If you had a choice, would you rather be blessed or cursed, well or sick, in lack, have plenty?  Did you know God already made HIS choice about the matter?  He gave us all free will to choose how we live.  And before you say, “Well, I live in a poor area, and that’s why I can’t get ahead”, know this: God can bless you no matter where you live, but you have to listen to Him when He tells you what to do.  Or, of course, we can ignore God’s leading and do our own thing and feel sorry for ourselves when things don’t turn out right. And sadly, some people blame God for their circumstances when it isn’t His fault at all.  In fact, He provided us with every opportunity to be blessed, and spells out to us in His Word exactly how to be blessed in every area of our lives.  What are we going to do about it?  Now, THAT is the question.

The Spirit of the LORD is grieved when we aren’t living in His blessing.  He created this world to be a blessing unto us, and put every possible provision here for us, and there is nothing we need that is not already here, all we need to do us take it and use it.  There is no reason for anyone being hungry or homeless, for the bounty of the earth has enough for everyone, the LORD saw to it when He created it.  Yet there are many doing without necessary things.  Why?  Well, for one thing, it’s because of the hardness of man’s heart, greed, envy, jealousy, and downright disobedience to the Word of God.   I was reading a passage in Ezekiel 3 this morning, and it gave me the background for this article:

Eze 3:4  And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them.

Eze 3:5  For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

Eze 3:6  Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.

Eze 3:7  But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.

Eze 3:8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

Eze 3:9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

Eze 3:10  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.

Eze 3:11  And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.

There is not a problem we face that God does not already have the solution in place for, but many of mankind’s problems are recurring because we just keep doing the wrong things over and over, and expecting different results. When the LORD told Ezekiel how hard-headed and stubborn his people are, it showed me things are no different today.  We are still a stiff-necked, stubborn, rebellious lot, who actually have the nerve to accuse God for their problems.  Yet He is still patient, reaching out to us with outstretched hands, wanting to bless us, even as we resist His love and mercy. When people are sick, God has a cure in His Word, and His Word works when we use it.  I said, “when we use it” because most don’t. And those who do usually apply it very sparingly; as if they are afraid it will run out and not be enough.

The first thing most do is to run to the doctor.  Well, the doctor is in business to stay in business.  That means if the medical profession cured cancer, where would their money come from then?  They have no incentive to cure cancer, or any other disease for that matter.  That would be the same as a car manufacturer building a car that would never break.  They could, but they won’t, because as soon as you bought one, you’d never have to buy another one, and they would soon be out of business.  The world does it their way, and God invites us to do it HIS way.  We do have a choice, but we have no control over the outcome of that choice. It saddens me how people suffer needlessly when all the time, God has the cure for whatever problem they have.  And He doesn’t charge for the solution.  Try that with your doctor or dentist.

You know how I love to use Psalm 103:2-3, for it saved my life, literally.  It says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.” In 1993 I had five melanomas and liver cancer and a very short time to live.  There was no medical cure, the doctor told me to go home and get my affairs in order.  So I did!  I turned to God with my whole heart, and He healed me and I haven’t been sick again.  I was amazed at how simply it worked: He said it, I believed, and it was done.  Actually, when God says something, it is done, whether you believe it or not.  But if you don’t believe, then YOU don’t get the benefit thereof, simple as that.  The next person can hear the same word, believe, and receive the blessing.  The blessing of the LORD is upon His Word, and it will work for all who will use it, young or old, rich or poor, pretty or ugly, for those of any race or nation.  God’s Word is color blind, it is created to work for “whosoever will” believe and act upon it.

Elisha was a prophet of God, who listened to and obeyed God, let’s read about it here:

1Ki 17:1  And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

1Ki 17:2  And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

1Ki 17:3  Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

1Ki 17:4  And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

1Ki 17:5  So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

1Ki 17:6  And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

1Ki 17:7  And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

1Ki 17:8  And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

1Ki 17:9  Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

1Ki 17:10  So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

1Ki 17:11  And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

1Ki 17:12  And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

1Ki 17:13  And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

1Ki 17:14  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

1Ki 17:15  And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 1Ki 17:16  And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

You see, there was a drought going on, and even then God took care of Elisha, but he had to obey God.  In fact, God saw the situation of a widow and sent Elisha to her, and by her act of obedience to the man of God, her poverty was turned around into plenty. God had a plan to bless her, but two people had to obey: Elisha had to go to her, and she had to obey by giving Elisha a piece of bread, when she had planned on using it for herself and her son.  If Elisha had not gone to her, she and he would not have been blessed.  If the widow had refused Elisha’s request, she and her son would have starved to death.  God was offering provision for the three of them, but it required their obedience.  Do you see where I’m going with this?  GOD HAS THE CURE FOR YOUR PROBLEM, BUT YOU MUST OBEY HIM

Let me tell you something: most people won’t obey God.  Very few will, actually.  You can be one of the few who are blessed and prospered and well, no matter what the devil tries to throw at you, no matter where you are living.  You can be living in a desert and God can make it abound for you if you choose to obey Him.  Or, you can do it your way, whatever.  But the LORD wants you to be blessed, it’s HIS choice.  And He has set everything in order to assist you in living in His blessings.  Now you have to make YOUR choice.  I hope you choose to let the LORD lead you in your every decision, for He will not lead you astray.  You can read about what happens to those who hearken to the LORD and obey Him in Deuteronomy 28:1-14.  And you can read the rest of the chapter to see what happens when you DON’T hearken to the voice of the LORD to obey Him.  It’s pretty simple, you can have the blessing or the curse, and you WILL have one of them, and which one is up to YOU.  Choose wisely and live BLESSED!