Tag: command

15.v. “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 

John 6:14  When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”  Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Deuteronomy 18:15-18     “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—  just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’  And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken.  I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

Acts 3:22-24     Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.  And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’  And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days.

This crowd was willing to support Jesus so long as He gave them what they wanted – bread. It’s easy to criticize how the crowd loved Jesus for the bread He gave them, but we often only love Jesus for what He gives us. We must also love and obey Him simply for who He is – Lord and God.  They saw an opportunity through Jesus.  imagine five thousand people show up at a park, who are hungry and you want to feed them.  Even if you had the means how long would it take to arrange this and supply food for the people?  Jesus did this immediately.  They saw the miracle He had just performed feeding so many.  If He was able to do this, He is a “Prophet from God” and we should make Him King.  They wanted to make Him king so that their lives would no longer be subjected to Roman rule.  They possibly thought that they would never have to work for food again.   He would supply it just like God had supplied mana and quail in the wilderness.  It is also possible that they thought if He was able to do this then making Him King would surely make their life much easier and less harsh.  They would honor Him for what they could get from Him and not for who He was.

It is the same throughout history.  There are shallow commitments to Jesus Christ because He is seen as a supplier of worldly stuff to satisfy the flesh rather than the Holy Redeemer and overflowing satisfier of the soul.  It is right to come to Jesus in full surrender and live to humbly serve, honor, glorify, worship, follow, trust, and obey Him.  Out of this commitment deep within our soul, we can come to Him with a purity of heart for our earthly needs.  In this purity, our requests leave room for the perfect will of God in complete trust of His everlasting love for us.

14. “If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name”

Malachi  2:1 “And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. So shall you know that I have sent this command to you, that my covenant with Levi may stand, says the Lord of hosts. My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name. True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity. For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you do not keep my ways but show partiality in your instruction.”

Their (sin) humble service and obedience to God turned into a hollow formality, false piety, and honor lacking worship of Him. It was a service of outward pretending and saying the right things but never from their heart. I recently read this about what it means to be a humble and obedient servant of Jesus Christ. Fear and reverent before His name, speaking the truth, walking in peace and justice, knowing God’s Word, and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Being steadfast in these commitments comes from the heart, mind, and soul.  It comes from and through the living water spring of Holy Spirit dwelling within the hearts, minds, and souls of those who are intentional in their commitment, walk, service, reverence, obedience, and worship of Jesus Christ. There is peace, joy, hope, power, refuge, and many more blessings given to those whose heart, mind and soul seeks and desires to honor, follow, trust, and obey.  How can a person become nothing more than a robot in their service to God?  It is when they take their eyes off of Jesus Christ, neglect His Word, and allow things of this world to capture their heart.  What can be so important in this world the creator of it is cast aside for the things created? To know God’s Word is more than just reading it.  It must be something cherished.  It must be something desired more than the things of this world.  It is the promises of God.  It reveals the love and power of God.  In it we find peace, joy, hope, power, courage, and refuge.  Too many times it appears people just want enough of it to get the blessings of eternity in heaven and they forget the purpose of knowing God through His Word is to be ever-increasing in humble service, knowledge, understanding, honor, worship, obedience, and reliance in Jesus Christ for taking away our sin.  There is no room in the heart for commitment and service to two masters.  We will either serve one or the other.  Begin today with a new commitment and intentional choice to give all your heart, mind, and soul to the honor and glory of Jesus Christ.  Repent if you have been pretending and performing.  Turn away from that which will rob your soul of knowing and honoring Jesus Christ.  Do not be hollow in your commitment and service to Him.

10.f. “I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”

Amos 9:1  I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape.  “If they dig into Sheol, from there shall my hand take them; if they climb up to heaven, from there I will bring them down. If they hide themselves on the top of Carmel, from there I will search them out and take them; and if they hide from my sight at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent, and it shall bite them. And if they go into captivity before their enemies, there I will command the sword, and it shall kill them; and I will fix my eyes upon them for evil and not for good.”

Deuteronomy 28:15    But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God… And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess.

Leviticus 26:23     And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant.

This was God’s way of telling Israel that they could run, but they could not hide from Him and His judgment. Even if they tried to dig into hell or climb up to heaven, they could not escape their responsibility before God. A high mountain (Carmel) or the bottom of the sea could not hide them from judgment.  I will set My eyes on them for harm and not for good: An essential part of the Old Covenant was the promise of blessing or cursing based on Israel’s obedience. If Israel was in chronic, systemic disobedience, they could expect that God’s eye toward them would be for harm and not for good.

How much better is it to live under the blessings of God?  Who would choose to take harm over good, and yet we do this every day we choose to walk paths disobedient to what it means to honor, glorify, follow, trust, and obey Jesus Christ.  Walking each day with Jesus Christ is an intentional choice to deny self and live for Him. Life has a way of capturing our focus and it does it very subtly.  Soon we find ourselves adopting things into our lives that are not honoring Jesus Christ or to our benefit.  Keep a deep hunger and thirst for not only honoring Him but for growing in wisdom and understanding of His Word>

5.r. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Job 14:14  If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come. You would call, and I would answer you; you would long for the work of your hands. For then you would number my steps; you would not keep watch over my sin: my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity.

Ezekiel 37:11-12   Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’  Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people

1 Corinthians 15:42-44   So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.  It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Acts 26:8    Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

1 Thessalonians 4:16    For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

Death of our bodies will happen.  We will all die and enter into eternity.  The physical body we currently have will perish but we will be raised in an imperishable body.  God will raise us from the dead and our dry bones will once again be united with our spiritual body and we will walk with Jesus Christ in our new heavenly home.  Do you remember when Jesus said “I go to prepare a place for you” “In my Father’s house is many rooms”, in this promise we have hope of eternity?  In this promise, we find a reason to live worthy of being called and adopted as children of God.

Job is aware of man’s sin, God’s holiness, man’s death, God’s forgiveness in “till my renewal should come” and “my transgression would be sealed up in a bag, and you would cover over my iniquity”.  It is more than just knowing about death and resurrection and sin and forgiveness.  It is knowing and living each day with the thought that I could leave this world and enter eternity in a moment.  We never know the exact time or day we will die and enter eternity.  We live most days like it is far off in the distance and give no more thought about it than for a couple of seconds at best if at all.  How would we live if we knew today was our last day in this earthly body?  How would we live if we knew today was our last day to honor, glorify, follow, trust, obey, and rely on Jesus Christ? Would you stand before our Savior and hear “well done my good and faithful servant?”  Or, would you hear “depart from me I do not know you.”

Our walk with Jesus should be much more than a passing thought each day.  It should be the primary and predominant thought throughout each day.

2.f. That I may know what more the LORD will say to me.

2 Chronicles 18:5  Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall we go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for God will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. And they were sitting at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph. The Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”

And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what my God says, that I will speak.”

Numbers 22:18-20   But Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more.  So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.”  And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.”

Jeremiah 23:28    Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully.

Ezekiel 2:7    And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house.

Galatians 1:10    For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

1 Thessalonians 2:4    but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Micaiah spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind.  Balaam spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind. Ezekiel spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind.  Paul spoke what the Holy Spirit spoke into his heart and mind.  Jeremiah spoke what he heard God speak into his heart and mind.

We must want to be in the presence of God and have a deep desire to hear the leading of the Holy Spirit.  “Seek Me and I will be found,” “Desire Me and I will give you the desires of your heart,” “Come to Me and I will give you rest,” “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth,” “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him, and he with me.”

All of these words from God invite us to come to Him, seek Him, run to Him, desire Him, love Him, and believe, trust, rely upon and cling to Him.  They are words inviting us to surrender ourselves into His arms.  They are words inviting us to want Him more that things of this world.  They are words inviting us to open wide our heart and let Him flood us with knowledge and understanding of grace, mercy, and love for those who are called by His name and thereby love, seek, and desire Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength.

We only get to this place of surrender by intentionally choosing to surrender our self-centered, self-satisfying, self-honoring, self-pleasing, self-reliant, self-trusting, self-honoring lives.  It is almost impossible to fathom how this change could happen because we have lived so long with this way of living.  How is it we could change from listening to self to that of actively listening to the Holy Spirit?  The good thing is it is not up to our strength and power.  It is only by when we surrender our heart, mind, and soul to the full control, full purpose, and full authority to Jesus Christ will we be able to.  In this humble servant attitude, we find our ears hearing clearly and our mind understanding and our soul rejoicing in and how the Holy Spirit of God is indwelling and leading every moment of our lives. His word takes on a new refreshing place in our heart.  Every day we seem to see something more profound, more clear, and more applicable from Him.  We grow and mature in our walk with Him.  We learn to hear His whispers of leading.  We rely on Him more. We cling to Him more. We trust in Him more.  And though it sounds backward, the weaker we are to self the stronger we become in and through this yielding to the indwelling Holy Spirit.  Our goal is to live every moment in humble service, honoring, glorifying, worshiping, following, obeying, and trusting Him and saying “As the Lord speaks so shall I do and speak”

1a. Send them out of my sight, and let them go! 

2 Kings 24:3  Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon

Psalms 106:38    they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood.

Isaiah 10:5-6     Woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!  Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

Isaiah 45:7    I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things.

Exodus 20:5   You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Joshua 23:15     But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you,

Jeremiah 15:1-4    Then the LORD said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go!  And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’  I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.  And I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, did in Jerusalem.

I wonder if we see the depth of the verses “for the innocent blood that he shed”, “they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters”.  When you look at abortion, is it not innocent blood that is being sacrificed for whatever reason imaginable under the sun.  There are roughly 650,000 abortions reported to the CDC each year in the United States.  That is over 1800 living babies that are destroyed/killed/murdered each day of the year.  Are we not guilty of spilling innocent blood for the sake of convenience?  It is a sad day when we don’t speak out against this tragedy and allow it to continue.  The watered-down cowardly way people say “I do not support abortion, but I do support your right to choose” is nothing more than closing your eyes to the unborn and giving your approval to murder them.

We are a free nation with laws that allow murdering unborn children.  How long will it be before God brings judgment against us?  We call pornography – adult entertainment, pedophile – minor-attracted person, abortion-free choice, God is watered down to – some other higher power, and things that ought not to be done are called – progressive or alternative lifestyles.  This is nothing more than people doing all that their sinful nature wants them to do.  When do we take a stand and speak truth from the word of God about such wayward living?  When do we call on the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to heal our land and rid us of these self-centered desires that keep quiet in the midst of the tragedy all around us. 

Give us ears to hear, eyes to see, courage to act, and strength to complete your purpose oh God.

106. Warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.

1 Samuel 15:22  “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

Psalms 51:16-17     For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Proverbs 21:3    To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

Isaiah 1:17    learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Jeremiah 7:22-23     For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices.  But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Hosea 6:6    For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Micah 6:6-8     “With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”  He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Ecclesiastes 5:1      Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

Jeremiah 11:7    For I solemnly warned your fathers when I brought them up out of the land of Egypt, warning them persistently, even to this day, saying, Obey my voice.

God is clear about obedience. Obey My voice, I desire steadfast love and knowledge of God, love justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God, draw near, guard your steps, broken spirit and contrite heart.  He says obedience is far and above sacrifice.  So how do we know if we are being obedient?????  This is a good question to ask and a good question to answer.

To understand how to be obedient we should know how God speaks into our life.  He speaks through His word.  Hebrews 4:12; “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” He gives the Holy Spirit to indwell those who believe in, trust in, cling to, and rely on Jesus Christ. John 14:16 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.” And He speaks through what He has shown and continues to show us Romans 1:19  “For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

His word brought our heart and mind to the place of knowing sin, repentance, and forgiveness so that may know we have been saved from the judgment of sin and have been given eternal life through Jesus Christ.  This is given to all who believe and is rightly called being born again.  Born not of flesh and blood but of God.  John 1:13 “who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”   

The first step of obedience has 4 parts, first is belief,  second confessing sin, third is repentance, fourth is trusting in/relying on/clinging to Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made on the cross. This initial act of obedience led to a new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

A life of obedience is a desire/choice to listen, a desire/choice to follow, a desire/choice to act/obey.  There is little chance of obedience when there is little desire for His word in your life.  There is little chance of being influenced and directed by the indwelling Holy Spirit when there is little desire for His word in your life.  We cannot honor Jesus Christ without desiring to be obedient.  Without His word and a deep desire to know, understand, and humbly serve, honor, follow, and obey Him we deceive ourselves into thinking we are obedient.  His word is to be the bread of life, living water, and the air that we breathe.  I fear our society/culture has influenced us to the point we cannot see that we are starving, dehydrating, suffocating, and either dead or close enough to being dead that the depth of His word has no place in our heart, mind, and soul, and the understanding of obedience has been diluted to non-existence.

An obedient life must have a continual daily desire to be in, listen too, and act on His word for the sole purpose of humbly serving, honoring, glorifying, following, and obeying Jesus Christ.  Live obediently. Seek and desire His word each day with a heart seeking to honor Him.

60. I did not speak in secret

Deuteronomy 30:11   “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Isaiah 45:19    I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.

Romans 16:25-26     Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages  but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—

Colossians 1:26-27     the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Can His word be so close to our heart and so familiar to our soul that it can not be understood or not be put into practice?  NO!  I wonder how it is possible to spend day after day, and week after week, and possibly month after month without more than a glance at His word when we know of the blessings and curses that come from either obedience or neglect.  Have we watered down His word so much that following it only requires a showing up in Church a few times per month and speaking to God is dialed back to only when something troubling is happening.   

His word would tell us that we can comprehend it, we can understand it, it is revealed to us, it is not far off, and it is brought to the very door of our heart, mind, and soul.   However, it does no good in the heart, soul, and mind of anyone who does not cherish it or read it, or seek it, or desire it, or want to obey it.  Neglects and complacency are not excuses, they are a choice.

49. I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse

Deuteronomy 11:22   For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him, then the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea. No one shall be able to stand against you. The Lord your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread, as he promised you.  “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and 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.

Deuteronomy 30:20    loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days,

Isaiah 3:10    Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.

Luke 11:28     But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

John 13:17    If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

A blessing and a curse.  Who would intentionally choose a curse?  Who would say I want to have no peace, no satisfaction, no protection, no hope, no purpose, no future, no meaning, no joy, no rest ……???  I have to think the number who would say this is small.  But still, this is how they walk through life.  If they did not intentionally choose it how does it come to pass?

The curse is the outcome when the blessing is not sought.  Blessings come when there is an intentional choice and continual pursuit to serve, honor, follow and obey God.   Blessings come when we choose to trust in, cling to, and rely on God.  When things look like there is no way out we can choose to go it alone or we can place it in God’s hands and trust Him completely.

As I write this I am so convicted on how I let certain things worry me, cause doubt, affect my outlook…..God does not change and is able to do more than I can imagine.  So why do I walk in a time of testing and allow worry, doubt, and anxiousness to rule.  Could it be that I am choosing the curse of them over the blessings of God?  Faith, Trust, Hope are all rooted in God through Jesus Christ and if they are intentionally desired, sought after, and cherished the voids we find created by worry, doubt, and anxiousness have no place to take rood even though these seeds may have been planted by the circumstance we face.  Faith, trust, hope are blessings from God through Jesus Christ.

43. Many are called, but few are chosen.

Deuteronomy 7:6   “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.

Exodus 19:5-6   Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;

Psalms 50:5     “Gather to me my faithful ones

Amos 3:2     “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20     Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Titus 2:14    who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

1 Peter 2:9    But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Being chosen and called is an act of God.  “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”  Being called and chosen is not enough. There must be a response to the calling of being chosen.  There must be an act of acceptance of the call and then act accordingly to that calling.  I fear too many want the benefits of being called/chosen but have no desire to live their daily lives in line with this calling.  I fear the neglect of His word has diluted the influence in their lives and leaving them blind and deaf to His calling.  Being chosen we are to be set apart from the influence of the lies of our culture, society, and worldly wisdom.  This calling and being chosen (setting apart) is more than accepting the call, for in this calling there is a call to action.  A call to make disciples, to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim the day of salvation, to proclaim the need for salvation, to proclaim hope and the reason for our faith, to humbly serve, honor, glorify, follow and obey.

How are we too except to know any of this if we daily neglect His word and take a complacent attitude toward the calling of God.  The simple truth is we will not.  We mock God if this is our approach.

We all are to be obedient to God. We cannot just accept the wonderful calling of God and continue to live a life following our own desires. We are to be the “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ”

Paul very clearly stated the responsibilities of the called: “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful”  The called and chosen must be faithful! They must continue to actively believe, obey and rely on God. The called and chosen will need to faithfully endure, both in good and in bad times.

The man in the parable who was invited to the wedding had a duty to come dressed for the occasion, which symbolically meant that he was to put on righteousness, but he didn’t do that. So Jesus made this famous statement that “many are called, but few are chosen.” Therefore, the called-out ones must be spiritually prepared and be clothed with righteousness which is a manifestation of His word in our lives.

If His word is not ever-present in our heart, mind, and soul the world will take it captive with lies and deception.