Day 9: The decisive factor to receive God’s blessings

Until now you have looked at how God has made a way for us to be delivered from the slavery of the kingdom of darkness and to become heirs of the kingdom of light. The way that God has made for us is through the death of Jesus Christ on our behalf.

On the cross Jesus took upon Himself the curses that were due to our disobedience (these curses cover the whole area of the kingdom of darkness) that, in turn, we might enter into the blessings that Jesus earned by His obedience. And these blessings cover the whole area of the kingdom of light. Both the curses and the blessings are worked out in three main areas of our life: spiritual, physical and material.

Now we will study the spiritual area. What are the spiritual curses from which Christ has delivered you? And what are the spiritual blessings which Christ has made available to you?

Let us return to Deuteronomy 28, the chapter that sets out in great detail two opposite things: the blessings that result for obedience to God and the curses that result of disobedience to God.

First of all, let’s look again at the basic causes that bring blessing and the causes that bring curses. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 says.

“Now it shall be, if you will diligently listen to the voice of 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. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the Lord your God.” (Marginal Version NAS)

And then in verse 15, Moses turns to the curses and gives us the reason why they come.

“But it shall come about, if you will not listen to the LORD your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.” (Marginal Version NAS)

It is vitally important to understand the decisive difference between earning the blessings and earning the curses. It is summed up in one short, but very important phrase: "Listening to God's voice." If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, all these blessings will come upon you, but if you will not listen to the voice of the LORD your God, all these curses will come upon you.