Blessing or Curse
- Now Think On This
Steve Martin
"Behold, I set before you today a blessing
and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God
which I command you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments
of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to
go after other gods which you have not known.” Deut. 11:26-29 NKJV
The
words you speak impact people more than we often realize. An encouraging word
sown at the right time to a person wanting and needing some more hope, for
their troubling heart or worrisome mind, can change a direction a person is
going in, and effect their life beyond the immediate vision. Spoken with a
prophetic impact that the Holy Spirit generates, a spoken word at the right time
can even mean life or death for that person. It can be as a lifeline thrown out
to one needing a pull out of the engulfing water.
A believing life “spoken” to a generation, one that is lived out of obedience to the voice
of the Lord and following after Him, will have even more impact on many people;
even a generation or more that follows behind. The lives of countless men and
women, who heard the call of the Lord, and responded with, “Here I am Lord,
Your servant is listening. Do unto me according to Your word,” have been so instrumental in changing nations by
their simple obedience, day after decades of days.
In
offering themselves in entrustment to His plans and purposes, their families,
their communities, their nations were given the opportunity to be in the
overflow of the Lord God’s blessing and provision that fell on them, and then
flowed from and through them. Hearing and obeying the Father does that.
In our day, leaders
in religion, business, media, entertainment, government, arts and education
have a tremendous impact on their cultures – the communities, families and all the
ones their waves of influence touch, for good or bad. Understanding that our
actions will bring either blessing or curse upon those who look to us for
guidance, knowingly or unknowingly, will have long lasting, even eternal, effects as a result of our actions. For those who hear and obey the Creator of all - blessings will flow downward.
Ones who disregard and even despise the natural and spiritual laws put in place to guide and protect, those set forth by God Himself, the resulting just judgment will come forth, now or for sure later. What we sow we will reap. It is a natural and spiritual law that cannot be broken, except to result in bearing bad fruit.
Ones who disregard and even despise the natural and spiritual laws put in place to guide and protect, those set forth by God Himself, the resulting just judgment will come forth, now or for sure later. What we sow we will reap. It is a natural and spiritual law that cannot be broken, except to result in bearing bad fruit.
You
break the natural and spiritual laws in the universe and they will ultimately
break you. (Any argument on that? Just have a reality check look in the nation
you abide in.)
This
truth has been proven out again and again in history, both in the written Scriptural
documentation of the people of Israel, and in every nation which either
followed the Lord’s way or opposed His purposes. Blessing or curse is our
choice.
Having
been a parent myself for over 35 years now, at the time of this writing, and
also having served in several top leadership roles in ministry and secular
business for over 40 years, I have seen that the actions leadership take will have
even more of a lasting effect in a child’s life, or a company’s future, than
just words spoken. The ripple of those actions taken at each point show up years later down the road.
It is true that actions do speak louder than words, for what is really in your heart will truly come out, especially in those times when a decisive response is needed in a critical situation. Then it really shows what you have, or don’t have, in your character. Blessing will follow, or a response as a curse will result.
It is true that actions do speak louder than words, for what is really in your heart will truly come out, especially in those times when a decisive response is needed in a critical situation. Then it really shows what you have, or don’t have, in your character. Blessing will follow, or a response as a curse will result.
To
say it again - how you respond and deal with situations that come your way will
be shown, as that which you really are will come out from that which is within.
You can’t give out what you don’t have within you. From a pure spring flows
pure water. From a cesspool flows accumulated filth.
“The
good person produces good things from the store of good in his heart, while the
evil person produces evil things from the store of evil in his heart. For his
mouth speaks what overflows from his heart.” Luke 6:45 Complete Jewish Bible
“For
from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within
and defile a man.” Mark 7:21-23 NKJV
Speaking
to my generation, we have the responsibility, the daily choice to walk in the
righteous path we know is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is black and
white. It is already firmly stated in the Lord’s Word. By choosing to follow Him
daily, we are impacting the life the next generation will see and then also have
the choice to walk in or not. We must do our part if we expect them to do theirs.
We
have the option to daily live a righteous and holy life, set apart for the Lord’s
purposes. We can choose to “do our own thing, in seeking our own pleasure”,
which ultimately will bring a curse on us and the generation that follows, or
we can heed the Lord’s word and follow Him.
“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes
and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods
and worship them, then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you,
and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight
and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
"As for this house, which was
exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ' Why has the
Lord done thus to this land and to this house?' "And they will say,
'Because they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them from
the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served
them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.'"
2 Chronicles 7:19-22 NASB
2 Chronicles 7:19-22 NASB
As
it was for Israel, so choices taken will bring the same results in any nation.
We must choose the blessing, and not allow the curse to come upon our land.
Today, we must choose the Lord.
Now
think on this,
Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People. Inc.
Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA humanitarian organization
started in 2010 to share the love of the Father in the nations.
If these messages minister to you, please consider sending
a charitable gift of $5-$25 today, and maybe each month, to help us bless
families we know in Israel, whom we consistently help through our humanitarian
ministry. Your tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each
donation. Fed. ID #27-1633858.
Go here for safe ONLINE GIFT GIVING THROUGH OUR WEBSITE using major credit cards: Love For His People If
you don't have a PayPal account you can also use your credit card or bank
account (where available).
Contribution checks can be sent to:
Love For His People, Inc. P.O. Box414
Pineville, NC 28134
Todah rabah! (Hebrew – Thank you very much.)
Please share Now Think On This with your
friends.
Email: loveforhispeople@gmail.com
martinlighthouse@gmail.com
Facebook pages: Steve Martin and Love
For His People
Twitter: martinlighthous, LovingHisPeople
Full website: Love For His
People
YouTube: Love For His People Inc.
Now Think On This #146 “Blessing or Curse” by Steve Martin
Date: In the year of our Lord 2014 (04.24.14) Thursday at 5:00
am in Charlotte, NC.
All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this Blog, and on our
newest website: Now Think On This
