Focus

Pay attention to the tension in your body. Let go of it and any expectations to do anything other than God’s will today. Prepare yourself to hear God’s word.

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Read

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God:
Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.
Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.
Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you; they shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing upon you in your barns, and in all that you undertake; he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. The Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb, in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you. The Lord will open for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give the rain of your land in its season and to bless all your undertakings. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; you shall be only at the top, and not at the bottom—if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, by diligently observing them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I am commanding you today, either to the right or to the left, following other gods to serve them.

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Reflect

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree…planted in the house of the Lord…they will flourish in the courts of our God.

Just as the people of Israel were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, Moses provides them with teach from the Lord to prepare them for their new home, full of promise and opportunity. Powerful blessings are promised, security and prosperity vividly picture, and the greatest blessing of all pronounced upon these formerly enslaved people—they will be known as the Lord’s holy people!
Imagine—from the humiliation of slavery to the joy of adoption as children of the Lord God!
The challenge, of course, arises out of the later phrase which begins with the word “if.” Easy enough to see how future Israelite generations would be challenged by this conditional promise!

Of greater value for us today, of course, is to determine where we are on the way to faithfulness, isn’t it?

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Pray

Dear God, help us to flourish. Help us to be willing to obey. Amen

Go with God!