Like the young ruler, we are quick to say, I do that LORD! And then we claim the Blessings of God have fallen (or will fall) on us.
Very often, in my daily readings, The LORD takes me back into Deuteronomy 28 to reread the Blessings and the Curses! Kind of like taking spiritual inventory.
“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.”
Deuteronomy 28:1-2 KJV
“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:”
Deuteronomy 28:15 KJV
While reading this morning I ran across this: “Because thou servedst not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee.” Deuteronomy 28:47-48 KJV
Then I'm taken to James.
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” James 1:2-8 KJV
So we are not only to be thankful for all the good but also all the bad!
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV
And if we are not, we have sinned.
All over Facebook we see the cute little signs saying "Lord, I just want to thank You . . . " and that's all well in good, but where is the repentance for the sin of not being thankful! And NEVER do we see a "Thank You LORD for these trials!"
We say our "thank you"s when we are reminded but how often do we out of complete joy express our gratitude in heartfelt tears? Don't we mostly out of duty just lamely offer thanks?
The absence of "joy" in the church is a telling sign!
Love is joy and joy is love!
We seek love, our entire lives here on earth, and often times in all the wrong places! Our flesh craves love and even warped love is better than no love.
We mistake momentary happiness for joy, because we know no different.
When one finds his or her "true love" the world looks totally different. All smiles; one even sees beauty in filth.
However, until you fall in love with God, you don't know Love! All love this world offers pales in comparison. It's complete surrender to Him that makes it possible to have abundant joy, in the midst of the everyday trials we face. It's keeping your eyes on Him that changes your outlook on everything in this world.
When we love God with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind, we cannot help but love our neighbor and ourselves, because His love is poured into us! It is a gift! If we are just trying to do it in and of ourselves, we will fail miserably! Our flesh is incapable of His kind of Love! However the more we empty ourselves of "self" the more room we have for His Love in us.
Emptying ourselves occurs through repentance. Holding onto pride and not willingly humbling ourselves hardens our heart! Only through brokenness of the hardness of our heart is He able to change us into His image!
When we do Matthew 22:36
then Deuteronomy 28:1-2 automatically occurs!
And that is only through repentance!
My prayer: Father forgive me for my lack of gratitude, for all of the things you are doing in my life. I humbly repent for not having a more grateful heart. I know You are working all things out for my own good and You see everything from start to finish. You know what’s best for me and I will trust You in all things, no matter how things look. I thank You LORD for Your peace which surpasses all understanding. I will guard it well and give you all of the glory! In Jesus precious name I pray. Amen!
Even so - MARANATHA!
From 10/8/14
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