Blessings Follow the People of God!
We are in times of social and economic firestorms. Our nation is heavily in debt and out of control. Many big companies and even banks are downsizing their workforce to adjust their bottom line. Many of the countries are in recession and we are not far off from it.
While people are concerned and even many are chasing after their resources to survive, what does the Bible say about blessings of God that will follow those who walk with God? The Scriptures are clear in that God blesses His people according to His covenant. We belong to God’s economy and not to the world.
God’s covenant blessings follow the people of God as God Himself pronounced in Deuteronomy 28: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
In the New Covenant, Jesus said: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Notice some of the important requirements of such blessings from Deut. 28:1-2:
1) “Diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God!”
2) “Observe all His commandments!”
3) “The Lord your God will set you high above all nations!”
4) “These blessings shall come upon you!”
5) “(These blessings) shall overtake you!”
6) “Because you obey the voice of the Lord your God!”
There are only two requirements – Diligently Obey God and Observe All that God has Commanded us!
The results are unmatched:
· God exalts (sets high) all those who fulfilled those requirements!
· The pronounced blessings will come upon them!
· The blessings will overtake them – They don’t have to chase after the blessings, but the blessings will chase after them!
· The only reason for God’s favor is obedience to the Voice of God!
We see in the Scriptures examples of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, Esther, Mordecai, Daniel, Shadrach, Abednego, and others who were blessed immensely by God. They never asked for God’s blessings, but the blessings of God came upon them and overtook them. While they had their share of challenges and struggles, they were the most blessed in their generations to the envy and jealousy of the people around them. What was special about them? How did they prosper? How did they rise to prominence?
Three important things are in common between them. They are as follows:
1) They Were Conscious of God!
2) They Were Conscious of Their Righteousness in God!
3) They Were Conscious of Their Separation to God!
They Were Conscious of God!
The examples I mentioned were conscious of God’s presence in their lives. Being conscious of God and prioritizing the presence of God is the most important requirement for Biblical prosperity.
Abraham was bold to build an altar to God wherever he went which signified that he belonged to God and was in fellowship with God. Abraham walked with God. Abraham called the Lord, “Lord (Adonai) God” meaning, “Lord, You are my Master! (Genesis 15:2).” “Abraham was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2). Abraham was called a “Mighty Prince among us” by the children of Heth, Genesis 23:6.
Isaac too built an altar at Beersheba and worshipped God. Isaac was a praying man who prayed to God for 20 years for his wife, Rebekah! (Genesis 25:21).
Jacob made a vow to God: “If God would be with me…(this) shall be God’s house” (Genesis 28:20-22). God blessed Jacob exceedingly, Genesis 30:43. Some 20 years later, Jacob returned to the same place, putting away all the idols from his home and consecrating himself to God, Genesis 35:1-3.
Joseph was blessed to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh became the Governor of Egypt and taught wisdom to Pharaoh’s elders, (Psalm 105:21-22). Joseph said to his brethren: “You thought evil against me, but God meant it for good…to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).
Joshua took over from Moses to divide the land among the tribes of Israel. God was with him wherever he went, Joshua 1:3. Joshua said, “For me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:15).
Mordecai reminded that it was God who placed his cousin Esther in the King’s palace, Esther 4:14. Esther and Mordecai gave themselves to prayer and seeking God, Esther 4:16. Esther was the queen of Persia (Esther 2:17), and Mordecai became the Prime Minister (Esther 10:2-3).
Daniel prayed and sought God with his friends to know the King’s dream, Daniel 2:17-18. Daniel acknowledged that God revealed the King’s matter to him, Daniel 2:23. Daniel was showered with many gifts from the King who made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon, Daniel 2:48.
What do we learn from all these examples?
They were God-conscious!
They were bold enough to declare that they belonged to the God of the covenant!
They dedicated themselves to serving God as a whole family!
They prayed earnestly to God!
God blessed them and honored them with leadership, riches, wealth, and prosperity!
They Were Conscious of Their Righteousness in God!
First, we must be God-conscious, and next, we must be righteousness-conscious. We must be in the right standing with God. When we are in the right standing with God, we will be sure to enjoy Biblical prosperity.
The godly examples were conscious of their righteousness in God.
Abraham believed God: “And (Abram) believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). “(Abraham) did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness’” (Romans 4:20-22).
Joseph told Potiphar’s wife, refusing her demand to sleep with her: “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:8-9).
Moses answered the call of God, forsook Egypt, and feared the Invisible God more than pleasing Pharaoh: “By faith (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them” (Hebrews 11:27-28).
Joshua drew the line challenging his countrymen to serve only God: “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River (Euphrates) and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River (Euphrates), or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).
Mordecai worshipped only his God and never bowed to Haman, Esther 3:2.
Daniel never compromised his belief and walk with God: “Now when Daniel knew that the writing (of judgment) was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days” (Daniel 6:10).
What do we learn from these examples?
They were righteousness-conscious!
They feared God more than fearing their circumstances!
When the time came to take a righteous stand for God, they did not hesitate!
They Were Conscious of Their Separation to God!
A holy and godly separation is warranted for sustained Biblical prosperity. God’s exclusive blessings come upon us when we are solely separated to Him, and away from the “drain holes” of our blessings.
The Biblical examples were separated from the following:
Familiar Spirit: Abraham was separated from his father’s house. God said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Tradition says that Abram’s father’s house was making idols for worship and God separated him from his home he grew up in to make a covenant with him to bless him!
Strife: Abram was separated from strife. There was strife between Lot and Abram. Abram said to Lot: “Please let there be no strife between you and me and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left” (Genesis 13:8-9). God did not even define the land Abram would inherit until Lot was separated from him (Genesis 13:14). Abram was separated, and yet, rescued Lot from his captors and pleaded in prayer to God for him and his family when God’s judgment was looming over Sodom and Gomorrah.
Wrong Association: It was not easy, but Jacob had to separate himself from Esau, his brother, who envied him and wanted to kill him. When he was on a journey of separation from his brother and his parents, God gave him a dream and made a covenant with him: “Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So, he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:10-12). It took over 20 years when God heard Jacob’s prayers to reconcile him with Esau.
Temptation: Joseph ran from the place of well-being to keep his purity: “But it happened about this time, when Joseph went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was inside, that she caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me.’ But he left his garment in her hand and fled and ran outside” (Genesis 39:11-12). Joseph had to choose to give up his profession to preserve his purity.
Destiny: Moses was separated by God’s destiny from Pharoah’s palace before he was sent back 40 years later to deliver Israel from Egypt: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26).
Separated To Follow God: Joshua and Caleb separated themselves from the unbelieving masses who ended up dying in the wilderness due to disobedience. Here is God’s word about them: “Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord” (Numbers 32:11-12).
Family Curse: Ruth was cursed as a Moabite but she separated herself from the curse by clinging to a righteous woman, Naomi, who led her to her redemption: “Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also if anything but death parts you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17). God led Ruth to Boaz, Boaz married Ruth, and they became the proud great-grandparents of King David, an ancestor of Jesus!
Defilement: Daniel and his Hebrew brethren separated themselves from the King’s food served to the idols and kept themselves for God: “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore, he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8). Daniel’s separation lasted, and Daniel never lost his place as Counselor to Kings, as his name was changed by King Nebuchadnezzar to Belteshazzar (“the name of my - Nebuchadnezzar’s – god”) during all his years of stay over decades under four different kings!
What do we learn from these examples?
These great people moved from their family curse and followed God!
They ran from the temptation to keep their purity for God!
They did not tolerate strife but separated themselves to God!
They were separated by destiny and chose to follow God!
While a majority did not believe and follow God fully in their generation, they chose to be separate from them and follow God wholeheartedly!
They recognized their only way to their redemption and followed the godly examples God placed in their lives!
They separated themselves from pagan cultures and served God!
God wants demands separation for holiness: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship (in common) has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion (fellowship) has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the Lord Almighty “(II Corinthians 6:14-18).
To enjoy the blessings to follow us, we need to be:
· God-conscious!
· Righteousness-conscious!
· Separation-conscious!
Prayer
“Heavenly Father, I love You, adore You, and bow down before You. Thank You, Lord, for the knowledge of knowing You and being redeemed by the blood of Jesus. I am determined to follow You and be faithful to You. Separate me, Father, from unclean things and the things that may corrupt me from wholly dedicated to you. Help me to be dedicated to You all the days of my life. In the Most Precious and Wonderful Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen!
Amen!!”
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John Jeyaseelan
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