Start Living the Best Life

(This picture has nothing really to do with living the best life, I just like it.)

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. – Deuteronomy 28:8

So there it is, the word of the Lord, but do you find yourself not walking in this kind of blessing?  Do you keep feeling like you’re just not there yet?  Do you struggle every day and wondering when your “barns” are going to be blessed and when everything you put your hand to will prosper?

Maybe you are not in the right “land”.  Let’s go a little further…

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 forefathers to give you.  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. – Deuteronomy 28:11-12

He talks about blessing you in the land he has given you in chapter 15 also.

However, there should be no poor among you, for in the LAND the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, He will richly bless you, – Deuteronomy 15:4

So how does this work?  Through obedience.  Let’s continue in chapter 15.

If only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. For the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.  You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you. – Deuteronomy 15:5-6

Sound familiar?  He told us that same thing later in chapter 28.  He also tells us in chapter 28 that we will receive this blessing by obedience.

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 nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you will obey the Lord your God: – Deuteronomy 28:1-2

The chapter goes on describing all the blessings that will come to those who obey the commands of the Lord.  They cover everything. You should read it.  It is good to know what you can expect when you are obeying God.

Now, let’s delve in here a little further.  I know I want all that God has set aside for me and I am sure you do too, but what does this “land” thing mean.  I get the obedience part, right?  I follow the 10 commandments the best I can.  I try to always do the right thing, but is that all He is asking of me?

Well sometimes, being obedient also means listening to God daily and being obedient in what He tells you in the moment.  It is following in His plans and purposes in your life.  It is listening and hearkening to what He is asking you to do.  It might be as simple as Him prompting you to give someone $5 or to offer to pick someone up for church.  It might be Him telling you to start looking for a new job or to take a promotion.  It might be Him telling you help your neighbor or to forgive your ex.  Ooohh…I know….that one stings a little.  It is all an act of obedience and when we walk in obedience, God blesses us like crazy!  Isn’t it worth it?

Being in the “land” He has given us can be an act of obedience too.  Our “land” includes, but is not limited to, our career, our job, our town, our church, our friends, our relationships, even our family.  I am sure you are seeing what I mean by some of these obvious ones, but how is it that our relationships is considered the “land” God has given us?  Let’s break it down.

Relationship Land

God tells us in His word that we are to be cautious of who we spend our time with.  Yes, He is very clear that we are to be selective about our relationships which suggests being intentional about selecting the company we keep.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. – Psalm 1:1

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” – 1 Corinthians 15:33

But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolator or a slanderer, a drunkard, or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. – 1 Corinthians 5:11

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers.  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? … Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. – 2 Corinthians 6:14,17

Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared. – Proverbs 22:24-25

God has warned us and warned us, as you can see above, repeatedly to not be in relationships with friends or otherwise with people that are unbelievers, who are indulging in sinful lives, and who are easily angered.  These are just a few of the scriptures that talk about this, there are many others.  Who we keep company with is a “land” and God wants us in relationships with people that are going to encourage us in godly ways, who will build us up and help us live holy, not pull us into their unholy and sinful ways.  If you find that your relationship “land” is not on course to draw you closer to God, then God can’t bless you in that land.  Ask Him to send “good” company to you.

A friend of ours shares in his book that he was once engulfed in a life of drugs and partying.  He knew God wanted him to leave that life, but he was afraid that even if he went back home, he would fall into the same entrapments with some of the same friends he had when he first started on this journey to a sinful, drug-consumed life.  He prayed that God would give him friends that were godly men and that would encourage him to pursue godly things.  He went to church that first Sunday back in his hometown and after the service, a man introduced himself to our friend and asked him to have lunch with him that day after the service.  They became friends and they are not only friends still today, but both are in the ministry and are continuing to pursue the life God had for them.  They were blessed in the land of their relationship.

God will give you friends if you are obedient to pursue Him and the things of Him.  He will bless you in all your relationships when you pursue Him in the process.  He will give you a godly spouse and friends.  He wants you to desire those things.

Career/Job Land

We all have a calling on our lives.  Our career is often a part of that calling or even a preparation for the calling.  God graces us with talents, giftings, etc. to fulfill our calling and often that includes our career, although not always are the two synonymous.  For example, I worked in the banking industry for just over 11 years and many would say it was my career.  I loved my job and God graced me to do it using talents and giftings He put into me, but that wasn’t my ultimate calling on my life.  However, it was where He wanted me for the time being.  For some, it could be that they are meant to be a doctor or a dentist or a vet or a garbage man or an electrician or a gardener or a mailman.  Whatever it is, there is no better place to be than in your calling because THAT is the land where God will bless you.  Sometimes, it is only for a season, like mine, or maybe it is for a lifetime, like others, but regardless, we are blessed when we are where God wants us in our calling.

It could be that we are in our calling or career, but not in the right job.  Again, I mentioned that I was in the banking industry. Within that industry, I was a banker in a local branch for 6 years and then later was a business development officer outside the branch for over 5 years.  If I had decided I didn’t want to be a banker anymore and instead went to be a branch manager, I would not have been in the “land” God had for me and I would not have been blessed abundantly in that place.  I know this because I did apply to be a branch manager at a different branch, but I didn’t consult God first. I just applied. (If you thought I was perfect, this is ANOTHER example of how I am NOT.) Then as the time was coming for the applicants to be considered, God told me that He had something else for me instead.  I could have ignored Him and went for what I could see in the natural as a nice comfy job closer to home with more flexibility and pay.  However, this time, I listened to God and waited.  A few months later, the business development officer position opened which gave me not only better pay and better flexibility, but it was a role that I knew I would love way more than the branch manager role.  And I did!  God blessed me abundantly in the role and He used it to prepare me for my future.

Now that was being in the right career, but not the right job or role.  We need to be in the right job company too.  That is also a land. Who we work with, where our company is located, how the company operates, etc. are all important for us to be in the right place.  God may want to bless us through our co-workers or bless our co-workers through us.  If we are in the wrong company, but in the right industry, we could not be in the land God has given us and we are missing the best God has for us.

A friend of ours is an electrical engineer and he worked for a company that paid him very well, but he just never seemed satisfied and he dealt with some heartache and issues along the way.  Finally he consulted God and He told him that wasn’t the company He had wanted him to work for anyway.  Our friend left that company and went to one that God had ordained for him to be in and what a difference it was for him.  He loves his job, doing the same thing as at the other company, but doing it in the land God had given him made all the difference.

Pray these things out before just doing what you want and God will show you where your place is in the land He has given you.

Family Land

EEEERRRRTTTT—-I literally heard your brakes slam on!  What does that mean???  Family Land?  We don’t get to pick our family?  Yep, I could hear it as if you said it to my face.  You are right, we don’t get to pick our blood family.  That DNA is already coursing through our veins. BUT, similarly to our relationships, we do need to restrict ourselves from spending a lot of time with family that lives differently than we do.  We all have family members that do not live with the same set of moral, godly, and holy guidelines we do.  That doesn’t mean we don’t still love them and pray for them and keep in touch to some degree, but that doesn’t mean they are in our immediate circle. I have family like this. Yes, I see some at weddings, funerals, reunions, get-togethers, etc., and we laugh together, talk, enjoy each other’s company, but I don’t have them in my daily lives.

Many families have parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and on and on that do not live according to the standards that God expects them to live.  As a result, those in that situation should limit the amount of time spent with those that live differently.  Am I telling you to “disown” your family if they are not living the way you are? NO, I am telling you to limit your time with them. The same scriptures above in the relationship land section apply here.  God cannot bless you abundantly if you are surrounding yourself with unholy people.  Including family.

That is all I am going to say about that because I have said enough. Pray and ask God to reveal to you who you should spend time with. He will give you wisdom.  He says in His word that He will never withhold wisdom when His children seek it.  James 1:5-8

Church Land

Did you know that God wants you in a specific church?  And sometimes, it isn’t even the church YOU want to be in.  Christians think it is up to them to choose their church and they will go and sit in several churches.  One right after another, weighing the plusses against the minuses.  “This one has a great youth program, but doesn’t do small groups.”  “This one is trendy and all their worship music is contemporary, but the pastor is dry and uses the word “Amen” too much.”  “This one has a great children’s department and our friends go here, but their service times are too early.”  Christians must seek God to go to the church HE desires for them, not what we desire.  Why?  Because He will bless us in the LAND He has given us!  If we choose our own church and it goes contrary to what God wants, we miss the blessing and others miss their blessing through us.

God is very clear that we are to be in church, (Hebrews 10:25) therefore; He has a church home for us all.  We are all a part of a church body and we all have a part to play.  Let’s say in the body, you are a right thumb.  That is your part in the church body.  If you are not attending church, the church is missing a right thumb.  How well would you function without your right thumb. Somethings would be harder to do than others.  Your right thumb has a supply it is to bring.  If you try to function without that right thumb, you will have to find a new way to do things, it may take longer and maybe not be as good as it could have been if you had the right thumb.

The same is true if you are a right thumb in church, but in the wrong church.  If you are in the wrong church, you would be an extra right thumb.  Having more is not always a good thing.  If you had two right thumbs, wouldn’t it be difficult to function with?  It is a handicap in and of itself.  No one wants two right thumbs!  No one!

But if you are a right thumb, in the church body that God designed you for, imagine the blessing that comes not just to you for being the right thumb in the right body, but also to the church for being a unified body where everyone has a part, functioning in their proper place.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. – 1 Corinthians 12:27 

But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. – 1 Corinthians 12:18

1 Corinthians 12:12-27 is worth reading.  To save time and space, I didn’t put it all in here, but you should read that if you are concerned you might not be where God wants you.

I once had someone tell me that they felt a church was right for them, but not their children because the children’s program was not as good as they would like it to be.  If God has called you to a church, your children will benefit from the same church regardless of whether they have a great children’s department or not.  God is not going to leave your children in the “dust” while He uses you in a church.  I have news for you, there is nothing in the Bible that says a church must have a great children’s program to be successful at teaching your children.  Children, youth, and adults all heard the same message in the first churches in scripture.  There is nothing that indicates that disciples had the children go to a different area and do puppets for them while the adults listened to Jesus.  There is no evidence that any of the disciples were youth ministers that were separated out to the back room to eat pizza, play pool, build their own worship band and have their own sermon.

Don’t get all upset with me now, I am not saying that churches shouldn’t do those things.  My church has a children’s program and I am a co-pastor of that church.  I am saying that if God tells you to be a part of a church that doesn’t meet all YOUR standards of what YOU want for your family, don’t worry about it.  Just be obedient and be in the church land God chose for you and He will bless you for it.

Seek God when you are looking for a church and don’t listen to anything/anyone else.

Start Living the Best Life

Put your life in order with God’s desires for you.  Get into the land that He has chosen for you in all aspects of your life and you will live in the abundance God has for you.  You will be walking out the best plan He has for you and in that, blessings will abound.  There is no other life more blessed than the one in the land God has given you.

Get into the word of God, seek His face, hear His voice, be obedient, praise Him for all He has provided for you, and He will bless you abundantly.

 

~ Jennifer