Fri.’s Devo -The Blessings and the Curses

Read: Deuteronomy 28:1-68; Luke 11:14-36; Psalm 77:1-20; Proverbs 12:18 Today we read the blessings of obeying the Lord and the curses of not. *** To receive the blessings they had to fully obey the Lord and carefully keep all his commands. Then, wherever they went and whatever they did would be blessed. All of their enemies would be afraid of them and they would prosper in every way. God would send them rain when they needed it and bless all their work so they would never need to borrow from other nations. They would lend to them instead. They would always remain on top and never on the bottom. *** But if they refused to listen to the Lord and did not obey his commands and decrees, then the curses would fall on them and overwhelm them. They would be cursed with disease, confusion, frustration, bad harvests, hard work, defeat from their enemies, the diseases of Egypt, loss, betrayal, and they would end up exiled into a land where they would worship gods of wood and stone. *** Just as the Lord delighted in blessing them , he will delight in cursing them. *** In Luke, when Jesus cast out the demon from a man who was mute, he talked. Some of the people said he could do that because he was possessed himself. Others wanted him to send them a sign from heaven. But Jesus knew what they were thinking so he told them that every kingdom divided against itself will be destroyed and a house divided against itself will fall. In other words, if he was from Satan’s kingdom, he wouldn’t be casting out one of his own. But, if he cast out devils with the finger of God, the kingdom of God was surely come. *** He explained that the stronger man wins and God is stronger than the devil. When that spirit leaves a man it seeks another person to enter. If it can’t find one, it will go back to that same person and try to enter back in. If he has not filled himself with God’s presence, then that evil spirit will bring seven more more wicked than him. *** To those who were seeking a sign, the only sign they would be given was the sign of Jonah the prophet. There was a solar eclipse during their day just like we are about to have and maybe that was the sign he would give them. Jonah’s sign and his preaching to repent caused them to repent. We pray that God’s sign on April 8th will cause many to repent. *** No one covers their lights but puts them where everyone can benefit from it. The same is true about the eye. Our eyes are our lights for our body. When we are single-minded and full of God’s light then our body will be whole. But, if we are bent to evil, then we will have no light. *** Lord, may your light shine through us. May we have eyes full of light and feed on your Word and not the world. May we walk in your blessings of obedience.