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Volume 33   Number 05 Feb 1, 2009

        Deuteronomy 28:9-14: (Moses said) "The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you (they shall reverence you). And the Lord (He who is Yahweh, Adonai) will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord promised to your fathers to give you.
        "The Lord will open to you His good treasure (storehouse), the heavens to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head (the beginning, captain and chief, the first and forefront, the highest, principal, ruler, and the top) and not the tail; you shall be above only and not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today and are careful to observe them."
        Remember that God's people were in the wilderness looking over into the Promised Land. It was not the best of times, but they stood before the fulfilled promises of God. Part of the promise was that: "You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only and not be beneath..." It is obvious at this time that the United States is borrowing from many other nations more than it can ever pay back. Our land, jobs, products, and our way of life are decreasing like never before, and there is a reason for all of this.
        Let's look again at Verse 9: "The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you..." However, there were conditions to the promise:
        (1) "...if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God..."—that is, if you hear and obey His Word, and
        (2) "...if you walk or live in His ways."—if you do His Word.
        Then you will be blessed, and then the Lord will open the windows of heaven. Verse 12 says the Lord will give rain to nourish the earth; rain also speaks of the Holy Spirit. He will give blessings, provision, and honor, and you will be the head and not the tail. Note that the blessings of God are an automatic result of obedience.
        Deuteronomy 28:15 gives the consequences for not being obedient. "But it shall come to pass if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you..." So instead of blessings, there are curses. Instead of provision, there is poverty. Instead of honor and being the head, you become the tail. Remember, the blessings of God are an automatic result of obedience. The curse here is the result of disobedience and unbelief.
        Let's look at what it takes to walk in the favor of God. Proverbs 11:3: The INTEGRITY (honesty, morality, virtue, character) of the upright will guide them, but the perversity (obstinate, contrary, disobedience) of the unfaithful (and deceitful) will destroy them. Honesty and character are to a man/woman what "water-tight-integrity" is to a ship. (1) What you THINK, (2) what you SAY, and (3) what you DO reveals your integrity and is going to make a difference. Matthew 12:37: (Jesus said) "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." There are consequences for your actions, good or bad. To be a person of integrity will require integrity of the heart.
        Recently Sharlene had a dream concerning obedience which the Lord requires to follow Him in the direction He's taking His church. In the dream she was on a very long train which will filled with multitudes of believers. The train was moving forward at a steady pace regardless of the terrain and weather. The two tracks were the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. The train was going up high, steep mountains, down into deep valleys, through dark tunnels, through heavy rain and white-out blizzard conditions, and also through beautiful, peaceful landscapes.
        As she looked out the window, Sharlene realized there were dozens of other trains moving simultaneously on their tracks. Many were moving forward at a good speed, but there were others who had slowed down because of the difficult terrain. Some were even going backward, and on several trains all the people had gotten off and were actually pulling up the track (the Word of God and Holy Spirit) and laying it in the direction they wanted to go. In some cases, they laid the track in a U-turn and were going back to the religious traditions, beliefs, and customs so familiar to them.
        We know that the Kingdom of God is moving onward and forward like a train on the track, leading us to the destiny and destination He has for each of us. Whether we stay on the train, no matter what the circumstances may be, is up to us, and we must be willing to be led by God's Word and His Holy Spirit at all times.
        Proverbs 3:33: The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the habitation of the just. Malachai 3:9-10: "You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house and prove Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."
        We are living in a generation that is in bondage: religiously, financially, mentally, emotionally, and socially. Because of disobedience they are cursed, and no amount of aid from the government will fix it. No doctor can fix it, and no economist can fix it. It is going to require that our nation must call on the name of the Lord. Remember what God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land."
        Now comes the GOOD NEWS. Galatians 3:13-14: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles (that's us) in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Through Christ we are redeemed from the curse and become a people of promise. Remember two things: (1) KEEP HIS WORD, and (2) WALK IN HIS WAYS.
        The progression is great. In Deuteronomy 29:29, the obedient become a "Revelation Generation." Deuteronomy 30:14-16 sets before you life or death, which is the "Power of the Word Generation." Deuteronomy 31:3 says God will cross over with you into the land. This speaks of a "Crossing Over Generation." And Deuteronomy 31:6 says to be strong and of good courage, "an Anointed Generation."
        1 Peter 2:9-10: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
        It is going to take hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord to become people of integrity. How secure in the Lord are you? What does it take to make you mad, to get you to react? Having SPIRITUAL INTEGRITY is a great necessity in this time in which we are living. Proverbs 11:3: The INTEGRITY (honesty, morality, virtue, and character) of the UPRIGHT will guide them.