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Deuteronomy 31:9-13

How many times have you heard or read this verse? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). I'm guessing many times, but did you know that right after this statement Moses commands the Israelites to diligently teach these words and other commands from God to their children? He then spells out what he means by the word teach--talk of God's commands when you're sitting in your house, when you're walking, when you lie down and when you get up. He's basically saying we need to be teaching God's Word and ways to our children non-stop.

How important is it that we share God's Word with younger generations? What role are you playing? What are some ways you "teach" God's Word and His ways to your children as a parent or grandparent, or children generally if you're not a parent? Tami W.

P.S. Take a listen to today's Back to the Bible program as author/speaker Jeffrey Dean talks more about reclaiming our youth for God.

Deuteronomy 31:9-13

Moses is nearing the end of his life in Deuteronomy 31. So he calls the Israelites together and announces that Joshua will be their new leader and gives them instruction. You see, Moses knew that in order for the Israelites to prosper as a nation they had to be following God and His Word. In Deuteronomy 31:12 Moses says "Assemble the people, men, women, and the little ones, and the sojourner within your towns that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God and be careful to do all the words of this law." In other words, everyone--from young to old--is to hear and follow the Law.

Take some time today to consider the different things Deuteronomy 31:9-20 reveals to us about God's Word. What does it show about the importance of taking it in? Understanding it? Putting it into action? What about who it's for? Tami W.

P.S. I encourage you to check out the Back to the Bible programs this week as we welcome speaker and author Jeffrey Dean. Jeffrey speaks all over the country primarily at youth conferences, and he'll be talking about reclaiming our country, youth, homes, churches and lives for God. Hope you can tune in.

1 Corinthians 12:12-20

Just like our physical body, the body of Christ is made up of many different parts, with each one necessary for the body to function properly. I love that illustration. And pretty much every time I read 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 it gets me thinking about what specific body part I'm comparable to and how I'm functioning as that part. But body parts aside, the big thing for me from this passage is knowing that God uniquely gifted me for His purposes.

So how has God gifted you as part of the body of Christ? How are you using that gifting? And, are you functioning at full capacity? Tami W.

2 Corinthians 2:12-17

A couple days ago I was reading in 2 Corinthians and these two verses jumped off the page at me. "But thanks be to God, who ... through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing" (2 Cor. 12:14-15). I'm a firm believer that telling others about Christ is a MUST for all of us. So reading how I am a fragrance and aroma of Christ gave me a boost to get out there in a renewed way.

Take a couple of minutes and think about what being an aroma of Christ could or should look like. Now, what do you need to do to make it a reality this week? Tami W.

Proverbs 12:16,18; 13:3; 14:29; 15:1

Yesterday we talked about having wisdom when it comes to family relationships. We're going to hit that topic again today because we're all part of a family (birth family, adopted family, church family) and it's important that we operate within that family to the best of our ability. For me, that means that I need to mindful of every word that comes out of my mouth (Proverbs 12:18; 13:3 and 15:1) and I also need to be mindful of how I act and react to others (Proverbs 12:16; 14:29).

So what have you learned from Proverbs that will help you interact and operate wisely with the different members of your family? Tami W.