Bible League: Living His Word "I will surely bless you and give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they will take from their enemies. Every nation on the earth will be blessed through your descendants. I will do this because you obeyed Me."— Genesis 22?17-18 ERV Obedience means to believe and to wait. We often talk about obedience in the church. Obedience is probably something which is the most complex and poorly understood. What does it mean to obey God? We can see the man Abraham from the Bible as a great example of a man who had obedience to God. Some Christians explain that the uniqueness of Abraham was because of God's choice. In other words, God chose him and that is why he was special. But this is not true. People who think or explain this way aim at defending or justifying human laziness. The Word of God clearly teaches that Abraham simply obeyed God in a situation where normally no one would obey. Obedience is required only when we see a conflict between God's will and our own desire or between God's will and even our own needs. In other words, sometimes we need to obey when we are going to do something that God does not want or when God commands us to do something that we don't want to do. I think that obedience means to believe and to wait - to believe in God's promises and to trust Him, to wait for God. These are just words that come from the heart of a person who knows God. To obey the Lord Jesus means to accept every situation from God and to glorify only Him. Obedience to God has special power, special blessings in it. As God's faithful children, we obey Him even if we are about to cross the road of death. In 44 days of terrible wartime in 2020, I learned to wait on God and obey Him. When I was going to the front line, there were many guys in the truck. We were going at night with the lights off. When we were near the front line, slowly two or three people were getting down to different places. And the more we drove, the more the boys started hurrying to get down, because they realized that the farther we went, the more difficult the way back would be. Suddenly I wanted to take a step, but I could not. I realized that God did not want me to get down early, as if He was saying, "Don't worry, I have prepared a better place for you." When I reached my place, it became clear that it was the worst place, the most dangerous, and there had already been seven victims a day before. I did not understand why God brought me there, but I also had no choice. But God kept me and taught me to obey Him. God not only saved me, but together with me, He saved about sixty guys there. Only at the end did I realize that God had led me there to save those boys, and I was just a tool in His mighty hands. When we obey God, we allow Him to fulfill His plans in our lives and, more importantly, in the lives of others. Let us obey the Lord and He will say to us also, "the nations will be blessed though you, because you heard my voice and obeyed me." By Pastor Arman Gevorgyan, Bible League International staff, Armenia Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingIsaiah 1, 2, 3 Isaiah 1 -- Israel's Rebellion and Zion's Corruption NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 2 -- The Coming of God's Kingdom and a Day of Judgment NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Isaiah 3 -- Judgment on Leaders, the Wicked, and Judah's Women NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Galatians 2 Galatians 2 -- Paul at Jerusalem; Dispute with Peter NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths.Insight Everyone wants to be wise. Yet Paul taught the Corinthians that true wisdom or discernment requires the believer to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Because Satan's greatest impact on us occurs when he decieves us, we need the Holy Spirit's help. Spiritual discernment enables us to draw conclusions based on God's perspective, make wise decisions in difficult circumstances, recognize the activities of God's Spirit, distinguish the correct and incorrect use of Scripture, and identify and expose false teachers. Challenge Ask God to give you his discernment as you serve him. Let that discernment guide you in your daily walk. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Ezra 8:22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.A convoy on many accounts would have been desirable for the pilgrim band, but a holy shame-facedness would not allow Ezra to seek one. He feared lest the heathen king should think his professions of faith in God to be mere hypocrisy, or imagine that the God of Israel was not able to preserve his own worshippers. He could not bring his mind to lean on an arm of flesh in a matter so evidently of the Lord, and therefore the caravan set out with no visible protection, guarded by him who is the sword and shield of his people. It is to be feared that few believers feel this holy jealousy for God; even those who in a measure walk by faith, occasionally mar the lustre of their life by craving aid from man. It is a most blessed thing to have no props and no buttresses, but to stand upright on the Rock of Ages, upheld by the Lord alone. Would any believers seek state endowments for their Church, if they remembered that the Lord is dishonored by their asking Caesar's aid? as if the Lord could not supply the needs of his own cause! Should we run so hastily to friends and relations for assistance, if we remembered that the Lord is magnified by our implicit reliance upon his solitary arm? My soul, wait thou only upon God. "But," says one, "are not means to be used?" Assuredly they are; but our fault seldom lies in their neglect: far more frequently it springs out of foolishly believing in them instead of believing in God. Few run too far in neglecting the creature's arm; but very many sin greatly in making too much of it. Learn, dear reader, to glorify the Lord by leaving means untried, if by using them thou wouldst dishonor the name of the Lord. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 73:28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.Psalm 26:8 O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house And the place where Your glory dwells. Psalm 84:10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalm 65:4 How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple. Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him. Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Hebrews 10:19,20,22 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, • by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, • let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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