Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Audio Link: https://www.spreaker.com/user/6037402/thoughts-in-worship-02-27-2018-2

This is devotional thought number 23 in our devotional series titled, “Wisdom for the Ages.”

“The Lord’s curse is on the household of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. Although he is scornful to arrogant scoffers, yet he shows favor to the humble. The wise inherit honor, but he holds fools up to public contempt.” (Proverbs 3:33–35, NET)

Blessings and curses from God are in our hands. Before you get excited for the wrong reasons, I am not saying that we can command God to do anything. I am not saying that God must agree with what we say, simply because we say it, even if the power of life and death are in the tongue. I am saying that God’s words are unchangeable. When He makes promises, His promises are sure. When you have an opportunity, read Deuteronomy 28-29 in their entirety. There you will find an amazing treatise in God’s voice about how, and to what extent we can be blessed. Here are a few verses to get you started: “If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field.Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.” (Deuteronomy 28:1–6, NET). The blessings continue, in extreme detail for another eight wonderful verses. Here are a few verses to illustrate the converse: “But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force:You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. Your children will be cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.” (Deuteronomy 28:15–19, NET). Now do you get what I mean about blessings and curses from God are in our hands? If we cooperate with Him, He will bless us. If we have a habit of rebelling against Him, this shows we hate love, and thus curses will result. Which of the two would you prefer? Does your lifestyle reflect your answer?

If our perspective about God is wrong, we will hyper focus on the curses like the devil would have it, and say that God is a hard Man, without regard for the overwhelming blessings He has promised. Since God knows human nature, He answers this twisted perspective through the prophet Ezekiel. “Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live? “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die. “Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust? When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it; because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die. When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. Because he...