Reading: Deuteronomy 28
Have you ever thought how can I keep all the commandments? Thankfully, we are no longer under the law. Praise God! Before we look at the blessings written here, we must acknowledge what Jesus has done for us. Jesus came to redeem us from the law. Under the law we could never come close to being redeemed. When we look at the law there was continual sacrifices and rituals. I don’t know about you, but I am so grateful to live in this time, when we no longer are bound to this law; instead we have Jesus who has redeemed us from the law.
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (of it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”) that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 3:13-14
First off, we have been redeemed of the curse, meaning those curses have no right to us anymore. Amen! When reading through the curses, I’m so thankful I have been redeemed of the many things spoken in verses 15-68. It’s interesting because the curses appear to go on and on. God takes disobedience very seriously and you can see the result of disobedience all throughout scripture when God’s people turned from Him. However, I hope you can see we are no longer cursed because of what Jesus finished on the cross. He hung on the cross so that we would no longer be subject to the curse of the law. He became a curse for us, so that you and I could receive all the blessings spoken of here.
I’ll be honest, it was not until a few years back that I understood this truth of what Jesus did. We are now able to have these blessings. Prior to this understanding, I knew I was saved and I was going to heaven. Hosea wrote, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6) I had no real knowledge of what was written in the Old Testament and how the Old and New Testament are complete and how they build from one to the next. What I have come to realize is that I cannot truly understand what Jesus did until I understand where His people came from. The Israelites had been under bondage to a law in which they could not fulfill. In Galatians, it states that because of what Jesus did the blessing can now come upon the Gentiles. Prior to Jesus, the Gentiles, me and many of you, had no chance at receiving any of these blessings. Praise God that He sent Jesus to redeem everyone that calls upon His name, from the law once and for all.
So now that we know these blessings are for all of us that believe in Jesus, let’s look at a few. “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.” (vs. 3) God starts off by saying it does not matter where you are to receive blessings. You can be blessed where you are right now. Even during a time when the world seems crazy because of this pandemic, God says we are blessed. Amen. God uses people from all walks of life, those in the corporate world and those that farm the land to put food on our tables. He blesses those in high rise apartments and those living off the grid.
“The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” (vs.8) We may not have storehouses today, but we do have savings or investments. Some people think we have to be poor but that is ridiculous. God brought His people into a land full of milk and honey and they reaped what had been planted by their enemy. Our God is a God of surplus, not lack. He will bless what you set your hand to, meaning whatever work you do, He will bless it. God will bring you into areas, homes, communities, neighborhoods and will bless you where He brings you.
“And the LORD will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.” (vs.11) Many of us no longer provide for our families based on livestock and farming, but that does not mean that the blessing is not still for you. God states he will grant you plenty of goods. What I find interesting is that nowhere does it say we will lack for anything. Lack is not from God. We serve a God of abundance. For it says in the increase of your livestock. To me increase means growth, therefore he will bring growth to areas of work in our lives.
I will let you read the rest of the blessings for yourself because I could go on and on. I would also encourage you to read the curses, so that you have a knowledge of what is considered a curse. Maybe you have accepted a curse and you need to rebuke this curse and acknowledge what Jesus came to redeem you from. I for one, have had to do that in my life. I have repented for lies I have accepted as truth. The Lord wants you to know today that you are blessed, you are the head and not the tail, you are above and not beneath. He loves you. You are His children and with that comes blessing and favor. Amen.
God has taken care of me even when I wasn’t walking in faith or fallowing him.