Burunche’s Blog

Deuteronomy 32:15 – 22 “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked— becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations. They sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they had not known, to newly arrived gods, which your fathers did not fear. You ignored the Rock who brought you forth; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.

He said: “I will hide My face from them; I will see what will be their end. For they are a perverse generation— children of unfaithfulness.

They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.

For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.”

Here God was describing what would happen once the Israelites reached the Promised Land. Even though God ordered the destruction of all the tribes worshiping demons, He already knew that the Israelites would not obey. What would be the results of this disobedience?

1. As soon as the Israelites reached the Promised Land and began enjoying all the good things there, they became entranced with their prosperity and turned their backs on the God who had made it all possible.
2. Despite all God’s orders to the contrary, the Israelites began worshiping the gods of those tribes whom they had conquered. Such worship included horrific abominations, including burning children as live sacrifices to Molech.
3. Nations whom the Israelites had scorned would conquer them as a result of their disobedience.
4. God’s wrath would be poured out on the Israelites, consuming the earth and its produce and scorching the foundations of the mountains. Drought would overtake the land, leaving the Israelites with nothing.

APPLICATION: We read these verses and think to ourselves, “Oh, how ridiculous! I would never do anything like that!” But many times, we are fooling ourselves. God may have given us good jobs and nice homes and comfortable living situations, and we feel that we deserve all these things. We have studied hard and worked hard, and we have earned these blessings! We tend to look down on anyone in a homeless shelter, never realizing that those people may be victims of economic disasters that could just as easily have hit us also. If we are younger, we trust in our health, particularly if we are gym addicts; however, one doctor in London has sadly testified that many young people who worked out regularly were among his earliest COVID fatalities.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them…”  We must always continue to thank God for the good things He has given us and then share those blessings. When we cling to our blessings and behave as if they are only for our benefit, the very things we have hung onto will gradually become stumbling blocks.

One of the slogans painted on public vehicles in Ghana reads, “No condition is permanent.” Several years ago, large numbers of people saw their retirement savings evaporate because those managing the funds had trusted a scam artist who was running a massive Ponzi scheme. Wikipedia defines a Ponzi scheme this way: “A Ponzi scheme is a form of fraud that lures investors and pays profits to earlier investors with funds from more recent investors. The scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming from legitimate business activity, and they remain unaware that other investors are the source of funds. A Ponzi scheme can maintain the illusion of a sustainable business as long as new investors contribute new funds, and as long as most of the investors do not demand full repayment and still believe in the non-existent assets they are purported to own.”

The people who lost everything had done nothing wrong; however, the money was gone, and many older people had to find jobs to survive. There is nothing wrong with saving for retirement; however, we must be aware that even “safe” investments can turn sour. In contrast, those who give charitably to reputable organizations have the comfort that their money is working for others.

How can we best handle blessings? Thank God for everything that He has given you, and then ask Him what to share and with whom. As long as you have open hands and allow the blessings to flow to others, God will continue to give you more. When you panic and try to hang onto the blessings, the flow will stop.

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, many of us are worried about our futures and wonder if we will have enough to care for ourselves and our families. Help us to realize that as long as we share with those around us, You will continue to bless us. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

This entry was posted on January 19, 2022 at 7:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.