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Hi there. Welcome to Don't Miss this, a scripture study podcast with Dave Butler and Grace Freeman.
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Each week we point out things in the scriptures that we love and think you don't want to miss.
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Thanks for listening. Hi, everyone, I'm Dave Butler.
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And I'm Grace Freeman.
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Welcome to Don't Miss this. When this episode airs, it'll probably be Grace's wedding day. I knew you were going to make that noise. I prophesied in my head. So that's our biggest.
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You can't really be so excited. You can't really be so excited when it says that because it's like in the microphone, people.
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Wow. Wow.
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They'll be like on in their car
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and they'll be like, oh, scare them in the car. We caused four wrecks today.
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Yeah. So a mini cheer, but a heart. Very excited.
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Yeah. So we're so excited about that. And we're also excited about Deuteronomy. That's the book that we're in today. And for some reason, we have to do the entire book of Deuteronomy, which is like 34 chapters in one day. So buckle up, everybody.
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So here we go.
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And this is how we're gonna do it. This is gonna be like candy salad. Has anyone ever. Do you make. Have you made candy salad?
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It's not. I don't like candy. I'm just going to say it. Oh, so it's candy salad's not for me.
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But don't know what to get you for your wedding anymore. So do you know what candy salad is?
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Yeah.
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Okay. Everyone brings something, something. And you mix it all together.
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That part gives me just.
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I don't like it very much because some people want to mix in chocolate with the starburst and I can't get anything.
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And I just like every. Candy won't taste as good.
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Yeah. So I don't like it. But I'm like it for today because after that.
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Terrible.
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Everyone, you're going to love this book. I just think that there's a lot of really good one liners that are in here. A collection of so many good little lessons in here. What Deuteronomy is, is. This is the fifth book of what we call the Torah. Right? Right. The five books of Moses. And this is the very end of the journey. In ex. Genesis set up the story. In ex. We should show our timeline while we're doing this case. Genesis set up the story. Exodus is when the children of Israel were taken out of Egypt and they go to Mount Sinai. You remember? And God makes this covenant with them. You are going to be my holy people, my peculiar people. You're, you're going to take the story of salvation, the, the message of rescue and good news to all the world. You're going to be a kingdom of priests and priestesses. Remember, priests and priestesses represent God to people. That's kind of what their job is. And like that's what I want you to be and you to do. And I set you free. And now, and now I want to, I want you to join the, this cause, this great cause. And you remember right away there's a rebellion story right away. And we don't know all the details of the golden calf story, but we know that it's a moment in time that symbolizes that they weren't ready for this. So they're going to wander for 40. In fact, if you open up to Deuteronomy and you go to one of the first verses of chapter one, verse two, it's a parenthesis verse, it says there's actually 11 days journey from Horeb, which is another name for Sinai, by the way of the Mount Seir unto Kadesh Barnea, which is where they are. That's where they've landed. It's right on the banks of the Jordan river. And the Jordan river is the boundary line of the promised land. Are you going to sneeze? I was going to bless you.
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Oh, thank you. I almost wasn't. I just paused it.
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Well, bless you anyways. Okay, so they're right there, right on the edge, edge of entering to the promised land. This is a promise that was given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. So it's a hundreds of year old promises and you're about to see the fulfillment of it. And they're right there on the edge of the river. And it says there that it's actually 11 days from Sinai to the border of the promised land. Which means that's how long they could have traveled for is 11 days. But it's been 40 years.
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Imagine.
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Yeah.
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At this point that makes me sick.
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Yeah. And if you look in your journal, you've got that number 40. And I'm sure you've heard about this before. It's symbolic in scripture, to be a time of preparation or it just means a long time. And I read this line once that I think about every time I get to this spot in scripture that says that God rescued Israel out of Egypt in one night. But it took 40 years to get Egypt out of them. So they got out really quickly. But now it took that 40 years of preparation, to mold them, to train them, to teach them, to help them become the people God wanted them to be. 11 days by walking, but it was a 40 year spiritual journey is what it was. And we were talking about that. That's the book of Numbers and Leviticus. And now you get to Deuteronomy and this is. They're about to go into the promised land. And you may remember that Moses was told that he's not allowed to go into the promised land. And so it's almost like his goodbye speech to all the people. They did it. They made it. And now they're about to enter the promised land and Moses can't go with them. So he gives this last kind of. It's like a reminiscing. If you read all of Deuteronomy, it'll be like reading parts of Exodus, Leviticus and numbers all over again. It's getting to the end of a trip and remembering your best parts, the hardest parts, the. So it has like, numbers is almost like a history version of it. And Deuteronomy is almost like just this. It's this one man who's been with them from day one, right. Ever since I saw the burning bush on the mountain until now. And he's just looking back on this whole experience that they, that they had together. And so it's a book of remembering and it's a. It's a book of reminiscing. And, and Jenny and I. I'm not a great journaler. I wish I was. I downloaded that app you told me to download and I, I tried to help and I, I tried to help. And now at this moment in time, I'm gonna get better. I've just committed good and good. On this day of your wedding, I
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want you to know, I want you to know that I think I'm at 890 days in a row that I've journaled.
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Wow, that's awesome. Okay, I'm committing you better because this is what a game Jenny and I used to play didn't have a name. I was going to call it the Journal Game. That was going to sound like nobody wanted to play that game, but we would just pick a day because we both kept really good mission journals. Pick a day in the journal. Then you had to open to that day and you just read it, you know, and we played with our kids a couple times. Like, pick a day. Any day from the year. They always pick their birthday or whatever. And I was like, and this is, this is what happened. And that's kind of what this is. It's like a looking back on the experiences that they had, the lessons that they learned. The. You know, it's just such a great thing to do at the end of a year, to do at the end of a vacation, to do at the end of a season, you know. Anyways.
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Well, and it's kind of tender. This past week I've been like moving out of my house. Like my like apartment that I've lived in for like while I've been single. And as I was moving out, I saw like my old passport and my passport just expired like the year. It was like a month before I got married. And so my passport like lasted from like my junior year of high school until the year that I got married. And I was like looking through all my passport stamps and I legit. I am also like probably overly emotional in my life as a general human being. But I was like crying on the floor of the. Of like my like apartment that I was like cleaning out or whatever my house. And as I was looking through it was so interesting because it was like, oh, it's actually so much less about the place and so much more about like the experiences and the memories that shaped me. And this is what is happening. It was. It was 11 days journey. It was not about the place. That was never. The goal of the journey was to take them from one place to the other. The goal was to allow their souls to be sanctified, to experience a holy land. Like they had to be changed to really experience it. And it feels like this is going through. And to me, when I was reading it, I was like, oh, this is them explaining not what happened on the journey, but what happened to their souls. And this is like the advice of like I was changed in this 40 year journey and these are the things that I learned because of what I've been changed by.
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Yeah, this is great movie material. It's the end of the movie when everyone's just looking back at the. Anyways, I love it. It's. It's. I'm a reminiscent kind of sentimental people. That might be why no one else
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is gonna like be like so emotionally attached to these chapters. We're like, oh my gosh.
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Because I'm the same. I have every old passport of my age same. I'm never throwing anything away and, and, and I. Yeah, yeah. So let's jump in because the. The. I like this. The looking back on. On the lessons and the things that they experienced and candy salad version just different things. I want. Let's Start in chapter two. This is one of my favorite ones. Starting in two. At the very beginning, they're looking back on when they were at Mount Sinai, if I remember correctly, and at the beginning of it. Or Mount Seir. Sorry, another mountain that was there. But it happened also at Mount Sinai, this instruction from the Lord. So in verse 2, it says, and the Lord spake unto me, saying, you have encompassed this mountain long enough. Turn you northward. And that phrase is one that pops up in my head quite a bit. And it's something that's been really helpful, I think, in just in my journey, that there's some things that you're just seasons of life that I almost hear the Lord at the end of it say, okay, you've compassed this mountain long enough. Turn you northward. It's time to move on. I'm not super great at forgiving myself, right? And I feel like this is something that Lord would say to me, is like, okay, you've compassed this mountain long enough. Turn you northward. I feel like he would say that to somebody who's in grief. It's like, you have been here long enough. It's time to turn you northward. And I just feel like this line to Moses is a line that all of us are going to hear at some point in life. I don't know what season of life that you're in right now. That's hard. The mountain that you are encompassing. But there is a day coming when God will say, you have compassed this mountain long enough, turn you northward and. And you'll move on from. From that thing that you have been carrying or. Or learning from or. Or what. Or whatever it may be. And he keeps going, and. And he talks to them about, you know, that journey that they'll take moving from there. And. And sometimes. Sometimes that might be a place of where we're a little bit afraid to take a step forward or make a decision. And I can almost hear the Lord coming into us saying, like, you know, you've.
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You've.
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You've done enough pros and cons lists. You've encompassed this long enough. It's time to turn northward. It's time to. It's time to carry on. I know you're super comfortable here. I think about last. Was it last year, the Book of Mormon? Did we do the Book. No, we didn't. Thousands of years ago, we did the Book of Mormon. And they're on the beach, right? And they're in that comfortable place. And the Lord says, hey, it's time to move on. It's time to go. And as they're leaving that place, there's this verse. It's in verse seven, and it says, for the Lord God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand. I love that reassurance. Knowing that gives me courage to take a step forward, to move on to the next thing, to take a risk. Because I know the Lord God will bless all the works of my hand. Whatever it is that I'm choosing next, he's going to be there. It's that. It's that name, the translation of the name of Jehovah we love so much. I will be whatever tomorrow demands. So move forward. And he says, he knoweth your walking through this great wilderness. These 40 years, the Lord thy God hath been with thee and thou has lacked nothing. I love them looking back on that and realizing and recognizing not God wasn't watching from heaven and just, oh, yeah, I knew that you were there. But it says, I know you're walking, but I've been with you. I walked with you every step of that journey, and you have lacked nothing. And what can't you just see someone at the end of their life or at the end of a season looking back and saying, the most beautiful part of this whole thing is that God walked every step with me. And because of that, I didn't lack anything. And I love knowing that Moses is looking back, but it gives me courage, looking forward to know that, hey, God is going to walk this journey with you whatever tomorrow looks like, and you will lack nothing. He will provide like he did for them, whatever it is you need, one day at a time.
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And I think there are often times that when the Lord asks us to walk away from the mountains, I think sometimes we're like, oh, thank goodness. I just needed permission. And I'm going to run from where I'm at because, like, you know that, like, it's time to go. But I think there are other times when you're on the mountain and you actually just don't want to leave. And you're happy there and it's comfortable and you're content. And I love the promise that if the Lord asks you to walk away, he's not going to let you walk away all by himself, yourself. Like, he's gonna say, listen, you are going to leave and it's gonna be hard. And you were way more comfortable there, and there were so many good things about it. And I know that you are happy, and I'm gonna ask you to do something that's really hard. And difficult and scary. And you're gonna be so worried about it. And that is a promise that I wanna write on my mirror so I can see it every day. That no matter where he asks you to go, you can trust you're gonna be fine. Because he is not asking you to go there without him. He will be with you through that entire journey, just as he always has been. He will be.
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My favorite verse starts in. In verse 7. But there is this other one I want to give as a bonus, and it's verse four, chapter four, verse four. It says this. But you that did cleave unto the Lord your God, are alive every one of you, this day. And I love thinking about that whole concept that if. If. If I make it, the answer is, it's because I held tight unto the Lord every single day. That's why I made it. I just love that concept whenever I hear that phrase, covenant path. I know we've talked about this before. I think about what that means is not the collection of covenants or ordinances along the way, like they're infinity stones, but this is a journey we did together. That's what covenant path means. It means I walked the path of life, but I walked it together with the Lord, and I made it because I chose his companionship every single day. Like, that's what. That's what that means. Like, I'm gonna make it through this season because I cleave is like, to me. Cleave is like a hug word to me. It's like a held tight unto the Lord every single day. And he talks about the things that I taught you and all this. And he reminds them. He says how privileged they are. He says, what nation is there so great who hath God so nigh unto them? That's in verse seven, right? How lucky you were that you had God right next to you every single day of this journey. And what nation is there in verse eight that has a God that's teaching them how to live out each day? And then he says this, verse nine, take heed to yourself and keep your soul diligent, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen unless they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life, but teach him to thy sons and to thy son's sons. And this is not new to anybody listening, but just this concept and idea of. And. And maybe let's do the poster right now for our. Our week, which is remember. The word is remember. And this one on the poster comes from Deuteronomy 8:2, but it is a theme of the entire book, where it's like, be diligent that you don't forget the things that your eyes have seen and more than that, lest they depart from your heart. All the days of your life, the things that you felt in your experiences. And then the next phrase in 10 is so sweet. He says, especially the day that you stood before the Lord in Sinai when he gathered the people together and you. And you experienced the things thunder and the fire of the. Of the voice of God in. In that place. And I. I love that phrase. Especially the day, just almost as like an exercise of looking back and saying, what are my. Especially the days? What are the days that I particularly want to remember that because of the things that I saw and the things that I felt. And he says, and teach your kids and teach your grandkids, like, even if you become the annoying grandpa who keeps retelling the same stories over, keep telling them so they're close to your memory and that you remember the feelings of them. And I love, like, just looking back. Jenny and I are about to take the kids, or I guess we did. We are filming this before. It's confusing by the time this comes back out. Are taking the kids to our mission, and I'm so excited to take them to places and to say, like. And to show them spots that were my specialty of the day, you know? And I was like. And to tell them this was a really great experience for me, Especially the day that I felt God say to me, you're okay. You're good enough. And it happened right here in this apartment while I was kneeling next to my bed after my companion had gone to sleep. Or just as a family to look back and just say, man, God's been so good to us, hasn't he? Especially the day that we saw this miracle come or that one. And I think it makes me think about one of mine and maybe what a cool thing to ask everybody who's like, tell me the day. Tell me the day that you felt the fire from heaven, that you saw something or felt something. When Jack was opening up his mission call. My oldest is our first son going on a mission. And some backstory to that. Jack and I had gone on a humanitarian trip together to Malawi. And when we were there in Malawi, Jack said to me, dad, I love it here, and I want to be a missionary now, and I want to be a missionary here. And I was like, well, you got like, one out of 400 chances, buddy. So maybe. And then when he opened up that call and Got called to one of the countries that we visited. Man, that moment I felt distinctly in my heart this was hand picked for him and like a message from heaven. And that is like, I look back on that and I told that story to somebody kind of recently and on another trip we were on actually, and they said, david, that was not a wish, that was a prayer. When Jack said that and his mission call was in answer to it. And I felt it clear as day. And it was. What's he say? The feeling of my heart. And that's just one of mine. And I love that this chapter gives us the invitation to think of our especially the day moments.
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One of my favorite things right now is that I am getting married, which is the luckiest thing. But it's so fun doing all of these random, like, little wedding things. Because my fiance, every single time that we do something, he always says, one day we're gonna tell our kids about this. And I'm gonna tell them it's our favorite day of our whole life so far. And every single time, it's like choosing the cake. It's like in the back of my mind I'm like, we are not gonna be telling our kids about that. It's not that serious. It's not that. Like, it's not gonna be that.
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But says the sentimental, no, I know
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he's even more than me. We are in. We are dangerous. That is gonna be terrible. We can never. We can never go on a trip. And like, we will be weeping on the airplane ride home. I know that to be true. One second.
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Do you do that on your airplane ride home?
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I cry on every single airplane ride ever in the.
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And I get out my phone and I leave and I make a note. So for that trip, I'm not okay after. These are the things I wanna remember. These are the things that I learned.
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And then I read this quote about when we go to heaven. And it feels almost like this little exchange in Deuteronomy 4. And it's by Donald Miller. And this is what it says. I don't wonder anymore what I'll tell God when I go to heaven. When we sit in the chairs under the tree outside the city. I'll tell these things to God and he'll laugh. All of my favorite memories, my best days, the hardest days, the days that I grew, the days that I changed. And I think he'll remind me of all the parts I forgot. The parts that were his favorite. We'll sit and remember my story together. And then he'll stand and Put his arms around me and say, well done. And that he liked my story and my soul won't be thirsty anymore. Finally, he'll turn and we'll walk toward the city, a city he will have spoken into existence, a city built in the place where there had been nothing. And all I can think is how sweet it is to think that the life that we are living is giving us not only our favorite days, but how sweet to think of us sitting in heaven and talking to the Lord and him saying, let me tell you some of my favorite days of your story as well. And that to me, sounds like the moments where you sit with your kids and you look through mission journals and you tell them all your best memories. And I think that that is the purpose of life all along, is that we will grow and that we will change and we will live our best days and we will live our worst days and that we'll have funny moments and sad moments and moments where we grow and where we change. But at the end of it, it will be a life so good that when we get to heaven, we will say, I have so many favorite parts. But how tender and beautiful that we have a God who will have the same.
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Yeah. That he has especially the days to share too, you know, with us. And P.S. as you read Deuteronomy, or if you want to break it out, if you're a little bit like, help me, help me know what's happening here. 1 through 12 chapters. 1 through 12 is a remembering of the journey. And then. Or 1 through 11, then 12 through 28 are going to be. And this is what. Here's all the laws that I. And. And ways of living and patterns of living that God taught to me, that I taught to you. So there we're in that reminiscing part in the beginning, which is why our favorite parts are going to come from these one through 11 chapters. But let's go to six, chapter six. If you have any friends who are of the Jewish faith, this is pro. And you ask them, tell me one of your favorite verses, most important verses. It's going to come from Deuteronomy, chapter 6. So for good reason. Yeah, right. It has a name. It's called the Shema. Shema is a word that means to hear. And starting in verse four, it's called the Shema because that's how it starts. It starts with that word here. But that word here is more than just listen. It's like a. It's like a behold word. Like, do you remember when John the Baptist says that to the people at the Jordan river when Jesus walks up that, he says, behold the Lamb of God. I like that that word has the word built into it, at least in English. Hold like, hold onto this. Like, take it in. It's not just an ear word, it's an I word, a heart word, a gut word, a soul word, right? Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God. Like listen to our God. Right? Is how it starts. And then it goes like this. And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thine soul and with all thy might. And these words. P.S. that's where Jesus. Remember when the lawyer asked Jesus what's the great commandment in the law? This is where. This was a prayer that was said twice a day by all good Jewish boys and girls. So it's something that they recited a lot and even more than that, and we'll get to that in a second. And he said, and these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lies down and when thou risest up and thou shalt bind and PS don't you love that? It was like, just talk of his goodness and talk of his love when you're on walks and when you're sitting at the park and when you're on a road trip and, and, and, and when you're at the grocery store and everywhere you are, just always teach and, and, and, and talk about these things. It makes me think of. Sorry, I'm interrupting the shema halfway through, but makes me think about. There's a practice in among Muslims that they will actually, when their babies are born, whisper the name of God to them. So the very first thing that they hear is the name of God. And then it's the very last thing that's whispered into someone's ear before they, before they pass away also. And just. And then five times a day in prayer, right? And these practices that help us to remember. And, and, and then it goes on in verse 8 and it says, Thou shalt bind them these words for a sign upon thine hand. And they'll be as frontlets between your eyes and you shall write them upon the posts of your house and upon your gates. And it shall be with when the Lord God shall have brought thee into the land which he swore unto your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give thee great and goodly cities which you didn't build, and houses full of good things that you didn't fill up, and wells already dug, which you digest not, and vineyards and olive trees which thou plantest not when thou shalt have eaten and be full. He says that's the end of your story, a promise fulfilled. But in the meantime, hold on to this idea of loving God with all your heart, might, mind and strength, and him loving you with all of his heart, might, mind and strength, and remind yourself of this everywhere and anywhere you go. And maybe if you've ever been to Israel or been in an Orthodox community, been around people of the Jewish faith, this is something that they still do, and they do it literally. And I don't know if God meant for people to do it literally or, or not. I can't be his boss. But, like, you know, when he says, bind it to your hand, does that mean, like, everything that you do in your eyes, like everything that you think? But people of the Jewish faith do this literally. And they take these things called Teflin or phylacteries, and they're little boxes and they have little straps connected to them and they, they wrote. They write this scripture inside the boxes and they roll them up and they put them inside and they actually literally tie them between their eyes and they tie them down their arms and they write them on the post of their house. Have you ever seen something called a mezuzah? It's a little like. What do you even call that thing? Box? Yeah, it's like a little box. They're just designed differently. And this scripture is rolled up inside and placed inside. And they put it right outside their doors and right outside their gates. Their gates. And they touch it every time they walk in or they touch it every time they walk out. And it's just a way of some. Some like, habit built into their life to always remember the love God has for them and that reciprocal love that they have back toward him.
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It reminds me of that quote, you gave it to me for my birthday of. For behold, a house is a little church. And I just feel like that is what I want to be, like, inscribed on my soul and on my heart is that this wasn't a once a week thing. This wasn't a church thing. This wasn't, oh, like, for, I'm gonna go to the temple once a week, and that's gonna be my time for worship and for spirituality and for holiness. This was their life. It was their way of living, it was their way of doing things. It was not just oh, yeah, we go to church on Sunday. It was. This is what we live and breathe. This is what we do. And our children are learning this not from a primary teacher for one hour once a week. A week. Our children are learning this every single day. When we talk and when they watch how we live and when they see what we do and when they hear what we talk about in the morning when they get ready for school and when we're eating lunch together. And it is just. There's something that is so captivating to me right now about, like, going back to your people and, like, the core of who you are. And it almost feels like that's what this is to me, that it's like, wait, pause everything else and. And just focus on what really matters in every area of your life. And you don't need to worry about anything else. Let that be on the forefront of your mind. Let your hands be covered in evidence of what you are doing to build the kingdom and get to know God better. Let your soul and your houses and the art on your walls and let your door frames be evidence. And I, like. It just feels so real. And I think that right now we are just living in a world that is so not real. Like, when you read something like this, it's like, oh, yeah, I want to experience life like that, where nothing else matters except for God and my people. And I want it to be everywhere. I just want it to be everywhere. And it's so good and so much better than anything else that exists. And that is the only thing that matters. Yeah.
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When you were talking about that on the gates of your house, the poster of your house, it made me think about the Passover story. How during the night of the Passover, had someone walked through that neighborhood, they would have known. These are the houses marked in the blood of the lamb. These are the houses that believe. And it's awesome that today we're kind of happy. People are not putting, you know,
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the
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blood on there anymore. But there are people who are putting, either actually or symbolically, marks of belief onto their house. This is a house that believes. Like, even at the door frame, I want you. I actually have a mezuzah on. On my door, on the outside of it. And. And this is. Darling, I'll just say this real fast about them. They. People, when they put them up, they put them up slanted, tilted. And the reason that they do is because in Deuteronomy, it doesn't tell you whether to put it vertical or horizontal. So they just pick somewhere in the middle. That's like, just to be safe. Yeah, just to be safe. That's the real reason. But the thing that moms teach their kids when. When they ask, like now, like, colloquially, I don't know if that's the right usage of that word, is when a kid asks mom, why is it tilted? Oh, because God leans into this house. His love leans into this place. And there's something about the posts of that that. I mean, I just want my house to be marked with. This is a. This is a house that believes. I want you to know that. Right. Right when you walk in the door
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and we talked about, like, that this, like, literal or not literal, like whatever is happening in the scripture. But I was thinking the other day about how my house, if anyone on earth walked into the home that I grew up in, it would take them 0.3 seconds to know what we believed in. And it's because there was physical evidence on every single wall, like, above our fireplace. Do you remember this?
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It was like in the collage.
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There was a collage of Jesus pictures. There was no lie. Probably 20 pictures of Jesus covering floor to ceiling of his face. Like, it was like, I don't even. Didn't even realize they made that many pictures of Jesus. It was absurd.
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You walked in, you're like, oh, so you're Buddhist?
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Yeah. And the other day I was actually thinking that because I was like, how often do you walk into a house right now? And it's just like, oh, I have no idea who lives here or what they believe in, because it's just. Just like, oh, it's just white walls and whatever, and it's cute and it's beautiful, but in my soul, I was like, how tender that I grew up in a home. I will be thankful for this till the day that I die. That you walked in and it was evident who lived there. You didn't even have to think about it. You knew about them. You knew what they liked. You knew what we believed, and you knew what we did simply based on what we put up on the walls. And it, like, has me craving that in my soul that I'm like, oh, do you want to know why I knew what we believed? And do you want to know why I know what my mom and dad cared about and what they cherished and how they lived the way they lived? It's because they showed us on the walls. They put it up.
A
That's so awesome. And I was just thinking this as you were saying that, and not just like, what, that we believe in God, or we believe in Jesus, but this is what we believe about him, right? Not just that he exists, but something more. And this next verse I love so much is kind of one of those. It's in the same chapter 6, verse 24. And it says, and the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes. And we're going to get into the. Moses is about to introduce. Remember, he showed us the way to live. He showed us the right and the good way to live. And he said, and he commanded us to do all these things and to fear or respect and love the Lord our God for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is at this day. And I love that phrase. I believe in a God who is for my good always. And everything he says and everything he asks and everything he directs me in is for my good always. I don't just believe that he exists, but I believe that he is good and that he is good always. And I think you'll find more of those as you study, you know, these chapters, but every chapter. It's one of the reasons that we study scripture, I think, is to learn not only to believe, but to believe in what or who he, you know, who he actually is. We have this phrase where we talk about being chosen, right? A chosen people. It's. It's a. It's a phrase that gets used often. I think normally people might hear that and say, you're a chosen people. And they say, oh, thank you. And maybe they should ask, or chosen for what? Like, what's that actually mean? It sounds like favoritism. It actually, you know, when you look at it, and I like that. Chapter seven teaches about this, and it starts in this little section in verse six. And he says, for you are a holy people. He tells them at the beginning of the chapter, make sure you're not doing this or this. You know, don't live in the way that all your neighbors live.
B
Well, and it's interesting because this is the part that I was thinking about so much today, because he's going to go through it, and the Lord's like, I'm going to deliver you from these people. And just so you know, they are stronger and mightier than you. Like, you actually shouldn't have a chance. That's how you're going to know that it's me, is because you wouldn't stand a chance against them without me. So I will deliver you. And then it's so silly to me.
A
And then let's say this. Let's say this because when I Read that. I'm just like, oh, I don't have a problem with the Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, you, You know, people today, like, we actually don't live in a, in a, in a. You know, whatever. We don't live in this world anymore. But like I, I can hear the Lord saying like, yeah, the temptations of this world are actually too big for you. And the sin of this world is actually overwhelming.
B
It is out of your league.
A
There are billions of dollar organizations trying to get you to lust and trying to get you to. To. To live and speak and act a certain way. That is that enemy is to big for you.
B
Well, and even the enemy is too big for us.
A
Right? Right.
B
This is my first time on life. I have 26 years to my name and I'm feeling like that's like a lot for me. I'm proud of who I am and where I've come from. And then I think about the fact that it's just my life individually and the fact that Satan has been around for far longer than I have, dealing with far more people than I am and for far longer and good at this game. He is so much better at me than this game. And that is evidently true. And then what's gonna happen is he's gonna say, listen, I am going to deliver you. It is me, it's Jesus that is who's gonna deliver us. It is not our business. We are fighting a battle that is out of our league. It's just evidently true. We are rookies in this game. We can't win, but he can deliver us. And then it's so interesting because then it's gonna go to like verse two and three and he's gonna say, listen, but when I do, when I destroy them, I need you to realize, don't make a covenant with them. Don't show mercy to them. Don't go have like, don't let your kids marry them. And you're like reading it and you're like, that kind of seems intense, like what is even happening? And then I was like, oh, I know what's happening. Don't undo the deliverance he gave you. That is what he's saying. He says, I will save you. I will fight for you. I will win the battle. Don't go back. Don't undo what has already been done. He's gonna set you free. And then he's like, it's almost like I just see it so clearly in my face of him just grabbing our sweet little faces and being like Listen, I'm going to save the day. I'm gonna make it all better. Stay saved, just let live in rescue. You don't need to go back. You don't need to undo it. You don't need to try to make it better. I already did. Did walk away and let me do the work. And I've just been thinking about how often it is in my life that I feel like he will rescue me and he will save me and he will deliver things. He will deliver things for me. And then like, maybe it's my anxiety or maybe it's my doubt, or maybe it's my fear that makes me be like, oh, but I should just go back and check. I should just go back and make sure. I might just need one more. Like, it's just like a little bit of that. And I just love the idea that he's like, wait, don't you trust that the deliverance was full?
A
Yeah. And I don't want to mix analogies here by. Because I think there's. We equate mountains with places of holiness and climbing up and seeking holiness. But. But I do love the imagery of salvation being. So many people think of salvation as climb to the top of the mountain to be saved. And I love the imagery of salvation being Jesus putting you at the top and saying, now just don't. Don't go down. Right?
B
Yeah.
A
Stay. Stay saved. Stay in. In that spot. And he says to them in verse six, don't do these. Also, because you're a holy people. Holy, remember, doesn't mean better. It means set apart. And I don't know why God sets certain people apart for certain responsibilities. Right? But he says you're a holy people unto the Lord. The Lord hath chosen you to be a special people unto himself. Right. To do what? To go take the rescue story to the rest of the world. Right? Above all the people in the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you or choose you because you were more in number than any people. For you were the fewest of all the people. He didn't. People aren't chosen because they were stronger, smarter, taller, more intelligent, whatever. Whatever it is. Because he says you were. There were people, you know, who are bigger than you. You're chosen. Yeah. Yeah. Should have been last.
B
Yeah.
A
But because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the promise which he had sworn unto your fathers that to, you know, to do these, these things. He is God. Verse 9. And he is a faithful God which keepeth his covenants and His Mercy unto them that love him for a thousand generations. And I just love that that concept of chosen is. You know, it's like, wait, why am I chosen? What did I do to, you know, to get this? And the Lord's like, oh, nothing, nothing. You're chosen because simply because I picked you, right? And it's interesting to me that if you didn't earn your way in, it means you can't sin your way out of it. He was like, I picked you and asked you now, can I make you better? Can I make you more. More fit for this cause? Yes, I can. But I just love that help in defining what it means to be a chosen people in chapter seven.
B
I was just at ST Conference. This is just like a little random side note, but I just had the best state conference of all time in the history of the world. And Elder Hurst came.
A
We love him.
B
Yeah. He is the kindest man that's ever existed. And he was talking and he talked about how there's a difference between. We always say Savior and Redeemer together when we say those two words. He's our Savior and our Redeemer. And I think we say them so much in a row that they feel like the same job. And his entire talk was like, there's a difference between being saved and being redeemed and the goal of being saved. When you think about Superman, when he saves someone, he flies in and he does all the work and it's taken care of. And you actually don't need to walk away and do anything differently, because when the bus was hanging off the ledge, Superman just lifted the bus up and put it. And then you could just, like, walk away. And it was going to be that redemption is not the same as saving. He will save you, and then he will redeem you. And both of those things are things that our soul craves. We need to be saved because we can't do it by ourself. But then he looks at us and he's like, I have saved you. Now who do you want to be and live in that and become that person? And he's going to walk us through being sanctified, becoming holy. And I love that we get someone who wants to do both for us.
A
Yeah. In fact, back in 6:20, where he said this. And when your son asks you in the time to come, what mean the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments with the Lord, Our God hath commanded you, like, why do we have all these things? And you will say unto your son, we were Pharaoh's Bondmen in Egypt. And the Lord brought. Brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and showed us signs and wonders and brought us out from thence that he might bring us in to give us the land. And I just. Love is like, why are we even keeping any of these things? Why are we. Why are we doing this? Like, because he saved us. So it's interesting that, like, I look to hear he. He already pulled my bus off the cliff. And now he's asking me like, I can do more with you if. If you want. And it's interesting that I, you know, if my kids are like, why do you trust him? The answer is, well, because he saved me. He pulled my bus off. Off the cliff. But he is offering even more than that for me. And I love that you said that our soul craves both of them. So there's a couple things in the our. Come follow me. Reading doesn't really go through the laws, which is like chapters 12 through 28 or whatever, just because our life is so different than. Than things that happened back then. And you might read some of them if you choose to read the entire Old Testament and just be like, wow, that is wild, or that is intense or something. And you just have to remember this is 5,000 years ago. You know, if I watch a movie like Pride and Prejudice is like, I've never watched it, but I've seen clips of like, when is that, like 19th century, like 100 years ago or something. And that's a world I don't even understand, you know, that it's got to
B
be more than 100.
A
Whatever. Just. You know what I'm saying though. But like, okay, let's think about like, the world of Joseph Smith or something is 200 years ago. And that's. And they. They lived so differently than we do today. And they were in an. They're in the same country as we are. 200 years.
B
It's not that far away.
A
Exactly. So to take 5,000 years ago, it's just hard to read. Just make sure you have that in your perspective as you read these things. And one of the things that you might want to notice is how different they were living from their neighbors. Right. That was kind of the. The key. But it's difficult to. To kind of find a lot of instruction in these chapters for our time because their culture and just way of life was so wildly different. But there are some things that carry. That carry over. And one of those is chapter 15. And I actually want to read some of these verses of chapter 15. Whoa. Not getting emotional ever. From chapter 15 from this translation I love so much the new living translation and Deuteronomy chapter 15 he is talking about this is how you treat the underdogs. This is how you treat the outcasts. This is how you treat those who are less fortunate. From you and their underdog status may have come through a different way than it does today. But what hasn't changed over time is how God feels about outsiders. And he says at the beginning of 15, at the end of every seventh year, you will cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money. This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they've made to their fellow Israelites. This release from oh oh then down to verse four There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in this land he has given you as a special possession. You will receive this blessing if you're careful to obey all the commandments of the of the Lord, but He will bless you as he promised. But if there are verse 7 any poor Israelites in your towns, when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard hearted or tight fisted toward them. Instead be generous and lend whatever you need. Don't be mean spirited and refuse someone if you ref. Verse 10 sorry, it's hard to skip in this one I'm reading Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly. For the Lord your God will bless you in everything that you do. I just love that there is just this carries over so well across time that the Lord is saying remember 12 through 28 is like this is what it looks like to live as covenant people. And I just love that. One of the strong themes that you're going to see is what it looks like to live as a covenant person is open handedness not tight fisted. To live in generosity, to live in hospitality, to live in, live in like an, an overabundant giving mentality. And I that's just one of the ones that I think carries over super well in into our day and I just, I love it. I love that that that will be the mark of Christianity. We talked about like this is a, this is a home that believes and I want to say I want the number one evidence of that in my home to be they were generous and they were kind and they were never stingy or tight fisted.
B
I even remember, I think I was in like a psychology class in high school and the teacher talked about how you treat people differently if you like, if you're relaxed is Hands like palms up, face open or if you like clench your fists. And the teacher was like, the more that you keep your palms up and your hands open, the better and kinder you'll treat people. And I just love that, like, that's not what it's saying obviously, when it's like talking about like, keep your hand open. But it was a reminder to me like, oh, there's gonna be times in my life when I actually am not financially stable enough to be generous with my money. And what if I could just be generous with my voice or with my kindness or with my time or what if I could be generous with the words that I say? And I just like in my soul I'm like, oh, I wanna live palms up. And I just wanna live open and with my hands open, just ready and willing to help.
A
So awesome. So there's just so many really, really cool parts in, in Deuteronomy. But we want to go to the end here where there is this covenant making moment all together. So this is actually what the journal is about right now. P.S. if you don't have your posters yet for weekly lessons or your tip ins, we didn't do any today or this calendar that sits out on your, on your table, just these reminders, right, that, that we've talked about today of, of the lessons and, and, and all those things and the things that can help you. It's only May, which feels like the year's over, but it's actually only month five. So you could jump in to any of this right now. These are still available on goodnewsbrandco.com and they're discounted because we're halfway through the year. But FYI, but if you go to this one, there's three different boxes and one of them's in Deuteronomy and one of them is actually a Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. And then one of them is to pick a talk from General Conference to study three different sermons. And what do they teach us about covenant relationship? That is something that's unique to Latter Day Saints is covenant relationship. And this is such a great section in scripture to learn about that. And they have this covenant making moment together as a people before they enter into into the promised land. P.S. if you want a suggestion for a general Conference talk about covenant relationship, one I would suggest is the everlasting covenant from October 2022 from President Nelson at the time. So if you, if you're looking for, you can pick whatever you want, but that is one that, that you might Consider and what happens is the Lord sets up two different mountains and he puts six of the tribes of Israel on one mountain and six of the tribes of Israel on the other. And then a group of people in, in the middle and they kind of walk through the center of this. And over on the one mountain they talk about all the blessings of keeping covenant relationship. And on the other side it's like the curses, which essentially is these are the natural consequences of, of walking out of the, you know, protection of, of the Lord on the other side. And they're gonna make this promise and enter into this covenant relationship. And, and we have on here 29, 10 through 15 on in the journal. And I just kind of wanna add one other spot that's where they actually make the promise. But I wanna show you the verses in 28 that these are the blessing words from 28. And if you're picking and finding this year the promises to covenant Israel, then this is such a great spot. And it starts in verse two and it goes all the way to verse 13. And I just want to read the verse two part of it which is and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee as you hearken unto the voice of the Lord your God. We talked about God asking us to be a people of abundance. Well, he's only asking us to be what he is. And he says all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you. I love that wordage of being overtaken by, by the blessings. And just read through them. Every aspect, every corner, every angle of your life is what he intends to touch with his golden touch. And, and, and to bless. And I just I, I, I, I, I love that. So 282 through 13, add that into your study as the introduction of what all those blessings are. That is a part of a covenant relationship is what he promises to bring in into our lives. And then I want you to maybe add this also in chapter 30 because the rest of 28 is okay. And if you break the covenant, this is what you're going to experience, you know, is, is what it says, which essentially means, like I said, if you walk away from the protection of the Lord, then you're left to face the enemy by yourself. And this is what it will look like. It's all symbolic imagery. But then 30 I love this. And he says in verse one, and it'll come to pass when all these things are come upon thee, the blessings and the curse which I've set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whether the Lord your God hath taken taken you and shall return unto the Lord your God and obey his voice according to all that I command thee, then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity and have compassion on thee, will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. So he prophesies that one day, Moses, these people are actually going to turn from the covenant and they're going to be scattered. But I love that a part of that covenant relationship is. But the day you decide to turn back, I will return and gather you and I will have compassion on you. And then there is the reminder of that blessing coming back full fold as it was originally promised. And I think it's important to remember that that is the, the kind of God that we worship. If you go to verse 11 of chapter 30 after reminds them about like and even if you mess up and break the covenant, there's a chance to come back. He says, for this commandment which I command thee, this day is not hidden from you. Neither is it far off. I just, I like that God's like this is going to be a repeat in every book of scripture. I want to make sure you know that returning is not a hidden commandment. It's available and you returning to a relationship with God is never that far off. And that's because he is not either. So I think you want to add those into that study of what does it look like to be inside a covenant relationship with him.
B
And you'll find so many other good things. I think that is the coolest part about this week. And Come Follow Me is just going through and discovering so many random hidden treasures that you didn't even know existed. That are verses that will just win your soul.
A
Yeah. And hopefully this becomes a really, really favorite book for you now story wise, after all of this reminiscing, chapter 34, Moses goes up to the top of this mountain and then. And this is going to be the end. And this part is so sweet. Chapter 34. And it's actually the same as chapter three. So remember, three is before he starts all the reminiscing. And then now you kind of come full circle after the full reminiscing and he tells the whole story again. Has everybody repromise. Isn't that cool? After reminding everyone all the things God's done for them the last 40 years, let's repromise to him that we're going to be his people and stay and cleave unto him every day of our Life. But I want to read the end back in chapter three, because I just like it a little bit better in there, but you'll find that it's really similar. And he says if you go to chapter three, verse 24, Moses is saying to the Lord, oh, Lord God, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness and thy mighty hand. Please put next to verse 24. That Moses is 120 years old. And I love that. Right here he says, you have just begun to show thy servants servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what God is there in heaven or in earth that can do all the things that you have done? And then he says in 25, I pray thee, let me go over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain. Remember, the Lord has already told Moses, you're not going to go into the promised land. And I love that. Right here at the very end, he asks one more time, please can I just go into the promised promised land? Can I take these people in? I've led them for 40 years. I've been there since day one. Can I. Can I do that? And. And the Lord says to him in 26, let it suffice thee, and speak no more unto me of this matter. And he says, no, Moses, that's not going to be your calling. That's going to be the calling of Joshua, which we'll get into next week. And he says, and let your calling and your life suffice thee. I know there's things that you wish could be different or had been different, and you wish that the end of your story was a little bit different, but this is. This is your journey, and that is his. But I love this. He says, but get the up to the top of pisgah in verse 27, and lift up thine eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes. And, um. And right at the very end, when Moses asks one more time, can I please go into the promised land? The Lord says, no, that's not going to be your job, but why don't you climb up and take a look at it? And I. And I just think that is. Is so sweet that he's going to walk up to the top of that mountain and look into the promised land that the people are about to go into. These promises that God made hundreds of years before he was ever there, that he led the children of Israel to try and claim for themselves. And he just says, I just want you to see. I want you to see the Evidence of my faithfulness, the evidence of my keeping of promises. Even if you know that's not going to be your lot. And don't you love that? It's. It's like, no, you don't get this that you really wanted, but I will give you this. And that's the kind of God that we live in. You might not have your next door neighbor story, but God will give you these promises. And he just gets to look into that land. And I just think about him standing up there at the very end of his life and just seeing after, after the snakes and the. And the water and the manna and the quail and the fire and all the things over the past 40 years that they experienced together. I. I think I've told this story before, but when Jenny was cleaning out Jack's room before he left on his mission, found a little picture that Jack had in his room of him as a baby, Jenny holding him. And she said to Jack, she said, man, we got history, bud. And I think about Moses on the top of that mountain, just having a similar conversation with the Lord. Like, we. We have history together. We. We've been through a lot together. A lot of good and a lot of hard, a lot of miracles. And just to, I don't know, just the two of them together, like on the top of the mountain. Can't you just think, like, saying, like, we did it, we did it. We made it. We got the people here, and there's so much good yet to come. So what a sweet book. What a great spot to just remember how good God is and. And let that push us into confidence, into tomorrow.
B
So we love Deuteronomy.
A
Who even loved it before today?
B
We loved it.
A
Okay, we'll see y' all next week. If you wanna follow along in everything we're doing, you can find us on Instagram. Don'tmiss this study at this week's Grace and rdavebutler.
B
And if you wanna subscribe to the app or get our weekly newsletter, all of the information can be found@don'tmissthisstudy.com See you next week.
Episode Title: SPECIALLY THE DAY
Hosts: Emily (Grace) Freeman & David Butler
Date: May 3, 2026
Main Theme:
A deep dive into the Book of Deuteronomy, exploring its retrospection on Israel’s journey, lessons from Moses’ final sermon, and the significance of remembering sacred experiences—those “especially the day” moments that anchor faith and identity.
In this episode, David and Grace journey through the entire book of Deuteronomy, using a “candy salad” approach—sharing a variety of their favorite verses, insights, and one-liners. The focus centers on Moses’ final words to Israel, themes of remembrance, God's faithfulness, and what it means to live as a covenant people. The hosts tie personal stories, scripture, and practical application together, encouraging listeners to identify and cherish their own "especially the day" moments.
[03:00-08:05]
“God rescued Israel out of Egypt in one night. But it took 40 years to get Egypt out of them.” – David [04:09]
Memorable Moment:
Grace relates cleaning out her apartment and reflecting on her old passport to Israel’s journey—realizing the journey is less about the destination and more about soul transformation.
[08:21-13:55]
“Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.” (Deut. 2:3)
Applied as a spiritual metaphor for knowing when it’s time to move on from a stagnant phase or difficult season.
“There’s a day coming when God will say, ‘You have compassed this mountain long enough, turn you northward.’” – David [09:33]
“Whatever it is that I’m choosing next, He’s going to be there. …He knoweth your walking through this great wilderness…and thou hast lacked nothing.” – David [11:09]
[13:55–19:40]
“What are my ‘especially the days’? What are the days that I particularly want to remember because of the things I saw and the things I felt?” – David [16:10]
“That was not a wish, that was a prayer. When Jack said that and his mission call was the answer to it…it was the feeling of my heart.” – David [18:57]
[22:22–34:47]
“It just feels so real…when you read something like this, it’s like, ‘Oh, I want to experience life like that, where nothing else matters except for God and my people.’” – Grace [28:52]
Cultural Practice:
Mezuzahs and Tefillin as tangible reminders on houses and bodies of God’s presence and love.
“I want my house to be marked with: This is a house that believes…God leans into this house. His love leans into this place.” – David [30:13]
Grace shares the power of growing up in a home where beliefs were visibly evident, fostering family and faith identity.
Notable Quote:
“I believe in a God who is for my good always. And everything He says and everything He asks…and directs me in is for my good always. I don’t just believe that He exists, but…that He is good and that He is good always.” – David [33:03]
[34:47–41:26]
“You are a holy people…The Lord did not set his love upon you…because you were more in number…for you were the fewest…But because the Lord loved you…” – David [39:12]
[43:04–47:05]
Deuteronomy 12–28 covers many laws, which don’t all translate directly today, but the principle of generosity is timeless.
Deuteronomy 15: God’s concern for the poor, the outcast, and the instruction to live “open-handed” rather than “tight-fisted.”
“What it looks like to live as a covenant person is open-handedness, not tight-fisted. …That will be the mark of Christianity.” – David [45:12]
Grace expands: generosity can mean abundance of time, love, kindness.
“What if I could just be generous with my voice, with my kindness, with my time? …I wanna live palms up, open and ready.” – Grace [46:56]
[47:05–53:17]
“Returning is not a hidden commandment. It’s available, and…God is not far off.” – David [52:44]
[53:17–58:02]
“Let thy calling and thy life suffice thee. …This is your journey, and that is his, but I love this. …Behold it with thine eyes.” – David [53:52]
“We’ve got history, bud. …We did it, we did it. We made it.” – David [57:18]
This episode transforms Deuteronomy from a list of ancient laws into an intimately relevant guide for modern discipleship. Through personal reminiscence, scriptural insights, and concrete examples, David and Grace invite listeners to cherish their own sacred milestones ("especially the days"), remember God’s faithfulness, and become a people marked not just by belief but by generosity, open-hearted living, and enduring covenant relationship.
For more, follow the hosts on Instagram:
@dontmissthisstudy | @thisweeksgrace | @rdavebutler
Subscribe to the Don’t Miss This newsletter or app for supplemental materials and weekly study guides.
Find resources and study aids at: dontmissthisstudy.com & goodnewsbrandco.com