Blessing vs. Curse
God’s not gonna bless your life forward until you do the last thing He told you to do.
Todays message is pretty simple: simply obey or don’t. There’s no room for reason; you do or you don’t. God loves us too much to sugar coat the very truth that sets us free. Otherwise, we’d stay that way and He paid way to high of a price to leave us to ourselves. He not only paid the price but paved the way for you and for me, but we must choose to follow and obey.
Deuteronomy 11
26 “Behold, I set before you TODAY a blessing and a curse:
27 the blessing, IF YOU OBEY the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you TODAY;
28 and the curse, IF YOU DO NOT OBEY the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.
We must take God seriously and at His word. We don’t just believe some or we don’t believe at all! We must not turn aside from His commands, but to keep them as life. They are! Keep in mind that these are commandments for followers, not just options, if we truly want to follow! They are not just mere suggestions and they are always for our good. What good parent doesn’t have good rules? It’s always to keep you from harm? We don’t live by “rule” but rather by His rule. He reigns in your life or He doesn’t. You allow His Spirit to lead, or you do not follow.
He’s actively guiding you, but are you actively listening?
To me, if” and “you” are the largest two words in the dictionary! When combined, your life depends on them. IF YOU obey, blessings! IF YOU disobey, curses! It’s that’s simple. It’s also the difference between life and death, but are we living like it? There is an urgency! ⚠️We must not be lax in our faith, because it determines our obedience, or lack of.
I included two verses from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. We are no longer under the law but grace, yet look at how God’s standards never change! It’s just that He saved you!
Jeremiah 21
8 “Now you shall say to this people, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
Is obedience not still the key to blessing and disobedience to curse? 🔑
Which one will you unlock? 🔐
Which path will you take? 🏃♀️
Is He not the same now as He was then? Does He not still hold the same standard?
Can my God lie? No! Can He change? No!
His commands are still the same. Some argue that we are no longer under the law. True! Now He offers grace, but not that so you might continue in the same direction you once went - but rather learn from and go a different path. We simply could not get it right, so Christ was sent and came to die to get it right for us. Not so that we would just continue to live the same and any ole’ way. His grace is not a license to continue in sin.
He has set the way before me and you, but we determine which path we will take! 👣 We get to choose.
A good mans steps are ordered by the Lord. Gods word is living and it literally speaks to you when you listen or read it. It comes to life! Something that no other book can offer or do, it is the Living Word of God. It’s a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. As you read it, be open, His Spirit will speak to you. It’ll begin to mirror what’s on the inside of you and guide you into all truth! It’ll change you from the inside out! ♥️
He wants to bless you, but you must obey. Otherwise, it would be a free for all and what was the point of His death and the price that He paid? It wasn’t for nought!
Romans 6
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
His death wasn’t in vain. By His grace He saved you, and brought you from death to life, if you accept it. Not so that you’d go on living just anyway you want to. 🧼🧽🫧
Hebrews 10
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
Is there any reverence and holy fear of God and Who He is? If not, then we won’t follow. We won’t take Him at His word. We won’t take Him seriously. We aren’t scared of God, but rather fear Him like we would a good father because we trust that He knows best. Therefore, we want to please Him. He’s a good good Father and He won’t misguide you. You and I can trust that. We must trust Him.
Again: grace isn’t a license to sin. He died to bring you OUT OF that grave, not to keep you in it. By grace you are saved, not that you earned it. He set your feet on a rock and established your goings, but obedience keeps you on the right path. Otherwise, you’ll turn around.
God wants to bless your life! His grace is always to change you, it’s never to let you stay the same. It picks you up without judgment when you slip. But hear that again: it’s always to pick you up, never to leave you in your same repetitive sin. True believers are no longer a slave to the sin that kept the bound. He has brought us from death and back to life. 🖤—>🤍
So, let’s ask ourselves this today: is there something we’ve left undone? Something we still need to do?
What can you do today to change it? How and where can you obey where you haven’t? Where can you be more faithful and less negligent?
There’s always a choice to make and today’s all were promised and given! We can’t erase past mistakes, but He can, if we surrender them. We don’t have to worry about the future, He’s already there and His grace is sufficient. This moment is what He’s after. Trust Him with the rest. He is a real and in real time God. All He’s asking of you is just this step! Then He’ll continue to guide you, step by step, day by day. His mercies are new every single morning. Today’s the day He is offering to you. His word never changes but each day is new. A new opportunity to make it right and so today is the day of salvation.
Don’t get me wrong, hard times come to us all, it rains on the just and unjust. Disobedience isn’t always the reason you may be in a hard or difficult season. But, I’m asking you to search your heart today, as I search mine - to see if there’s anything left undone where we have left room for a curse to come in. Talk to God. Be silent. Listen. Ask God to search your heart. The heart is the real matter of everything we do. We must fill our heart and lives with Jesus; with His word, so we will know how and where to obey as He commands. Stay open, or you’re closed to it.
His Word is truth and His voice is power. So whether He speaks to you through His word or in prayer, we must lean in and trust Him enough to obey. Surrender is key. Learning to obey requires trust in order to act. It doesn’t have to, nor will it usually make sense. It’s an act of surrender.
Maybe today you just need a fresh start and new direction. Maybe you already know what’s gnawing at the inside of you, that feeling or knowing what He’s asked and it never escapes you. It gnaws at your mind and tugs at your heart. You may already know what God has asked of you, but you just haven’t obeyed.
Listen to me: “God loves you! He loves you so much that He sent His Son to die for you! He wants you to live blessed!” Maybe you’re scared, but no matter what the reason, He’s waiting on you. Stop fighting it. Today is the day to release your self from those chains ⛓that have held you down and back for far too long. Don’t waste or wait another day. Today, free fall into the arms of Jesus. He’s waiting for you. “Not my will but Thine.”
Surrender is key to what He wants to do in you!
He searches our hearts and minds to see if there be any evil in them, because the evil keeps us separated from Him. He doesn’t want you at a distance, He wants you for His own. The truth is, disobeying brings fruit just as obedience does. Be sure of what you’re producing. Don’t be fooled, only obedience brings blessing.
“I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:10
Father God, we ask You to expose anything hidden that is harming us, and show us the way that You’d have us to go. You give us courage and strength and we must use our faith to activate the promises and blessings that You want to give. In Jesus Name, Amen.
