Are you ready to be blessed beyond measure? Things are the way they are because of what you are doing. If you want something different, you must do something different.
Do you long to see a greater portion of God’s favor in your life? It is available – with conditions. In Duet. 28 the Lord promises His blessing upon us in everything we do and everything we put our hand to – but there is our part that must be fulfilled first:
Deuteronomy 28:1 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: 2. And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
There are two parts to what God expects of you, and if you fulfill those obligations, the blessing of God will attend your life at every turn. What are those two parts?
1. To hearken diligently to His voice?
2. To observe to do all His commandments.
Are you hearkening diligently? What is God saying to you? Have you ever asked your spouse to repeat what they just said because your mind was somewhere else? I know I have. That is the opposite of “hearkening diligently.” What is the last thing you KNOW that God said to you? Did you observe to do it? If you have a question mark in your mind as to just what God has said, you need to stop and take an assessment of yourself in the light of Jesus words in John 10:3:
[Jhn 10:3 KJV] 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
The key to hearing from God is to live out of your sheep nature. Sheep are yielding creatures. Goats, on the other hand, don’t listen to anyone. Sheep will lie down in the green pasture and by the still water because their entire existence is lived out with a desire to be near the Shepherd. Goats, on the other hand, are always wandering. Goats eat anything. Goats butt (but) everything. You can’t turn your back on a goat. Have you met a goat Christian lately? Are you a goat? If you don’t know what God is saying, perhaps you have some aspects of a spiritual goat nature that needs to be dealt with because – SHEEP hear HIS voice.
What are you doing about what you hear? The word hearken means not only to hear – but to “hear and declare.” The dominant narrative in your life that you listen to will get in your mouth. You will talk about what politicians are doing, or what Antifa is doing, or other things because that is the dominant narrative of your life, and that narrative will determine the character of your life’s experience.
What is the answer? Put God’s word in your mind and your heart. Every Christian who is serious about their walk with God should read through the entire Bible more than once in a year. It’s doable. If you read your Bible 20 minutes a day, you will read the whole Bible twice a year. How much time do you spend on Facebook? How much time consuming other content on the internet or television? The narrative drives the experience. Change the narrative and the experience will change – and the blessing will come.
Deu. 28:1-2 not only says we should “hear and declare” but also “observe to do.” Not just do – but observe to do.” In other words, make yourself accountable. Look over your own shoulder and require yourself to comply and obey and observe what God is saying in your heart and what God is saying in His word. Obey – that’s a four-letter word to most Christians. To observe to do implies accountability. Who are you accountable to? Most Christians can’t answer that, or they give a false answer. “Oh, I’m accountable to my pastor…” Really? When is the last time someone put an expectation on you that compelled you to put yourself under pressure in an area of your life that made you very uncomfortable, but you knew it was what you needed to do? That’s accountability, and in reality, most Christians have no concept of it or any plan to be accountable to anyone other than their own appetites and whims. What do you do then? You start by recognizing that accountability exists and then make yourself accountable for what you already know. You live your life in Christ on your own recognizance – holding yourself in a place of obedience that your flesh doesn’t like, but you do it anyway because you are compelled by your sense of the Lordship of Christ to do so.
What is the reward? God will set you high above the nations of the earth. The blessings will come on you and overtake you. Everywhere you go, abundance will manifest. Everything you say and do will become as effective as if God said it or did it. By hearing. By doing. Things are the way they are because of what you are doing – if you want something different, you must do something different.
