Tag: Obedient

54. “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Deuteronomy 28:1   “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 11:13    “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul

Exodus 15:26    saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

Psalms 111:10    The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

Isaiah 1:19     If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

Isaiah 55:2-3    Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.  Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant

Luke 11:28     But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Listen diligently to Me, willing and obedient, do what is right in His eyes, give ear to His commandments, serve Him with all your heart and soul.  How can these words from scripture be taken any other way than how they are presented.

Listen diligently – is a choice to want to hear God speak into your heart, soul, mind, life.

Be willing and obedient – is a choice to act on what God is speaking into your life.

Doing what is right in His eyes – is a choice that actively searches God’s word with a desire to grow in understanding and knowledge so that your life honors and glorifies God.

Serve Him – is a choice that recognizes worldly stuff and self and chooses to serve Jesus Christ for His honor and glory.

It is all a choice of the heart, mind, and soul.  Don’t be neglectful or complacent with choices of serving and honoring God.

1. ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’

Exodus 22:28  “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

Ecclesiastes 10:20     Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter.

Acts 23:5     And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

Romans 13:2-7     Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,  for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.  Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.  For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Titus 3:1-2     Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,  to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people

1 Peter 2:17     Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

It surely takes godly wisdom to apply these verses.  How do you honor a leader you do not respect or trust?  How do you not speak evil of one who is authorizing the murder of innocent men, women, and children?  How do you not speak out against the Leader who is taking people into unrighteous paths for their life?  How do you follow a leader who rejects Christ?

These are human questions but are not the right way to approach the situation of a bad leader.  God wants and expects us to come to Him alone for the resolution of a bad ruler, authority, leader.  We are to go to Him confessing the sin of what we see and ask His intervention.  We are to seek Him for our refuge.  We are to rely on Him alone.  We are to find peace in the midst of trials and troubles in Him.  We are to find strength in God to face the injustice.  He is our refuge, hope, rock, fortress, and calm in the storm.

We are to pray for our leaders not complain about them.  We are to seek God not speak evil.  We are to be submissive and obedient.  There are times when we don’t like or approve of our leadership.  However we must respect and honor the position.

There may be time when you have to take a stand when asked/told to do something that is against what God teaches us.  We accept the consequence gladly as serving God is our goal.  We do not speak evil. We speak the truth.

Daniel 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

God raised Him up

“God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

John 10:18  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Isaiah 53:10    Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Acts 2:32    This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.

Acts 3:15     and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

Philippians 2:6    who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Titus 2:14    who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Hebrews 5:6    Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

Matthew 26:53     Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?  But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”  At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me.  But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Do you ever wonder in awe, this selfless act of redemption Christ obediently carried out for salvation of those who would believe in Him.  He could have asked for and received the help of 12 legions (50,000 +) of Angels to save Him from the hands of those taking charge of Him.  He could have stopped this from happening but He didn’t because the will of the Father.  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Redemption of our soul came at a very high cost and is not to be taken lightly.  “he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him” – what does it mean to obey Him?  To obey Him we must have a heart deep desire to humbly serve, honor, and follow Him.  Our heart and mind must choose to actively seek to do His will and purpose.  His word is active.  His word is light unto our soul.  His word is a beacon of hope. His word is a light unto our path.  His word is the beginning of our understanding  of things of God.  His word give us wisdom in things of God.  His word  was given to us to grow in this understanding and knowledge. It is very hard for this to happen unless we spend time in His word.  Choose to spend time in His word.  Choose to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey.

Have you been deceived

“ for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

“ And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?”

John 7:46  The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?  Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”  Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”

Luke 4:22    And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth.

John 9:27    He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?  And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”  The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.  We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”  They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Matthew 11:25     At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

1 Corinthians 1:20    Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

Acts 6:7    And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

There are always going to be those who do not believe even though the deaf hear and the blind see.  Each choose their path from the same observation(s). One heart is hard and their mind is closed to things of God.  The other heart and mind is open with a desire to know God and humbly serve, honor, follow and obey Him.  Each of these lives start with a belief that Jesus does or Jesus does not exist and that He alone is the redeemer of the lost.  Culture, pride, and fear all play a part in denying Jesus.  It takes faith, trust, and commitment to surrender all to Him.  Choosing to follow, honor, obey and serve Him is a way of life for each day.  Our life has purpose and meaning.  The fulfillment of this continues each day as we walk with Him.

Joy Set Before Him

who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross

Matthew 27:27
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.
Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God

Philippians 2:8
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

Psalms 69:19
You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair

Isaiah 53:3
He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions

The verse that always sticks in my head and heart is “for the joy set before Him he endured the cross”.  He could have called down a legion of angels but did not do it.  We are the joy He bore the cross for.  He knew our helpless state before a Holy God and chose to bare our sin so that trusting in Him and this sacrificial act we would be saved.  However it does not end there.  He also said that He would send us a helper (Holy Spirit) to speak to our heart and soul and lead us through this life in a way that honors and glorifies God.  How much do we truly endure for Him?  The absolute best we can give is our whole heart’s desire to live and obey His guidance everyday.