When I was a kid, cartoons were so much cooler! I loved HE-MAN, Thundercats, VOLTRON, but I especially loved G.I. Joe!
At the end of every episode, the characters would come out and make a public service announcement. They would tell us to stay off drugs, go to school and avoid sticking our fingers into light sockets and then they would say...
"Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!"
But have you ever stopped to think what the other half is?
Neither did I...until this week.
What I realized was that the other half of the battle is taking responsibility
Responsibility...
...for the lessons we learn
...for our failure when we are stubborn
...for truth when it is clear
I realized that blessing comes when you accept responsibility for the truth God reveals! Curses are the result of ignoring the truth.
Last week I shared out of Numbers 21, about Moses and the bronze snake that he raised up so that the Israelites who had been bitten by the poisonous snakes could receive their healing. It is a powerful foreshadowing of Jesus on the cross. For we are the ones who have been bitten by sin in our lives and all we have to do is look up at the cross to receive healing and forgiveness.
God intervened in our lives by sending his son. It was his own Intervention and solution to the problem of sin in our lives, but we can't stop there...
So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I A M he. Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(John 8:28, 32 NLT)
The word, "truth" has been watered down by our culture. Just like the word "love", truth has become an innocuous word with few ramifications in our lives, but Jesus said that the truth will set us free. This means that the truth should be a powerful player in our lives, but it is only powerful IF we take responsibility for it!
Truth is more than just facts. Truth brings about a necessary decision making process that should give us freedom to live as God intended us to live! It forces us to consider the way we live and Jesus said that we are really His disciples IF we do what He teaches.
Read this passage from Deuteronomy and take note of all the times the word "IF" is written...
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
Blessings for Obedience
28 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. 2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
3 Your towns and your fields
will be blessed.
4 Your children and your crops
will be blessed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be blessed.
5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be blessed.
6 Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be blessed.
7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!
8 “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 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.
11 “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. 12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them. 13 If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom. 14 You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.
Main Thought- Blessing comes when you accept responsibility for the truth God reveals! Curses are the result of ignoring the truth.
When you take responsibility for truth in your own life these 4 things begin to happen to you.
1. You are Blessed!
6 Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be blessed.
Blessed:bless·ed
blest,ˈblesid/
adjective
made holy; consecrated.
Note that it’s not just about physical blessing, but a spiritual "bless-ed-ness" in being set apart and made holy or useful to God. When you move from operating strictly in the natural realm to the understanding that you are now made holy, consecrated to God, blessing takes on a different meaning. When you know that you are "bless-ed", you handle your life decisions and relationships differently. Your priorities switch.
2. You are victorious!
3. You are an example!
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. 10 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.
4. You Are Prosperous!
11 “The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops. 12 The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do. You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.
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