THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS (PART 8)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. I bring prosperity and create disaster.”

Isaiah 45:1a, 7b

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I think I could say with some degree of confidence that everyone will seek success in something in life at one time or another. We typically want to do well in whatever endeavor we undertake. Failure just isn’t a natural part of our DNA.

This truth about everyone wanting to be successful begs a question:

How do you go about finding success?

I think that most people would answer in some way that reflects self-reliance. They may say that they gained success through their hard work or through their vigorous networking with others to include knowing the right people to get in good with, people who were the key players in promoting and rewarding.

Others may credit others with their successes. When I made Chief Petty Officer in the United States Navy, I remember vividly how we were reminded that we didn’t get to that promotion point on our own but rather were helped my many, including our subordinates, who made contributions to the overall success of the division I was in charge of and thus played a part in me being viewed as a successful leader.

Did you see something missing from these two responses to the question of finding success?

The real source of success, the Lord God Almighty, is missing.

How do we know that He is the one responsible for the good things we accomplish in life?

He tells us so. Look again at our scripture and look at what the Lord is saying to us today:

“This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. I bring prosperity and create disaster.” Isaiah 45:1a, 7b

The Lord speaks clearly here and tells us, “I bring prosperity.” Need a little more expounding on this truth? Look at these verses from Deuteronomy:

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 on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity. Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 11a

Note here that true success, true prosperity comes from the Lord and the Lord alone. He is the One who grants it to us along with other blessings and we put ourselves in a place to receive them by obeying Him and following His commands. In other words, respect and honor the Lord and you can receive honor yourself. It’s really as simple as that.

Alright, so what happens if we choose not to do this? How does the Lord respond when we refuse to be obedient to His commands and reject His will and way?

Well, go back to our scripture from Isaiah 45 and see what the Lord says:

“I create disaster.”

The Lord will not be disrespected or disregarded. Willingly opt to do that and you will not receive prosperity but rather judgment and that judgment will have disastrous results. Again, going back to Deuteronomy 28, we find this validated:

However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. Deuteronomy 28:15-20

Forsake the Lord and instead of blessings, you will receive curses. Success and prosperity will not come to those who choose wickedness over righteousness, to those who choose their own desires over the desires of the Lord who holds their future in His hands.

Friends, the Lord is speaking loudly to us today. He is saying:

“I bring prosperity to those who are obedient unto Me but for those who are disobedient, I create and send disaster.”

Blessings or curses from the Lord. What we receive is up to us and how we respond to Him and His expectations.

I don’t know about you but I choose blessings.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com