SEPTEMBER – OBEDIENCE
1. Hebrews 5:7-8 “While He lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain
and wept in sorrow as He offered up priestly prayers to God. Because He honored God, God answered Him. Though He was God’s son, He learned trusting-obedience by what He suffered, just as we do.” MSG
We may assume that because Jesus was the Son of God that he cruised through His time here on earth in some kind of isolated bubble, without pressure or challenges we face today. Not so! He was the Son of man too, and had to deal with all the temptations and trials we are facing from day to day. He also battled to be obedient to every Word from His Heavenly Father. The pressure was on Him to give in to the flesh too. Yet He prevailed in obedience to God and was awarded a position of honor in heaven.
2. Genesis 22:1 “Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and
said to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’”
When God addressed Abraham there was no need to have a committee meeting or weeks of fasting and prayer for him to prepare an answer. Abraham had already com-mitted himself to the Lord to be obedient to whatever the Lord should speak to him. This is true obedience. If we feel we have the option to evaluate the Word of God coming to us to consider if it is preferable, suitable, or convenient for us to obey, our obedience is subjective. That means we are giving a token obedience according to our own will, not the will of some authority in our life. Submissive obedience is powerful and will move us into the will of God; selfish obedience can easily put us in a prison of our own desires.
3. Genesis 22:15-18 ‘Then the Angel of God called again to Abraham from heaven. I,
the Lord, have sworn by Myself that because you have obeyed Me and have not withheld even your beloved son from Me, I will bless you with incredible blessings and multiply your descendants into countless thousands and millions, like the stars above you in the sky, and like the sands along the seashore. They will conquer their enemies, and your offspring will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth – all because you have obeyed Me.” LB
We see that God considers obedience to be a powerful thing. It is the seed of His in-credible blessings coming upon us. Our children and their children will be blessed. We will be defended by God from the oppression of our enemies. We will have influence in the nations of the earth and bless them abundantly. All we are asked to do is obey God.
4. Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch
over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” NIV
There is a blessing awaiting all those who have acted on the Word of God concerning submission to His appointed authorities. It is not our work to evaluate and judge delega-ted authorities. We are to obey, and once we do that, it will be God’s responsibility to deal with that authority. Do not consider whether they are right or wrong. As long as they refrain from asking you to act contrary to the principles of Scripture, you can obey and God will reward you. Make life as pleasant as possible for those who have a re-sponsibility towards your welfare and training. They may not be perfect, but God has assigned them to watch out for your soul. Bless them and pray for them.
5. Isaiah 1:19 “ If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if
you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Here is a combination of right attitude and right action that will bring the blessing of the Lord upon your life and your household. People sometimes act obediently but they have a sour or angry disposition when they obey. Could this possibly affect the quality, the quantity, or the timing of the promised blessing? Now refusing to obey altogether marks one as a rebel, and this kind of person will have no need to acquire a blessing from the Lord as he may well be dead. Hasn’t the Bible said that he will be devoured by the sword? That could mean that he would be killed by his enemies, as using the sword was never meant to just wound. But let us be positive; willing and obedient and blessed.
6. Ephesians 6:1 “Children, do what your parents tell you. This is only right. ‘Honor
your father and mother’ is the first commandment that has a promise attached to it, namely, ‘so you will live well and have a long life.”’ MSG
It is so critical that we instruct and train our young ones to be obedient. In fact, if we neglect to do this we may be setting our next generation up for a difficult life and premature death. Real love for our children and understanding the gravity of how obed-ience will shape their future should be motivating all of us to take the time to teach them. Once they learn obedience to authorities in the family it will be easier for them to also obey God and the Scriptures. They also will be more prone to obey other delegated authorities and thereby position themselves to walk in the presence, protection, and blessings of the Lord. God does honor those who honor His will and His ways.
7. Ephesians 6:5-7 “ Servants, respectfully obey your earthly masters but always with
an eye to obeying the REAL MASTER, Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God.” MSG
Slaves are forced to obey, usually under the threat of punishment for failing to do so. Once we are born again into a new spiritual family we are to practice obedience to our earthly authorities with a respectful, godly attitude. This is because we have a different heart now. Serve with enthusiasm, as if you were actually serving Christ Himself. Don’t contend with those you are working for, or judge whether they deserve your respect, or if they are doing things right or wrong. Smile, and do even more than is expected of you.
8. 1 Kings 8:22-23 “ Before the entire congregation of Israel, Solomon took a position
before the Altar, spread his hands out before heaven, and prayed, ‘O God, God of Israel, there is no God like You in the skies above or on the earth below who unswervingly keeps covenant with His servants and relentlessly loves them as they sincerely live in obedience to Your way.’” MSG
There are three descriptive words here that bear looking at. Unswervingly means God never turns aside from the covenant He chose to make with us. He has bound Himself to that covenant. Relentlessly means that His love is passionate and continuous. There is no half-heartedness about that love. Sincerely means we need to be pure, honest, and genuine in our obedience to God and in the way we live for Him. He is not impressed by people who are hypocrites, those who fake their spirituality.
9. 1 Kings 9:4-5 “As for you, if you live in My presence as your father David lived, pure
in heart and action, living the life I’ve set for you, attentively obedient to My guid-ance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel, and make it a sure thing on a solid foundation. The same guarantee I gave David your father I’m giv-ing you: You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.” MSG
God is pretty impressed by attentive obedience. People are often lured into casual obe-dience. There is a critical difference. We cannot take God or His Word lightly. There is no place for laziness or slothfulness in our relationship with the Creator. It’s amazing how we are slack in our obedience to Him and yet fully expect Him to be most careful to answer our prayers and fulfill His promises to us. Even Solomon was warned to live in attentive obedience to God’s words. He ultimately failed, and he fell away from God.
10. Romans 6:16-18 “ Don’t you realize that you can choose your own master? You can
choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself – he will take you and be your master and you will be his slave. Thank God that though you once chose to be slaves of sin, now you have obeyed with all your heart the teaching to which God committed you. And now you are free from your old master, sin; and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness.” LB
I made a choice to follow God so I need to obey Him. That is how I will remain free from my old master, sin. If I play around with my old ways and my old friends I will soon be back in the quicksand of my old life too. There needs to be a separation from the past. My freedom depends on obedience, and my future is shaped by the same obedience.
11. Acts 5:28-29 “ Didn’t we tell you never again to preach about this Jesus?’ the High
Priest demanded. ‘And instead you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring the blame for this man’s death on us!’ But Peter and the apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” LB
When the commands of the Lord or the direct commands of the Scriptural principles are contrary to the demands of earthly authorities, we have to make a choice whom to obey. This is where we may put ourselves in peril with men, but this is also where the power of God will come into play to support us. God says that when we honor Him, He will honor us. The apostles of Christ continued to preach the Gospel as they were told to do. They were beaten for their faithfulness and obedience, and left that place rejoicing that they could suffer for their Jesus. Then they carried on preaching and teaching the Word.
12. Jeremiah 7:23-24 “ But what I told them was: ‘Obey Me and I will be your God and
you shall be My people; only do as I say and all shall be well! But they wouldn’t listen; they kept on doing whatever they wanted to, following their own stubborn, evil thoughts. They went backward instead of forward.’” LB
God was not looking primarily for offerings and sacrifices from His people whom He de-livered from Egypt by the hand of Moses. God wanted obedience from them. Since these former slaves only knew forced obedience as a life experience, they had a most difficult time to understand heart obedience motivated by trust in God. So they con-tinually and stubbornly did what they wanted to do; thinking this was freedom. It was only self-will. It was contrary to God’s will, and it kept them from making any headway with God or moving toward their promised land. They went backward. Don’t you do that.
13. 1 Corinthians 10:3-5 “ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the
world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish argu-ments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” NIV
One of the weapons God has given to the believer is obedience. Every time we obey the principle of Scripture or the Word coming to us from God in our spirit, we strike a powerful blow to the forces of darkness around us. I sometimes can’t understand why Christians aren’t constantly thrashing the devil simply by getting commands from the Lord to obey. We should be planning daily on how to do this. We should wake up each morning looking for an opportunity to engage God with our obedient acts.
14. 1 Samuel 15:22 “ Samuel replied, ‘Has the Lord as much pleasure in your burnt
offerings and sacrifices as in your obedience? Obedience is far better than sac-rifice. He is much more interested in your listening to Him than in your offering the fat of rams to Him. For rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stub-bornness is as bad as worshipping idols. And now because you have rejected the Word of Jehovah, He has rejected you from being king.’” LB
To disobey the Lord is a very serious offence. He calls it being stubborn, because we have heard Him and refuse to comply with His command. Then He takes it a step deep-er and calls it rebellion. That is the very sin Adam and Eve committed to cause the sin problem in the world. Rebellion is like witchcraft, or being controlled by evil spirits. I am going to practice obedience to the Lord so He will maintain my place in the Kingdom.
15. Romans 5:17 “ For if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that
one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Man, Jesus Christ.” NIV
The first Adam in the garden of Eden disobeyed God and put all of creation in a sin spin. What was so bad about eating a fruit from a certain tree? Surely that is not enough of a transgression to warrant a world full of sin. Maybe we still don’t grasp the gravity of disobeying Jehovah God. Disobedience to Him starts a landslide of death that comes in many forms, such as poverty, sickness, emotional volcanoes, fear, and lack of peace. But there is a way to stop the reign of death. His Name is Jesus. As we receive the gift of salvation from Him and begin to live in obedience to Him, life comes to us daily.
16. Romans 5:19 “ Adam caused many to be sinners because he disobeyed God, and
Christ caused many to be made acceptable to God because He obeyed.” LB
Adam definitely caused a world-wide catastrophe but we should not continue to wallow around in the sin-soaked world while blaming him for his rebellion against God. What about our own activity in the realm of disobedience? How often and how seriously do we ourselves disobey clear commands from the Bible. How many times a day do we have a questionable attitude towards people God created? Can we also shift the blame for our indiscretions on poor Adam? Well we don’t need to. We can accept the blame for our own sins and then ask the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, to forgive us as we repent to Him. He has already obeyed His Heavenly Father to pay for and carry our sins so that we could live in freedom and righteousness. Obedience is so powerful.
17. 1 Peter 1:14-16 “Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what
you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, ‘I am holy; you be holy.’” MSG
If we continue doing just what we want, we are sealing ourselves into a life character-ized by selfishness. We know better than to do that, but it is a lifestyle common to many believers who have never changed enough to conform to the will of God. Beginning with small acts of obedience to God, we begin to break the powers of selfishness over us. Then we continue with ever more difficult choices of obedience. Finally we develop a lifestyle of radical obedience by the power which the Holy Spirit gives us, and begin to see impossibilities happening. It is the power of a holy life; it is the God-life.
18. Numbers 27:18-20 “ So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in
whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him.’” NIV
As Moses was going to be removed from his leadership of the nation Israel soon, it required the appointment of another leader. God was not about to leave His people leaderless, and thereby have the congregation wandering from place to place. These people didn’t know how to obey God directly, so He found a man who had the “Spirit of God” and appointed him as the delegated authority. The people could more easily obey a man who represented God. Since obedience is an essential act for men to have any relationship with the Lord, He made a way for this to happen. God requires obedience!
19. Numbers 27:12-14 “Then the Lord said to Moses, Go up this mountain in the Abarim
Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, for when the com-munity rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed My com-mand to honor Me as holy before their eyes.”’ NIV
Moses was a very distinguished and successful leader under the command of the Lord for forty years. Surely this would have qualified him for a break, or at least a little len-iency with God. But when it comes to representing God to people you have significant influence with, there is a very high expectancy from Him. Moses himself was careless about obeying God when he was told to speak to the rock to produce water. He struck this rock, an act of his own will, and an act of direct disobedience to God. Num 20:7-12.
20. Deuteronomy 28:1-2 “ Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of
the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:”
This sounds like a success story waiting to happen to me. Yet it is conditional. First of all, I need to make sure that God is really my God, not just someone else’s God. Then there is that emphasis on diligently obeying His voice. On top of that I need to careful-ly follow all of the commands He gives to me. It is well worth making a sincere effort to obey the Lord to be able to claim all the conditional promises listed in the next ten ver-ses. It is God’s way to bless us. I anticipate those blessings overtaking me everywhere!!
21. Joshua 24:23-24 “Now then, said Joshua, throw away the foreign gods that are
among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel. And the people said to Joshua, ‘We will serve the Lord God and obey Him.’” NIV
Joshua had been a very successful leader of Israel since the day he was inaugurated by Moses to take the nation into Canaan to possess this “Land of Promise.” They all had seen the power of God working on their behalf in overcoming their enemies. They had witnessed the blessing of God pouring out on their families. Their experience with the Lord was very positive whenever their obedience was active. We note, however, in reading through the book of Judges, that these same people ran into trouble repeatedly. Why? Because they compromised on their word. They had told Joshua they would serve the Lord and obey Him. When they failed to obey they were soon oppressed.
22. 1 Chronicles 29:23-24 “ Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead
of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. All the leaders and the mighty men, and also all the sons of King David, submitted themselves to King Solomon.”
We see in this passage that the people of the nation Israel obeyed Solomon and that there was a prosperity that came because of this. The king prospered, and therefore the people received the benefits too. The leaders and mighty men submitted to their king. Note how there is a connection between submission and obedience. Sometimes we attempt to obey without submission. Even slaves can do that, but how often do slaves really live in prosperity. They most often have an attitude problem. Let’s look at reality. We need to have a submissive attitude followed by accurate obedience to prosper.
23. Proverbs 5:11-14 “ At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body
are spent, You will say, ‘how I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly.’’’ NIV
The Bible is addressing the issue of living a moral life. God has a way of providing help for us to live a godly lifestyle that would honor Himself. He gives us teachers, such as our parents, to get us on the safe pathway through life. They are to guide and discipline us on the way to maturity. He also provides other instructors like school teachers and spiritual leaders to shape our lives. When we respond correctly to the disciplines neces-sary to walk with God, there should be very few regrets to live with later on. How sad for a person to want to live for God and come to ruin in the church for failing to obey.
24. Jeremiah 17:21-23 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Take heed to yourselves, and bear no bur-
den on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; nor carry a bur-den out of your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sab-bath day, as I commanded your fathers.’ But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.”
Does the lack of respect for the Lord’s day really affect our walk with God and the building of His kingdom today? Of course it does. We are so addicted to doing what is right in our own eyes that we don’t even want to discuss what it is that the Lord expects from us. If we continue to read verses 26 and 27 of this chapter we can see that our country and cities are ravaged and our reaching out to people with the Gospel can be greatly affected because we refuse to obey God by keeping a special day for Him.
25. Daniel 9:10-11 “ We have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws He gave us
through His servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey You. Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.” NIV
Sometimes it seems like we see the word “obey” as a nasty, controlling word. In truth, it
is the seed of all kinds of blessings and benefits for our lives. Disobey is the nasty word. It is the seed of trouble. It is called sin. Disobedience is often the result of rebellion against authority. This is something that God will challenge. He will not overlook, nor will He ignore this sin. It is so much better for any and all of us to learn obedience to the will of the Lord so we will flow with Him and never be found fighting against Him.
26. Hebrews 11:8 “ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later
receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” NIV
Abraham received a great inheritance from God because he exercised his faith to obey God. He did not know the specifics of where God was taking him, but he trusted the Word of the Lord enough to get moving in the right direction. Sometime we may be missing out on a great plan God has for us because we are too afraid or cautious to step out on the small things that are open to us. If we will obey the smallest command to serve there may be a reward waiting. It will probably be a more difficult task of serving. This is the way we are trained to practice our faith as well as develop a habit of obeying God in all things. There are many exciting things ahead for those who will obey God.
27. Galatians 5:7-8 “You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you
from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the One who calls you. A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” NIV
Our enemy, Satan, is always trying to interfere with us to hold us back from obedience to Christ. God has called us into freedom through our obedience and the Prince of Dark-ness is working on us constantly to bind us up by manipulating us to disobey the Lord. Just one person in our circle of acquaintances who is left unchecked can be used as an instrument to infect all the others. Let us be aware of the danger of neglecting to deal with such a bad seed. Take a stand for obedience to the Word of God. Let those around you know that you are committed to righteousness. Be a person that will not compro-mise your faith. Use your influence to help others follow God passionately.
28. Acts 7:39 “ But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in
their hearts turned back to Egypt.” NIV
Moses was obedient to lead the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt. God gave Moses the
living Word to pass on to the people. They didn’t want to hear that Word so they reject-ed what Moses said. In doing this they rejected God Himself. Their hearts became hardened and they turned back to the ways of slavery they came from. They rebelled against authority. They demanded a false god to be made. Aaron was too weak to stop them so he joined them and even made a golden calf to pacify them. Their disobe-dience cost them a great inheritance in the land flowing with milk and honey. All that generation who would not obey died in the wilderness, and their children received the promise of God instead. Let us be obedient so we receive all that God has for us.
29. Luke 8:24-25 “ And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we
are perishing!’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ and they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!’”
Jesus has the disciples set up in this Bible account to receive the revelation of the power of faith and obedience. He had said that they were going over to the other side of the lake, but they apparently forgot His Words. Sometimes when a storm arises in our lives we forget what Jesus has said to us. This is when our faith in Jesus should keep us calm and we simply continue to obey whatever He has told us. Faith will give us the courage to obey and obedience will be the proof that we believe what He has said.
30. Titus 3:1-2 “ Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedi-
ent, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.” NIV
Obedience is really a condition of the heart. Once we have learned that element of god-liness, it is no longer difficult to obey in most circumstances. If we look at the charac-teristics of love we can see that obedience will easily work together in partnership with love. Our love for God will turn into obedience to God. Every time we obey the Lord we again prove our love for Him. When our hearts are in tune with God we will be ever so ready to do what is right. Obedience to authorities and rulers will not be a chore. Speaking right words will come naturally, and having a positive attitude towards people will be our nature. Why? Because that is what God desires and we want to obey Him!