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Ain’t My Father Grand? (Redo)
January 5th, 2008 |[youtube Ui-nGtgg178 nolink]
Hi!
I hope you had a good New Year! This is a time when people make New Year’s resolutions and everyone picks resolutions that are good and profitable to them–for example, lose weight, take good care of themselves, excercise, save money, etc.
I wanted to start this year sharing with you all God’s beautiful love for His children. His children are people who have a covenant with God- people who believe in Christ as their Savior. God is not limited as to saying “accept Christ and be grateful. It’s a free gift, don’t complain, it’s good enough.” No way! When we accept Christ, God wants to give us so much MORE! Unfortunately many Christians tell themselves, “be saved and be thankful for that.” Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for eternal life but I am also THANKFUL for RELATIONSHIP, a father and daughter relationship with God. The God I serve is a God that has a PERSONAL and FAITHFUL relationship with His children. If it were true that God was like “be glad you’re saved– it’s free.” Surely he would leave the Hebrew slaves in Egypt and tell them, “Be glad you have a covenant with me-through Abraham. No need to get out of Egypt, stay there. It’s good enough, at least we have a covenant.” No, God wanted MORE for His children so he TOOK them out of Egypt and brought them into a promiseland full of milk and honey. Milk and honey is a idiom that means prosperity. God has so much MUCH more for us than just salvation. Salvation IS good, and there’s MORE to it.
Before I go on to share the great love and plans God has for His children, I want to talk about a verse and how we must understand it clearly.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” -Hebrews 11:6
I want you to take note of the word “must” when you read this verse. There is a HUGE difference between must and should. For example, we should wash our cars but we MUST give it gas. We should excercise but we MUST eat. OK, This verse did not say “we should believe that He is and that He is a rewards those who earnestly seek him…” No, it says we MUST… mandatory–accept that God IS and He is A REWARDER to those who earnestly seek Him. He will always bless His children– those who have a relationship with Him– we MUST believe that’s who He is. I earnestly seek Him and I sure hope you do too! If you haven’t, that’s OK, it’s a new year! Let’s get started now and seek Him- He is a rewarder! 
Ready to read God’s beautiful love and blessings for you and me? Deuteronomy 28. Maybe you’re thinking, “but Deuteronomy is in the old testament”, I know. I know very well it is in the old testament. It is STILL good! Jesus said, “I did not come to abolish the law but to fulfil it.” The law will not save us. It is Jesus that will save us. The law is still good and what it says is still good and applicable! We are in a far better covenant– having both Old and New. “Jesus is IN US now!” If we believe so much in Proverbs and Psalms, what difference is Deuteronomy!?
Deuteronomy 28: 1-14-”If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock–the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity–in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground–in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
After this section- God does explain what will happen to those who fail to obey him. The opposite of what I just said….will happen to them.
Proverbs 3 is also a great reminder of God’s true love.
Proverbs 3:1-“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”
Be blessed! Have a great 2008! See you soon!