A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands.

He said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.’ The young man held out this package. ‘I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.’

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own e yes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. ‘Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.’

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings Many influential people gathered, exci ted over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.

On the platform sat the painting of the son The auctioneer pounded his gavel. ‘We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?’

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, ‘We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.’

But the auctioneer persisted. ‘Will somebody bid for this pain ting. Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?’

Another voice angrily. ‘We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!’

But still the auctioneer continued. ‘The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?’

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. ‘I’ll give $10 for the painting.’ Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

‘We have $10, who will bid $20?’

‘Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masters..’

‘$10 is the bid, won’t someone bid $20?’

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son.

They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.

The auctioneer pounded the gavel. ‘Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!’

A man sitting on the second row shouted, ‘Now let’s get on with the collection!’

The auctioneer laid down his gavel. ‘I’m sorry, the auction is over.’

‘What about the paintings?’

‘I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the pai ntings.

The man who took the son gets everything!’

God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: ‘The son, the son, who’ll take the son?’

Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE…THAT’S LOVE

Private Property (Wealth)

Private property or private ownership is a by product of sanctification. Sanctification, essentially means set apart. So, whomever or whatever is set apart; is set apart for the specific purposes of whom and for whom they are sanctified.

Deuteronomy 8:18 says: “Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

This verse puts forth the idea that wealth (private property) is a by-product of a work of God on the behalf of people whom he has set apart for Himself as part of a covenant between Him and them. A covenant is an agreement or promise.

The writer of Deuteronomy says here that the ability to have and to hold (private property) is confirmation from God to His people that He (God) keeps His Word.

It’s not by coincidence, that those nations or regions identified as being Christian (generally western nations) have also been the wealthiest in history. On the other hand there are nations and regions of the world that are not Christian, and grinding generational poverty has been the norm; i.e. India, Africa, China, Haiti.

God does not have favorites. He does, however, honor His Promises. Private property is merely a necessary by product confirming the promises.

In a perfect world, private property may be irrelevant. We know from the New Testament that members of the first century Church had “all things in common.”

“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common (Acts 4:32)”

Interestingly enough, Deuteronomy 15:3-5 (NIV) says that there should be no poor.

“There should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today (Deut. 15:3-5).

God has actually designed poverty out of His Kingdom. However, it is clear that poverty is a choice. When men choose not to obey God they choose to be poor. And God acknowledges that men will choose not to obey and so choose to be poor.

Deuteronomy 15:11 God says: “There will always be poor people in the land.”

People frequently accuse God of all kinds of things including poverty and hunger. But the record of the Bible suggests God did not intend for there to be suffering and want. Suffering and want are by products of not obeying God; even as private property (wealth) is an incidental by product of obedience.

God could arbitrarily annul poverty. Just as He could arbitrarily over rule our individual sovereign will. But that’s not the way He does things. He is a “pro-choice” God. He sets before us “life and death.” The choice is ours.

Genesis 42:9, “And Joseph remembered his dream.”

This is a comment on the power of a dream. Briefly, for those not attuned to Bible history, the story is that the founding patriarch of the Jews had twelve sons by four different women. One of these sons was named Joseph.

Joseph became unpopular with his brothers, partly, because he told them about a dream. In his dream, Joseph saw his brothers bowing down to him. Now, Joseph’s brother’s were already not to keen on him. They suspected he might be their father’s favorite. The business with the dream just added insult to injury. So they decided to get rid of him. An opportunity arose and the eleven brothers sold Joseph as a slave to a passing Midianite caravan.

What follows is years of suffering and abuse. Joseph was about 17 when he was sold into slavery. About the age of 30, He got the opportunity to interpret a dream for the King of Egypt.

In his dream, Pharaoh saw seven fat cows and then seven skinny cows. The skinny cows ate the fat ones and were still skinny. Also, he saw seven fat healthy corn stalks and then seven dried corn stalks. The dried up corn ate the good corn and were still skinny.

Joseph interpreted the King’s dream as seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of severe famine. The King, sensing the divine in Joseph’s interpretation, put Joseph in charge of managing the prophetic dream. In effect, Joseph became Prime Minister of Egypt.

Joseph’s solution was to create vast storehouses to store food during the years of plenty, to be used in the years of famine.

When the famine came, there was no food anywhere except in Egypt. Surrounding nations were forced to come to Joseph in Egypt to avoid starvation. It so happens that the eleven brothers of Joseph showed up in Egypt one day to buy food.

“And Joseph remembered his dream”.

Joseph is now the second most powerful man in the then known world. And now some 15 to 17 years after he dreamed the dream, Joseph watches his brothers bow before him, literally begging bread.

“And Joseph remembered his dream.”

How many were his thoughts! How strong were his feelings! How sweet was his vindication!

The moral of the story is this.

Although Joseph dreamed a God inspired dream, his story nevertheless reveals the mystery, and the sustaining power of our dreams.

The mystery is not knowing, where our dreams come from, or if they’re real.

Sometimes, deep down inside, a dream strikes a nerve, a chord of reality beyond our comprehension. This let’s us know that the dream is mystical, perhaps even spiritual, but real, none the less.

For, what man builds a skyscraper without having first seen it in a vision. First the vision; then drawings and measurements on paper, then construction, then one day a completed building.

Joseph’s story teaches us that years may pass. We may even forget our dreams. But having once put a dream in motion by sharing it with others (acting on it in some way), it takes on a life of its own.

Until one day after we’ve long forgotten, something happens and like Joseph; we remember our dream. We recognize that we have, before seen, the present reality we are now living.

Dreams can not become reality until the “rubber meets the road.” Put some tires on your dream. Tell it. Share it. Act on it.

Yielding
“… you are that one’s slaves whom you obey …” (Romans 6:16).

The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be.

Everything physical is controlled by the Spiritual. We have the choice to yield to God or Satan. One is life and liberty. The other is death and slavery.

There is no middle ground, no gray area.  You WILL serve one or the other.

If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself.

Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.

If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth.

There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding.

For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is—“I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.)

No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption.

You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “… He has anointed Me … to proclaim liberty to the captives …” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).

When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t.

You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself.

But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s life.

The Phillips translation translates the fourteenth verse of John 1:14 as: And the Word became flesh …. full of grace and REALITY!

This translation asserts that Jesus the Son of God;  The second person of the triune Godhead; The father and the descendant of King David;  Mary’s baby; and my Lord;  this is the one who Phillips says was full of Grace and Reality!

Full here means that the Word which was God and is God was full to the point that it could not be fuller!  God the Word is full of grace and reality.  In other words there is no more gracious person than God!

And there is no other reality more real than God!

Notice I did not say that there were not other realities.  I just said that there no other realities more real than the reality of God in Christ. No other reality more real than the Word which was made flesh!

If I were to say it another way I would say that the Word of God is the ultimate reality. That’s what Phillips means when he says that Christ was full of grace and full of reality.  Christ the Word that became flesh is the ultimate reality!

I hope you see what I’m saying. For even as people worship other Gods than the true and living God; in a similar manner there are other realities. Its just that Christ is the ultimate reality.  But you can live other realities even as you can observe another God.

And the reality of life is that all of us live lives that fall short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

Did you get that? All of us live lives that come short of the reality of God!

To live short, or live less than the ultimate reality of God is to live a life of sin.  Now that’s something to think about! But the point is that God desires that we live and breathe our lives in the reality of the Word that became flesh; because that Word is the ultimate reality.

The Bible reveals that the reality of the Word is life.  John 1:4 declares that “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”  Nobody had life like Jesus Christ! His life was the fullest of life because he lived His life to the fullest!  Jesus Christ was the only person to get all the gusto out of life!

I believe it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said that most men and women live lives of quiet desperation!

A lot of folk are living on the edge of sanity!  One more, just one more straw might be enough to break the camel’s back and send them over the brink into insanity.  Have you ever been there?  I have!

I’d go to bed only to wake up with the same worries I went to sleep with the night before. The same worries that were in my dreams; were the same concerns that greeted me with the new day! Every day was the same, until I wanted to scream “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death!”(Romans 7:24, KJV).

Everyday, I hoped that the reality of my life could somehow be changed. When I began to read the Bible I discovered that there were other people like me. Other people who were sick and tired and being sick and tired!

In mark the fifth chapter and 25th verse I read about a certain woman, who had an issue of blood twelve years,  And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.”

We read the fact that she bled for twelve years but we do not really comprehend the misery in twelve long years of bleeding! If you look carefully, you can see her quiet desperation?

But the record in Mark says that when she heard of Jesus ….

What did she hear?  What was she hearing about this man from Galilee?

No doubt she heard sharp debate about who this man might be. Some folk said he was  a prophet. Others said he might be the Messiah. Others jeered and scoffed saying no prophet ever came out of Nazareth!

Still others said he was uneducated; and that he was the illegitimate son of a woman so brazen that she got pregnant before she was married!

But no matter the doubts and the arguments; there was the persistent and insistent rumors and reports that folk were getting healed every time this man came around!

And so when she heard of Jesus; somehow,  someway the idea popped up in her head, that in Him; that is in Jesus there might just be another reality!  Another reality other than the reality of twelve long miserable years of suffering, and degradation, misuse and abuse.

Somehow; she hoped that in Jesus, whoever he was; or whatever he was; that in him there might be another way, or another reality.

“When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.” (Mark 5:27-29, KJV)

Jesus Christ was full of grace and full of reality. He is the ultimate reality! He is more real than any other reality!  And so if your in search of a another reality; you need to make contact with this Jesus, right now!

He has another reality for you. I’m not talking about what I heard. I’m talking about what I know. For when I met Jesus He gave me a brand new reality! And what he’s done for others He will do for you! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son.” (John 3:16)

For God so loved the world that He gave…and He gave…and He gave.

That is the message the Bible brings us from beginning to end. It sounds simple enough. Yet few of us really comprehend it.

We can understand the idea of a God of power. We can understand a God who desires to be served. But an Almighty God who loves us so much that He desires, above all, to give to us? That can be hard to believe.

For thousands of years, God has been working to drop the revelation of His love into the hearts of men. He’s made loving promises of blessing and protection. But He’s always faced that same obstacle–human beings who just couldn’t bring themselves to believe those promises were true.

The story of Abram is a perfect example. He wasn’t accustomed to the idea of a God who gives. After all, he’d grown up as a worshiper of the moon, and the moon had certainly never seemed interested in doing anything for him. Then he encountered El Shaddai, the greatest Being of all. The one Almighty God. And the first thing this El Shaddai wanted to do was give to him.

God’s promises so astounded Abram that he couldn’t believe them. “Lord,” he asked, “how can I know I’m really going to receive these things?” (Gen. 15:8).

Do you know how God answered him? By cutting a blood covenant with him. That covenant settled forever any question Abram could ever have about God’s love and loyalty. Once blood had been shed, he knew God meant what He said.

God did the same thing for you. He cut a blood covenant with you. And He sacrificed His own Son to do it. Jesus’ broken body and shed blood have become the eternal proof of God’s love for you. Through Communion, He’s urged you to remember them again and again so that when your faith in His promises begins to waver, you “might have a strong consolation” (Heb. 6:18).

Get a revelation of God’s love for you by meditating on the covenant He’s made with you. Get out the bread and the cup. Go before the Lord with them and take Communion thinking about the body and blood of Jesus that enables you to be a blood-covenant member of the family of Almighty God. Let them settle forever the question of God’s love for you. You’ll never again have to doubt His promises once you believe in His love.

from

Kenneth Copeland’s

“A Daily Guide to Victory”

Psalm 37:25
“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”

What’s striking about David’s comment is the age at which he spoke them.

David spoke these words as an old man. He spoke like a man who was able to see the beginning from the end.

How you see a thing depends on where you see it from.

If one stands on the ground and looks at the ground, you might see a field or two or three. But take a plane up to 20 thousand feet; and you can see for miles and miles.

What you see depends on the vantage point from which you see it.

There’s a story in scripture about a man named zaccheus. And the bible says he was small of stature. In other words, Zaccheus was short. Jesus was in Zaccheus’s town one day and the crowds came to see Jesus.

Well Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus too, but because he was so short, He could not see Jesus from where he was standing.

So he climbed up a tree. And from his perch in the tree he could see Jesus clearly.

Well, in a similar way, King David of Israel having walked with God a long time had the vantage point of personal history from where he could see and measure his relationship with God.

From his vantage point, near the end of his life, David looks back and recalls all that he had seen God Do. And he realizes: “In my entire life I’ve never seen God forsake the righteous! Nor have I seen the children of the righteous in poverty!”

When God first called me into the preaching ministry I was 33 years old. And I remember an old preacher saying there were some sermons I couldn’t preach right away.

And when I asked why not. He said, “Some things you can’t say until you’ve earned the right to say it.”

There are some things an old man can say that a young man can’t say! And it has to do with the vantage point. It has to do with the perch from which you look back on your life.

David had his ups and downs. But as he trekked his last and highest mountain. He looked back over the path from whence he had come and leaves a ringing declaration on the faithfulness of God.

This man either tasted or saw all life has to offer in the laboratory of his experience. So now when he reports; he has never, no never seen the righteous forsaken, or his children starving for food;

We understand that this is a testimony worth believing! He is as they say in the courtroom a credible witness.

Or as they say on the street: “You can take that to the bank.”

The “American Heritage Dictionary of the ‘English Language” gives this definition for love.” Love, a noun;  1. An intense affectionate concern for another person.  2.   An intense sexual desire for another person.

 So, according to the dictionary, love is a feeling. It is quote an “intense affection” and/or a “intense sexual desire.” Therefore, if you have neither intense affection or sexual desire, you have not love.

But what if the dictionary is wrong? That suggests the world doesn’t know love. Because what ever language cannot express is unknown!

If words can’t describe it, than the world doesn’t what love is and therefore cannot define love. But God knows. Thank God, God knows what love is!

God knows what love is for the record of Himself tells us that God is love. “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him(1 John 4:16).”

 God not only understand love, but God himself is love!

 Therefore, to conceptualize love, we must look to God. And we find the definition of love in the Gospel of John3:16.

 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” (John 3:16-17, KJV).

Here then, is the true definition of love. According to God, who is the very essence of love; true love is not a noun! Love is a verb!  Love is an action word!  This definition reveals us that love is not limited to the narrow confines of feeling, or the musty sheets of sexual desire!

Rather love is that which reveals itself in action!  For God so loved, that He gave!  God so love that He gave!  God’s love is much bigger than what He feels! God did not so love that He felt something! NO!

God’s love goes way beyond feeling!  My God gave His unique Son; to satisfy the law of God that says in Ez 18:20; “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”

If God had just felt something for me, I would still be a hell bound sinner! But God love me so much that He Himself paid my sin debt!

According to God’s definition, Love is an action Word!

In the Kingdom of God, love is an action that redeems another!

 What a novel idea?

The following is part of an extended study in Psalms.

In Psalms we see all the workings of the heart:
Consider - David is a man after God’s own heart: 1 Sam 13:14
Consider - Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks: Mt.12:34

Thus Psalms reveals what moves the heart of God. The result is a book of all that has ever been expressed out of the hearts of men and women toward God.

Psalm 24:5 
He shall receive “The Blessing“ from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

The phrase “the Blessing” is mentioned 22 times in scripture. In addition to Ps 24:5, only the following scriptures use “the Blessing“ in context of something specific.:

Deuteronomy 28:8 = The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Proverbs 10:22 = The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.

Ezekiel 44:30 = And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest’s: ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house.

Notice, there still is not a full definition or explanation

To appreciate the meaning and implication of THE BLESSING, it’s necessary to find every mention in the Bible of: the blessing, blessing, and bless.

As you find each reference, if it doesn’t help explain the meaning of the blessing, or lead to another scripture, set it aside. Doing that kind of research results in a list of scripture references that will explain what THE BLESSING is, who it benefits, when and where is it applied, and so forth.

Genesis 12:2

“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: ³And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”

Interestingly enough Gen 12:2 is the first time the word “bless” is used in the Bible. This is important.

 Genesis 27:28-29

“Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: ²⁹Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.”

Who is this referring to? Look at the preceding verses. What jumps out at you in this passage?

Genesis 32:26-29

“And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ²⁷And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. ²⁸And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. ²⁹And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.”

The significance here is Jacob’s name change. For it’s through this name that his descendants will be blessed. And this name becomes in scripture synonymous with the Church. In the words, the blessing of Abraham continues to flow through Jacob.

Genesis 48:16, 20

“The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth”

“And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.”

The significance here is the Abrahamic blessing continues. But it branches and seems to become more specific and pronounced upon the sons of Joseph, particularly Ephraim. This thought is worth following.

Exodus 23:25-30 - Look this up in your Bible.

About 420 years after Genesis 48:16, God is speaking to the descendants of Jacob (called Israel), affirming and confirming the Abrahamic blessing.

The difference here is that God begins to be more specific as to the nature of THE BLESSING. What new specifics of THE BLESSING are mentioned in this passage that are not found in Genesis 12:2???

Write them down:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Why do you suppose after more than 600 years God is divulging the specific of the Abrahamic blessing?

Numbers 6:23-24

“Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, ²⁴The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: ²⁵The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: ²⁶The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. ²⁷And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them”

The Abrahamic blessing continues. But again God adds a couple of new particulars to it. Do you know what they are?  Write them down:

________________________________________________________

Numbers 23:20-26 Look this up in your Bible.

Another detail or aspect of THE BLESSING is revealed here. And that is can’t nobody stop it! “

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 54:17)

By now there is no doubt that the basis, or foundation of the term “THE BLESSING” is that found in the very first mention of the word BLESS in scripture way back in Genesis 12:2. It’s the blessing of Abraham.

This is significant because in Galatians 3:7-14 THE BLESSING of Abraham accrues to believers by faith! Look up Galatians 3:7 in your Bible.

Also, another detail is revealed about THE BLESSING. This seems to be a pattern throughout scripture. What is the new detail? Hint: curse

Write it down: ______________________________________

Numbers 24:5-9 Look this up in your Bible.

In this passage THE BLESSING continues. And again more detail is added to it. But this detail seems to have morphed into part blessing, part prophecy of the Messiah.

We continue to follow the trail of THE BLESSING. But the final pieces of the mystery are found in the book of Deuteronomy. This is important because of what Deuteronomy is, and does.

Deuteronomy:

1. Book of the Law
2. Repeats content from Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers
3. Is the stipulations of covenant treaty between God and Israel.
4. List of directives for conquering Canaan (Kingdom Principles)

Strictly speaking, Deuteronomy means “to say again.” There’s a pattern of retelling throughout scripture. Everyplace you find retelling in the Bible it is not rehashing old news. As touching THE BLESSING, Deuteronomy adds significant new information.

Deuteronomy 7:12-15

“Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: ¹³And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. ¹⁴Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. ¹⁵And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.”

You can have a field day with all the detail added here.

Deuteronomy 8:10-14 Look this up in your Bible.

This passage answers an excellent question raised last week about how can we bless God, and why. Well, it turns out that our blessing of God is part of our covenant (legal contract) and is wrapped inside, you guessed it; THE BLESSING.

Deuteronomy 14:22-29 Look this up in your Bible.

It turns out that the Tithe is part of the covenant treaty God made with Israel. It comes under the same heading and rationale as verbally blessing (praising) God. It is included in the (If you do this, I’ll do that) part of THE BLESSING. If we accept the THE BLESSING of Abraham by faith, than we also accept the stipulations by faith. They can’t be separated.

Finally, turn in your bibles to Deuteronomy 28:4-14

All right, there you have it. the answer to the raised in Psalm 24:3-6.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

⁴     He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

⁵     He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶     This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.

Selah

THE BLESSING then, is a specific set of benefits for a specific set of people, who respond out of love to God with a specific set of behaviors. These people are not under law. Yet they respond as under law knowing the principles (laws) of the Kingdom exists to wildly, abundantly, bless them through the covenant of faith by and in Christ Jesus.

THE BLESSING is a delegation of authority to the Children of God. Along with the power of attorney of Jesus Name, THE BLESSING is God’s Word, literally His defining description of what believers are in the earth. And Christ is the embodiment of that truth. He is our example.

THE BLESSING serves notice on every created intelligence in heaven, in earth, and under the earth that believers have been seated with Christ Jesus in heavenly places.

THE BLESSING allows believes to realize the truth that we DO NOT HAVE TO accept anything less in this world than what is in THE BLESSING. If we do, it is out of ignorance or fear. Both of which is sin.

In Matthew 16:13 Jesus Asked His disciples a Question, ” Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?”

You should know that when Jesus ask a question, it’s not because He needs a man to tell Him something!

What need does the God of Creation have to ask, you and me, anything? We don’t know any thing. And what little we know we got from God anyway!  So when Jesus asks a question He’s not looking for information……… He’s giving information!

In fact, one of the more interesting of Bible studies, is to examine every instance in scripture where Jesus asks a question. Every time Jesus asks a question he’s teaching something that we absolutely must know!

Think.  God asks the question, “What are folk saying about me?”

Do you suppose that God doesn’t know what folk are talking about?  He absolutely knows!

So the point was not to gain information ! The point of the question was to prepare the minds of the disciples so God could impart a revelation.

Whom do men say that I am?  And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

I hope you heard that.  Jesus said; Whom do men say that I am?  And they said, some men say this, that, or the other!

Remember in school when teachers walked around with long, thin, wooden pointers?

Well, right here, Jesus points His pointer at the disciples and says:  But whom say ye that I am? … Hmmmm?

This is where the rubber meets the road!  This is where its get real!

This is the intersection of the soul of man, and the Holy reality of God!

Some men say this….some men say the other!   But what do you say?

In other words, the God of the universe, the God of creation requires that you have an opinion of Him!  Whom do you say that I am?

God asks this question of every human. It’s not a general question. It’s a particular question.  It’s a personal question.

In Matthew 16:16, “Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God……….”

I think Peter gets a bad Rap. We read about the guy two thousand years later; and form an opinion about him. Most Bible students, think Peter had a tendency to open his mouth.

In fact Peter did on occasion open his mouth and insert foot! Amen!  Peter did make mistakes.  He made some big mistakes. Peter’s the kind of guy or gal, that we call a risk taker. People who take risks, people who stick their neck out, do get their necks chopped off every once in awhile.

If Peter’s failures were spectacular; then his successes were also spectacular! And in this passage, Peter steps up to the plate and hits a spectacular home run!

“Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!”

The God of creation asks each of us a personal question. He requires a personal response. He requires that you have an opinion.

God will not permit you to say, “Some men say this….some men say that…….and some men say the other.”

The question of the ages is: What do you believe about Jesus? It’s a personal question.

God requires a personal response…