Published by admin on 02 Aug 2006 at 10:56 pm
IT’S ALL ABOUT OBEDIENCE
The other day I was praising God for bringing us out. He said, “Jerry, it’s all about obedience”. He reminded me of something He prompted me to do last month, and I did it. Nothing major, in fact, most people would have probably blew it off and ignored it. He told me to look up the password to our ministry bank account in the Strong’s dictionary and go to the bank and change it. In Hebrew, that password turned out to mean “waste, desolation, and destruction”. Every time I used the account, I was speaking destruction to it! The day after I changed it, things started turning around.
Sometimes, the Lord tells us to go somewhere to minister to a sick person. That somewhere may be hundreds or thousands of miles away. Is it always convenient? Do we always have the money? No, but we always drop what we’re doing and go, regardless. We want to be blessed, right? Then we must be obedient. Perhaps the Lord wakes you in the night and asks you to get up and pray. Do you do it? If not, you’re missing your blessing. I never feel like getting up, but I do it anyway. Someone’s life may depend on my obedience.
What is it that God has been prompting you to do that you just haven’t “got around to” yet? Delayed obedience is the same as disobedience. Maybe you’re not really sure it’s God telling you? Or maybe it isn’t major enough to warrant your attention? Perhaps you’re one of those who tells God, I’ll go if you give me the provision first….
While I’m on that line, what if God asked you at 7:45 a.m. that He wanted you to spend the day with Him instead of going to work. What would you say? Well, Lord, I’d like to, but I’ve gotta go to work……? If that’s what you’d say, you just missed your blessing. God wants you BLESSED, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to automatically happen….
It is written in Deuteronomy 28:1-2,
Deu 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
Deu 28:2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
So……it stands to reason that if you don’t hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord that you won’t be walking in all the blessings you could be. As soon as we hit the deck in the morning the day’s tasks come to mind immediately, and it’s real easy to hear the voice of the world screaming for our attention. But do you take time first to spend with God before starting your daily activity? Remember, it says in Matthew 6:33, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. I’ve trained myself to worship God as soon as I’m awake. I want to be in a place of hearing His voice. Why? Because if I can’t hear Him, how can I obey?
And of course, what good is it to hear if you don’t want to obey? After a few times of ignoring the Holy Spirit, He will just go and find someone else to send on His errands. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you, it just means He can’t use you.
If you’ve been coming up a little short in the blessings department, check your obedience. I have to. We all do. Get out your Bible and read Deuteronomy 28:1-14. Really look hard at those verses. If your life doesn’t look like this, you may not be diligently hearkening to the voice of the Lord to obey Him. I’m helping you here! It is written in Isaiah 1:19,
Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isa 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
I see we are faced with a choice in these two verses. Most everyone is “willing” to be blessed. But not everyone is “obedient”. It’s a no-brainer…be obedient and God will bless you. I like that one. God isn’t hard to please. He’s gone out of His way to tell us how simple it is to be blessed.
If He told us something like a ritual to go through or some other religious observance, we would surely do it. This one is easy: Be obedient.
After all, it’s all about obedience!