Published by admin on 29 Jun 2012 at 12:19 pm
THE “IF” WORD
Surely everyone wants the blessings of God, everyone that believes in God that is. And of course we know not everyone believes in God, nor wants a relationship with Him. But if you’re reading this, then I believe you do want a relationship with Him. Well, let me ask you something: if you live in a forest and there is a fire all around you burning, are you in danger of losing your home and all you have? Today I’m giving the sternest warning I’ve ever written, and I hope people will take heed.
You seriously need to think about what is written in the Holy Bible in Deuteronomy 28:1-14:
Deu 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
Deu 28:3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
Deu 28:4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
Deu 28:5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
Deu 28:6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
Deu 28:7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
Deu 28:8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Deu 28:9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
Deu 28:10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
Deu 28:11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
Deu 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
Deu 28:13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
Deu 28:14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
It is often said the number seven represents completeness, and is the number of God. Well, if you look at the first verse, the seventh word is IF. Seems to me we would like to have all these blessings of God and altogether disregard the word IF, however, God did not choose to have the IF disregarded. All these promises hinge on the IF, meaning, IF you want the blessings, you have to perform the conditions listed in order to receive them. I’ve talked about IF in the past, how God places conditions on His promises, and not one promise I can find in the Bible is without condition. If you want to be saved, you must repent of your sins and believe the Gospel of Christ Jesus. He is the only door to salvation, and He said so. That means if you’re seeking salvation by any other means, it isn’t going to happen. There are preachers who tell you that if you do enough good works, or if you give enough money to their church, that God knows your heart and He will look down from heaven and you’ll be ok.
Well, God DOES know your heart and mine, and He still requires us to repent of our sins, turn away from them, forsake them, and seek Him with our whole heart. So much then for the “God knows your heart” excuse. Face it, the Bible says Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? God knows the heart of man better than we ourselves do. Therefore if we are to be saved, it will not come from ourselves, but only from God, and ONLY UPON HIS CONDTIONS!
Getting back to Deuteronomy 28:1-14, IF we want the blessings of God, we must do it God’s way. Unfortunately, we have a habit of deceiving ourselves into thinking we can have God’s blessing on our own terms, choosing what we will do to please God, instead of allowing God to set the parameters.
Now, I’m getting down to business here, so pay close attention. Remember I asked “If you live in a forest and there is a fire all around you burning, are you in danger of losing your home and all you have?” We live in a world of increasing wickedness. The United States rose to great prestige and power and favor because the people for the most part sought God. Now, even though many did seek God, there was still evil in the land, and not everyone was doing right, but the land was blessed for the sake of those who loved God and obeyed Him. We were sending missionaries all over the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, over time even the people of God got careless about serving God, and forgot how He blessed them, and little by little, day by day, they turned away from God. How? They became insensitive to the evil around them, and gradually no longer stood up against evil. And God sent warnings to them to repent and return to their first love for Him. Did you know you can place a frog in a pan of water on the stove and turn on the fire, and that water will gradually heat up, and the frog gets used to the heat and won’t jump out of the pan, even though he is well able to escape it. The water gets hotter and hotter, until the frog finally cooks in the water and dies. He died because he became insensitive to the danger. And that is happening to all Christians today. There is just so much evil around, they have gotten used to it until they begin to accept it and no longer see it as abominable to God. And when God sends destruction upon the land, they will also be destroyed because they didn’t take warning to flee the evil and forsake it.
I’m telling you today, the forest around you is on fire, and if you don’t want to be destroyed along with it, you’d better take a long look at Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and see if you are living in these blessings. If you are NOT living in those blessings, it just might be you aren’t doing the IF. And IF you aren’t, you’re in deep trouble, because you’re in danger of going down with the rest of the wicked if you aren’t found among those who are obedient to God. Verses 15-68 tell of the curses that will come upon the disobedient, and you don’t want that! Yes, these are strong words, but God has called me to be a watchman, and warn people to repent while they still can. God’s judgment is coming, here a little, there a little. We see it happening all around us all over the world, especially what we consider “natural disasters”, and we are just too blind to see that God is using these things to bring us to our knees in repentance. Instead, we just keep rebuilding what has been destroyed and fail to see the spiritual warnings behind all these disasters. We think, ok, we will rebuild, just like they said after 9/11, instead of realizing God’s protection had been taken away because of our sins. The right response would have been for the nation to fall on their knees before God and turn from wickedness, and God would have heard from heaven and healed our land, just like He said in 2 Chronicles 7:14. But we didn’t, so God keeps sending warnings for us to turn from our sins. Folks, the warnings are just about over. I SAID, THE WARNINGS ARE JUST ABOUT OVER!
The Prophet Jeremiah warned the people to turn from their sins, but all the other prophets were saying, PEACE, PEACE, when there was no peace. The people were being deceived by false prophets who were telling them comforting words, things they wanted to hear. They so much hated to hear Jeremiah’s message that the King put him in prison to shut him up. Long story short, many of “God’s people” were slain and the rest went into captivity because they didn’t heed God’s warning. You see, God takes no delight in the death of the wicked. He loves mankind so much He always sends warnings to His people to return to Him when they stray. And this warning is not just to Israel or to the United States, but to all the world, to all who want to be spared from destruction. There is no excuse for being lost, for Christ Jesus has paid for the sins of mankind, for whosoever will repent of their sins and turn from their evil ways and follow Him.
It is written in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14,
2Ch 7:13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Did you notice it says in verse 14, If MY people? First off, here’s the conditional word “IF” again. IF MY people….not the wicked people, not the unbelievers, not those of other religions and false gods. If MY people, who are called by My name. That’s who God is talking to here. If you consider yourself one of God’s people, then you’d better listen up, for He is talking to you. Remember, you’re surrounded by a burning forest, and you have a lot at stake here, don’t let God’s warning fall on deaf ears like it did in Jeremiah’s day. God’s people suffered greatly because they didn’t heed God’s warning and get back on the right path. History has a nasty habit of repeating itself, and I see it happening again.
Is it too late to avoid disaster? No, IF we who are God’s people act NOW and DO what 2 Chronicles 7:14 says. Believe me, I have, because I also see evil abounding all around me, and I don’t want to be punished with the wicked. I hope you’ll agree with me and do what you need to do to assure you and your house are delivered from the coming evil. And if not, and destruction comes to your house, don’t say I didn’t warn you, because I did. I’m not only warning you, I’m pleading with you to make sure you’re right with God, right NOW, and don’t wait another moment. The fire of evil is devouring all around us, but God will deliver His own. So, all that remains now is to make sure you are His own. Remember the “IF” word.
GentleWind on 30 Jun 2012 at 6:46 am #
Excellent word in a time of great distress in the land. Keep on SHOUTING THE TRUTH!
Camila on 30 Jun 2012 at 3:17 pm #
The most prevalent sin in the world right now is sexual sin. Nobody believes anymore in the sanctity of marriage. God has an established order for the family and most people are sinning against it. Lying, stealing and murder are still considered wrong by the majority, but not fornication or homosexuality.
Most people who commit sexual inmorality don’t go around murdering others or openly robbing them, therefore, they believe they are good enough for God to accept them. But the Epistle of James says that if you break one of the 10 Commandments, you are guilty of breaking them all. In the eyes of God a sexually inmoral person is no different than a thief or a muderer.
When disaster and destruction comes (as described in Proverbs 1), many people don’t understand why it happens, they don’t know they are sinners. They have rejected God’s call for repentance considering it to be inventions of old fashioned and narrow minded weirdos.