Key Verse: Deuteronomy 9:5
It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

There were three reasons as to why God took the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. First, because of the wickedness of the nations already there. Second, because of His promise to His friend, Abraham. Third, because Moses fasted and prayed for forty days and nights for God’s purposes to be fulfilled in their lives. Fasting, along with our prayers, does not win brownie points with God, but it does indicate the fervency of our prayers. “The fervent effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). God, through Moses, as well as through Paul, made it very clear that, “It’s not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5a). This makes an important distinction between salvation by works and a faith that works.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, grant a greater level of fervency to me as I pray. May I underline and put exclamation points behind my prayers more often by fasting along with my prayers. Thank You for saving me through the greatest work of all time, Your death and resurrection. Now, I’m asking You for a greater measure of faith that works in every area of my life and for the good of others. Amen!!!!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:
The Bible reading suggested here in “100 Words” is my morning reading. However, my New Years’ resolution is to raise my time meditating on the Person of Jesus. Raised in a believing, synagogue-attending family, Jesus would have read the portions from His Bible which had been selected by a council of Jewish Rabbis. Our 2-year journey through the Bible, as presented in my blog, goes from the Old Testament to the New and back again, covering every verse, every chapter, every book. I’m asking every reader to join me in this new-year commitment to learn to be more like Jesus.

Yours for knowing God’s Word more thoroughly,

David