King James Daily Bible Study Devotional
Message Title: Blessed or Cursed
Date: Wednesday February 29, 2012
Today's Chapters: Deuteronomy 28

Hello My Friend,

The word blessed means happy; prosperous in worldly affairs; enjoying spiritual happiness and the favor of God; enjoying heavenly bliss. Have you ever experienced something so wonderful that your expression was, this must be heaven? Our best, most enjoyable experiences in life here on earth cannot even compare to what we will see and do in heaven. Believe it or not, those that are truly happy here on earth, those who enjoy the favor of God and look forward to a blessed life in heaven are not those who have everything they ever can possess, they are those who endured all the suffering, persecution, and trials through their faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” - Matthew 5:3-12.

The children of Israel were just days from entering the promised land, I imagine they were both excited and scared at the same time. You know the feeling you get when you walk into a place you have been anticipating for the first time? Wow! There is so much to see and do? What do I do first? Well, most places have a map or a guide showing you what to expect. Israel's guide to the promised land was God and He promised them that if they listen to Him and follow His commands no matter what they faced that they would be abundantly blessed.

Moses explains this further, “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out...And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:” - Deuteronomy 28:1-6,13.

The head, indicating the possession of independent power, great dignity, and acknowledged excellence, it's honorable and of great respect by God to observe and follow His commands, even as being the ones chosen to be His people without merit. While God is the Creator of all things He only chooses certain people to be His people, those people are the ones whom have received Jesus Christ as their Savior. “That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed...Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God...As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” - Romans 9:8,18,26,33.

Now the amazing thing about that is that God is not a respecter of persons and chooses people from all walks of life, rich, poor, thin, fat, smart, or dumb. He has even chosen murders, thieves, and adulterers to be His people. Why? To show us that anyone can come to God, repent of the life that they lived and live for God. You know, people who live in the world are much more afraid of us than we are of them? Why do you think they mock us and treat us so badly? Moses explains this further, “The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.” - Deuteronomy 28:9,10.

God's people are blessed when they are faithful to Him no matter what they are facing, they are not perfect or sinless, they just learn to find the blessings through the tribulation. People of the world see their blessings from Him, they get jealous as to why they are so blessed when they seem to have nothing. They know God is with us and it scares them, they run from us, mock us, tempt us, all in hopes to get us to go against our beliefs, even other Christians can do this. Jesus said, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” - Mark 13:13.

God warned Israel of the curse that would be placed upon them if they did not listen to and follow His commands. Moses explains further, “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me...He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.” - Deuteronomy 28:15-20,44.

The tail, the ones that follow the crowd and never become prosperous themselves, all the the curses that God warned them about came to pass because they never repented. Even if we are saved, if we do not delight in God’s will, we not only come short of the blessing promised by God, we place ourselves under chastisement as well. We must realize that God does not place a curse on His people Himself, people do it all by themselves, He warns them of the dangers of going down the path they choose and if they insist on going there He will not stop them, but He will not stop the chastisement either. “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” - Hebrews 12:5-7.

Every time I read through the Books of Numbers and Deuteronomy I am reminded of the life I was living when God was not in it and the things I allowed and did to please others while trying to find my place in the world. Oh, I was cursed, I destroyed myself, but it was not until I destroyed myself that I realized that I have no place in the world, because my place is with God. We must lose our lives to get life, God wants to bless us here on earth, but we must we willing to listen and follow the commands He gives us. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” - 1 John 3:22-24.

Today's Psalm: 2:12 - ”Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”

Today's Proverb: 3:33 - “The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.”

Today's Prayer: God, You never cease to remind me of just how blessed I am, everything could be falling apart around me, but I truly have Your favor, even when I mess things up sometimes. You never stop loving me, You are always there to give me guidance and correction when I need it. Thank You for all that You do to keep me faithful, I will endure the chastening as well as enjoy the blessings as I learn to listen to You and follow Your commands. Lord, help me to listen for You when You are speaking, please help me to ignore all the yelling in the crowd so I can hear what You are saying to tell me. Open my eyes, ears, and heart to receive everything You have for me to know. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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