The LORD Will Take Away

As a follower of Christ I am comforted that I will have rewards in heaven. I know that the LORD will provide for my needs. My salvation has been granted thanks to my acceptance of it from the LORD as His gift. But, all that I have in this world is not guaranteed. That which I have been blessed with can and will be taken away if I am not faithful to the LORD and do all that He has commanded of me.

“¹¹Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, ‘Since this has been your practice and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.’” – 1 Kings 11:11 (ESV)

As Solomon had not kept up with his work for the LORD, the LORD removed the blessings from him.

This lesson is for me even today. I have been blessed with where Lori and I live. We are in a community that is friendly, generous, and desired by those outside looking in. The LORD made it possible for us to have raised our boys in this community where they were somewhat shielded from a lot of the world and the hardship that is found in other areas of it. But, as was with Solomon, the LORD could take it away at any moment if/when we fall away from Him.

There is however something that I am able to count on with regard to the LORD, His provision. Yes, I have been blessed with where we live and the LORD can take that blessing away at any moment based on my lack of continued dedication to Him. But, I can find solace in the fact that even if those blessings are removed from me, He will still provide for my needs and honor His promises to me.

“¹²Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem that I have chosen.” – 1 Kings 11:12-13 (ESV)

Solomon, who turned away from the LORD, was not cut off from God. His provision was not taken away. The LORD will do the same with me. God loves me, and my inheritance in His kingdom has been guaranteed, but blessings in this world are not, only provision. He will take away the excess that is not part of that guarantee. I am not entitled to the excess, and frankly, I am not entitled to anything, yet the LORD, through His grace, ensures that my needs will be met in this world.

It is up to me to remain faithful to the LORD. It is my choice to do so. That is the beauty of the LORD, He has given me way to free will. And with that free will there are consequences when the choices I make do not align with Him and His will. But even when I do not choose Him and His will, He remains faithful to provide for my needs and His promise of salvation.

What are your thoughts as to the things we receive from the LORD? Are you even aware that the LORD provides the blessings you have? What if you were to recognize that those blessings are just that and can be taken away by the LORD, but, He will still provide for your needs?

The LORD Provides Bounty

Bounty: 1: something that is given generously, 2: liberality in giving: generosity 3: yield especially of a crop – Merriam-Webster Online

This morning I continue my study on the word “will” and find myself in Leviticus. I know, riveting words written about the law. But, that is it when you really study the different laws and their impact.

I am in chapter 26 in the passage, as titled in my bible, “Blessings for Obedience”. Here the LORD has given instruction on how to approach the worship of Him. He then provides the condition:

“³If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,” — Leviticus 26:3 (ESV)

The LORD says, do this and if you do… He identifies the actions required and then the reward for doing so. Isn’t that how it should always be, and isn’t that how the LORD has always been with His instruction. He tells us what we shall do and then what the reward is for doing so. He did it in the garden with the man and woman, He did with Noah, and here He is with the Israelite people. Follow my commands and you will be rewarded.

“⁴Then I will give you…” — Leviticus 26:4 (ESV)

And the reward is great and wonderful and more than we could imagine. As we continue to read in the passage, the LORD provides, rain for the crops, crops of wheat until time for grapes, and grapes until time for planting. And He provides peace and power to overcome. And all of this in generous supply.

What a reminder to me about following and giving glory to God, He will reward for the work done and that reward will be great. His provision will be generous and I will not need anything beyond His reward. I am to do His will and reap the bounty in return.

What is your approach to the LORD? Are you looking for reward from Him? What if you obeyed Him knowing that He will provide bounty?

Make Promise to God and Fulfill Them

So, the LORD makes promises to me. I accept those promises and expect that He will follow through on them. And as the great and merciful God He is, He does.

“¹³And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring…¹⁵Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.’” – Genesis 28:13 & 15 (ESV)

Above you can see the promise of God to Jacob that was revealed in a dream. The key thing I am seeing is that the LORD promised something to Jacob and as He says in the last sentence, “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”. The LORD makes promises to us and we expect that He will fulfill them.

“²⁰Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, ²¹so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, ²²and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.’” – Genesis 28:20-22 (ESV)

But, what about us. Do we reciprocate to Him with promises of our own? Jacob did. I did accept the gift of salvation from Christ. I did promise to go wherever He would have me go and do whatever He would have me do.

It is not just about making the promises. It is about fulfilling them. I know that I can and will count on God to fulfill His promises (even if I am frustrated by the timing of His fulfillment). I know that He promised me eternal life in heaven and that I would not ever thirst for Him. I know that those promises are being fulfilled, because I do not thirst for Him as He is with me always. But, am I fulfilling the promises I have made to Him.

I sit here in the mornings studying the Word of God and doing my best to learn from Him and take that learning into the world with me. I write about my learning in obedience to Him. I feel as though I am fulfilling my promises to the LORD, but am I?

I know I should not be selfish and look for the LORD to give me something in return for the work, but the work is exhausting if I am being transparent with my thoughts. I don’t pretend that all is rosy and wonderful, as I do struggle daily. I recently stated to my wife, asking, “when am I going to acknowledged”.

And, that is the deal. I did not promise to the LORD to get something out of it. I promised to the LORD to give something to Him. There is nothing for me in this world. I am here to do the work and receive the reward later. I promised to do the work. I did not say, “yea God, I’ll do it, but only if you do this”. There is no quid pro quo in this world with the LORD. He made a promise to me and will fulfill that promise. I am to do the same.

What promises have been made to or from you? Is there an expectation of fulfillment in those promises? What if you looked at the promises from God as those that will be fulfilled and you then reciprocated with promises that will be fulfilled of your own?

The LORD Blesses Even When It Does Not Seem Possible

I know, this seems like something that I have studied and written on over and over again. I do agree that the LORD provides just what and when we need. And yes, all we need do is ask from our heart. But, do we obey when He challenges us to do so?

“¹Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. ²And the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you.’” – Genesis 26:1-2 (ESV)

I look here this morning and see a couple of things going on. One, there is a famine and it is natural to look for ways of surviving. Two, Isaac does just that by working to make his way out of the famine area to one of more prosperous times. When looking at it all, it would be natural to make way to Egypt, an area where the Nile provides plenty of water for to survive, not just for the one or two, but for great numbers of people.

Isaac would be working to survive with his family and clan. So making way to Egypt would make complete and total sense. But God. He said no, stay where you are and I will make you prosperous and bigger than you can imagine as He promised Abraham.

“’³Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ⁵because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.’” – Genesis 26:3-5 (ESV)

And so Isaac stopped his migration and settled where he was. And he dug wells and found water. Not just enough to survive, but to prosper. So much so, He became the premier family and clan in the area and was asked to leave. And he did, and settled in another area not far, dug wells and found more water in an area that needed it.

All of this prosperity was not of Isaac or luck, it was of God. Isaac was well aware of the generosity of the LORD. Here we find Isaac in an area of need. The LORD provided what and when he needed it. And even in this area of famine, the LORD’s provision was so great and continually giving. Everywhere that Isaac dug a well the water was found. And thanks solely to the LORD, Isaac was granted prosperity.

I have to remember that the LORD provides what and when I need. And to go along with that, He provided even when things seem impossible. Nothing is too big for God to do. When things seem the darkest it is my obedience to Him that sustains me. I obey and am rewarded.

What is your approach when things are the darkest? Are you looking to make things happen on your own? What if, even in those times that seem impossible, you were to obey the LORD and allow Him to provide?

Give Bread to the LORD

There is some literal as well as figurative meaning in the giving of bread to the LORD. This morning I am still in the book of Exodus as I study the word “bread”. In this morning’s passage I am looking at the Israelite “Contributions for the Tabernacle” as it is titled in my bible. Moses brought God’s command to provide for the building of the tabernacle. Everything was to be given from the metal (gold, silver, bronze…), fabric, jewels, craftsman skill, to the bread on the table.

Moses outlined all that was to be brought freely for the building of the tabernacle to the LORD. This is the givings of the figurative bread to the LORD. The people were to share of their blessings back to the LORD who provided those blessings to them. They were blessed with gold, and silver and bronze, jewels, and skills and Moses commanded them from the LORD to give back to the LORD. Aren’t we to do the same with our offerings to the LORD. I have been blessed from the LORD to have what I have and it is only right that I give a portion of that back to Him as an offering to the LORD for Him to do with and provide for others.

And now to speak of the literal bread given back. The people were to provide the bread for the table in the tabernacle. They were to ensure that the table of the LORD was properly provisioned with the bread. Fresh bread daily for the LORD as provided by the people of the LORD.

“¹³the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence;” — Exodus 35:13 (ESV)

Now for me in today’s world, there may not be a need to provide the bread for the LORD, but the need for bread is still there. I can and should not just be providing the monetary blessings that God has given, but I should also be providing the blessings of nourishment. It is “easy” to give money to a cause or project. There is little work in writing a check. But providing with food creates more ownership in the work being done for the LORD. It is one thing to provide a gift card for the homeless, but to make them a meal and serve it to them is more involved in the provision. Even buying and bringing is more meaningful.

I can remember many times I have seen someone begging for money on the side of the road. One time in particular, I had just come from a fast food joint where for some reason I bought an extra item that I really did not need (but was going to eat anyway). I came across the person begging for money and I gave them my extra item instead. The look of shear amazement on their face for providing for their immediate need and giving something of myself was fantastic. I was blessed more so and it is so much more memorable that if I would have simply given them $2-3.00.

I have been called to make contributions of bread to the LORD. Some of those contributions are monetary in nature and some are more personal for the giver and the receiver. I can and should be giving of all the blessings from the LORD. Whether those blessings are of metal, jewels, skills, or even of the sustenance value attributed to the actual bread.

What have you been giving to the LORD? Are you simply writing the checks? What if you were to give of the physical and more literally fulfilling to others?

That Which is Given

This morning I am reading in Genesis on the blessings given to Abram by Melchizedek, and I have begun a study on the word “bread”. As I read, I see, in the passage that Abram was given the bread and wine by Melchizedek and he was given blessing by Melchizedek and he would only take that which was given by the king of Sodom.

“¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) ¹⁹And he blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;…²³that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say, “I have made Abram rich.” ²⁴I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me. Let Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre take their share.’” – Genesis 14:18-19, 23-24 (ESV)

Abram did not “take” anything that was not given to him. Here we see that the bread and wine, blessings, and the food and men were given to Abram. Abram lived with the blessings that were bestowed on him from the LORD. All else was left to those to which the belonged.

This passage got me to thinking: God gives to me and that is where I gain all that I have. Mind you, I am not rich in the sense of monetary value. I am what is considered middle class and make do with that which I have, so to say that I am rich, is that I am rich in the glory that God has bestowed on me. I have been given all that I have by the LORD as He has made me rich.

There are a lot of things that I could be done to make me rich. I fight with what I could have at all times. So much would it be nice to just go and do at all times without concern for cost or financial ramifications. But as I sit here this morning, I have to remember that it is not about being rich, but being content and knowing that all that I have or will have are the result of the blessings from God. He provide the bread and wine and all of those things that I “need” to do His will here in this world. God GIVES me all that I need and for that I am to be grateful.

What do you have and where did it come from? Did you get all of it on your own? What if you recognized and accepted that God gave you what you need and frankly gives you everything?