"Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way" Psalm 25: 8-9
Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Look for the "IF"

11:26 AM | Posted by nb | | Edit Post
This morning I wanted to find a scripture about the Lord blessing the works of our hands... I know they are there, just not exactly where, so I did the trusty word search on Biblegateway.  There are several but
Deuteronomy 28: 12 "The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none."
was the one I was looking for.  Gotta love it!

But, I know that with every promise comes an "IF" statement ... "IF you do this, THEN I will do  that...."    I don't think most people realize that.  They go in search of the promise but never seek out the conditional "IF".  It's always there.  This time it was back in verse 1 and 2 and again in verse 13

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
There are a lot of promises that go with that "IF" :

  •  3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
  • 4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed,and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
  • 5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
  • 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 
  • 7 The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. 
  • 8 The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
  • 9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.
  • 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.
  • 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
  • 12 The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
  • 13 The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

----------------
Life Lesson:

Always look for the "IF"... What is your part in the covenant?  What does He want you to do?  It is always there, just quoting the scripture and "standing on it" isn't enough, you have to do your part.  And, if you read further there may even be a curse attached to the disobedience... there is here....

I'll let you look that up :-)

Translate

Powered by Blogger.

Ten Commandments

  • 1. You shall have no other gods before me.
  • 2. You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor 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 fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
  • 3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
  • 4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
  • 5. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
  • 6. You shall not murder.
  • 7. You shall not commit adultery.
  • 8. You shall not steal.
  • 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  • 10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Blogger Template created with Artisteer by nancy babb.