So today I want to talk about Deuteronomy 28:1. "If you will listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, being watchful to do all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." So the first thing I see in this verse is there are conditions to the Blessing. I must listen to the voice of the Lord and obey Him and then the Blessing can come to pass. It seems like just yesterday, even though it has been a couple of years, where I really struggled to hear His voice. I learned that He is always speaking but I wasn't always taking the time to listen. These verses tell me that that I can hear the His voice.
"But blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear." Matthew 13:16 (AMP)
"The sheep that are My own hear and are listening to My voice; and I know them, and they follow Me." John 10:27
"I will listen [with expectancy] to what God the Lord will say, for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints (those who are in right standing with Him)–but let them not turn again to [self-confident] folly." Psalm 85:8
The devil would always throw lies at me that would say, "You can't hear the voice of God." I began to tell the devil, "NO, I can hear the voice of the Lord." I still struggle some now but I know what to do now and that makes all the difference. When he tries to come at me I know how to get him to go away!
The second part of this verse talks about how we must obey His commandments. This is usually the hardest thing to do. God will ask me to do something and I want to obey but my flesh says that it is to far away or to hard. The list really could be endless. What I have learned is that it is really better just to obey immediately. The longer I dwell on something and mull over it in my mind the harder it is to obey what He originally told me to do. I have also learned that it is not enough just to read the Bible. I must do what it says. God wants me to be Blessed and prosperous in every area of my life and He wants the same for you. We have to get in the Word, know what it says, and then obey what the Word says.
"But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it." James 1:22-25 (NLT)
"This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success." Joshua 1:8 (AMP)
"God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth." I believe this for our nation. Proverbs 11:11(NIV) says, "Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed." So what are we saying about our country? Are we speaking Blessing or cursing? We need to be speaking life over this country and start praying for the leaders. I also believe this verse is very relevant to what is happening in Israel right now. He will lift them high above every nation. He will do what He says in Deuteronomy 28:7, 12 (NLT) He will keep them and protect the. We need to be praying for Israel right now and always!
"The lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!"
"The lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them."
This last part is truly exciting to me! We have been set on High with Christ.
Ephesians 2:6 (AMP) "And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
Ephesians 2:6 (NLT) "For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus."
When I first learned this I got really excited about what this means. Even on earth I am set on high because Jesus died for me. Colossians 1:13-14 says, "[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins." This verse is awesome! We have been set on high in dominion over the powers and principalities. We have been made to rule over darkness. Do you know what this means? We have authority over the devil and every evil thing. If he tries to bring fear, sickness, anxiousness, poverty, etc. on us all we have to do is say is "NO devil! I am healed, I don't have a spirit of fear, I am prosperous, and I have no need to worry because God is on my side." Ephesians 6:10-14 tells of all the power we have been given. Even when we feel like we have done everything and have been standing for a long time, we should continue to stand! Just knowing that I have authority over the devil is awesome! Knowing that I can say what God says and the devil has to obey me! It is life changing!
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. herefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness." (Eph. 6:10-14, NKJV)
I want to leave you with this quote from Gloria Copeland.
“We have authority in the Name of
Jesus, and we rule over darkness. But,
we have to rule. If we don’t want
the devil coming into our affairs, our bodies, our marriages, our finances, we have
to say, ‘You’re not coming in here, Devil.’ We have to stand our ground, and we
have to say right words.” —Gloria Copeland
So lets take a stand against the devil and tell him to get out!!!
~Until Next Time~
Check out this link for notes on Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Also you can go here to listen to 10 lessons on the Blessing!
I studied a lot from these notes and lessons. I know you will get a lot out of them.
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