Hi how are you all today? I am well. I will be sharing some exciting news in the coming weeks. God has taken me on the next stage of my journey with Him and I am excited. Do you know why? Because it is all God and not me and what He has started, He will finish. I want to encourage you today to not give up on your dreams. God hasn’t and neither should you.
This week I want to have a look at Deuteronomy 28. This is commonly known as the blessings and curses chapter. In fact, I think that it is the only chapter in the Bible that actually sets out the blessings of following God and the curses of not following God.
Just to make it clear. Curses are not witchcraft or someone putting a spell on you. Curses are a direct result of disobedience to God and His Word.
So let’s look at this chapter. What I find interesting is that the first 14 verses are to do with how we will be blessed. The next 54 verses are to do with the curses that will come as a result of disobedience. That is nearly four times as many verses on curses than blessings.
Have you ever stopped to ponder why that is? I did just last week. I believe it is for two reasons. One is a trust element and the other is a surprise element. You see God was very specific with what the curses would look like but He wasn’t specific with the blessings.
For example, verse 3 states that if we obey we will be blessed in the city and the country. What does that mean? We could take it literally for it to mean we will be blessed wherever we go but I think there is more too it than that.
You see God didn’t create us the same or else we would be robots. He created us uniquely. That means He wants to bless us uniquely. What do I mean by that? God has wired us each differently. Maybe your blessing would come by living in the country instead of the city. If God placed you in the city, unless it was His will, you wouldn’t feel or think you were blessed at all.
The same goes for the type of house you live in, the type of car you drive, your preference in fashion, your career and giftings etc
God doesn’t have one size fits all approach when it comes to blessing us. So what is our part in all this?
The first thing we need to do is trust God implicitly. Comparison robs us of blessings. Why? Because we look at others and want what they have instead of fully trusting God for our unique blessings. I did this for years and not only robbed myself of blessings but my identity took a hit as well.
What else robs us of our blessing from God? Shame and unworthiness do as well. We don’t deserve the blessing of God. Yes you do if you are a Christian as Jesus died then rose again for you to receive it all.
What about the second element of blessing I mentioned above? Yes, the surprise bit. God loves to bless His children with things we don’t even know we would like. Overseas travel for me was daunting but God has blessed me immeasurably in this. God will also bless you in surprising ways but you still need to believe and trust Him.
God is longing to pour out His blessing and love on us. He doesn’t want any of us to experience any of those curses. But we live in a fallen world and sometimes stuff or things happen because of it. If you find yourself sick or broke, the thing is a curse but you aren’t. What did Jesus tell His disciples regarding the blind man? It was nobody’s fault he was blind but was to show the power of God.
Circumstances happen to all of us but we need to trust God, believe His Word and come through it. This will show others the way through their stuff as well.
Remember God is not the author of the curses, Satan is. Satan may be the god of this world, but the Word of God and the name of Jesus is stronger than them. It is time for all of us to trust God and walk in His blessings.
Have a great week and keep living the life God intended for you.
Bless you
Karen
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