MEMORISE:
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isaiah 1:19
READ: Isaiah 1:19-20
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
MESSAGE
If you will flourish in life, one thing you need is simple obedience. When Jesus told a dejected fisherman, who had toiled all night but caught nothing to once more launch into the deep and let down his net for a great catch, his response in Luke 5:5b was:
“Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”
The result of his simple obedience was a net-breaking and boat-sinking haul of fish, had the capacity to transform his life forever. Beloved, God knows more than you do. Isaiah 40:28 says there is no searching of His understanding. If God instructs you to do something, please don’t argue with Him, because compared to Him, you don’t know anything. 1 Corinthians 1:25 says:
“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
If God says “this is the way” and looks like a bush to you, I would advise you to simply go through that bush and don’t try to rationalize what God has said. When God asks you to do something and you don’t understand it because it doesn’t make sense to you, just remember that simple obedience is the key to flourishing.
When I became born again, I had a lot of problems with tithing. I said to myself, “what are these people talking about? One hundred percent is not enough, yet you are asking me to give ten percent. How will ninety percent handle what a hundred percent cannot cover?” Indeed, tithing doesn’t make mathematical sense, but when you are dealing with God. It wont always make sense. He is too big for you to understand with your little brain. It took me a while before I began to tithe, but I started and suddenly thing began to change for the better. The first thing that happened after I paid my tithe was that I got to my office and my head of department called me and asked why I had not requested any money for my research. At that time, I didn’t even know that there was any money provided to fund research. He then explained to me that I needed money so I could travel to gather data, and he asked me to apply for certain sum. When I heard the amount, I couldn’t believe it; I thought something had gone wrong with my hearing! When God decides to help you, He will give you instructions, and your flourishing will be determined by how well you obey these instructions. Are you walking in simple obedience?
KEY POINT:
Those who cannot obey the ridiculous cannot receive the miraculous from God.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Job 39-42 and Amos 7
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 3: TRUST AND OBEY.
1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
o Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.
4. But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.
5. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.
RECENT COMMENTS
Joesphine Ehigie
TJ