Day 17: The Creator of the universe wants to bless you

What a startling statement: the God who created the universe desires to bless His people! Startling - and true! This blessing is your heritage through your faith in Jesus Christ.

We have already looked at the blessings that Christ has made available in the spiritual realm and in the physical realm. Now we will study the blessings that are available to us in the material realm. Let us go back once more to Deuteronomy 28, where we find the two opposites: blessings that are a result of obedience, and curses that are the result of disobedience. The decisive issue is whether we listen to the Lord's voice and obey it or whether we do not listen to the Lord's voice. Listening to the Lord's voice and obeying it brings blessing, not listening to the Lord's voice brings curses.

First of all, let us look at the material blessings promised to obedience. They are many indeed. Here is what Moses says in Deuteronomy 28:3-5, 8 & 11:

“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.

Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. [That was really the main material possession of the Israelites as an agricultural community.]

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl, [We might say your shopping basket today, your purse. These will be blessed.]

The LORD will command the blessing upon you [I love that thought, that God is going to command His blessing upon us] in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, [that leaves absolutely nothing out of anything that we undertake. God will bless it] and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you.” (NAS)

Notice that phrase, "The LORD will make you abound in prosperity." Abounding in prosperity is a blessing that results from hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord.

Moses returns briefly to the same theme in the next chapter of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 29:9:

“So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.” (NAS)

So, keeping the words of God's covenant causes us to prosper in all that we do. That leaves no room for failure or frustration in any area of our lives. These are the blessings – and God intends you to have them.