Deuteronomy 28:1-14
"The borrower is servant to the lender."
(PROVERBS 22:7B)
When I left Soledad Prison after more than 15 years there, all of my worldly possessions fit into a standard foot locker. Once in the "real" world, I immediately began purchasing things: televisions, stereos, watches, furniture, etc. I had accumulated a mountain of debt in only a few months. Here I had just been set free from prison and then went and signed myself into slavery through financial debt! Was I ever to know what true freedom felt like?
Two years ago, my wife and I decided we want to live debt-free. While we aren't there yet, we are on our way to ending that slavery in our lives.
What has become even more valuable to me is knowing that I am free from the bonds of sin and temptation in my life through Jesus Christ. He lent me something more than a ticket out of prison or a pile of cash to pay my bills. He gave me His perfect life - I don't owe Him money or time with good behavior. Salvation is freely given. I pray that you will receive Him in your heart, too, and end the slavery in your life.
INSIGHT
JESUS CAME TO SET YOU FREE! YOU HAVE A SAVIOR WHO LOVES YOU AND HOLDS NO DEBT OVER YOUR HEAD.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Leviticus 25
Psalm 59
Luke 23
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
New International Version (NIV)
Blessings for Obedience
28 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
5 Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
7 The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
8 The Lord will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you. 11 The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. 13 The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. 14 Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
GIVE THEM GRACE [PART 4]
with Charles & Janet Morris
Along with great joy, raising children brings great pain. Parents have an opportunity like no other to dazzle their children's hearts with the love of Jesus, if they are willing to be dazzled as well.
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