5 Understandable Words for Today
/"...God will set you high..." Deuteronomy 28:1
This promise to Israel is conditioned upon being careful to keep all His commands. Obedience is the prequel to blessing. Disobedience is as witchcraft in God's eyes (1 Samuel 15:23). We reward our children for good behavior, and in the same way, God rewards us for embracing His way. How does He reward us? Pretty well, I'd say. So much so, that we become the envy of other nations. This is the meaning behind the phrase we inspect today. Why would a nation embracing God's ways become the envy of other nations? Well... check out the benefits:
- The towns and fields will be blessed. (v.3) There will be peace in the cities and the fields will produce plenty of grass for the livestock.
- The children and crops will be blessed. (v.4) The children will grow up in an environment of love and happiness. Crops that are planted will be harvested in abundance. Even the offspring of the livestock will be healthy and productive!
- One's fruitbaskets and breadboards will be blessed. (v.5) These were used in two ways: to give in celebration at special occasions and to demonstrate care to those in a time of crisis. This 'blessing' reflects the abundance available from the work of their hands that can be sold or given away.
- One will be blessed wherever one's travel leads and whatever one's business pursues. (v.6)
- When the nation is under attack, God will fight their enemies. (v.7)
- Everything will be blessed and there will be plenty to store away. (v.8)
Moses summarized the blessing by giving another promise: "...the Lord will establish you..." (v.9) He provided a vision of what that looks like when he said, 'Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you."
If there has ever been another nation that has experienced such blessings from God where other nations are in awe of the blessings, it would be the United States of America. I've known such blessings throughout my life, and pray that another great awakening across this country will occur in the days ahead to bring continued blessing to our land. Please pray with me for such.
You can jump start that prayer for our country with my book, Freedom's Foundation, which will guide you through forty days of intercession for America. You will discover a biblical precept of freedom each of the forty days. Each precept springs from then inspiration of a simple five word biblical phrase. There are over 60 historical citations that complement the material as well. I know you will enjoy it.
Pray with me that God will set us high, once again, as the envy of other nations.
The purpose of such? TO BLESS OTHER NATIONS!
John 3:30
steve