Thoughts on Stewardship
Lesson No. 19 from Deuteronomy

His Covenant and His Mercy
Foundation Scriptures: Deuteronomy 7 verses 11 – 15

You shall therefore keep and do the instruction, laws, and precepts which I command you this day. 12 And if you hearken to these precepts and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love which He swore to your fathers. 13 And He will love you, bless you, and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your land, your grain, your new wine, and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt which you knew will He put upon you, but will lay them upon all who hate you.  Deuteronomy 7:11-15 AMP

1.  God promised the Israelites that if they kept His commandments and did them, He would keep His Covenant with them and He would continue to show them mercy and steadfast love, just as He had promised to their forefathers. He said:

a.  I will love you
b.  I will bless you
c.  I will multiply you
d.  I will bless the fruit of your womb
e.  I will the fruit of your land
f.   I will bless your corn
g.  I will bless your wine
h.  I will bless your oil
i.   I will bless the increase of your cattle
j.   I will bless the flocks of your sheep
k.  I will bless you in your own land that I promised to give you.
l.   You will be blessed above all people
m. No male and female among you will be barren
n.  Your cattle will not be barren
o.  I will take away all sickness and disease from you

2.  God promised all this to the children of Israel under the Old Covenant, which is a type and shadow of the covenant we have today–the New Covenant–a more powerful covenant, based upon better promises. It makes you wonder why people today have a hard time grasping the fact that God loves them so much and that He wants to bless them. How much more, under the New Covenant, based on much better promises, would the Lord not want to bless you exceedingly? He loves people and knows what they need. He cares about, and wants to be involved, in the affairs of mankind, but He needs an invitation. One of the pre-requisites for walking in the blessings of this Covenant, and His mercy, is to obey Him, serve Him, and do what He wants you to do–then you will be blessed! Always remember that faith begins where the will of God is known. If you know what His will is, then you will be able to receive His will and walk in His will and you will not settle for anything that the devil has to offer.

Pastor Adonica’s Thoughts:
God has given us a free will. We have the right to serve Him or not. However, there is a blessing that comes with obedience and a curse that comes with disobedience. The way it works is: obedience takes you into God’s jurisdiction and disobedience takes you into the devil’s jurisdiction. If we have any sense at all, we would believe God and take Him at His word. We would make sure to keep His commandments and be a doer of the word. One thing that always stands out in the Word of God is just how amazingly generous the Lord is with us. He is always looking for an opportunity to bless us and He always multiplies what He has already given to us.

Pastor Rodney’s Thoughts:
One of the things I realized, early in my life, was the fact that God had a plan for my life and that if I was to fulfill God’s plan for my life, then it was up to me to change and do whatever it takes to line myself up with God’s will and His plan. This was hard at first, because people don’t usually want to change–you would rather change your circumstances, your surroundings, or the other people in your life. Change is not easy. Often we would rather blame others and make them the reason why we are not blessed and why we don’t succeed. However, when I lined myself up with the will of God and obeyed Him–then the blessing began to come. I encourage you–make the change today and see the hand of God revealed in your life. Enter into His covenant and experience His mercy!

Prayer and Confession:
Father, help me to obey You and do Your will, and Your will alone. Then I know that I will see Your mercy and Your steadfast love; and Your grace and favor will rest upon me all the days of my life.