Obedience

> Obeying brings blessings.

Where as…

> Disobeying brings curses.

Definition: “Compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another’s authority.”

Biblical Definition: “To hear God’s Word & act accordingly; to hear, trust, submit & surrender to God & His Word.”

4 Categories –

1. Obey: To follow commands & orders.

Gen 22:18 “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

•Obeying God’s voice & commands will bring blessings to you & others.

Ex 19:5 “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice & keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.”

•God wants us to remember that everything belongs to Him. The earth & everything in it.

•Every single human on this earth is a child of God.

•Some children rebel, run away, & never speak to the Father.

•Some children are perfect, always do as told, & are very well respected.

•If we just obey & do as God tells us we are considered a “special treasure” to God.

•Which child do you want to be?

Deut 27:10 “Therefore you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, & observe His commandments & His statutes which I command you today.”

Matt 8:27 “So the men marveled, saying, ‘Who can this be, that even the winds & the sea obey Him?’”

•How amazing & powerful is our God that even the sea & winds do what God instructs them to?!

Acts 5:29 “But Peter & the other apostles answered & said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’”

•This is such a good verse & one that we should always remember!

•We were not created & put on this earth to obey & please other humans.

•No person on this earth knows what plan God has for us.

•Whatever we do should be from clear instructions we get from God.

•It’s good to talk, get advice, & discuss options from other Christians, but ultimately we should be seeking our instructions from God.

Eph 6:1 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”

•I struggle with this still to this very day, & I’m an adult. This verse has no age limits.

•As long as the things that your parents instruct you to do are pleasing in God’s eyes then you should always do them.

•I can say from personal experience that this is 100% true.

Col 3:22 “Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.”

•We are to do our jobs here on earth to the best of our ability, with a glad & thankful heart, to please our Lord, not our boss/master on earth.

•The Lord is the one in control of our lives. He gives & takes away. He is the one who allowed us to meet all the requirements for our job & to receive our job in the first place. He is the one who can take it away from us at any moment. This is why we should fear ONLY the Lord.

2. Obedient: Willing to obey.

Ex 24:7 “Then he took the book of the covenant & read it in the hearing of the people; & they said, ‘All that the Lord has spoken we will do, & we will be obedient!’”

Rom 6:17 “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed.”

•True & total obedience to God can only come from your heart.

•God will never force you to obey Him.

•You have to make your own choice & be willing.

•You are the only one who can decide to stop sinning, turn to God, seek His instruction & will for your life, & obey those instructions.

Phil 2:8 “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

•Not all commands from God will be easy.

•Even when we are instructed to do something difficult, we are still to obey.

•“Even death on a cross” – being executed on a cross was the most humiliating way to be executed in those times.

•If Jesus was able to humble Himself & die for us in the most humiliating way, we should be able to obey His commands no matter how silly we may look, what people may say about us, or how we will be treated.

Col 3:20 “Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.”

•Again, all things that are pleasing to God.

3. Obedience: In submission

Rom 5:19 “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.”

•Even Jesus Himself was & is obedient to God the Father.

Heb 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

•Even Jesus Himself went through struggles & temptations of this sinful world.

•Everything He had to go through strengthened His obedience to God the Father.

•The same goes for you, everything you are struggling with right now & all the things you are dealing with are the same things that are going to sharpen your obedience & bring you closer to God.

•Jesus was a human on this earth just like me & you. He faced all the same problems we do today. He was tempted by the devil just the same as we are. He overcame it all. He was the perfect son. Through His whole time on earth he refrained from ALL sin & never disobeyed His Father.

•We are called to be like Christ. We are suppose to continually try to be the best Christians we can possibly be, refrain from sin, & aim for perfection.

•We aren’t perfect & we will mess up sometimes because we aren’t Jesus. That doesn’t give us an excuse tho. We are always suppose to ask for forgiveness for our sins & mistakes, learn from our falls, & grow stronger in our faith & obedience to God.

4. Other:

Deut 4:1 “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes & the judgements which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live & go in & take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you.”

•“Listen” meaning to listen to what God is telling us & obey Him.

•God has a life full of blessing for each of us.

•If we just simply obey Him & go down the path He has for us, we will receive all the blessings that are waiting for us.

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments & keeps them, it is he who loves Me. & he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, & I will love him & manifest Myself to him.”

Eph 5:22-24 “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; & He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”

•“Submit” meaning obey.

•“In everything” meaning everything pleasing to God.

•Every decision the husband makes should be instructed from God. The wife should agree with the husband

Phil 2:12-14 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear & trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will & to work for His good pleasure. Do ALL things without grumbling or disputing.”

•We are to use this time of Jesus’ absence to obey, strengthen our faith, & fear God only.

•We are to be willing & obey all things that are pleasing to God, not things for our own pleasure.

•ALL things! Not just the simple tasks, the easy commandments, or the things that are convenient for us.

•We are to obey & do every little or big & easy or difficult thing that God instructs us to do without complaining, whining, trying to get out of it, or doing it angrily.

Heb 11:8 “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; & he went out, not knowing where he was going.”

•Even when we can’t see what’s ahead of us we are suppose to trust God’s plan & obey Him always.

•By doing this you will receive all the blessings God has for you.

1 John 2:3 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

•“Keep His commandments” meaning to obey God.

•A person who obeys God’s instructions & commandments also knows God & has a close relationship with Him.

1 John 2:5 “But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.”

•“Keeps His Word” meaning when a Christian chooses to be obedient to God in his own will.

•When we reach this point our love for God & God’s Love for us is perfect & complete in our relationship with Him.

1 John 5:4 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; & this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith.”

•“Overcome the world” meaning to have victory over the sinful things in this world.

•We get this victory from obedience to God.

•With Jesus on our side & giving us the strength we need to fight victory is possible for us if we just simply obey!

Have a blessed & wonderful week babes!