The Road to Blessings.

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Obedience is the key to receive God's blessings.

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The common saying, “His ruin was to have moved to USA” is not always true. I moved to the USA in 1980 and I have not experienced ruin, but blessings of all types.
Yes, for people coming from other lands, this country may be a blessing or a curse.
If the people follow the laws, they will avoid problems, prosper, have a good life, and no fear. For them, this land is a blessing.
For others who did not follow the laws, it has meant problems, divorce, misery, jail, drug addiction, drunkenness, etc. For those, this land has been a curse.
If I ask you if you want to be blessed, I am sure you’ll say “yes”. The thing is, Will you fill the conditions to be blessed?
Most of God’s blessings are conditional as we can see in Deut 28:1-14
Read Deut 28:1-14
Background:
To be successful it is important to have a plan and, sometimes, a new beginning.
Israel was about to experience a new beginning as they enter the Promised Land, a land that flows milk and honey. That was a new beginning for God’s people. Likewise, God brought us to this land of blessing and gave us a new beginning.
The older generation had die in the desert, due to their unbelief and rebelliousness.
The new generation had to be instructed on God’s commands, so that they would not make the same mistakes of their parents.
God wanted to bless them abundantly in Canaan. He was giving them a simple plan to be successful, but it was up to them to follow it and receive blessings or reject it and experience curses. The plan was summarized in one word: obedience! “Obedience, the road to blessings”

Obedience is better than knowledge.

Deuteronomy 28:1–2 NASB95
“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. “All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God:

It’s not what we know what counts.

James 4:17 NASB95
Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.
Romans 2:13 NASB95
for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

Knowledge without obedience is hypocrisy.

James 1:22 NASB95
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

Obedience is better than sacrifices.

Deuteronomy 28:9 NASB95
“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways.

Dead sacrifices show religion.

Psalm 81:15 NASB95
“Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him, And their time of punishment would be forever.
1 Samuel 15:22 NASB95
Samuel said, “Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

Living sacrifices are expressed by obedience.

If you take a look at Heb 11, the heroes of faith, you will see that they acted upon their faith and obeyed God. Describe the obedience of some of them…

Obedience is better than emotions.

Deuteronomy 28:14 NASB95
and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
God is commanding us to stay in constant obedience, not turning to left or right. When does turning happen? When we follow our heart and not His Word. We must understand that…

Emotions may deceive us.

Emotions come from the heart, but the heart is not trustworthy:
Jer 17:9-10 slide
Jeremiah 17:9–10 (NASB95)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.
I have seen many disobey God and fall into destructive paths because they followed the dictates of their heart: “my heart tells me…” or “I feel it in my heart…

Emotions fluctuate.

If we base our actions on our emotions, will be like those described by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, where he mentions “fluctuating children tossed here and there by waves”.
Obedience is not a matter of feeling or not; it is not a matter of “today yes, tomorrow who knows.

Obedience is the mark of a true believer.

People may deny our words, but not our actions.

Obedience is something we live, not something we talk about. Our testimony is backed up by our actions. Such was the case of the Christians in Rome, whose obedience was exemplary:
Romans 16:19 NASB95
For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
Jeremiah 7:23 NASB95
“But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.’

Friendship with Christ is based on obedience.

John 15:14 slide
John 15:14 NASB95
“You are My friends if you do what I command you.
For some reason, Abraham is described as “friend of God”. What do you think it was? His faith or his obedience?
John 15:10 NASB95
“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Blessings of Obedience.

Provision.

Deuteronomy 28:3–5 NASB95
“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. “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
Isaiah 1:19–20 NASB95
“If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; “But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword.” Truly, the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Psalm 37:25 NASB95
I have been young and now I am old, Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken Or his descendants begging bread.

Protection.

Deuteronomy 28:6–7 NASB95
“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. “The Lord shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.
Proverbs 16:7 NASB95
When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Blessing your enterprises.

Deuteronomy 28:8 NASB95
“The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns and in all that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
Deuteronomy 15:10 NASB95
“You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings.
Deuteronomy 16:15 NASB95
“Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

Prosperity.

Deuteronomy 28:11–12 NASB95
“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. “The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
Joshua 1:8 NASB95
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Psalm 1:1–3 NASB95
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Leading.

Deuteronomy 28:13–14 NASB95
“The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you only will be above, and you will not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Malachi 3:12 NASB95
“All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.
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