RAISING OUR LAND (S2 EP2 - OBEDIENCE)
RAISING OUR LAND
“Thus says the LORD, In an acceptable time have I
answered you, and in a day of salvation have I helped you; and I will preserve
you, and give you for a covenant of the people, to raise up the land, to make them inherit the desolate
heritage…”(emphasis mine)
Isiah
49 vs 8 (Hebrew Names Version of The Holy Bible)
I would like a hundred
people or more to join me in praying this prayer, based on the scripture that says “And five of you shall chase an hundred, and
an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall
before you by the sword. Lev 26:8”
The enemies we need defeated in our
lives presently are: the veil which may be over our eyes: as it prevents the
light of God’s word to enlighten and be sown in our hearts; and those obstacles
that prevent our hearts from being good soils. Our swords are our words of
prayer.
Therefore, the prayer goes thus:
Therefore, the prayer goes thus:
We pray that the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto us the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: that our minds may be opened
to see and receive his light, so that we will know what is the hope to which he has called
us.
We also pray that God should by His Holy Spirit prepare our hearts by making it a good soil for the word of God which when planted in our hearts will grow and prosper and yield forth good fruits just as a seed would in good soil. And that by the Blood of Jesus, we clean every heart from whatever may be present within which would negatively affect the growth and prosperity of the Word of God in our lives in Jesus Name, Amen.
EPISODE 2: OBEDIENCE
Sometimes, to
understand the value or importance of something we, one may have to understand
the implication of that very thing being unavailable or taken away. For
instance, there is a quote on education that reads: “if education is costly,
try ignorance” Meaning the value of education is amplified by the outcome of being
ignorant. With this thought, let us - in studying about obedience, especially
as it relates to the Kingdom of God; first take a quick look at the outcome of
disobedience with the following narratives serving as guides.
Narrative 1:
Remember the story titled
‘Caprianna’ which we shared last episode, where a child named Caprianna was
born to a life of captivity, well, it is very important to note that her mother’s
disobedience caused the misfortune, trauma and pain that she spent the first
six years of her life living in. In the story, the parents of Cinderlily,
Caprianna’s mum, had apparently warned her not to hitch rides with strangers.
Cinderlily had knowledge of her parents’ instructions, but did not take it to
heart or believe it. This showed especially when a second voice (the voice of
Darth Mort, her captor) came and easily convinced her to abandon the words of
her parents. Disobedient actions birth the pain of not only herself and her
daughters’, but her loved ones and well wishers also bore part of the agony.
Narrative 2:
The story of Adam and
Eve in the bible further shows us the negative effects of disobedience. I have
previously discussed the story of Adam and Eve in a writing titled ‘lessonsfrom Eve’. Eve disobeyed God when she listened to the voice of the devil (the deceiver)
and ate the fruit which God commanded them not to eat. Adam on the other hand
was not deceived as stated in scripture “1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the
transgression.” This is true as the devil had no direct contact or
communication with Adam. However, we can say he had an indirect contact through
the already deceived Eve. Eve gave Adam the fruit and he ate, thereby disobeying
the instruction of God. Adam, it would seem, knowingly disobeyed God and my best
thought on the reason for this is: Love for his wife. In my private thoughts,
both Adam and Samson baffle me. Both seem to err based on the love they had for
their wives. Samson’s case is just the ‘weirdest’, I really don’t get the guy!
But that is a story for another time I guess. Finally, the whole earth was
thrown into great discomfort because of the disobedience of Adam, see: Rom 5:19
“For as by one man's disobedience many
were made sinners.” Read Genesis 1 – 3 and Season 1, Episode 4 for fuller
details.
I have noticed that
most times our actions, whether to obedience or disobedience unto God have far reaching
effects on others too.
Now in discussing
obedience, let’s study it on the basis of two kingdom principles: Grace and
Faith. At the end of this discuss, I hope that I would have convinced you that
obedience is that ‘by grace through faith’ that Apostle Paul talked about in Ephesians
2: 8 and without it we cannot effectively operate in the Kingdom of our Heavenly
Father. Let’s take a quick look at grace and faith. Both subjects can be taught
for days without end.
Supporting Scripture:
Genesis 6:5 - 22
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it
repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his
heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the
air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the
generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and
Noah walked with God… The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was
filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all
flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them;
and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark,
and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch… Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”
GRACE
No one, after the fall
of Adam could have any direct relationship with God except God inputs grace
upon that person. To input grace in my opinion is like putting cloak on a naked
person. Grace is such that it ie not earned, it is given by God. No one can pay
for God’s grace. No matter how righteous lifestyle was in the eyes of man, God
had already ruled that ‘EVERY’ imagination of the ‘THOUGHTS’ of man, was
continually evil. This included Noah, for the scripture says: Isa 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags...” However, Noah found Grace
– that is, God imputed grace upon Noah, and the next thing you know, God was declaring
Noah a just man and perfect in his generation.
As Christians today,
our righteousness (being just and perfect) before God, is also by the grace of
God and not by any works of our hand, it cannot be paid for. The scripture
says: Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Also, Rom 5:21 “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so
might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our
Lord.” And 2Co 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who
knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
We also know that by
grace, Jesus Christ has reconciled us to God, so we are rest assured that we
have a working relationship with our heavenly father. Eph 1:7 “In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace;” Col 1:20 “And, having made peace through the blood of his cross,
by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be
things in earth, or things in heaven.”
This grace therefore
qualifies us to communicate with God and receive his word and instructions freely.
Grace also keeps us when we do err out of ignorance, mistakes, and our
weaknesses, as Jesus said to Apostle Paul; 2Co
12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
However, grace is not
designed to keep us ignorant and weak and lax in the matters of our Father’s
Kingdom, instead it is meant to keep us righteous before God as we deal with
the burdens and weaknesses that we inherited when we were captives in the enemy’s
kingdom, which keeps us from a life of total obedience unto God. In short,
without grace, no man will attain obedience unto God, for he would have fallen
short many times along the way. This is just as grace kept Abraham through all
his mistakes and weaknesses. Also, just as in the case of Noah, Grace qualifies
us to receive God’s word on any situation that may come our way.
FAITH
On the subject of
Faith, I will define faith as the combination of receiving the word of God, believing
same word of God and acting on same
word of God in that order, to ensure the manifestation of what is hoped
for.
Let us study each
highlighted phrase for further understanding.
1) Receiving
the Word of God: The first step of receiving the word of God concerning any
situation is considered as also the most important step of Faith. The word of
God to us is guarantee that what we seek for or desire will come to pass. It is
a like cheque which requires two signatories as authority to withdraw, with God
being the first signatory through the issuance of His Word. The psalmist says: for thou hast magnified thy word above all
thy name (Psalm 138 v 2).
It is
impossible to be obedient without having and/or knowing the instruction. All men in scripture who are regarded
as obedient all had to first receive instruction from God. God’s instruction to
Noah was to ‘Build and Ark’; to Abraham ‘Leave thy fathers’ house and go to a
land that I will show you’ and so on. This is why this scripture shows the
importance of being able to receive the word of God:
Isa 6:10 Make
the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Therefore,
we must continually pray that our eyes are opened so that we see, our ears are
open so that we may hear and our hearts are enlightened so that we may
understand. All these we enable us receive the word of God for our conversion
and healing.
Most times we receive
the word from God after praying the prayer of supplication unto him. In answer
to our prayers, God gives His word whether through scripture or/and an inspired
instruction which is in line with scripture. For instance, when Hezekiah was
told he was going to die, he prayed to God on the matter and immediately God
gave him his word on the situation, which was years added to his life. Or in
the case of Cornelius whose answer to prayer was an instruction to go and call
Peter see:
Act 10:1 – 5: There was a certain man in Caesarea
called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, A devout man,
and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people,
and prayed to God always. He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of
the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. And
when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said
unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are
come up for a memorial before God. And
now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
2) Believing the Word of
God: In many places in the bible, you will find written phrases like; ‘and the
word of the lord came’ or ‘and the angel of the lord came’ or ‘and the voice of
the lord said’ or ‘and the prophet of the lord said’ etc. These sayings always
precedes God’s word to a person or nation; however, without the receiver of the
word believing it or like the scripture in Isiah 6: 10 says ‘being converted’
by the word, it will be of no use. It is not okay to just know the scripture,
or the instruction; it is very important that we believe it too. That is, both
our minds and our emotions are in agreement with the infallibility of the word.
Meaning the word becomes our reality and not what we see on the outside. God
taught Joshua how to believe this way, see:
Jos 1: 7-8: Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which
Moses my servant commanded thee: turn
not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper
whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all
that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and
then thou shalt have good success.
Joshua must have
followed the instruction and teaching of God for he was definitely successful
in his endeavor.
Jesus said: “Mar 11:24:
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye
shall have them.
It is said of Abraham: Jas 2:23: “And the scripture was fulfilled
which saith, Abraham believed God,
and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God”.
Noah must have believed
God’s word, if not, why would he have built an Ark without sign on the outside
of rain and flooding.
Acting on the word of
God: Yes we have received the word and we believed it, now we must act on what
it says. Usually, what we are to do is embedded in the instruction God gives
us. Sometimes, it is clearly stated, and at other times we have to take time to
meditate on the scriptures to see clear instructions of what to do. Pastor Poju
Oyemade in a series of tweets said: “When believing God for what you know to be
His will, start declaring it as a fact in your life and then reread the scriptures
that promises it. Don’t make the mistake of believing for a thing without
constant eye contact with the scriptures that promised it. This will bring
about fresh insight that will be the game changer”
The Apostle James said:
Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I
have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is
one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou
know, O vain man, that faith without
works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had
offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest
thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot
justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out
another way? For as the body without the
spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
Receiving and believing
the word without action (works) is like a thick Cumulonimbus or Cumulus cloud
with no hail or rain coming forth from it.
Jesus in His ministry
on earth was an action man. If He wasn’t casting out a demon, he would be
healing the sick, or walking on water, or feeding thousands, or preaching repentance
and the Kingdom of God, or getting beating and bruised for us, or dying for us…
Whether he spoke, or touched with his hands; he always acted.
Noah also acted on the word and built the Ark in the very same specifications that God had told to. He was an obedient man.
If we are to come up
with a definition of obedience especially as it relates to the Kingdom of God,
it will read thus: ‘Obedience is by grace receiving the word of God, believing
same and acting on it’ or we could just shorten it and say ‘Obedience is by
grace through faith!’
As Christians our very
first act of obedience was giving our lives to Christ.
We have established
in last episode that we have four basic ‘relationships’ so to say, with God. He as
our creator; our father; our king/or boss and our friend. In all these, without
obedience, the relationship will falter.
Let us all not forget
this statement by Apostle Paul:
Rom 5:19: “For as by
one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”
Our obedience to God
has far reaching effects. It usually transcends our personal benefit alone and
goes a long way in benefiting other people we may not even know of. So when
next you want to falter, think about the lives that could be affected
positively by your obedience and how God’s name will be glorified also.
Obedience is a Key we
cannot do without in the Kingdom of God!
Thank you for reading.
Next episode will be on Monday, 12th December, 2016.
Obedience to God and how it can radically change our lives and the lives of others cannot be experienced by you, who have read this writing and have not at anytime given your life to Jesus. Interestingly, obedient is what you have to be to give your life to Christ. So, believe and say what I have quoted below, and you will be born again.
“I believe that Jesus Christ the Son of God is the Lamb of God who
has taken away my sins by shedding his blood, and dying on the cross, I believe
that God raised Him on the third day and He has ascended into heaven and sits
at the right hand of God, the Father. I am now born again.”
Congratulations. You are now
Born Again. Do join a Bible believing Church for you to continue to grow in
Christ. Pray that God guides you to the church that will be best for your
spiritual growth. This is very important!
In this world filled with voices daily assaulting us to succumb to disobedience, I pray that God strengthens us to stand on his word and gives us the grace to keep going until we see the manifestation of what he has promised us, in Jesus name, Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment