  Xmas 2022 ... Spicewood Springs

71 - "Your Strength Is Equal To Your Day" Deuteronomy 32-34

Oh my! God's Word Deeply Touches this heart of mine.  This day.  These events.  Your strength is equal to your day. This event. Why have I never seen that verse before---Deut 33:25.  These are the words of Moses, a song that sinks deep in our storied lives.

O! Moses, the 21st Century hears your words:

Your teaching drops as the rain,

distilled as the dew,

like gentle rain.

Dt 32:2

So! Take to heart these last words of Moses:

Tell them to your children so,

they may do the Word.

It's your very life.

Dt 32:47

With eyes undimmed and vigor unabated:

Moses blesses those he leaves,

Remember this every day:

There is none like God

Dt 34:26

He rides through the heavens to your help

Through the skies in His Majesty.

The Eternal God is your

Dwelling Place.

Dt 34:26

Three Verses from the mouth of Moses

that have carried me through.

His words have been 

Life to me. 

Scores of years and years later.  And these words of Moses fall like rain on me this day.  It's been a tough week.  It's not over.  I've struggled more than usual.  No answers.  Trust in this darkness.  

What I see in the Book of Joshua:  The severity of what is wrong in places like Haiti is a heart-wrenching insight into a fraction of the picture of the severity of what’s wrong in our own hearts.  And Oh! The Wonder of a Beautiful God moving through history, our story, to move us into holiness. Oh! The enormity of what He is doing in our lives. “Be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. … This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night.” Joshua 1:8.  “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you.  I will not leave you or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5.  So, right where you are fixed with all emotion and involvement and commitment and confusion---God is with you in the midst of your mess.  But make no mistake, you’re a beautiful mess. 

Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark.And those are the    words of Moses. May our words be filled with life. 

PHOTO:  One of my daughters and her baby boy.  People are so important in our lives.  But there is No One, No Thing, more important in our lives than God.

70 - "The Secret Things Belong To God" Deuteronomy 29-31

 

Dear Ones, even if you have been banished to a distant place, your God will gather you. 

God has gathered Carolyn Teague in a beautiful way as she sits 24/7 in a nursing home facility with no movement of her legs or life. Her mind is all there but that's it. 24/7.

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven.  Nor is it beyond the sea.  No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. Deut 29:11-14. I hope all the words you've ever heard help you to truly live. 

When you call to mind what you have done . . .
Return to the LORD your God.

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deut 29:29

PHOTO:  Visiting Carolyn in Norman is the closest to heaven you can get. Never mind, the cumulative odor of folks being taken care of slowly. Never mind, the missing pictures on the wall and the treasures you've found all your life. It's a bare room. And. The sun sets on another day.  What is revealed is what we walk in.

69 - "A Blessing For Your Life" Deuteronomy 28

What would it be like to have been there and hear this blessing from God.

Standing on Mount Gerizim to bless the people:

Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

No Moses.  No Aaron.  

Blessed shall you be in the city & blessed shall you be in the country.
Blessed shall be the offspring of your body,
and the produce of the ground,
the increase of your herd,
Blessed shall be all your flock,
Blessed shall be your basket and your bowl.
Blessed shall you be when you come in & blessed when you go out.

We must ask ourselves every time we read the Word of God: "What's the point?"  

Here, blessings shout out from the top of one glorious mountain followed by curses delivered from the peak of doom mountain. 

Wherever we go in life---
dwelling in the country or the city, 
leading our little ones, 
gathering our food for the day,
working hard at what we do,
living life whether it is coming in or going out.

Wherever we go...
Wherever you are, there is a blessing that can rest upon you---if we follow God.
Doesn't mean that everything will work our way, no!
Means that everything will be considered and cared, 
re-directed or re-created by the Providential Hand of God.
Take Courage.  The Good Hand of God is on you to bless you today and always.

Deut 28:3-6

PHOTO:A blessing from the mountaintop on our family.  How can we live this out is the real question.

68 - "Don't Bring Sin Upon Your Family" Deuteronomy 24-27

The Living Word! Some of us end up in marriages that we would not have chosen had we not been swept away by the moments of our youth ~ #nofavorintheireyes. Deut 24:1. Some of us end up in seasons of our lives that we would not have chosen. 

Maybe it was the Providential Hand of God that He placed you in the marriage you are in---like Hosea, who married beneath him.  Maybe it is our own sinful choices, lustful choices, even ignorant choices that landed us where we lay our heads this night. 

Don't bring sin upon your family ~ Deut 24:4.  Whether it's Providence or our own sin, we all have opportunity to bear our own burdens rather than give in to sin.  We can find a rest we know not, no matter the circumstance.  

God's Divine Power enables us by Grace Upon Grace to sanctify the crosses we bear.                             God's Matchless Grace supports us---Underneath are His Loving Arms.                                                God's Comforting Spirit teaches, reproves, and provides the way for us to better learn how to obey in the midst of distance and difficulties.  

God will make this marraige more tolerable---He changes us, not just our spouse.                                        We have the Written Word of God.  We worship the Living Word!  

PHOTO: We have been married for 47 years in 2026. No one knows me like my husband does. Fully loved and cared for and served. All my days.

67 - "When The Sweet Surrender Doesn't Happen" Deuteronomy 21-23

My Dear Children, "May the Lord your God bless you in everything you put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess." Deut 23:20.  I believe with each of you that God will give you the strength and the power to put your hand to what you are doing. And may He bless you in everything!

"And, as the land of Israel was pure and clean" . . . so the church is washed and cleansed by the complete satisfaction which thus Christ made."  Matthew Henry

You must purge the evil from among you."  Deuteronomy 21:21

All rebellion, no matter where it comes from. 
May we surrender our tears and fears every single day
as we mercifully cry for those in rebellion. 
And may they know Sweet Surrender.

May we choose to live every day of our lives surrendered for ourselves and for those we love.

PHOTO:  "Unreal" - Charles Spurgeon wrote a moving sermon many years ago about what happens when the sweet surrender doesn't happen.  We move on.

66 - "Chosen To Stand" Deuteronomy 17-20

#66 The Levitical priests. Chosen to stand & minister. Out of all the tribes. For they have no inheritance. The Lord is their Inheritance.

                                                       

"For the Lord your God has chosen them and their descendants out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the Lord’s name always." The Lord chose your grandparent, Robert Alvin Brandon, to stand and minister all his days. And he did it with joy and conviction and wisdom and 

Then and Now. Chosen. 

Our Inheritance is You. Not what is passed on to us. You are out Most Prized Possession. So, how does that change how I live?

Whether the enemy is disease or a dungeon or an army or an activity, the God Who brought us to this place will be with us.

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. ... And the priest says, Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

PHOTO: This is the place where your Grandpa grew up in Washington state and his parents lived their sunset years. Eatonville. 

65 - "May Your Hearts Be Full Of This Word" Deuteronomy 14-16

                                                     

Here is Moses recounting some of the terrible and wonderful works their eyes have seen. May we never forget what our eyes have seen. Think back on it now. Look at where you have walked. Remember the terrible and wonderful! We should be the better person for having lived through it dependent on God.

May your hearts be full of this Word.

May your eyes be fixed on this Word.

May your tongues be full of this Word.

Deut 11:18. "The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon [your life], from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." Deut 11:11-12. 

In Deut 14:1-2, Moses recants three distinguishing privileges: 

ADOPTED AS HIS SON~

"You are the sons of the LORD, your God," because you need a father.

CALLED TO BE HOLY ~  

"You are a people holy to the LORD, your God," because you are not.

CHOSEN BY GRACE ~

"The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His Treasured Possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth," not because of who you are, because of His Grace all over you.

"Our heavenly Father forbids nothing but for our welfare. Do thyself no harm; do not ruin thy health, thy reputation, thy domestic comforts, thy peace of mind. Especially do not murder thy soul." Matthew Henry.

Take Care ~

Lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and ... "your eye look grudgingly" ...  Deut 15:9.  What a haunting thought.  Unworthy thoughts.  Oh God!

PHOTO:  Standing in a little rain, watching the thunder clouds roll in.  Thinking about this conversation I had with a friend:  "Ask yourself: 'What's not happening that needs to happen.' Dread is the old man hating no 'return on his investment.'  When it is all right that others don't love you back, then you are glad to see them, and you are different." So let go of goods and kindred.  Let go of having anyone have to love you and respond to you. Let go. And here comes the rain!

64 - "My Eyes Saw All That He Has Done For Me" Deuteronomy 11-13

                                                                    

It was not your children who saw the discipline of the LORD:
His Majesty
His Mighty Hand
His Outstretched Arms.
No, it wasn't your children, No.

It was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done." Deuteronomy 11:7

And what will you do with this God of yours?
What will you take away and live forever?
Can we ever ever be the same? No.
How He has overwhelmed us.
Walking floors of oceans.
40-year old shoes.
Miracles!!!

OH!  That I remember all those times you have Outstretched your Arms for me, for my family, for my friends.  I have seen You with my eyes---and may the Gospel ring true today in my life because of it.

PHOTO: I Stood Here. Right Where I Am. And I Knew. It IS His Outstretched Arms to Me Here. 

63 - "Know Your Heart and The Truth Rises Up" Deuteronomy 8-10

#62 When we come to know what is in our hearts, the truth rises up—-the Power and Patience and Presence of God and our total dependence on Him. Deuteronomy 8:2.

                                                    

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 40 years! The journey was less than 15 days in distance. What happened? Deuteronomy 8:2.  What's the point here? How do we live like this? God humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Held Ezri at 1 day old and wondered this very same thought. Will she soon discover that man does not live by bread but by every Word out of the mouth of God.

God had the power to make it a very brief journey in the wilderness. And the same with "change" in our own lives. But how else is character formed? Overnight? How else can we come to see ourselves for who we really are? A C.S. Lewis quote comes to mind: "No man knows how bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good." They had to try awful hard in a wilderness---so do we. And what does it reveal? Humility and dependence or self-knowledge and arrogance. When we come "to know what is in our heart," that knowledge rises up---that's what the word "to know" means in the Hebrew. The truth rises up in our hearts of the Power and Patience and Presence of God---and our total dependence on Him.

PHOTO: Our total dependence on Him to move our mountains that we may “know.”