My reading this morning was in the last few chapters of Deuteronomy, where Moses sets a choice before the people. That same choice is available for us today.
Moses told the people they could have either blessings or curses. The choice was theirs, but it would not be made with the words of their mouths. Their choice would be made with the actions of their lives and the attitudes of their hearts.
"Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God,
being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today,
the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you..."
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 nasb
I love the idea of being overtaken by blessings. Imagine blessings you can't outrun. Blessings you don't pursue, but that pursue you. I want to be that blessed, don't you?
Overtaking blessings can be ours, if we are willing to carefully obey the Lord.
Every area of our lives, children, business, home, weather, peace, even our battles can be blessed. Moses said the blessings would be so evident that our enemies would be afraid to attack us.
Obedience brings blessings. It's that simple.
"But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you."
Deuteronomy 28:15 nasb
Curses can also be ours, if we so choose.
Who would choose curses? You would think no one would, but that's not the case. When we choose to go our own way, to disobey God's commandments and statutes, we, in effect, choose His curses.
Moses wanted to be sure the people understood, so he listed all the areas of their lives on which the curse would rest. Home. Children. Business. Battles. Weather. Pestilence. Health. Mind. Relationships.
God would smite them with "madness, blindness, and bewilderment of heart." The diseases they feared in Egypt would come on them.
Overtaking curses will be ours if we choose the way of willful disobedience.
Disobedience does not bring blessings. It's that simple.
If we want the blessings of God, we can have them. All we have to do is obey God.
The blessing of God does not mean we will be incredibly wealthy and everything we do will turn our perfectly. If you don't believe it, take a look at Job. Sometimes we have circumstances that teach us lessons we need to learn. That does not mean there's no blessing in our circumstances. It means there will be enough, even in hard times.
God is the ruler of the Universe. He is the Generous Giver, and we can (and will) be His Ready Recipients. We decide, by our actions, which kind of Ready Recipient we will be.
As for me, I want to be a Blessing Recipient, so I choose to do what must be done to receive those blessings. I choose to obey.
No matter what we say, the way we live our lives will reveal our choice.
Blessings or curses. Which will you choose?
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Be sure to check the updated Prayer List
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In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links: How Will We Respond to God: Fear or Faith?, The Infinite Pi and the One Who Created It, What God Requires, Casting Stones, Forgiving, and Forgetting, Being Altogether Joyful, Choosing Molech and Sacrificing Children, The Aftermath: Louisville Tornado 2014
#blessingorcurse #decisiontime #faithlife #linesfromleanna #leannahollis
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