God does not change: “In Him there is no variation, no shadow of turning”/ “He is the same yesterday, today and forever”/ “I am the Lord, I change not” (Jam. 1:17/ Heb. 13:8/ Mal. 3:6). He is also “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34)–what He does for (or to) one He will do for (or to) another. The deciding factor relative to whether He does something “for” us or “to” us (or nothing at all) involves one tiny word–“IF”–the most important and most rejected word in the Holy Bible. When spiritually dictating His “How To be blessed” instructions, the Lord used the word “if” approximately 2600 times. When the Almighty does something, or refrains from doing something, allows someone to do something, or prevents someone from doing something, allows something to happen or prevents something from happening, THERE IS ALWAYS AN “IF” INVOLVED. There is an almighty mind at work, a plan being carried out.

In that the Bible’s Author used so many “ifs” when creating His “how to and why” tome, it is obvious to those seeking His Truth that He is a God of REASON. With Him, there is always a reason for His actions or inactions. We call this “cause and effect.” He states this Truth in Isaiah 1:18-20: There is reason involved in His C&E system. “Come,” He says to all who seek His will in their lives, “let us REASON together.” His reasoning is summarized by this simple rule: obey Him and be blessed; disobey Him and be cursed (Isa. 1:18-20). Let us obey Him and watch His plan come to pass. All things work for the good of them who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Those who love Him obey Him. I

Sounds simple enough. So why do 99.99% of church prayers go unanswered? The problem lies in the fact that those who claim to have a Father and child relationship with Him do not know what He commands them to obey. Having eliminated approximately 80% of His Word (the Law), and approximately 20% of the New Testament (the obedience commands), only a few of His messages are ever considered by the religious community. And having been deceived by Satan (Rev. 12:9), the few passages they do know are then cherry picked down to a few “headlines” (God’s positive promises). However, when I reveal to “headline hunters” His instructions (“fine print” rules which must be obeyed in order to activate the promises), I am summarily dismissed, resented and ignored, along with those Scriptures. Sadly, I am not alone. According to Jesus, also rejected are Himself and His Father (Lk. 10:16) who are “despised.”

Concerning the Old Testament, there are a few passages that the church deems worthy of acceptance, specifically Isaiah 53, Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. The entire chapter of Isaiah 53 is often quoted from and preached about, as it should be. However, only the first few verses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 are found worthy of acceptance. But even then some of the wording is unacceptable, specifically, those Scriptures in which “if” and the Words that always follow that Word. Such words are cast aside and labeled “legalistic.” Which they are, because God is a legalist. He rules His people by His Law, which, in His world, is a legal document. We will now focus our attention on Deuteronomy 28 where we will learn why so many Bible owners readily embrace the first 14 verses of the chapter, with the exception of the first part of the first verse in which the word “if” appears. Read verses 1-14 before proceeding with this posting. You will find them to be very pleasing and extremely positive. But do NOT exclude the word “if” and the following 20 words of verse one, for everything else written in the chapter depends on the reader’s reaction to the first 22 Words written in verse one. Note especially the Words: “faithfully obey all of the commands I am giving you today.” Moses was referring to the Ten Commandments, INCLUDING #4. Read James 2:10.

In verses one and two we find the Lord promising to place the nation that obeys His Ten Commandment Law “ABOVE ALL OTHER NATIONS.” All of the following blessings would be showered upon them IF THEY CONTINUED TO OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS. In verses three through six God promises the obedient nation (and all else who obey Him) that He will bless those in the cities and those in the country. He will bless their children, their livestock and their land. He will bless them inside and outside of their homes. Blessings, blessings everywhere, IF, IF, IF THEY FAITHFULLY OBEY THE TEN COMMANDMENT LAW (vs 1) THAT MOSES HAD JUST GIVEN THEM. THE SAME RULE APPLIES TO THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BELONG TO THE LORD TODAY. Read First John 2:6, 3:3 and Revelation 3:21.

In verses 7 through 13a God promises obedient believers that He will give them victory over their enemies. He will bless everything they put their hands to do . And most importantly, He will make them HIS HOLY PEOPLE (IF they “obey His commands and walk in all His ways–vs. 9b and 13b). IF a nation will obey Him, the world’s people will be in awe of them. The obedient ones will have many children and much livestock. He will increase their land’s production by giving them rain in due season. He will make them the head of all nations. They will be lenders and not borrowers … “IF you listen to the Lord you God’s commands that I (Moses) am giving you today and IF you will carefully obey them, not turning from them either to the right or to the left.” He noted that to do so would mean that they would be “going after other gods and worshiping them” (vs 13). Note it: IN GOD’S EYES, TO DISOBEY HIS LAW IS THE SAME AS WORSHIPING OTHER GODS, WHICH IS IDOLATRY, WHICH IS TO BREAK HIS #1 COMMANDMENT.

Remember that God does not change, nor does He respect persons. His promises and His caveats (IFs) are in effect at all times for all people. The deciding factor relative to those promises always has been, is and always will be the individual’s reaction to one word: “IF.” GOD’S PROMISES, INCLUDING SALVATION, ARE CONDITIONAL. The condition/caveat is always the same–WE MUST OBEY HIS LAW. Though faith is a condition, but not the only condition. “IF” involves faith AND OBEDIENCE TO HIS LAW. The five foolish virgins (Mat. 25) had faith–they “knew” they would be invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb because they were church members (“virgins”). But they refused to meet God’s command relative to the “if” factor. Over time they stopped obeying His commandments. Their disobedience allowed them to “run out of oil,” which caused them to be rejected. Notice that they returned to obedience in the end–their lights were burning as they arrived at the wedding banquet. But the door was shut. Though they arrived with their “oil” but were turned away. Oil (obedience to God’s Word) produced their “light.” The Word of God is His light. They had quickly returned to obedience to His Word–they were again bearing His light. But it was too late. Note what the Lord said to them: “I do not know you.” He did not say He had never known them, but that He no longer knew them. Read The Thief on the Cross. Key word–Thief.

The following verses of Deuteronomy 28, which we will explore in the following posting, are deliberately ignored and rejected by church members because they do not believe they (the verses) refer to them. By believing in Jesus and taking Him as their Savior (but not their Lord) they “know” that they automatically qualify for what God promises in the first 14 verses. They are dead wrong because they do not obey commandment number 4, thereby making themselves “workers of iniquity” (Lawbreakers) whom Jesus said He would cast from Himself on Judgment Day because He had never known them. All of the years they had worshiped Him had been spent in vain (Mat. 7:23;15:9). Carefully read the remainder of chapter 28. L.J.