Today's focus on verse three of this chapter so if you read all of it, praise the Lord. If you did not you missed some meat, I fixing to show you today. How important is God's word. Man can not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceedth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. This is translated in ISV says man should not live by food alone-- instead humans are to live by every word the proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Perhaps this will help in understanding the importance of God's word. Why live on the word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord? This whole passage with the prosperity of following after God's word all they days of one's life. Now If I look at my own life, did I always obey the Lord the answer is no, even if most would of considered me not a bad person, I can say truthfully I did not always obey God's word. What does that actually mean for the individual. One can live to love others and care for others and not always love God in the sense of honoring him in one's everyday life. Our first fallacy is to think that we can go about our own business doing good and be okay when we get to heaven's gate. The truth of the matter our first road to prosperity must come with obedience to God's word.

God desires to give you the good things in life such as offspring, land, money and prosperity, but how can he give you the things you desire if you refuse to listen. Let say for example you are in your car and your gps is running correctly, and you land up in a ditch because the one doing the road survey for the mapping did not do his job. You are the one to suffer. You are truly following the guide of a bad map maker. Let us say the gps gets you from point A to point B on time and right where you wanted to go then that map maker did a good job in making your trip safe and pleasant. In life there are two map makers and one is superior to the other, because the one that is superior knows the correct way to go. The devil is not the correct map maker, his pathway leads not only to hell but places not of God that might lead you to destruction. God's way leads not only to heaven, but a life of prosperity. When you obey the word of God the pathway is not one of destruction but is of prosperity. Now it does not mean the path is not long and hard because God corrects his children to keep their feet from slipping. Nation of Israel when in the wilderness did not always follow the ways of God, in fact the nation refused to hear God voice but chose to listen to Moses who would be intercessor for them in the wilderness. In that wilderness there were times Israel complained against God and so the journey took longer then it might have if they had only asked of God of their needs instead of grumbling and complaining. One of the first rules of God would be to seek him on things we are upset about, seek God about our needs, ask of God about the deepest desires of our heart. There are things of this life that is not handed to you, but it must be worked for. Yet the doors for work and prosperity must come first from God but also God expects one to put forth an effort. In everything we do we are to glorify God by living on his word. We are to pray for others, but we must first learn to depend on God for ourselves so we can help others do likewise.

How do we live on God's word by honoring him and loving Him first. By seeking him, by following his commandments. His laws are not grievous. when one receive Christ into their heart the Holy Spirit writes on the heart God's commandments. Now we still have to obey what God writes on our heart. One might think when they get saved that confession of sin to God and turning away from sin is all one has to do, but God desires more for his children. He desires for them to obey the word of God. With obedience to God comes hope. Now there many stories even in scripture that the way of obedience was not always pleasant, but with the unpleasantries came blessings of God. If you think there things in life we rather not experience, but they are things that may be actually shape us into who we are to be and hopefully into people of God. Job was a man that was righteous before man and God, and his trial was still unpleasant, but prosperity followed.

Corrie Ten Boom a devout christian holocaust survivor who protected the Jews in Holland, had a sister and father that died in the prisons camps, Corrie would walk out of the camps to begin a new life of freedom and prosperity. Sometimes despite our obedience our reward might be in heaven, or our reward might come to us on earth in the since of a better life. The point being that suffering sometimes is not because we deserved it, it is because the path of God in obedience to his will is in opposition to man's ways and laws. Corrie suffered at the hands of the Nazi Germany. Not talking about Christian nazism, but a different type of nazism, this is of the nazis social party. What the difference of these two groups, one is desiring control from either religious or political power in socialize form of power. One social and one religious and when they combined you have a dictator of first the middle ages and then Germany in the early 1900's. There is no democracy or political free thinking in a totally socialize form of governemnt.

Is God controlling to the point we have no choice, the answer is no. But is there consequences in not honoring him and keeping his ways and his directions. Some would consider a rebelious spirit against the government as a spirit that is in direct disobedience to the law, but some see it as a fight for freedom, or being a rebel. The laws in America are not to take away freedom, but they can if your freedom is in opposition to the governement and causes one to break the law. God is like that in the sense of his ways always lead to hope and prosperity on the earth if the nation is in opposition to the ways of God then destruction will finally come. God allows these powers to rise for one reason to destroy them, so people no matter how we think we are in the right because of even personal prosperity one might be judge on human error, disobedience to the law and the law of God if what we are doing does not line up with God. Obedience to God there is the hope of heaven which is final prosperity as children of God. What I am truly saying is obedience to God first with repentance and accepting Christ as Savior God leads to a life of hope and happiness, but the journey to get home to heaven might not always be pleasant. Yet the unpleasantries is to teach us what we can not learn by any other means.

If we walk by faith and not by sight and obey the word of God as Joseph did despite his circumstances as being sold into slavery and then falsely imprisoned, we will inherit the hope of heaven for our inheritance is the kingdom of God along with obedience to Him. We are not alone in obeying God but sometimes one might feel alone in doing what God says, then we find we were not alone, but each taking their own course of faith in Him. Learn to obey God's voice is not the same for each of us in the since of situations. Yet the straight and narrow path is to listen and obey the Word of God. As long as powers rise and fall, God's word is going to happen. He bring destruction when the people of God are prepared to follow and obey Him. Our prosperity is not based on wealth of money because even the poor are prosperous. Prosperity is more based on receiving those desires of the heart that makes the soul content. To know God will lead to contentment, will bring one to a place they are satisfied.

The passage talks of being satisfied with stomache and with land/home. What is true contentment is it to have only our needs meet, for most that is the beginning of contentment, but it is not life breath of contentment alone, but to know we walk in obedience to God and our salvation his secure in faith in his word. God teaches us about his word eternal, about his word being Christ and His word of prophesy. Each part of the word is simple in understanding, if God says build an ark you will be saved, you build an ark, if God says jump you ask how high and do so. Because what on the other side of these things is prosperity. Do not think Noah had it easy in that ark, though scripture does not say everything went smoothly, one can grasp the fear of those inside the ark of knowing what was happening outside the ark was horrible. If we obey God we are in the ark of safety, if we disobey God we are in danger. In truth we do not always obey God and land up finding ourselves repenting. True eventually man would rejoice over Noah being saved, even Noah rejoiced through sacrifice of being saved, and he also got drunk. Our attitude and how we deal with things are not always pleasing to God, but what we can know is when we fail to follow God, he corrects his children. Does he correct the devil. Oh he planning to correct the devil with eternal lake of fire and absents of God's word.

Dear Heavnely Father, help us to obey your word and to follow your instruction, so our ways will be prosperous. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study for Devotion: Psalms 145:16-21 KJV
16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.
18 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
19 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20 The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.