What is wrong with the country we live in? Why do we see so
many that are in need and not receiving the blessings of God? Why do we get
blessed and others not? Lets look to find the answers—
In His Word!
"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of
the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command
you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the
earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because
you obey the voice of the LORD your God:
"Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the
country.
"Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your
ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the
offspring of your flocks.
Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go
out. The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated
before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you
seven ways. The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and
in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the
LORD your God is giving you. “ Deuteronomy 28:1-8
Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Psalm
103:2-5
I have set the LORD always before me because He is at my right hand I
shall not be moved. Therefore my heart
is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. Psalm
16:7-9
From what I read here, we bless the Lord and so we are
blessed. But what does it mean to be blessed? Does it mean we will have no
worry or troubles or not any sadness? Or
does it mean that we can find hope for a way out when we find ourselves in the
middle of a problem?
B- Because you
obey the voice of the LORD your God:
"Blessed shall you be … Because we obey God we shall find the
blessings of God overcome the trials that would come against us. But this only
comes with our obedience to His Word, His will is to be over our own.
We can tell by the example God has given us in Israel. I
asked my children why they think Israel is loosing the Promised Land lately?
They had the right answer, because they are disobedient to His direction. When
they were walking with God, not one army could stand against them! Just the
same when we are walking with him no one can stand against us! When I cry out to You, then my enemies will
turn back; this I know, because God is for me. Psalm 56:9
I have to tell you that it is the same for us! If we are
walking with God, doing His will then whatever we put our hands to will
prosper. I don’t just mean in the monetary way but it will flourish and grow!
That means by keeping my mind and heart focused on His Word, His will, that my
teaching of my children, or writing a devotional that is as long as an article
will be blessed. I don’t know about you but I think that is pretty cool!
L- Let Him be
your Leader! I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel… Therefore
my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. Psalm 16:7-9
When we listen to His counsel and
obey His directions then we will find things work out better than we thought
they would. When God has His way, instead of us trying to get ours, things are
so much better.
My children, as most do I am assured, try to get out of
doing their work. Chores, school, or whatever it is, they do not want to suffer
and have to work to get what they want. They try to talk me out of it… have you
ever tried to do that with the Lord? Convince Him that everything will work out
find if He just listens to you, instead of the other way around? Surely I am not the only one who has prayed
and asked God to do things my way planned out how things would work out fine if
He would just answer this one prayer this certain way?
I find that when I allow Him to direct my path, and lead me.
He will lead me beside still waters, for His name’s sake. Still, calm waters of
life. That should bring to me peace, and tranquility that can only come with my
obedience to His Will.
E- Everything
must come under submission to Him.
Obedience is everything! If we expect to receive any kind of blessing on
what we are doing; that includes teaching, planning an event, attending a Bible
study, or just plane doing the bills; we must remember that with out God we are
nothing, with Him we can accomplish everything we require! Romans 8:31 If God is for us, who
can be against us? No one that’s
who!
S- Submit to the Lord. That means to give in and
give over to His way of thinking. When you follow after His will, in your life
you are submitting to Him. 1 Peter 5:5 Submit to God, Resist the
devil…Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all
of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God
resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submitting is humbling yourself to the Lord,
it does not mean allowing others to walk all over you. It means allowing God to
show you what to do. It means admitting that we do not know it all, that we all
have things to learn directions to follow. Often times someone who has been a Christian
longer than I have will know more than I did on a subject and so I must trust
them to lead me through a situation.
S- Serve the Lord
with Gladness! Serve Him with song, and with obedience. Exodus 23:25-26
"So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your
bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you. When we serve Him, do His will, follow His
directions, and then He will bless us.
And when the Lord blesses us, we will know it is from Him!
Colossians 3:23-25 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as
to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the
reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong
will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.
All that we do, should be done as though it were for the
Lord Himself, then we are serving His purpose in our lives. When we do not,
then we will not receive the blessings we seek, or any other ones for that
matter.
After all our blessings come from God and only through Him
will we have a true blessing.
Dear Heavenly Father, help us to be obedient to Your Word,
and Your Will in our lives. Direct us, encourage us, guide us today Lord in all
that we do, let it all be done for Your Glory. That we may be a blessing to You
each moment of our day, week, and lifetime! In Jesus name, amen.
Suggested Readings for
this week;
Monday: Psalm 16:1-11
Tuesday Psalm 103:1-22
Wednesday: Psalm
115-116:19
Thursday: Psalm 34-all
Friday: Psalms
3&4-all
Weekend readings: Psalm 5-7 all.
***If for any reason you choose ever not to receive this
devotion again please remember that all it takes is replying with a
"Please remove me from this list." I do ask that if there is a
problem with anything I write for you to feel free to write me back and let me
know what the problem was, that we might go over it together and seek the truth
in love.
In His love,
Teresa M. Wilson
www.teresawilson.com