Numbers 6:23-27 " Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites.
We have all heard it said when we sneeze: God Bless You! I don't know why or when that phrase came into being but I do know that God wants to bless you and me.
When blessing is the key to success and obedience is the key to blessings, I need to make sure I am answering the questions correctly. Am I carefully following His ways in the current situations that are confronting me? Am I obeying at a 100% rate? Anything less is disobedience. Is there any place where I am compromising or wandering from His desired path? Is there anything I am neglecting to do that He has instructed me to do? Could it be that I am working hard to accomplish His will but I'm doing it MY way? These are questions worth asking because the blessing is worth receiving.
PRAYER
Lord give me the wisdom and strength to make right choices. Today I choose your blessing. I choose to obey!
Say to them:
24 The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.
27 So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them."
OBSERVATION
OBSERVATION
We have all heard it said when we sneeze: God Bless You! I don't know why or when that phrase came into being but I do know that God wants to bless you and me.
In Deuteronomy 11:26 & 27 we discover that God give us a choice regarding this blessing.
We can choose to experience a blessing or a curse. Here is what he says to us.
Deuteronomy 11:26 See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse.
27 The blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;
28 the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn form the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
Literally, these words reveal the difference between success or failure in the different arenas of our lives. 'The blessing if you obey... the curse if you disobey."
When I read these verses, GOD'S SMILE comes to mind. To me, His blessing is his smile. (Numbers 6:25) When you're doing what is pleasing, He smiles on you with blessing. The curse, however, is when you're doing what displeases your Father, and His smile quickly disappears. If I were to interpret this into language that makes practical sense, I would say this: When you are doing things God's way, things work. When you stray from doing things God's way, things stop working.
When you fully obey God's commands, all His blessings will accompany you! Deuteronomy 28 and & 29 elaborate on this blessing. It says that your family along with your work will be blessed. It talks about how your enemies will be scattered. The scripture goes on to say; 'However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow His commands... all these curses will come upon you." Then He proceeds to describe how the same people, doing all the same things, will get opposite results.
It all depends on the SMILE! After all, it is His blessing.
Nothing is worth losing the blessing of God! It is the key to fruitfulness.
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
When blessing is the key to success and obedience is the key to blessings, I need to make sure I am answering the questions correctly. Am I carefully following His ways in the current situations that are confronting me? Am I obeying at a 100% rate? Anything less is disobedience. Is there any place where I am compromising or wandering from His desired path? Is there anything I am neglecting to do that He has instructed me to do? Could it be that I am working hard to accomplish His will but I'm doing it MY way? These are questions worth asking because the blessing is worth receiving.
PRAYER
Lord give me the wisdom and strength to make right choices. Today I choose your blessing. I choose to obey!
