Deuteronomy 28 says that we will be blessed if we follow God's commands. KJV 28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 9 The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. 12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Next, the last half of the chapter is a list of all the bad things that happen if we sin, and sin, and sin. Duh. If we check the results of habitual sin over the past year, our results are just like the last half of this chapter. This chapter is awesome for a porn/lust addiction for two reasons. Firstly, memorize all the great things in the first half of the chapter that will happen when we overcome. Use them as inspiration. Secondly, the second half of the chapter tells us why the last year was not so great (if that was the case). It also tells us to be very fearful of doing the same right now, and this year. I have studied and studied this chapter. I have found that when I live like the second half, bad things happen just like the Bible said they would. When I live like the first half, good things happen just like the Bible said they would. I teach my kids to be Deuteronomy 28 Christians. I teach them to believe what it says. I teach them that they can live a great life if they do what the first half says. Finally, it does not matter what you believe about this passage. What matters is that you watch your life as it unfolds over the coming year. Watch to see if this chapter is a predictor of how your next year goes. Or, we can live like the first half, believe God, and have a mighty blessing.
Over the last week, I have not felt blessed. So I prayed quite a bit about it and here is a verse I came up with. 1 Chronicles 4:10 'Oh, Lord, bless me indeed and expand my territory. Keep Your hand on me, and keep evil from me, that I may not cause pain!' Why pray this prayer? Because we have habits, a hundred distractions, and a million important things to do. When Jabez prays “expand my territory” he is telling God: I am willing and ready to do what You want me to do. Allowing distractions has two bad effects. First, when we are distracted, we are less focused on Jesus, and temptation might be overwhelming. Second, we think we just don't have the time or ability to do what God wants us to do. To fight back consider praying: “Father, expand my territory, and bless me indeed.” Now that I am focusing on praying this, I am starting to realize that some of my distractions are having a negative effect on my life. In all likelihood, the things that God wants me to do will have a positive effect on my life and maybe on other people's lives as well. Consider praying: “Father, show me what distractions you want out of my life.” When Jabez prayed his prayer repeatedly, he was telling and showing God that he was completely dedicated to doing his will. Last week I was dedicated to doing God's will. After I pray these prayers a million times this week... maybe I will be closer to being completely dedicated as well.
