Sunday, August 1, 2021

Deuteronomy 28 Devotions by Stephen Taylor

Deuteronomy 28:2

“All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God…”

Deuteronomy 28:15- “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you…”

We have a choice whether to obey or not, but obedience is a requirement for every believer from God. Still, our God is so great and awesome that even though obedience is required and deserved, He still blesses and rewards us for it! As if being His wasn’t enough, He puts such a great blessing on our lives for obeying and honoring Him!

One thing the Lord pointed out to me this morning in these verses is that His blessings will either accompany us in this life, or His curses will overtake us. Those are two different choices with two dramatically different outcomes. Yes, we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, but that doesn’t mean that we can live a life of disobedience and expect a blessing to be attached to it.

Our God doesn’t change, and if God was this serious about the Old Covenant that was built on the blood of bulls and rams, how much more serious does He take the covenant bought and built upon the Blood of His Son? Obedience didn’t go out the window with the Cross but actually brought us a greater chance to walk in it! The Holy Spirit who came after the cross and Who Christ promised would lead us into all truth is given to help us walk in Him each day! If anything, we have a greater power working in us to understand, live and obey Him today than they did the day these words were written!

1 Corinthians 2:12,13- What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

John 16:13- But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.

God bless! I love you all, but He is love! Glory, honor, and praise now and forever to Papa God, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!

 

Deuteronomy 28:47-48

“If you do not serve the LORD your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The LORD will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.”

 

Who do you serve and why? Last night as my wife and I were reading this passage, the Holy Spirit brought to mind the severity of not only Who we serve but how we serve! Do we serve the Lord with joy and enthusiasm, or is it just a box to check or a spouse to appease?

 

These two verses are super clear. They say that if you do not serve the Lord with joy, then you will serve your enemies in poverty and shame! It says you will lack everything if you don’t serve the Lord wholeheartedly and correctly!!! It’s so easy for me to focus on what I don’t have or what I’m lacking, but in reality, I have way more than I could ever imagine or desire! I have a personal relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit! What more could a pile of dust want? When I think of abundant benefits, I think of His Presence, His love, His mercy, His grace, His salvation, His forgiveness, and His people He has placed in my life! That is a laundry list of beautiful gifts that I don’t deserve and take for granted all too much!

 

We have a choice to either serve the God who loves us and gave His Son for us, or we can serve the world that hates us and wishes us dead! We can serve the Lord who wishes that none shall perish, or the world that wishes all shall perish! We choose each day who we are going to serve, and these verses are clear about the kind of yoke we can expect by which one we choose to serve! So today, I ask You, Lord, to forgive me for my ungrateful and unthankful heart that I have at times and refocus me on Who you are and how I can serve you more like Christ!

 

Joshua 24:14-15 - "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

 

God bless! I love you all! Glory, Honor, and Praise forever to the God Almighty, His Risen Son, and the Holy Spirit!

 

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