Obedience.....

[Christina M]

This devotional today reminded me of Diatheke's post about healing..... and how God had told him what to do, yet he didn't immediately obey....


If everything that God offers us in Deuteronomy chapter 28 is available to us, then what is the key to receiving all the blessings he has promised?



We need to focus on the little two-letter word: "If."

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]If thou shall hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them…. [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](Deut. 28:1)[/FONT]​

Jesus said, "If you love me you will keep my commandments." Another place it says, "You cannot say you love me and not do the things that I say." God says if you love me you will obey. So, yes, obedience is the answer.

To underscore just how important obedience is to receiving the blessings of God, I want to paraphrase 1 Samuel 15 for you:

One day the prophet Samuel came to King Saul and said: "The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people.... Now therefore heed the word of the Lord."

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, "I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel and how he laid wait for him.... Go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and do not spare them. Kill both men, women, ox, sheep, camel, and ass."

So Saul gathered the people together and they came to the city of Amalek, and he attacked and destroyed that army. But Saul spared the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings and the lambs and was unwilling to utterly destroy them.

Right then Saul made a choice to willfully disobey God.

Now the Word of the Lord came to Samuel. And God said, "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night long.

So Samuel went to Saul. And when Saul saw Samuel, he said, "Well, blessed be the Lord for I have obeyed the commandments of God."

But at that very moment a noise was heard. It was the bleating of sheep and the lowing of the ox.

Samuel said to Saul, "If you obeyed God, then what was that I hear?"

Saul tried to defend himself, but Samuel said, "Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, He also has rejected you as king."

How important is obedience? Without obedience we can never experience the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 in our lives. The windows of heaven are shut down because we walk in willful disobedience.



God has given us clear direction on the principal of obedience in Malachi 3:8-11.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house.... [/FONT]​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif](Mal. 3:8-11) [/FONT]​

This is what brings in the blessing.


[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Copyright © 2003 Dwight Thompson Ministries [/FONT]

 

[msbojingles]

That's what I love about the bible. It's not a book of rules, but a book full of wisdom for our daily lives. God tells us in His Word everything we need to know to live happy, healthy, prosperous lives. All we have to do is....do it!

 

[Tcelt12]

Great Post !!!
Very encouraging-Thank you..

According to The Bible ,we are to be willing AND obediant to 'eat the good of the land'

I know obedience can become almost routine..I get up every sunday morn and down to the church i go to get things prepared for my part of the service...

But Willingness..sometimes(quite regularly)i don't feel so joyous about being there..when things are not at the level you'd like them to be,when christians would rather be rude and pushy with each other before service because they don't like the way someone is doing this or that..
The battle for me is to be willing to be there..

does anybody have any thoughts on this ?

 

[TheGloryisHere]

Hi Christina,

I love the word "obediance". I didn't used to... But, obediance means living under the blessing. People are always putting Faith ppl down and saying, we just say what we want and claim it and we think we can have it. But, that's not exactly true. The only way we can name it and claim it as they say we do, is IF we are obediant, and yes, willing too. We have to be willing to be obediant and then obey what Dad/Father God says, and THEN we shall eat the good of the land, which is Deut. 28. If we aren't obediant, then we get to, err we end up living under the rest of chapter 28 which is a huge yuck. No thanks! I'll stick with the willingness and obediance part!

Caroline

 

[Christina M]

Hi Christina,

I love the word "obediance". I didn't used to... But, obediance means living under the blessing.

YES! You understand it!


So many say obedience is "works" and since we are saved by grace we don't need to obey since it is "works". Balderdash!

 

[CindyisHis]

Great Post !!!
Very encouraging-Thank you..

According to The Bible ,we are to be willing AND obediant to 'eat the good of the land'

I know obedience can become almost routine..I get up every sunday morn and down to the church i go to get things prepared for my part of the service...

But Willingness..sometimes(quite regularly)i don't feel so joyous about being there..when things are not at the level you'd like them to be,when christians would rather be rude and pushy with each other before service because they don't like the way someone is doing this or that..
The battle for me is to be willing to be there..

does anybody have any thoughts on this ?

Yes, Tcelt12, I've had these struggles before, and I dare say we all have at one time or another.

Willingness has come much easier now that I not only trust Him, but I have seen his track record. Everytime He asks me to do something, it has turned out for my good. Therefore I'm much more eager to do His will.

When I do struggle with it on occasion I ask Him to make me willing. I am willing to be made willing.

I put His Word in my mouth. "I delight to do Your will, O God." "I will run in the way of your commandments."

And then we can always sing the song;
This is my desire, to honor You.
Lord with all my heart, I worship You.
All I have within me, gives You praise.
All that I adore, is in You.

Lord, I give you my heart
I give You my soul.
I live for you alone.
Every breathe that I take,
Every moment I'm awake,
Lord have Your way in me.

Just begin to sing psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs to Him as you do the thing He asks. Joy will come. Choose to obey Him with joy. Realize you are honoring the King of kings, the Lord Most High, the glorious One.

 

[kahtar]

I am not a 'Word of Faith' person, and I've heard all the negative stuff about 'you people'.
Now I come here, and read this, and I am amazed! I did not think 'obedience' and 'word of faith' were found together. But here it is!
(Now I have to reconsider all the stuff I've heard!)

Obedience truly is the key. And God is quick to bless obedience.
But along with obedience there is yet one other thing to consider.

Mat 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We who are Christians have already found the kingdom, and righteousness through the shed blood of Christ, so that we no longer need to searh for it. So what is this verse talking about?
Simply, it means seeking, working for, the advancement of the kingdom of God on the earth, before anything else.
If in your heart, you are truly seeking to advance the kingdom, ie inviting others into it, showing the power and love of the kingdom, etc., then, all that you need to accomplish that will be provided for you, AND, all that YOU need for your own survival will also be provided.

When my wife and I first moved to where we are now, it was at the Lord's direction. We personally had no desire to come here, but He made it clear to us both that this is where He wanted us.
We did not even know what He wanted us to do when we got here.
So, in obedience, we left our families, and moved to this place. When we got here, we began asking Him what He wanted us to do.
I was walking in the park behind our house one day, praying and seeking, and as I passed a couple of homeless people sitting under a tree, I heard Him 'say' 'Feed them'.
I returned home, told my wife, and we made sandwiches and went out and fed them, and shared the gospel with them. God really blessed that couple of hours sitting in the dirt eating lunch with these homeless people, and so we knew this is what He wanted us to do, for a period of time at least.
So we began making sandwiches, from our own stores, and feeding the street people. Soon, there were so many to feed that we could no longer afford to do it on our own, so, we prayed. We said, 'Lord, if you want us to continue with this, then please provide us with the food to do so.'
Three months after we fed those first people under the tree, we were receiving literally thousands of sandwiches a month, at no cost to us, and feeding hundreds of people a month.
We did not give those first sandwiches so that we could receive thousands of sandwiches. Our purpose was obedience, and sharing the gospel, advancing the Kingdom. And God abundantly blessed that, more that we could even handle. And , along with the provision of the sandwiches, He also provided all that WE needed as well, simply because we were obedient.
When God tells you to do a thing, you can have FULL ASSURANCE that He will provide ALL that you need to accomplish it.
5 years ago, we were 40 thousand in debt. Today we are debt free, and all our needs are met. All this because our desire was to seek the Kingdom, (God's kingdom, not our own little kingdom) and we were obedient to His calling.
One further scripture:

James 4:2-3 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume [it] upon your lusts.

If you ask God for a Cadillac, will He give it to you? What is your purpose for it? That's the issue.

 

[Christina M]

I am not a 'Word of Faith' person, and I've heard all the negative stuff about 'you people'.
Now I come here, and read this, and I am amazed! I did not think 'obedience' and 'word of faith' were found together. But here it is!
(Now I have to reconsider all the stuff I've heard!)

Yep! It's amazing how people see WOF differently when they REALLY see the real deal!

I LOVE YOUR TESTIMONY!!!


GOD IS GOOD!!!

Your story is almost identical to how I started our ministry to the poor and homeless in 1997! We take out sack lunches directly to the streets.

When you gave those first sandwiches you were sowing seed...... God works always in a seedtime & harvest fashion! He is not mocked, we reap what we sow!

What beautiful hearts you guys have!


FYI.. here is our ministry website:

http://www.TheEncouragementCenter.org

 

[msbojingles]

Yep! It's amazing how people see WOF differently when they REALLY see the real deal!

I LOVE YOUR TESTIMONY!!!

heh heh. I love it too!!


That's why I love the scripture from 1 Samuel 15:22-23


So Samuel said:

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

 

[TheGloryisHere]

YES! You understand it!


So many say obedience is "works" and since we are saved by grace we don't need to obey since it is "works". Balderdash!

Paul said, "I can show you my faith by my works of obediance." Caroline's translation.
It wasn't religious works. It was just obediance. Faith without works of obediance is dead, or Faith without action is dead. Jesus said, "If you love Me you will obey Me."

 

[TheGloryisHere]

Kahtar,

Are you sure you're not word of faith?? You sure sound word of faith. LOL You'd be surprised how many are actually word of faith in their beliefs even though they go to a different kind of Church. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher.

 

[kahtar]

Kahtar,

Are you sure you're not word of faith?? You sure sound word of faith. LOL You'd be surprised how many are actually word of faith in their beliefs even though they go to a different kind of Church. The Holy Spirit is our Teacher.

I don't really know what labels I should be encumbered with. I only know I believe God's Word, and try to live it.
The Word says, 'Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only.' So that's what I do.
The Word says to die to self, to reckon oneself dead, that Christ may live through us. So that is what I do. I put God and His kingdom, and His will, and His knowledge and wisdom, above my own.
I did not always live that way. I spent 40 years doing what I thought best, what I wanted, in my strength, and of course painted it all with Christian paint. But in the end, I found myself alone, having accomplished absolutely nothing, with no more purpose or goals in life. So I gave myself into God's hands, and told Him He could do whatever He wanted to with me, that as far as I was concerned, I was done, my life was over. I told Him He could just take me home if that was His desire.
He left me here. He gave me a purpose. He gave me a new life in this place. I finally understood the meaning of this:

Matthew 10:39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

 

[kahtar]

Yep! It's amazing how people see WOF differently when they REALLY see the real deal!

I LOVE YOUR TESTIMONY!!!


GOD IS GOOD!!!

Your story is almost identical to how I started our ministry to the poor and homeless in 1997! We take out sack lunches directly to the streets.

When you gave those first sandwiches you were sowing seed...... God works always in a seedtime & harvest fashion! He is not mocked, we reap what we sow!

What beautiful hearts you guys have!


FYI.. here is our ministry website:

http://www.TheEncouragementCenter.org

Thank you. Nice website BTW.
Here is ours: http://www.cprministries.net