“Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you.”

Deuteronomy 6:3

The desire in God’s heart was for the people of Israel to enjoy all the blessings He had already prepared for them along with all the blessings that were conditional on obedience to His Word. When we are filled with the Word of God and His understanding, it is very easy to pass it on. The cry of God’s heart for His people was, “If my people would but listen to Me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you” (Psalm 81:13-16). His own people did not want to hear His Word, and closed their eyes to His Laws.

Furthermore, if they had been obedient to His Word all their enemies would have been swiftly defeated. Nevertheless, many did the very opposite of obeying Him. Consequently, it was their enemies who took the advantage and had power over them to bring about their defeat. God wanted to fight on behalf of His people. Just one single blow from the hand of God would have been enough to pulverize all their adversaries. The leadership of the people should have been in place for the long-term but because of His mercy God removed them and put others in their place.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“At the same moment when I was going to talk at an auditorium of fifteen thousand people in a city within the United States, an anonymous note was placed on the podium, signed by two students of a high school academy. It read something like this, ‘You are our last hope tonight. We are confused and we don’t know how to live. For this reason we have chosen to end it all at once. If you have a word of encouragement that can clear our path please say it. If you don’t have it our road has come to an end.’ While I spoke, I didn’t see the fifteen thousand people that heard me that night but only the two young ladies that were so stirred up. The only thing I could do was to whisper a prayer under my breath. It turned out to be that same old story, one was taken and the other was left. One had accepted the offer of Christ and was able to get out of her desperation and align her life with God. The other one thought that the Word of God was too good to be true; so she took her own life by drawing herself.” (E. Stanley Jones)

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“I have the power of the blessing because I am obedient to the Word of God.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Two.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING
Our Bible Reading Plan gives 25 daily readings per month. There is no scheduled reading for today. You can use this time to catch up on any readings you may have missed, or read through previous passages again.