"See, today I am letting you choose a blessing or a curse. You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the LORD your God. I am giving them to you today. But you will be cursed if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God. SO do not disobey the commands I am giving you today. Do not worship other gods you do not know., The LORD your God will bring you into the land you will own. Then you are to announce the blessings from Mount Gerizim. Announce the curses from Mount Ebal." -Deuteronomy 11:26-29
I have been learning this lesson experientially for many years now. God keeps taking me deeper and deeper into obedience and faith. By nature I am extremely independent, and rebellious of all authority. It has taken God allowing me to go my own way and "run from him" and reach the end of myself, to humble me and give His way a try. Through the training stage of His gracious and sovereign hand over me, I have learned to argue does nothing, ultimately, it is whether I obey Him or not. It always comes down to the wire for me and He says, "You can obey me or not, what's it going to be." I used to begrudgingly choose to obey and I put the weight of the consequences on Him. Saying, "If you don't uphold who you are and keep your word through this, I am done". Needless to say, He always did. As He would come through and I would be blessed because of my obedience and stepping out in faith, my faith grew. My love for him grew, my passion to know him better and obey him quicker grew. I learned to love obedience. I learned to love God's will and ways and hate all other ways. I learned to hate my sin and hate independence. I NEEDED God every moment. I still need Him every single moment, and I love to call on Him when I am in need. This selection of verses spells it out very clearly. When you obey, you will be blessed. When you disobey, you will be cursed. BY A HOLY GOD. I have begun teaching my children this as well. When I speak to them about their disobedience, I remind them of this principle. And I have found it to be true. When I walk by faith to do what God calls me to do He always blesses me beyond my wildest dreams. When I doubt or disobey, I am always weighed down and burdened and things go horribly wrong. And honestly, while I am obeying, sometimes I am persecuted. God gave us his law so we would know him through following and obeying it. He gave it to us to reveal his holiness. He gave it to us to pave the way for Christ to fulfill it where we fall miserably and wholly short. He built into it, a blessing and a curse, based on how we individually and collectively choose to handle it in our lives. What a blessing!?!?! Not just to be told to obey because He said so, but we will be rewarded for doing so! How beautiful and gracious of Him! Lord Jesus, Thank you for this principle and promise! Thank you for graciously teaching us to obey and leading us in blessings for your name's sake and glory. Give us grace to obey you without fear, to love your law and ways and trust you and boldly follow where you lead us. Be with us and do your will in and through us. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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About MeI want to glorify God with my life and use my gifts for His Name's sake. This blog is an effort therein. Archives
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