Living The Blessed Life: The Trigger For The Blessings

 

The Blessed Life

The Trigger For The Blessings

Deuteronomy 28:1-2

"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."

Living the blessed life comes with a price. Once the price is paid, you have a good standing for the blessing. Hardly will you find a man who does not want the blessing. We all want the good life. We all want to be happy. It is likely you find someone who may claim to not want the blessing but on a close examination, the same person will quietly go behind and find solution to his or her problems. The solution to the problem is the blessing.

It comes down to making up the mind to go up for the blessing. The blessing does not come without a price. There is something to do for the blessing to come. It can either be a change of mind, a change of attitude, a change in the pattern of thinking, a decision about a number of choices, an instruction to obey etc. Once the price is paid, the blessing comes. The blessing will trickle down and then there will be a down pour and showers of blessing will be the be the final outcome. In practical terms, what is the price to be paid?

"...And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God."

Blessings shall come if you pay attention to the voice of the Lord your God. Why is it like that? It is simply because He is the giver of the blessings. If you have nothing to do with the giver of the blessings, He will not waist the blessings on anyone who dislikes Him. Love for God is the platform for the blessings to be released. How can you pay attention to someone you dislike? Even if you pay attention to the person you dislike, you will not follow His instructions. It is in following the instructions that the blessings come. Putting things in order, you love the Lord first, then you have time to be with Him to listen to His instructions, carry out the instructions then blessings will pour down on you. Why His instructions? What possibly could His instructions be?

Isaiah 55:8-9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The Lord God knows all things. All power belongs to Him and nothing is impossible with Him. He can see what you cannot see. He can see the past, the present and the future. He knows what is coming the next moment. While you may be planning and you have all the best options laid before you humanly possible, he can see a loophole that can be catastrophic. Just missing a point in a crucial situation could mean great failure or success. He knows what you do not know. Just think of all possible knowledge available in the world today and much more breakthroughs that will be coming in years to come, He knows it all. All He will do is just to give you a word. What you are to do is to 'hearken deligently' to obey.

"...And all these blessings shall come on thee, ... if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God."

The word hearken as used in the King James Bible means to hear intelligently (often with implication of {attention} {obedience}. The all knowing God is giving you instruction according to His depth of knowledge, all you are expected to do is hear intelligently with the implication of attention to obey. He could see whether you are off track or not. He could see whether you have a long distance to go or not. He could see danger or peace. Everything is laid bare before Him. He cannot tell you all because you can not accommodate it. You do not have the capacity to carry all the vastness of the depth of knowledge of God. He carries all for you. That is love! Yours is to obey. Be intelligent in listening to Him.

Deuteronomy 28:1-2

"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:..."

The blessings shall come to pass. It will not be hanging. Once the price of listening and observing to do according to the voice of the Lord is paid, expect the blessings.

Possible Instructions

What possibly could be His instructions? To talk about His instructions, it is first better to know how He communicates His instructions.

Joshua 1:8

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

God never contradicts Himself. The way He dealt with people in the past is possibly the way He will deal with us today in terms of principles. Though there may be differences in the lifestyle of the generation past, there may be cultural differences but the principles of His dealings have not changed. The principles of His dealings is recorded in the book of the law. This is documented for us in the Bible. While reading the book of the law, we start decoding nuggets for our lives and families and nations. He communicates His mind in the book of the law. Will you take your time to prayerfully read the book under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? The instructions to obey is coded specifically for you.

Romans 8:14

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

If there was ever a time you started a relationship with God, the Holy Spirit of God took over your life and if you will allow Him, He will lead you in accordance with the book of the law of God. The leadership of the Holy Spirit is a sure way to the blessings. To be led by the Holy Spirit is to be free from the curse. The Holy Spirit will help you to dig out specific instructions for this moment from the book of the law of God. Your life will be decoded and everything will be made bare before your eyes. It is left for you to obey. Without the Holy Spirit, the book, though open, will appear closed. Read the book under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Specific instructions will become clear.

2 Chronicles 20:20

"And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper."

Jehoshaphat told them that they should "...Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper."

The prophets of God are men and women who have taken their time to be with God to hear what He have to say. They hear on behalf of the people. They are inspired by God. They are not moved by emotions or sentiments. Through them, God can release instructions. If these instructions are obeyed, the blessings are released. However make sure that what the prophet is saying is in line with the book of the law of God and it does not contradict the witness of the Holy Spirit.

"...Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper."

Believe the Lord first before you believe His prophet. There are prophets that are not of the Lord. They do not speak the mind of the Lord. If they speak the mind of the Lord, they do so for their personal gains. These kind of prophets are called false prophets. Apart from false prophets, there are prophets that are truly of the Lord. They are led by the Spirit of God and what they do and say is according to the book of the law of God. These prophets are worthy of attention. Hearken to what they say that is in according to the book. 

The book, The Spirit and The Prophet must never contradict. Once the three bear witness, hearken deligently to observe all that the Lord is saying. The blessing is in the word. While there could be many other ways the word of God could come, the three presented here have a reoccurring pattern. The word of the Lord could come through dreams, trance, natural phenomen etc but it must never contradict the word of the Lord that is written in the book of the law.

Once the word has come, there is nothing stopping the blessing except you. You can stop the blessing by not obeying what He instructs. Take a look at one instance.

1 Kings 17:8-11

"And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand."

This is a typical case of how the blessing comes. It all started with the Lord. Three key players in this case were: The Lord, The Prophet and The Widow of Zarephath. The widow needed the blessing, the prophet was sent by the word of the Lord, the widow hearkened deligently and she took action of obedience then the blessing came. 

1 Kings 17:8

"And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,..."

God gave specific instruction to the prophet. He was not moved by emotions. He did not put in front of him personal interest even though it brought him what to eat during famine but it was not what to eat that moved him. What moved him was a word from the Lord.

"...Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee...."

This appeared impossible because there was famine in the land and this woman had no husband yet God who knows all things said that she was the person to sustain the prophet. God gave the prophet a specific instruction and the man obeyed. It was not a personal interest in this case, he was led and he obeyed. He was a man of God.

"So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink."

The prophet initiated the interaction. All he was doing was obeying instruction. He was told that she will sustain him and he started with the simplest way to be sustained. 

"...Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink..."

Water is the simplest way to be sustained. She did not resist.

1 Kings 17:8,11

"And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand..."

What made her not to resist the prophet? It is possible that there was a witness within her that gave her the confidence to continue interacting with the prophet. It is also possible that the prophet was popular and she knew him to be of God. At that time, the prophet was wanted (sort of) and many people would not like to be associated with a wanted man. Any way, the woman welcomed the prophet. All this was happening because the Lord gave His word. Some may call this a circumstantial leading. No matter what, it was the will of God that mattered. The woman had good reason to give excuse but she did not.

1 Kings 17:8,12

"And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

She had her last meal to eat in the midst of the hunger but because the Lord spoke, she was ready to obey.

1 Kings 17:13

"And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son."

The Lord gave His word to Elijah and then Elijah instructed the woman. He did not ask her to cancel her plan but gave her instruction side by side with the word of the Lord. The woman obeyed. She needed a word to hold onto. The prophet gave her a word:

1 Kings 17:14

'For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth."

In essence, the prophet was saying that she will have surplus even though there was no rain and there was famine in the land. How was that going to be possible?

1 Kings 17:15-16

"And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah."

The blessing came when the word of the Lord was obeyed by the prophet and the woman. The blessing is not separate from the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord and the action of obedience triggered the blessing. 

Get to the book of the Lord, be led of the Holy Spirit and listen to possible cue by a prophet of God (or any other person proven to walk in obedience) led by the Holy Spirit. It could come in many different ways but whatever way it may come, it must not contradict the word of the Lord. 

It is time for you to be blessed. If the blessing must come from the Lord, listen to His instruction. Nothing will stop your blessing.

Pray

My God, I come to you for a blessing. Give me a word that will change my situation. I receive blessing from you in Jesus name. Amen!