"But Lord," Gideon replied, "How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family! ” The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Judges 6:15-16
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Gideon did not know that he had what it takes to save an entire nation but God granted him strength and with God’s favor, he was able to accomplish the impossible. Gideon obeys God’s word. The Bible reports extraordinary accomplishments of ordinary men who obeyed the Lord. Because Moses was obedient to God's calling, he went back to Egypt, and eventually free the Israelites and led them out of slavery. And now so many years had gone by we are still talking about Moses. Abraham obeyed God. He was willing to sacrifice the son that born in his old age and God rewarded him greatly. Obedience to God won the battle of Jericho. Obedience to God is the key to breaking down our walls and obedience is an expression of our love toward God. Jesus says, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching" (Jn. 14:15, 23, 24 "This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome…" (1 Jn. 5:3
"So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thess. 2:15)
"What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 1:13).
Clearly obedience and submission are of extreme importance to God. In fact, obedience is mandatory It is not a suggestion but a command. In the old days people who disobeyed God were harshly punished. We seem to have a nonchalant attitude when it comes to obedience nowadays due to the fact we are living in covenant of Grace; but friend, you and I must take God command seriously. First we obey God because we love him and because we know He has our best interests at heart. You and I must understand that God established those commandments in His Word to guide lead us the right way and to keep us from experiencing hurt and suffering because He knows the consequences of disobedience and when we hurts he hurts because he loves so dearly. But also there are great benefits attached to obedience: starting with salvation and eternal life (jn 5:24) as well as other blessings such as: financial prosperity (Dt. 28:11). Success (Joshua 1:8; and long life (Dt. 4:40; 5:33; Prov. 10:27) to just mentioned a few.
Dear friend, let us take God seriously. Let’s not take his grace for granted. Let us decide to embrace all of God’s commands and not only those we are comfortable with or those that are easy to keep. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us keep those we struggle with and we know that whatever we ask in prayer will be done. Amen? Amen! Don’t hang out with people who can influence you to disobey God. Hang out with other believers. Make your relationship with God your priority. One of the things that I learned from God dealing with me in that area is that whatever I gave up for God He gave it back to me with interests. He replaced toxic relationships with healthy, rewarding and mutually fulfilling ones. Most of the time it wasn’t easy. I came out of some relationships kicking and screaming. I just did not want to walk away but again and again God showed me His faithfulness and His love and it those painful decisions were always proven to be right. Friend, no sacrifice should be too great. If God can send His son to die for our salvation then giving up a few relationships shouldn’t be a struggle. Like Gideon, God will strengthen us and we will handle the transition victoriously. Let us show God how much we love Him by obeying Him and submitting to his will.
Let us pray: Father how grateful I am for your love and your grace. I realize that I really don’t deserve anything and yet you keep blessing me. Just this morning you woke me up again. Thank you father for who you are. Thank you for continuing to work in me. Thank you for this word today. Don’t let it depart from me. Father “I” want to obey you. “I” want to follow all of your rules. Please help me stand firm in my walk with you and if I stumble, help me get back quickly Father for you know my heart. My desire is to please you and to honor you with soul, body and spirit. I praise you Father God. I submit to you. I honor your name for only you are worthy. Only you are holy and only you are God.
Praise the Lord!
