Eternal Growth Group, Inc.

Beloved, so are you truly putting God first in all you do including your Tithes? Our first fruits, the first of all we profit belongs to our Lord.

Deuteronomy 26:1-4
1 “When you enter the land the LORDyour God is giving you as a special possession and you have conquered it and settled there,
2 put some of the first produce from each crop you harvest into a basket and bring it to the designated place of worship—the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored.
3 Go to the priest in charge at that time and say to him, ‘With this gift I acknowledge to the LORD your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us.’
4 The priest will then take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar of the LORD your God.

My Beloved, you know those things that defeated or made you fall in the past. Do not entertain or re-engage with those things or people. Dismiss them with an urgent passion and dont play nice. Evil is evil no matter how pretty or enticing it looks. Dont forget your enemies as their aim is to destroy you!

Deuteronomy 25:17-19
17 Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt.
18 They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were straggling behind. They had no fear of God.
19 Therefore, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you must destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!

Beloved, what do you think happens to those who cheat others or are dishonest in business?

Deuteronomy 25:13-16
13 “You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise,
14 and you must use full and honest measures.15 Yes, always use honest weights and measures, so that you may enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
16 All who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the LORD your God.

Malachi 3:5
5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

Beloved, this is a perfect scenario to help answer the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper? Ummmm yah you are. In another light, I suggest a similar treatment be dealt to husbands who fail to take care of their wives. Don’t you think so?

Deuteronomy 25:5-10
5 “If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow may not be married to anyone from outside the family. Instead, her husband’s brother should marry her and have intercourse with her to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law.
6 The first son she bears to him will be considered the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.
7 “But if the man refuses to marry his brother’s widow, she must go to the town gate and say to the elders assembled there, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to preserve his brother’s name in Israel—he refuses to fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law by marrying me.’
8 The elders of the town will then summon him If he still refuses and says, ‘I don’t want to marry her,’
9 the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. Then she must declare, ‘This is what happens to a man who refuses to provide his brother with children.’
10 Ever afterward in Israel his family will be referred to as ‘the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off’!

Beloved, dont you believe that folks should get paid for the hard work they do? Well our God thinks so. So why question Pastors getting paid? Now when it gets lavish, then I understand. Any comments?

Deuteronomy 25:4
4 “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.

1 Corinthians 9:1-10
1 Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord?
2 Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.
3 This is my answer to those who question my authority.a
4 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals?
5 Don’t we have the right to bring a Christian wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peterb does?
6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves?
7 What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk?
8 Am I expressing merely a human opinion, or does the law say the same thing?
9 For the law of Moses says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.”c Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this?
10 Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both expect a share of the harvest.

My Beloved, I sincerely would like your response or reaction to this.

How many lashes did our Lord JESUS the Christ bear for us? Clue is it was close enough to bring HIM to death. So why are we still lashing out to folks around us with our tongues or degrading them? Can we agree to be slow to speak to avoid this?
Please read James 3:1-12 and other verses below

Deuteronomy 25:1-3
1 When people have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.
2 If the guilty person deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make them lie down and have them flogged in his presence with the number of lashes the crime deserves, 3 but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.

Proverbs 18:21
21 The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

My Beloved, so how do we care for foreigners, orphans, and widows? Is this dear to God’s heart? See below and these other verses James 1:27, Zechariah 7:10, Jeremiah 49:11, Isaiah 10:1-2, Deuteronomy 14:29, Deuteronomy 26:12-13, Malachi 3:5…but wait there’s more so please find them and make this dear to your heart too.

Deuteronomy 24:19-22
19 “When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don’t go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do.
20 When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice. Leave the remaining olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.
21 When you gather the grapes in your vineyard, don’t glean the vines after they are picked. Leave the remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows.
22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command.

My Beloved, our God cares for every single one of us. And HE has made it clear that we are all responsible for our own actions, failures, sin. Yet, HE is gracious and merciful to us. Should we not then in turn be gracious and merciful to others as we have experienced and received from God?

Deuteronomy 24:16-18
16 “Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.
17 “True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment as security for her debt.
18 Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God redeemed you from your slavery. That is why I have given you this command.

2 Corinthians 1:4
4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

My Beloved, if you are in a position of authority, power, or have the capability to hire and/or allocate resources to laborers or any in need, please be fair, compassionate and sensitive to those laborers or people in need. Don’t misuse, undercut or underpay them. Our God recommends below

Deuteronomy 24:14-15
14 “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers, whether they are fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns.
15 You must pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. If you don’t, they might cry out to the LORD against you, and it would be counted against you as sin.

God truly cares about the fine details of our lives. We can see this in Deut. 24. Verses 1-9 touches on divorce (which God hates), re-marrying after divorce or death of a spouse, newly wed man’s responsibility to new wife, taking security for loans, kidnapping and skin diseases. Read verses 1-9 for full context.

Deut. 24:10-13, our focus today, addresses our compassion for those we lend money to. Are your terms harsh or do we want our money back so bad we are insensitive to the basic needs of the debtor?

Deut. 24:10-13
10 “If you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter his house to pick up the item he is giving as security.
11 You must wait outside while he goes in and brings it out to you.
12 If your neighbor is poor and gives you his cloak as security for a loan, do not keep the cloak overnight.
13 Return the cloak to its owner by sunset so he can stay warm through the night and bless you, and the LORD your God will count you as righteous.