What does the word obedience mean? Obedience is the act of carrying out the word and will of another person, especially the will of God. In both the Old and New Testaments the word obey is related to the idea of hearing. Obedience is a positive, active response to what a person hears. We are living in a time that many believers seem to think that they can claim the promises of God, but yet avoid the principals of God. Not only the world but belivers want to access the promises of God but not obey his word. As you begin to read the Bible you will quickly discover that the promises of God are ushered in on the hills of your obedience. Israel’s journey in the wilderness is an excellent example of how disobedience or inconsistent obedience will delay your destiny for years. When you are disobedent you risk the chance of waiting to late to do what God told you to do. When you wait too late in doing what God asked you to do you could miss your season of maximum inpact. 1 Samuel 15:11-15 (New King James Version) 11 “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. 12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” Job 36:11 (New King James Version) 11 If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures. This is an awesome promise, but it is a conditional promise. If you are walking in obedience you have the right to expect a first class lifestyle. You have to have a way of thinking that you know the rest of your life is going to be better than this. God wants you to be a testimony of his word! The word says “They shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pleasure or contentment. But know this; it is possible to have prosperity with no contentment. If you don’t have contentment you can have a big home and not want to go home. You can have a brass bed and not be able to sleep at night. Joshua 1:7-9 (New International Version) 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Based on the text there are five keys to success: This is how God wants his people to live, but obedience is the thing that enables God to trust you with the blessing! 1. You have to overcome fear! That is a prerequisite to getting your blessing. To get to the next level you have to penetrate fear. Fear is faith in the devil. Faith says I’m going to make it. Fear says you’re not going to make it. God will always vote for you. The devil will always vote against you. Your vote is the deciding vote. 2. Obey the law (or the word of God). Sometime we go through things with our children be disobedient. Could it be that you are struggling with them because God is struggling with you? In Genesis Adam had control over everything and the minute he became disobedient he lost control over everything. 3. Stay focused and don’t allow unrighteous opportunity to change your mind! Unrighteous doesn’t always have to be fleshly it could be a job opportunity. Unrighteous also doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means it’s not for you to do. 4. Maintain a positive confession (Book of the law not depart from your mouth) You have to speak positive over you situation. 5. Exercise confidence that God is with you. People often say I don’t feel like God is with me. God says I didn’t tell you that you that you would feel me. I told you that I would be with you. The safest place you could ever be is where God told you to be. Example when Peter walked on water he was walking in obedience. As soon as he lost focus he began to sink. Because Peter stepped out on faith he had an experience with God that no one could relate to (Matthew 14:30). Hebrews 11:6 (New International Version) 6And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. My point is even when you know what God has told you to what he is telling you to do is still going to require you to walk in faith It took faith for David to step out and to be willing to fight Goliath. When God calls you to do something great most of the time it will always be something you have never done before. It took faith for that widow to trust the man of God and give him her last piece of bread when she was facing a drought. Do you realize that none of these stories would be recorded in the Bible if the people where not willing to step out on faith and obey God. One of the things we are going to quickly learn is that disobedience can cost you everything. The enemy fights your obedience with pride which is the root of selfishness! Food for thought: Change is the only evidence of maturity. Have an amazing week! Pastor. John F. Ramsey, Sr.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 00:57:59 +0000
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