THE REWARDS OF OBEDIENCE
Hebrews 11:8,12 (NLT)
8 It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he
was going.
12 And so a whole nation came from this one man, Abraham, who was too old to have any children.
Hebrews, Chapter11, is known as the great “faith” chapter in the Bible. It records the many faith exploits of some of God’s mighty champions. It portrays acts of obedience of many of God’s men and women who simply responded in faith to what God called them to do. Their obedience resulted in miracles, in blessings, in great victories. Their yieldedness to the Lord made impossible situations possible. Make no mistake about it, it wasn’t any easier for them to obey God and put it all on the line for Him than it is for us today. The heroes of faith in the Bible were not some breed of “superhuman” creatures that were somehow able to automatically be able to carry out difficult assignments the Lord dealt with them about. They had a flesh nature just like you and me. They had minds and wills that had to be willingly subject to God’s commands just like us. In other words, they didn’t have a “free pass” when it came to obeying the Lord in difficult situations. They were men and women just the same as us.
OBEDIENCE AND FAITH ARE INSEPARABLE
It takes faith to obey God. You cannot separate faith from obedience. If you “believe” God, you will obey God. Faith can simply be defined as believing God enough to simply do what he has said. So many times when people think of faith, they think “belief.” They view faith as a belief system, a persuasion, a conviction. But many who say they are people of faith are not carrying out God’s instructions. Many say ” I believe God”, but they do not do what they claim to believe. You believe it when you do it!
Probably one of the most concrete examples ( and one of the most touchy! ) of what we’re talking about here is that of tithing. If you were to ask Christians if they believe one should tithe to the Lord, that is, to honor Him with the first 10% of all your income, undoubtedly most believers would answer “yes.” How would we know then if one really believes in worshipping God with the firstfruits of all their increase? By the act of faithful, consistent and joyful tithing of their income to the Lord. Doing equals believing. If you’re doing it, you believe it. If you’re not doing it, you don’t really believe it! There are a lot of believers who say they agree with the scriptural principle of honoring the Lord with the first tenth of their income, but in reality, if they’re not doing it, what is taking place is a mental attitude that agrees with the “principle” of tithing, but does not have any action of faith behind their mental agreement.
Again, faith or believing must be backed up by action. There will always be something we can carry out : an action, an attitude, a step of faith we can pursue to give action to the power of faith that is contained within the Word of God. Faith believes the Word of God only to the degree that God’s Word is governing our thoughts, our actions and our decisions. Abraham not only “believed” God, he obeyed God. He went, not knowing where he was going.
OBEDIENCE TO GOD OPENS THE DOOR TO THE SUPERNATURAL
It wasn’t until Abraham obeyed God that the blessings of obedience began to overtake him. When Moses obeyed God’s call upon his life to be the deliverer of the Israelites in spite of all his fears and insecurities, God performed mighty signs and wonders through His man, M0ses. When Noah obeyed God and built an ark when there had never been even one drop of rain ever seen on the earth, his act of faith/obedience became his place of refuge and preservation when all the other people of the earth were drowned in the flood. When Naaman obeyed the Word of God delivered to him by the prophet Elisha and dipped himself seven times in the Muddy Jordan River, he was cured of the deadly disease of leprosy. His obedience to the command of the prophet was a test of Naaman’s humility before God. He passed the test and received a miracle.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
12 And now, Israel, what does the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart
and with all thy soul,
13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and His statutes, which I command you this day for your good” ?
Friend, God never changes. He wants us to respond to Him with joy and gladness. He wants us to trust Him more than any man on the earth. He’s looking for people who will love Him, honor Him and walk in holy fear and reverence toward Him. And the way we express these qualities is by simple obedience. Notice the phrase ” for your good.” God wants it to be well with us. He wants us to walk in the fullness of His blessings, but in order to do so we must be willing to trust God enough to do what he says. Next month we will look at specific areas of faith and obedience that will result in God’s best being released into our lives.
JM
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BACK TO ETHIOPIA!
On February 8th, I will be returning to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to teach at Victory Bible College to the 1st and 2nd Year students. This was a totally unplanned and unexpected opportunity that came about, but nevertheless, Stephanie and I both believe it is in the plan of God. Please pray for safety, protection, anointing and strength to carry out the work there. I will be teaching 4 classes, Monday thru Friday, as well as 2 evening classes. A full plate, but with God’s help and grace, I’m believing for great results. I am very committed to the work there in this wonderful Bible School. I will return there again this coming Fall as well.
JM
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