ChoosingDaily to Obey God
1. Obedience is not as easy as it may appearto be. From the very beginning with Adam and Eve, they were given simple but
specific instructions not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. We know the end of that story and all through the ages, mankind has had
serious difficulty simply obeying God. I heard a pastor many years ago in a message
say that if we could just simply obey God, everything else would be in the
proper place in our Christian lives. Every sin is a choice to disobey God.
Choosing to obey God daily really does release and it can maintain the abundant
life Christ has offered to us!
2. Think about these scriptures:
(1) Luke 11:27-28 – Jesus is saying that there ismore blessing to obey Him then to be a blood relative of Him! “Hearing” and
“keeping” the word of God is equal to obeying the Lord and as Jesus says here,
this is releasing and maintain the abundant life, “More than that, blessed…”
(2) 1Samuel 15:22 – The scripture clearly tells us that obedience is better than
sacrifice. I am thankful that God has made provision for the forgiveness of our
sin through the blood of Jesus Christ and He does continuously forgive us as we
confess our sins, but God would rather we obey in the first place. Here we are
told obedience is better
a. Ourobedience brings great delight to the heart of God, thus releasing and
maintaining the abundant life.
b. Keepssin’s consequences from effecting our life. Sin can have both short-term and
long-term consequences. Forgiveness is immediate removal of sin but sin’s
consequences remain and have their way in our lives. We may lose things that
can never be recovered!
c. Disobediencein itself has a darker and more deadly nature than we realize. It is seen here
as essentially rebellion equaling witchcraft and stubbornness equaling
idolatry! This is quite serious!
(3) Acts5:27-32 – Again in this passage, the importance of obeying God is important.
a. Butobedience doesn’t mean that we’ll live in a “rose garden with no trouble! Obeying
God can lead to trouble and persecution. We are told in 2 Timothy 3:12 that
“all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” So when
we consider what the abundant life is, we need to have a full understanding
that it’s not just a troublesome-free life!!!
b. Aheart of obedience can also be a reflection of our faith in the sense that we
have the Holy Spirit present and active in us as a result of obedience. This is
not indicating that our good works brings the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is
about our obedience is the natural result of our faith which also results in
the Holy Spirit being in us!
(4) Genesis12:1-4; Hebrews 11:8 – Here we see that faith produces obedience. In the
blessings promised to Abraham in Genesis 12, we can easily translate this into
the abundant life Christ has promised in John 10:10. Consider the 7-fold
blessing promised to Abraham:
a. Hewill become a great nation, Qal stem
b. Godwill bless him, Piel stem
c. Godwill make his name great, Piel stem
d. Hewill be a blessing to others, Piel stem
e. Godwill bless those who bless him, Piel stem
f. God will curse those who curse him, Pielstem
g. Allfamilies in the earth will be blessed because of him, Piel stem
3. The four major areas to obey God
a. God’scall in our life. To be a believer, to be a disciple or follower of Jesus, and
positions He has chosen for us.
b. God’scommands
c. God’sdirection
d. God’sword
4. How do we choose daily to obey God? Mark8:34-38 Both the crowds and His disciples were called to hear what Jesus says
here. This is not only the way of salvation, but it is also the way of
obedience of a Christian’s life.
a. Wehave to have a genuine desire (present verb) to obey and follow after Christ
b. Surrender…“Deny ourselves,” this word deny (aorist middle imperative verb) is a commandto significantly surrender yourself!
c. IngestGod’s purpose to make it a part of our life, not something we simply carry
around with us like a burden to easily drop when the going gets tough! “Take up
(imperative aorist verb) the cross” The cross is the purpose of God for Jesus,
d. Walkside-by-side with Jesus, not behind Him “follow Me.” This is a present
imperative verb.
e. PuttingJesus and His kingdom as a priority in your life above your own life and
desires and the things of this world. Mark 8:35-37; Matthew 6:33
f. Be always proud of Jesus and His wordsMark 8:38
g. TheGreek Imperative used here in this passage indicates that obedience is not
something to be considered or contemplated about, it is to be immediate! Immediately,
not delaying or putting off for a more convenient time. Alexander the Great
said, “When I had a move to make, I made it immediately.” When asked how he
conquered so much of the world in such a short time.