May 20, 2025

The Power of Words–Blessings and Curses

I had read it before, the Bible story about Moses and the 12 tribes on the mount of blessings and curses. It finally sunk in this time. The story in the Bible in Deuteronomy 27-28 of how Moses commanded the 12 tribes of Israel to go stand on two mountains that were side by side.

“That day Moses charged the people, saying ‘When you have crossed over the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.'” –Deuteronomy 27:11-14.

The curses are spelled out in the remainder of Deuteronomy 27. Then the beautiful blessings are detailed in Deuteronomy 28. I had even heard some of those blessings in a marriage ceremony for one of my friends years ago.

It wasn’t until I went to Israel and actually saw Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal side by side in Schechm that the magnitude of the 2400-year-old blessings and curses sank in. Although the mountains are side by side, the difference in the terrain and topography are stark. Mount Gerizim, the mountain of blessings, is lush and green, full of bushes, trees and plants. Mount Ebal, the mountain of curses right beside it, is arid, lifeless, no vegetation of plants thriving and growing.

Mt. Gerizim thrives and Mt. Ebal is desolate

The message immediately hit me of the power of our words. The generations later of speaking blessings, sincere compliments and building up others shows the effects with growth and a thriving environment. The generations later of speaking curses and tearing down people shows the effects with death and desert.

Following this passage is the powerful declaration in Deutoronomy 30 to choose life. “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” –Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ESV. 

Reflect:

How has the power of words impacted you? Which mountain are you on because of them?

How does this message impact how you speak and the power of your words?

Lord, forgive me for the times I have spoken any curses or negativity in my words.  Lord, as Deuteronomy 30:19 says, may I always choose life in all that I do and say. I pray for your favor in fertilizing the power of my words, so that each word produces growth and multiplies in a green, lush environment for generations to come. In Jesus’ name, by the Power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Leave a comment here | 2 Comments
August 11, 2021

Working For The Lord: Four Leadership Lessons From Bezalel, Moses’ Chief Artisan

Hi Leader Friend,

Goodness gracious, I’ve missed y’all.  I took a sabbatical summer as I approached my 50th birthday in July, my year of Jubilee! Fifty feels good, friends.  The Lord is revealing so many leadership messages, and I can’t wait to see what you think.

Many of you know how much I love Moses as a leader. I confess, though, I really had not learned much about Bezalel, Moses’ Chief Artisan whose name I can hardly pronounce.

Bezalel is found in Exodus 31: 1-6. Let me set the scene. Moses was called by God to lead the two milion + Israelites to the Promised Land. They were stubborn. What journey was supposed to take 11 days took 40 years.

Moses would go up to Mount Sinai to get away from the crowd and hear God clearly. Don’t we all need that?

God spoke clearly to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments had been given in Exodus 20. Now they need a place for God to dwell—a mobile worship Center. God gave Moses specific instructions about building the Tabernacle.

Now we come to Exodus 31: 1-6.  This is where it hit me:

Bezalel, this unknown leader and Moses’ Chief Artisan to build the Tabernacle, is the first man in the Bible to have the Spirit of God in him. 

What? What about Noah. In Genesis 6,  found favor in sight of the Lord.

Bezalel was the grandson of Hur. Who was Hur? Remember he and Aaron, Moses’ priestly brother,  held Moses’ arms up to win the battle in Exodus 17:8-13

He came from the Tribe of Judah. Who else came from the Tribe of Judah? Jesus, Lion of Judah.

What leadership lessons can we learn from Bezalel?

  1. Like Bezalel, God sets us apart for His service and infuses His Spirit in us. Bezalel and Ohaliab surrendered their lives to the calling. First man to have “Spirit of God” in him, 1500 years before the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 officially indwells among us. Spirit of God hovered, even in Genesis 1:2.
  2. When we serve with our best effort of excellence, God entrusts us with more. Exodus 35:6-7, Exodus 35:30, 36:1-7
  3. In all every assignment God gives us, finish the assignment and follow through. Starting in Exodus 37, the He is Bezalel. Exodus 39:22-26. Exodus 39:32, 42-43. It is finished.
  4. When we serve according to His will, the Lord blesses it. Exodus 40:34-36.

In the Old Testament, Bezalel built the Tabernacle. Since Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, now the Tabernacle dwells inside us with the power of the Holy Spirit. We each are Bezalels.

What is God calling you to do for Him?

How is God calling you in this season to step out in faith.

Be encouraged, leader. You are a Bezalel, God’s Masterpiece and Chief Artisan.

June 21, 2016

Broken Home Hope

You may still be savoring the sweetness of this past Father’s Day Weekend. I pray so.

Not everyone who God uses grew up in absolutely peaceful homes with white, picket fences. I didn’t. The home I grew up in was often tense. There was yelling. There was the silent treatment. Mom and Dad divorced after 37 years of marriage after I graduated from college.

FullSizeRender-20

Today’s message is how God can still use us as for His service, even when dad or a parent may not be godly or the best role model.

Have you ever heard of a man in the Bible named Korah? Me either.  In Numbers 16, a big, dramatic situation happens with Moses and a rebellious man named Korah. Korah, two other ringleaders named Dathan and Abiram, and 250 Israelite men who were well-known leaders, came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron. They had the audacity to say to Moses, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?” –Numbers 16:3

If you remember, Moses had been chosen by God via a cool, burning bush message (Exodus 3) to lead the Israelites out of Egypt into the Promised Land of Canaan.

Moses, in his wonderful humility, fell facedown and interceded when he heard Korah and his cronies’ complaints. The Lord told Moses and Aaron to separate from the 250-person assembly. God was ready to take Korah out for questioning Moses’ authority.

Moses said from the Lord that if the men were to die a natural death, then it was Moses’ idea to lead the Israelites. If Korah and all his men were to get swallowed up alive and all their belongings, it was God who sent him.

“As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions. They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.” –Numbers 16:31-33.

Dramatic Debbie-downer story, isn’t it? So what’s my point?

One commentator wrote, “Although this clearly marked the end of Korah, we discover that Korah’s sons, perhaps too young to understand their father’s uprising, were spared…After seven successive generations, the prophet Samuel arose from the line of Korah (1 Chronicles 6:31-38).” During the time of King David, the Sons of Korah became the great leaders in choral and orchestral music in the tabernacle.

When you read the Psalms, some of my favorites like Psalm 46 and Psalm 84, have the words “Of the Sons of Korah” written underneath the title. I never knew what that meant. Of all of the psalms of the Bible, eleven are attributed to the Sons of Korah!

One wonders if the poet who penned the verses remembers his distant patriarch who perished in an earthquake because of his pride and rebellion.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way…Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” –Psalm 46:1-2a, 10.

So what lessons may we learn from Korah and his descendants?

  1. Don’t mess with those who God puts in authority or God will mess with you. AKA Korah.
  2. Know that God calls any of us for His service, no matter our background. AKA Sons of Korah.

May we have the boldness and strong faith to answer God’s call on our lives. Let Him use us, yes, even us, for His service.

Be encouraged, friend.

“Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere…For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” –Psalm 84:10a, 11. Amen.

Reflect:

If you grew up in a tense home environment, how do you feel after reading this message?

What will you do differently? Please comment.

Renew:

“Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy; How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!” –Psalm 47:1-2.

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” –Psalm 84:1-2.

Resource:

–Psalms, Volume 1–NIV Application Commentary by Gerald Wilson.

–www.gotquestions.org/sons-of-Korah

Next Page »