Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Wed.’s Devo - Walk in the Blessings

Read: Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; Proverbs 12:18
Deuteronomy 28 is the chapter of the blessings and the curses. The blessings are so good and they are to overtake us. You don’t have to read very far to realize which side you want to be on. Amazing to say, Israel chose the curses and truthfully, so do we many times. One of the greatest ways we curse ourselves is with our own mouths. Life and death is in the power of our tongues. When God created the earth, he spoke it and called what he created by a name. Whatever name he gave it, it became. Then he gave Adam the job of naming the animals. Whatever name he gave them, they became. We have that same responsibility. We are to name things what we want them to be called and they will become that. If you want godly children, then name them godly, etc.
In Luke, Jesus did the third Messianic miracle for the Pharisees and they had to come to a conclusion whether Jesus was the Messiah. Everyone was looking to them for the answer. Instead of naming Jesus the Messiah, they said he was doing his miracles through Beelzebub, the chief of devils. With their mouth they cursed themselves and the whole Jewish nation. The Pharisees were always asking Jesus for a sign as if all the miracles he did and the things he said were not signs enough. He told them that the sign for them would be the sign of Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and then reappeared on the earth. Jesus would die and rise from death after three days and appear on earth. The difference between them and Nineveh was that Nineveh repented and they did not. Nineveh was spared but they would not be.
If you are like me, you have to wonder why so many of us are going through such intense trials. The Psalm for today is a good one. The psalmist feels the same way, but causes himself to remember all the good things the Lord has done for him. He chooses to meditate on the goodness of God instead of the lack in his own life. Sometimes we have to dig deep and see that the the seed is inside us. We have to water that seed of faith with praise, worship, hope, joy, and love before it can grow.
Lord, watch over Your Word to perform it and watch over our hearts that we might speak the words of hope and faith.

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