For the LORD God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. [Psalm 84.11]
In other words... God's blessing is on obedience.
So, what is God's blessing? Do we have a definition of God's blessing or is it simply what we decide and declare that it is?
Among countless other scriptures, Deuteronomy 28 stands out as the most exhaustive list of God's blessings for obedience. For every person tempted to call cancer a blessing or a car wreck a blessing, I simply challenge that call with Deuteronomy 28.
Now, I am not saying that God cannot take cancer or a car wreck or the likes and make something good come from it - Romans 8.28 attests to that. But cancer is not good! Car wrecks are not good!
We must realize that there is also specific mention of God's disdain for calling evil "good" and good "evil":
What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. [Isaiah 5.20]
We are faced then with a couple of realities. First, if we experience cancer or a car wreck, then we can conclude that disobedience is the culprit. I apologize right here to all who are offended by this, but unless you choose to blatantly call evil "good" and good "evil" regardless of what God has said about it, then you too will ultimately have to draw the same conclusion. Bad things are the result of disobedience - good things are the result of obedience.
Let's take this s step further for the second of the above-mentioned realities. I am reminded here that there is another subtle sin that can be an overriding deal-breaker when it comes to God's blessings:
And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6]
Can we see then that not walking by faith is walking in sin? If we are not pleasing God, then we are displeasing Him! If we are displeasing God, we are sinning! If we are sinning, we need to repent!
I realize what I have said here may upset many. No one wants to admit they are sinning. And, especially those who are 'trying' to walk by faith but fail. It's high time we humble ourselves and confess our sin. This is too important to pander to individual emotions or circumstances. We must call good "good" and evil "evil." We must admit that disobedience is responsible for that which is "not good" in our lives (curses) and we must seek to remedy it! This means we must stop sinning and believe God. And, like Job in the Bible, once we get right with God, good returns to our lives.
So, whether it is a direct act of disobedience that is responsible for the not-good things in our lives, or it is the omission of faith, the end result is the same! Bad things! So, again, both are displeasing to God and require repentance!
But you know what? Most people simply do not want to repent. Do you? I know I don't. But that doesn't change anything about what the Bible teaches.
Here's the deal: the world sees no difference between those who call themselves Christian and those who do not when it comes to blessings and curses. I know this is upsetting news, but it is the truth! Christians suffer curses just like non-Christians. Is that really the way it is supposed to be?
Was Jesus just speaking allegorically when He said we could speak to mountains and they would move? Was He just teasing us when he made the blind see and the deaf to hear - taunting us that He is God and we are not? Was Jesus lying to us when He said with His own mouth that we would do all the works He did and then even greater works than He?
Did Jesus fail? Or have we? Is sickness in our lives a Jesus failure or ours? Admit it, it's us! We need to swallow our cursed pride and humble ourselves! We need to repent!
Father, dear Father, forgive me! Forgive me for faithlessness - forgive me for lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Forgive me for seeking my own first and not Your Kingdom. Forgive me for excuses I have made to save face when I simply needed to repent.
No comments:
Post a Comment