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Yes! Most assuredly, yes! First of all, the Bible words are blessing and curses. God is a good Father and wants the best for His children. To have bad things happening to you is not His will. And He is not in control of that. You are, as you'll see if you keep reading.
The best list of blessings and curses is in Deut. 28. In verses 1 through 14 you can read what's included in the blessing, and from 15 to the end of the chapter are what's included in the curse. Both lists cover basically three areas: Length of life, health and wealth. Nearly everything good and bad is in there! In fact, verse 61 says every sickness and disease that's not even included in this list is also part of the curse!
When God gave these instructions, He was letting His people know that to be blessed ~ prosper and succeed in life ~ they must obey Him very closely! Some church people may be quick to tell you that these verses were for them, not for us. But I will show you now why that is wrong.
Gal. 3:13-14 say that Jesus' death on the cross made it possible for us to escape the curse that is in the earth ~ so that the blessing promised to Abraham could come on everybody else who is in Christ. (That's my paraphrase.) Also verse 29 of that chapter ~ If you are Christ's then are you Abraham's posterity and heirs to the promise. So there are three verses that make those in Deut applicable to us!
Did you see it?
You just read two ways that we can get our lives to be blessed. ~ obey God very closely and be in Christ. In Christ means you have prayed asking Jesus Christ to come into your life and lead or change you. And Rom. 10:9 ~ If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
But Christians are no better!
You're right! If you have been around a while and been observant, you can easily see that most people who claim to be Christians have no better lives than those who are not saved! And I can tell you why: It's because they have become saved but may only be going through the motions of attending church, but having no real relationship with God. Their kids soon learn that their religion doesn't have any power for it hasn't made their lives any better. Yes, they will probably make it to heaven, but this life down here is not good, and they will attract no one else to be Christians either! The kids often decide that it's not fun being saved, and the world offers lots of fun! But if parents have a real relationship with God, their kids will catch it!
A short testimony fits here: When our youngest son was about 9, my husband was praying every night and had been for some years by then. One night he got up to pray and found this son at the couch praying. Hubby slipped quietly back to bed and lay there amazed! God spoke into his thoughts "Why are you so amazed? He's just copying you."
So, how do we get it?
First, we need to talk about priorities. Your relationship with God must be first, the most important thing in your life! You don't have to do this to get to heaven, but God wants your life down here to be blessed. Seek Him with all your heart. You must hear, read and obey the Word of God, the Bible. Spend some time every day reading in the Bible and praying to God, and this will begin this relationship. If you will do this and develop some regularity, you will immediately start being blessed. More good things will start happening to and for you, and less bad things will happen. My brochure called God wants to make your life beautiful will give you more details on these basics.
The Bible
The Bible really is a supernatural book, making people and nations better who follow its teachings. The Bible the Book from God is one of my brochures you may read that proves this. Also you might want Getting Acquainted with your Bible.
Prayer times
If you are serious about your relationship with God, this is a must. Speak to God like you would to a good friend. Pick a time that you can be alone and uninterrupted. We get up in the night when everyone else is asleep ~ and try not to run into each other! And don't worry if the time seems dry and even boring, or if it's only five minutes. You are learning, and it will get better. I highly recommend my brochures called How do I get my prayers answered? and Daily Time with God. When we began, we immediately started having better days !
How to use your sword and shield is a dynamic teaching, which will show you how to use the Word of God to overcome any bad things and win. Also, What Difference does it make what I say? Choosing a Church is an important one too. With friends of like beliefs, it will be easy to grow.
Difficult people
There is one more issue that might be good to include in this brochure. That is the problem of having difficult people in your life ~ family, marriage, or people you have to work with. God has not promised to deliver us from those people! In fact, He is probably using those people to sand the rough edges off of you! I know people who pray and command them to change or leave, but God will not answer this prayer and they don't know why. Some have even left the faith camp because their authority didn't work on people. Whenever you encounter difficult situations or people, ask God what He's trying to teach you. If you will cooperate with Him and treat them with love, changes will happen sooner than if you fight His working in your life.
A companion study to that issue is my brochure called You have authority.
Seeking God with all your heart and obeying is the way to see your life become blessed. Bad luck, bad things happening, (curses) will slow down and stop. Try it! You'll notice the difference in yourself. You'll begin to be more peaceful, happy, feeling better, and sleeping better. Your friends and family will see that you have something real and they will want it too!
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