OBEDIENCE = BLESSINGS
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed. Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed. Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.
Deuteronomy 28:1-6 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
Scripture is full of promises that begin with “if.” If we do our part, God will then be released to do His part. Some people argue that if God is a loving Heavenly Father, then why doesn’t He just automatically remove all problems from our lives and give us everything we want. But every parent knows that being a good parent means we teach our children the importance of cause and effect. If we do certain things, there are consequences. If a child chooses to rebel against a parent and cause harm to another child, then there are consequences. The consequences are designed to change the behavior pattern of the child because if the child doesn’t change their behavior patterns when they are young they will grow into adults where the consequences get a lot worse. In this passage from Deuteronomy we discover how to be blessed in every area of our lives—“fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all His commands.” When we walk in obedience, we release God to bless us. This does not mean we are perfect because we have all sinned and fallen short of the perfect image of God. There is grace for our imperfections. But if we continue to repeat the same sins and willfully ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit with no confession and repentance, we block God’s blessings. When we continue to live with known sin in our lives and make no effort to remove those sins, we are blocking the blessings God wants to pour into our lives. This principle also applies to the way we handle the resources God entrust to us. What do we do with the time, talent, and treasure that God gives to us? When we obey God’s Word with our finances, we discover we are able to be blessed.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Today I ask the Holy Spirit to search my heart and show me any area where I am compromising or hiding sin. Please forgive me and empower me to take whatever steps I need to take to be free from the control and consequences of sin. I want a life of my Father’s blessings.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”