Deuteronomy 28:1-8 Now it shall come to pass, IF you diligently
obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments
which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all
nations of the earth. And all these
blessings shall come up on you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of
the Lord your God.
Now read the rest of Deuteronomy 28, it also contains THE PRINCIPLE OF IF/THEN. IF you do NOT obey the Voice of the Lord, THEN “all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.” Go ahead and read the list, it is
enough to “scare anyone into obedience,”
yet we know that it wasn’t. The Children
of Israel disobeyed and God kept to His established PRINCIPLE OF IF/THEN.
Have you been praying for something and wonder why it hasn’t
happened? Maybe you wonder if God even
hears your prayers. BELIEVE ME, He is always listening and He hears every word. So why haven’t things changed? Is it possible that THE PRINCIPLE OF IF/THEN is at work in your situation? ABSOLUTELY,
YES!!! ME? Could I be the problem? There could be many reasons why your answer
hasn’t come through, but it is much easier to blame the lack of change on an ALL POWERFUL GOD rather than consider
the alternative…
TIMING – Many
times God has blessings all prepared for you but JUST NOT YET! It could be
there is more preparation necessary before you are ready to receive the
blessing…keep praying, listening and obeying…You will receive in due season.
GOD SAYS NO!!! – We
have convinced ourselves of the lie that God’s greatest desire is to give us
everything we want to keep us happy. We
have come to believe that God’s vocabulary is limited to “YES.” God’s vocabulary
includes every word man has come up with and covers every language across the
world…God knows the word “YES” as
well as the word ‘NO.” It is also important that we understand
these 5 points…1. God has a plan. 2. God
sees the whole picture. 3. God knows you better than you know
yourself. 4. Sometimes we ask just to please our flesh; to
our destruction. 5. Sometimes GOD SAYS NO!!!
ASKING GOD TO DO ALL
THE WORK – There are things that only God can do…Only He can SAVE but He asks us to share the Gospel
and introduce hungry hearts to Him. Only
God can REVEAL HIS PLAN but He asks
you to pray, listen and obey. Only God
can HEAL, but He asks you to not
undo the work by continuing unhealthy habits.
Last August, I began a journey to health…It all started with
me praying and asking God for healing.
God replied with a convicting message, “STOP praying if you are not
going to COOPERATE WITH ME!”
WOW!!! Talk about getting hit between the eyes…I WOKE UP!!! All these years I have been riding a
yoyo. I tried every fad diet; lost
weight. I tried many supplements; lost
weight. I tried several weight loss
groups; lost weight and became more unhealthy as the years progressed.
Finally, faced with a possible future serious health
problem, I knew something must be done.
The one thing I had never tried was to COOPERATE WITH GOD. After
all, He created my body, so wouldn’t it make sense that He would know all the
inner workings and the parts that needed to be “fixed?” Well of course, but over the years,
my behavior had continually been undoing everything He was fixing.
As of this morning, 31 weeks later, the threat of diabetes
has been erased, the asthma inhalers are no longer in use, my blood pressure
pills are gone, the Prilosec lies unopened in the cabinet and my chronic cough
has disappeared…also, I have lost 63 pounds.
Along the way, I discovered that my JOURNEY
TO HEALTH has actually been a SPIRITUAL
JOURNEY directed by God.
I’ve had to change my attitude toward food, exercise and
health, but I didn’t have to do it alone…COOPERATING
WITH GOD…You take the first step and God takes your hand, leading you to
the second, third, fourth…
I had to learn the word “NO,”
and use it often. COOPERATING WITH GOD…Involves you DENYING those things which will destroy
and undo God’s work within you.
I’ve had to step out of my comfort zone. COOPERATING
WITH GOD…You may be asked to do things that make you uncomfortable and
actually may cause discomfort for a period of time. Go ahead, embrace the newness, God is
building your “Spiritual Muscles.”
I’ve learned to enjoy the things I previously avoided. I really didn’t want my morning protein drink
to be an unappetizing, muddy green, but then I tasted it; YUM!!! I would rather spend
an hour shopping than on the treadmill or lifting weights, but then I carried 5
bags of groceries, all at once, up the steps and into the house with no problem…I’m
lacing up my walking shoes and loving it.
Remember God is a God of principles and THE PRINCIPLE OF IF/THEN can be applied to every area of your life
that needs “SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION,” God’s faithfulness is never in question,
so the next move is yours.
COOPERATING WITH GOD…Go ahead, obey the voice of God; JUST DO IT!
I promise that the joy you feel and the blessing you receive in
obeying God will make you wonder why you avoided following God’s plan for so
long.
Today could be the day you EMBRACE REAL CHANGE. Today
could be the day you begin COOPERATING
WITH GOD. Today could be the BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE.
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