<\/p>\n
Deu 11:26-28<\/b>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0\u201cSee, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:\u00a0the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today,\u00a0and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Galatians 3:10<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, \u201cCursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Galatians 3:13-14<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us\u2014for it is written, \u201cCursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree\u201d\u2014\u00a0\u00a0so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>Deuteronomy 30:1<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAnd when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you,<\/p>\n Deu 11:32<\/b>\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.<\/p>\n The three great elements to the Old Covenant were the law, the sacrifice, and the choice. Israel had a choice \u2013 to obey and be blessed, or to disobey and be cursed. It was a cause and effect relationship with God. It was up to Israel. If they wanted to be blessed, then they should walk in obedience (as they were in the days of David and Solomon), but if they disobeyed, they would be cursed (as they were in most of the days of the later kings) A choice was\u00a0required. There was no neutral ground. God wouldn\u2019t just \u201cleave them alone.\u201d It would either be blessing or cursing. \u00a0Inherent in Israel\u2019s disobedience was idolatry. Whenever we walk in disobedience, we exalt ourselves against God \u2013 and declaring that our rules, our standards, our desires, are all more important than His. This is idolatry in its most base \u2013 and common \u2013 form. (Guzik)<\/p>\n Moses sums up all the arguments for obedience in two words, the blessing and the curse. He charged the people to choose which they would have. Moses then appointed a public and solemn proclamation of the blessing and curse, to be made upon the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. We have broken the law, and are under its curse, without remedy from ourselves. In mercy, the gospel again sets before us a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if we obey the call to repentance, to faith in Christ, and newness of heart and life through him; an awful curse, if we neglect so great salvation. Let us thankfully welcome these glad tidings of great joy; and let us not harden our hearts, but hear this voice of God while it is called to-day, and while he invites us to come to him upon a mercy-seat. Let us be diligent to make our calling and election sure. (Henry)<\/p>\n We don\u2019t think in terms of blessings and curses. We think in terms of \u201cBlessings\u201d and what can we get from God. Very seldom does the thought of curses cross our minds. Why? Jesus bore all the curses we deserved upon Himself on the cross. The perfect sacrifice. For those who believe, repent, follow, obey, trust and rely in and on Jesus, they receive endless blessings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Forgiveness, Fellowship with Jesus, In-filling of the Holy Spirit, Eternal life, and the Promise of resurrection<\/p>\n Peace, Joy, Love, Kindness, Gentleness, Hope, Ever in the presence of God<\/p>\n Discernment, Wisdom, Courage, Encouragement, Power for each day, Boldness, and Peace that passes all understanding<\/p>\n Though this is true, it does rely upon our intentional choice to believe, repent, follow, obey, trust, and rely and on Jesus. We are justified (made right, and clean, and our sins are forgiven) through what Jesus did and endured on the cross (redemption). Sanctification – is a never-ending growth and maturity in our knowledge, understanding, and obedience to following, obeying, relying, trusting, honoring, and glorifying Jesus Christ this side of eternity. There are continual blessings in this growth and maturing. And yet, it is an intentional choice to grow and mature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n (2 Timothy 2:15.\u00a0 <\/span>Give diligence to present\u00a0thyself\u00a0approved\u00a0unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.)<\/p>\n What blessings do we forfeit when we become complacent and neglectful?\u00a0 <\/span>Will we not experience any of the list above? We may think we do as we substitute things of this world as we try to find satisfaction, purpose, and meaning in our lives. What are the signs of being lukewarm and complacent?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n No growth, No awareness of sin, No repentance, and Unable to discern the Holy Spirit\u2019s leading<\/p>\n Little to no thoughts of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ and Little to no time in God\u2019s Word<\/p>\n Fear. Confusion, Pride, Greed, Boastfulness, Arrogance, Anger, Hate, Jealousy, and Coveting<\/p>\n Busyness in the things of this world, No Godly satisfaction, Little understanding in the Things of God, and False purpose and meaning for your life<\/p>\n We will not find blessings in our lives apart from total surrender and devotion to humbly serving, following, growing, maturing, and relying more and more upon Jesus Christ. This requires us to make an intentional choice every moment of every day of our lives. It is a choice to deny ourselves and the influences and temptations of this world. This world, society, and culture will offer satisfaction in many different ways. Each of them promises to fulfill your desires and wants. The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are full of examples of this. How are we even able to discern what is of this world and what is of God apart from diligently searching and desiring to know? We won\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Word of God is more readily available than it ever has been, and yet, it is more and more greatly neglected.\u00a0 <\/span>It is nourishing food for our hearts, minds, and souls. It fills us to overflowing with an awe of God. It opens our eyes to His power, might, love, grace, mercy, and blessing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGreat is Thy faithfulness,\u201d O God my Father,<\/p>\n There is no shadow of turning with Thee;<\/p>\n Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not<\/p>\n As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.<\/p>\n Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,<\/p>\n Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,<\/p>\n Join with all nature in manifold witness<\/p>\n To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.<\/p>\n Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,<\/p>\n Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;<\/p>\n Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,<\/p>\n Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!<\/p>\n \u201cGreat is Thy faithfulness!\u201d \u201cGreat is Thy faithfulness!\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0Morning by morning new mercies I see;<\/p>\n All I have needed Thy hand hath provided\u2014<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cGreat is Thy faithfulness,\u201d Lord, unto me!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Deu 11:26-28\u00a0\u00a0\u201cSee, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse:\u00a0the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today,\u00a0and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you … Continue reading “50.x. Wilderness – 15.c. “Blessing and a Curse””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7694,17848,792,791,17847,3345,5431,2985,313,231,232,165,1154,1570,1900,8466,2465,858,2209,655,17846,2757,2047,150],"class_list":["post-184215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-prayers","tag-agraham","tag-be-careful-to-do","tag-blessing","tag-book-of-the-law","tag-call-them-to-mind","tag-christ","tag-come-upon-you","tag-commandments","tag-curse","tag-gentiles","tag-holy-spirit","tag-jesus","tag-law","tag-lord-your-god","tag-nations","tag-other-gods","tag-promised","tag-redeemed","tag-rules","tag-statutes","tag-through-fiath","tag-today","tag-turn-aside","tag-works"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184215"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184282,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184215\/revisions\/184282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prayingpint.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}