"Blessing or Curse"

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have

set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:

therefore choose life, that both thou

and thy seed may live:"

(Deuteronomy 30:19)

"His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity?

 Curse God and die!"

(Job 2:9)

The Biblical Job had a choice; the children of Israel had a choice, and we have a choice.  Before us, in and through all that life throws at us, we have a choice.  As human beings, we can "receive" a blessing or a curse; we can "be" a blessing or a curse, and we can "give" a blessing or a curse.  Interesting , isn't it?  It's often the first thing people do when trouble hits  ... blame God, or curse God.  You say, "But, Deuteronomy is talking about if we follow the commandments and serve God, we will be blessed, right?"  Exactly, but throughout our lives, we have continual choices, valleys and mountains, heartaches and victories, pain and ecstasy, which take us "TO" the blessing or the curse, depending on which road we take; it's always our choice, "and" our attitude that sets up the blessing or the curse in ourselves and in those we deal with in life.  Life and death are in our hands, when it comes to choices, and "we"often determine the "Blessing or Curse." 

Job lost everything, all of his children, his flocks and assets, his health, and then, even his so-called friends turned against him  ...  But, the final blow was when his own wife looked at his body covered with boils and said, "Curse God and die."  Job told her she was speaking as a foolish woman, and he did not charge God foolishly.  He "did" question why he was born, so torn was he in his agony and pain, but he was just trying to come up with a reason for his torture; however, through it all, He did not blame God.  He had a choice of two paths in his trial; he chose the path that led eventually to blessing.  "Curse" means misfortune, evil or doom.  The children of Israel in the wilderness struggled with this and often failed, because every time trouble came, many of them resorted to the path of sin, unrighteousness, and lack of faith, which ultimately led them to "curse."  Our lives are much the same; when hard times occur, people lose faith and make destructive choices, robbing us of the blessing and leading us to a form of curse.

He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman.

Shall we accept  good from God, and not trouble?" In all this,

Job did not sin in what he said.

(Job 2:10)

The Holy Bible states that in the last days the very elect would be deceived if it were possible, and that people would believe a lie and be damned.  What lie will they believe?  Whatever lie satan decides to throw at them.  It is always a lie "against" the Lord Jesus Christ, His Word, His name and His blood.  Huh?  If he can convince us that the Lord is through with us; if he can make us believe there is no hope for our lives; if he can rob us of our faith; if he can twist the Word and make us believe we've gone too far and we will not be forgiven  ... he will have won.  This is where blessing and curse become prominent!  People lose faith and fall into sin because they have no hope, and they bring a curse of misfortune upon themselves  ...  sin always brings forth death  ...  death of strength, death of health, death of prosperity, death of blessing  ...







WE often pave our own paths with problems and trouble, because we do not choose to "TRUST" that the Lord God we serve will bring us through with victory.  We must develop the mindset of the three Hebrew children, They said, "Our God will deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and even if He doesn't deliver us, O king, we will not serve your gods, nor will we worship the golden image which you have set up."  Why must we have this point of view?  If we do, we set ourselves up for blessing  ... 



"You mean we control our own destiny?" you ask.  In a measure; the choices we make have directed our lives ever since we were old enough to make them.  The Lord Jesus Christ gives us free will to make these choices, and herein is often man's downfall.  God could blink an eye and every mortal in earth would fall to his knees, but during the time of Grace, which is the age we are currently in, we make these choices and we reap the consequences  ...  blessing or curse  ...  depending on the door we walk through  ...

Think of the hundred and twenty years the people in Noah's day had to make the right choice.  Noah warned them, but they mocked him all the while he was building the Ark.  "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Lord,.."  People are being warned every day that time is short, that we are seeing the fulfillment of prophecy at a rapid rate, that the sins and evil of Sodom and Gomorrah are slapping a Holy God in the face, that evil and witchcraft are growing and spreading, that we are in the endtimes, that everyone who feels after the Spirit of a Holy God is sensing the coming trumpet sound, that the tribulation period of judgment is at the door  ...  and we are hearing those very scary words, spoken with smirks and mockery, "Where is the sign of His coming?"

They are two words that should be on billboards, in the daily news and newspapers, on TV, in films, before our eyes with provocative urgency  ...  Because, WE, ourselves, individually, must choose, and choose carefully  ...  "Blessing or Curse."

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)

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