Leviticus 26
Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26 are remarkably similar enough to confirm that blessings are indeed God's favor upon obedience and in contrast curses are God's displeasure upon disobedience.
Nothing about Jesus' Advent, Crucifixion, and Resurrection makes a blessing a curse or a curse a blessing. Nothing.
Jesus' redemption changed the way to blessings. Instead of obedience to laws garnering God's favor, it became necessary and possible to please God only through the obedience of faith.
However, it is worth repeating, the Age of Grace (as we fondly refer to the New Way in Christ), does not re-classify curses as blessings (and vice versa)! Curses have, at their core, loss, suffering and agony. Blessings have at their core prosperity, thriving and peace.
To call a curse a blessing or a blessing a curse is just wrong - it is sin. Why? Because good is good and evil is evil: good is never evil and evil is never good!
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]
The proud "explanations" religion has deceptively devised "when bad things happen to good people" are the fruit of man's deceptive heart:
“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? [Jeremiah 17.9]
Man's number one vulnerability that his deceitful heart appeals to is his pride. Pride prevents a man from properly discerning the curses he experiences as indicators of his need to repent. Instead, pride leads a man away from introspect concluding that God must somehow have a side that would inflict curses randomly. The eternally damning error of this deceit and pride is that the deceived man will never repent and will therefore never be forgiven.
Let us not forget Jesus' description of Satan:
For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. [John 8.44]
The LAST thing Satan would ever want us to do is REPENT! If God loves man, Satan hates man. If God wants eternal life for man, Satan wants eternal damnation for man!
Knowing this, why would a man EVER want to defend his innocence when "bad things happen to him"? Because that's just how powerful deception and pride are.
Father, help us to properly discern our circumstances and adopt a life of humility and repentance so that we might effectively represent You, Your will, and Your power on the earth.
1 comment:
Awesome word Brother, yes this poor ol' nasty flesh gets us caught up in that evil pride and if pride isn't the one that holds us back from true repentance its feat that does. We are too prideful to make the attempt to repent and then when we come near to accepting the need to repent we get caught up with more lies and deception from the enemy with fear of this or fear of that. its a continual circle of lies that trap us in this loop of illusions and keep us from true repentance. Only with the complete and utter Mercy and Grace of the Father can we come into that are of our soul can we reach in and gasp the repentance we need to obtain salvation.
Thank you Father for all your help in repenting of our sins. it is impossible to do this without you.
Thanks Brother Ruark for helping the rest of us reach the Father by your words of leadership and encouragement.
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