"And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God…” (Deuteronomy 28:2)
No matter the country or the culture, God’s word does not know any barriers. God’s word is not limited by age or gender and it is meant for everyone. If anyone is willing to listen to God and consider and respond in the right way, the word of God will produce a beneficial outcome, no matter the culture or country that they are located in, and no matter their age or gender.
The blessings of God are not what you work for. They are not wages that you receive because you have laboured all day long for them. Wages are paid according to the contract that is set. But the blessings of God shall come upon you and overtake you, only because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
If blessings are slow to flow, it is not that God is slow to bless. No, the speed of your blessings is tied to the level of your obedience. Obedience has the following important ingredients:
Compliance
To comply is to accept the criteria that God has set out for those who claim that Jesus is their Lord and Saviour. There are certain standards that God expects us to comply with. They are not negotiable. We are simply to accept them and live by them. Perhaps, the simplest example of such standards is the Ten Commandments.
Don’t think that God has swept those commandments aside. He wrote them out Himself and they remain for ever the ten statements that God personally wrote.
Agreement
This word means “concord” or the absence of strife and dispute and argument, particularly, in relation to the right path to take in life. God has set for us a particular direction – our journey is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our path is to follow the example of Jesus in seeking out the preferences of God daily and following them.
The Bible teaches us that two people cannot walk together except they agree (Amos 3:3). In life, we find it difficult to say “Yes” to everything that those who are in authority over us consider to be right, which is to be expected. After all, human beings can get it wrong! However, when it comes to our relationship with God, we must constantly say “Yes” to all that He says.
Submission
This word means “surrender”. You give up your rights; you come under the control of the person to whom you have surrendered. It is a very hard thing to lose your independence, and to accept that your life will only be in pattern with the word of God. However, it is impossible to grow in our relationship with God until we have totally surrendered our will to Him.
In life generally, you cannot succeed much if you are unwilling to learn how to submit. In fact most of the relationships that we have are underpinned by our understanding of submission. Success in life often comes at a price: submission!
Respect
The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). That fear is not the same thing as the fear that we have when we face murderers or burglars or rapists, or such other wicked people. The “fear” here is much more about respecting God, reverencing Him, honouring Him, worshipping Him and serving Him because He is God. He is our Maker. He is our Heavenly Father. He is our Parent!
Duty
Obedience also means duty. We have an obligation to listen to God and act responsibly in accordance to His instructions. It is our duty, our task, our function, our responsibility to listen to God and to respond positively. When we do so, we are clearly showing that He has the ultimate right to decide for us and that we have resolved to conform to His just and gracious requirements. The Bible teaches us that God’s requirements are not burdensome! (1John 5:3) Jesus says, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light!” (Matthew 11:30)
Let blessings overtake you, obey the Lord!
No matter the country or the culture, God’s word does not know any barriers. God’s word is not limited by age or gender and it is meant for everyone. If anyone is willing to listen to God and consider and respond in the right way, the word of God will produce a beneficial outcome, no matter the culture or country that they are located in, and no matter their age or gender.
The blessings of God are not what you work for. They are not wages that you receive because you have laboured all day long for them. Wages are paid according to the contract that is set. But the blessings of God shall come upon you and overtake you, only because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.
If blessings are slow to flow, it is not that God is slow to bless. No, the speed of your blessings is tied to the level of your obedience. Obedience has the following important ingredients:
Compliance
To comply is to accept the criteria that God has set out for those who claim that Jesus is their Lord and Saviour. There are certain standards that God expects us to comply with. They are not negotiable. We are simply to accept them and live by them. Perhaps, the simplest example of such standards is the Ten Commandments.
Don’t think that God has swept those commandments aside. He wrote them out Himself and they remain for ever the ten statements that God personally wrote.
Agreement
This word means “concord” or the absence of strife and dispute and argument, particularly, in relation to the right path to take in life. God has set for us a particular direction – our journey is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our path is to follow the example of Jesus in seeking out the preferences of God daily and following them.
The Bible teaches us that two people cannot walk together except they agree (Amos 3:3). In life, we find it difficult to say “Yes” to everything that those who are in authority over us consider to be right, which is to be expected. After all, human beings can get it wrong! However, when it comes to our relationship with God, we must constantly say “Yes” to all that He says.
Submission
This word means “surrender”. You give up your rights; you come under the control of the person to whom you have surrendered. It is a very hard thing to lose your independence, and to accept that your life will only be in pattern with the word of God. However, it is impossible to grow in our relationship with God until we have totally surrendered our will to Him.
In life generally, you cannot succeed much if you are unwilling to learn how to submit. In fact most of the relationships that we have are underpinned by our understanding of submission. Success in life often comes at a price: submission!
Respect
The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10). That fear is not the same thing as the fear that we have when we face murderers or burglars or rapists, or such other wicked people. The “fear” here is much more about respecting God, reverencing Him, honouring Him, worshipping Him and serving Him because He is God. He is our Maker. He is our Heavenly Father. He is our Parent!
Duty
Obedience also means duty. We have an obligation to listen to God and act responsibly in accordance to His instructions. It is our duty, our task, our function, our responsibility to listen to God and to respond positively. When we do so, we are clearly showing that He has the ultimate right to decide for us and that we have resolved to conform to His just and gracious requirements. The Bible teaches us that God’s requirements are not burdensome! (1John 5:3) Jesus says, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light!” (Matthew 11:30)
Let blessings overtake you, obey the Lord!
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