Blessed or Cursed?

Have you read Deuteronomy 28 lately?

Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God.

After this Moses lists the tremendous blessings that will overtake us if we obey the Lord as he teaches us. Did you get that? The blessings will overtake us. We don’t seek the blessings. We seek to obey the Lord. The blessings will overtake us -- come upon us. Then he continues in verse 9:

...if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. [and in verse 13]...if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I charge you today, to observe them carefully, and do not turn aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

The above verses outline my part in this process of walking in blessed relationship with the Lord. Read for yourself in Deuteronomy 28 the amazing things God does when we obey Him. Then read in verses 16 through 68 all of the curses that come upon us when we don’t obey Him in everything. Wow. 12 verses of incredible blessing, encompassing every area of life; 53 verses of cursing if we are disobedient to the Lord.

So here’s how to apply it. It starts in my morning prayer time with the Lord. It is established in my life during this time. By praying over it, God gives me the motivation and empowers me to obey. In the first two verses, Moses tells us what we need to do: Diligently obey the Lord, being careful to do all His commandments which you are commanded today.

First, I must review the two greatest commandments, which are the eternal foundation of God’s law: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all our soul, and all your strength. Then, love your neighbor as yourself. So first I ask the Lord to look over my relationship to Him, my relationship to myself, and my relationships to others, and I ask Him to reveal to me anything that needs to be mended. I let His Spirit hover and work in me to show me anything I need to do here. On any given day, if I am keeping very short accounts, this will take only a few seconds, and He will give me overwhelming assurance that I am walking in His Spirit and my relationships are healthy and Spirit-led. If there is something wrong, I will need to repent, ask forgiveness, and/or make restitution for something. The Lord will show me. It may take some time, and I must give Him that time.

If I follow the two greatest commandments, I won’t be worshiping anything other than God or taking Him too lightly, I won’t be lying, stealing, committing adultery, hurting other people. I will honor my parents and those in authority over me and I will be setting aside one day in seven exclusively for worshiping the Lord and fellowshipping with other believers, not involved in secular pursuits on that day. And I will not be going after anything in this world, for this world has nothing for me.

After I know this is all taken care of, then I can ask the Lord what specific commands He has for me today, just like Moses said. I can ask the Lord, “What word do you have for me to live by today? Is there any specific instruction you have for me? What issues and what people should I especially give my attention to today?” He may give instruction that I can write down at that moment, or He may not. He will order my steps according to His Word as I go through the day. By practicing this regularly, I will know when He has something to speak into my heart and I will know when it is time to get up and go. He will lead me in the rest of my prayer time and study of His Word, to intercede on behalf of all the saints everywhere and to receive instruction for daily living and for ministering to those I come in contact with in person or in prayer. He will guide me by the umpire of His peace that will rule in my heart.


By practicing these things in prayer, God will eliminate, day by day, every manifestation of residual curses that have been present in my life because of past disobedience. Read Deuteronomy 28. Identify some of the curses that may be hanging on in your life. Determine to diligently obey God in everything, and allow Him to replace every curse with His blessing. Your life will never be the same – every day!

Tags: Spirituality, Christianity, Bible, Blessing