Word Study For Today: The Book of Isaiah 45: 1-13.
Devotion: OBEDIENCE, KEY TO FULFILLMENT.
Texts: Leviticus 26:2-12. | 2 Chronicles 27:1-9. | Ezekiel 20:4-26.
If we dare to choose the path of Obedience, our God cannot but Fulfill His original intent for our lives. God’s promises/plans are fulfilled when He smells the aroma of Obedience. >“If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do.”[Deuteronomy 28:9NLT]▪️
God is so much after our Obedience. God is uninterested in recalcitrance. No wonder >1 Samuel 15:22(NLT) records that==>“…Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”▪️
It is God’s voice cooing this day >3)“Keep the charge of the LORD your God, [that is, fulfill your obligation to] walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, 4)so that you may succeed in everything that you do and wherever you turn, so that the LORD may fulfill His promise concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful regarding their way [of life], to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and mind and with all their soul, you shall not fail to have a man (descendant) on the throne of Israel.’” [1 Kings 2:3-4 AMP]▪️
Obedience is keeping the charge (instruction,commandment) of the Lord our God. Obeying Him on all fronts. With God, there is always a conditionality to accessing whatever He has promised.
In most cases, God will not just allow ‘free plucking’; despite the introduction of grace, as manifested through our Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved, there’s still what to do before the promises as promised by God is fulfilled. That Christ came to the scene with the plate of grace does not abolish God’s unwavering stand for Obedience. To obey will always be ace to God, hence better by far than sacrifice. God cannot be bribed into doing things for us. >“For the Lord your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords. He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.”[Deuteronomy 10:17NLT]▪️
Wow! He can’t be cajoled into fulfilling His promises [or His part of the covenant], when you haven’t obeyed His terms. There’s a doing for man, a positioning, a yieldedness, that He looks out for, which when in place, He doesn’t hold back on His own release. >Leviticus 26:3, 9-10 NLT)says==> 3)“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 9)“I will look favorably upon you, making you fertile and multiplying your people. And I will fulfill my covenant with you. 10)You will have such a surplus of crops that you will need to clear out the old grain to make room for the new harvest!”▪️ You dare follow His decrees, obey His commands? Then, it is His good pleasure to ‘make you’. He fulfills His covenant with you, once you align in Obedience to His instructions. He truly looks favourably on you.
>“The word of GOD came to Solomon saying, “About this Temple you are building—what’s important is that you live the way I’ve set out for you and do what I tell you, following my instructions carefully and obediently. Then I’ll complete in you the promise I made to David your father. I’ll personally take up my residence among the Israelites—I won’t desert my people Israel.”[1 Kings 6:11-13MSG]▪️
Truthfully without any gainsaying >“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. You kept your word to David my father, your personal word. You did exactly what you promised—every detail. The proof is before us today! Keep it up, GOD, O God of Israel! Continue to keep the promises you made to David my father when you said, “You’ll always have a descendant to represent my rule on Israel’s throne, on the condition that your sons are as careful to live obediently in my presence as you have.”[1 Kings 8:23-25MSG]▪️
He keeps His covenant with those who sincerely live in Obedience to Him. He will do with such persons exactly as He has promised. God is not known to lie, He doesn’t change the ‘boundary lines’; what He says He will do, that exactly will He do for those who walk the path of Obedience. He Fulfills His promise to every detail. The bottom line is > OBEDIENCE IS KEY TO FULFILLMENT.
Daniel affirms in prayer >“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.”[Daniel 9:4NLT]▪️
Why should you choose the path of disobedience? Why should we allow God to rain His fury on us [as He does on those who live in disobedience to Him]? The scripture makes it so clear, Obedience would give us life [yes, Life! – real living as God had ordained; a Fulfillment of His original intent for us]. >“But the people of Israel rebelled against me, and they refused to obey my decrees there in the wilderness. They wouldn’t obey my regulations even though obedience would have given them life. They also violated my Sabbath days. So I threatened to pour out my fury on them, and I made plans to utterly consume them in the wilderness.[Ezekiel 20:13 NLT]▪️Oh Wow! Obedience will give life! No wonder >King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the Lord his God.[2 Chronicles 27:6 NLT]▪️ Jotham the king, from his tender age knew that OBEDIENCE IS KEY TO FULFILLMENT.
We need to be expressly careful of falling into and walking in the permissive will of God. Beloved, that things seems okay for you now [having your destiny wheels still rolling], doesn’t particularly mean you are walking in Obedience to God. It’s scary; honestly, really really scary to have God allow one to walk in foolishness. When He sometimes allows us do as we please, we assume it’s because it’s okay with Him. Oh, not at all. The Bible says in >Ezekiel 20:25-26 NLT)==>“I gave them over to worthless decrees and regulations that would not lead to life. I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind them that I alone am the Lord.”▪️
He alone is God. His Will and nothing else alone, leads to life. Disobedience provokes God to leave us to ourselves; leading a worthless life [which many seldom know]. STOP! CHECK! NOW!
If Jesus had to learn Obedience, then who else can escape obeying God without facing the music? >“Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.”[Hebrews 5:8-9 NLT]▪️
His Obedience was the key to His seat of the incontestable High Priest. He became our Role model.
God is saying >“Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands! If they did, they and their descendants would prosper forever.”[Deuteronomy 5:29NLT]▪️
Beloved, >Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.”[Deuteronomy 10:13-16 NLT]▪️
>Psalms 128:1-2(TPT)==>“How joyous are those who love the Lord and bow low before God, ready to obey him! Your reward will be prosperity, happiness, and well-being.”▪️
Make up your mind now that for you, OBEDIENCE IS KEY TO FULFILLMENT.
Prayer Action:
-Bow down and Worship the Lord Almighty.
-Speak in the language of the Spirit of the Faithful God.
-Pray with all determination for that grace to live in true and full Obedience to God’s instruction always.
-Pray against walking/working in the permissive Will of God, which leads to devastation.
-Pray over your life fervently > Philippians 2:13(AMP)==> “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.”▪️
-Ask now for Fulfillment of God’s promises and intent over your life, as you Obey Him.
- TO OBEY IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE.
