OUR LOVE FOR GOD IS WHAT DETERMINES THE EFFECT OF OUR OBEDIENCE.
WHEN YOUR HEART IS PERFECTED BY LOVE, YOUR ACCESS IS PERFECTED TO GOD.
OUR BREAKTHROUGH IS TRACEABLE TO OUR OBEDIENCE; THE BLESSING IS NOT IN KNOWING OR IN WRITING; THE BLESSING IS IN DOING.
- Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr on ‘UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF OBEDIENCE PART 2’ at June 2022 Spiritual Week of Emphasis, Day 2 || Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland Ota.
Hallelujah!
Let’s lift our hands to Heaven tonight and give glory to God, appreciating Him for the privilege of being in His presence again tonight, on this second day of this week of Spiritual Week of Emphasis; after two days, He said, He will revive us. Thank Him for the privilege of being in His presence, for a reviving experience by His Word.
Lift your voice and give thanks to Him, appreciate Him from the depth of your heart. Father, thank You, blessed be Your Holy name; You are worthy of all the praise, You are worthy of all the glory, You are worthy of all the honour, You are worthy of all the adoration.
Thank Him also for all the answers He has given to your prayers tonight, give Him the praise. Father, we say thank You, blessed be Your Holy name.
Ask Him to speak to you tonight: Lord, I have come here tonight for an encounter with Your life changing Word. I have come here with an encounter with Your Word, blessed be Your Holy name, in Jesus precious name we have given thanks.
Father, tonight we thank You for the privilege of being in Your presence. Thank You for the answers You have given to all of our prayers and tonight, we are set for Your Word. By Your Word, let everyone of us be transformed. We give all the praise and all the glory to You, in Jesus precious name we have prayed.
Our prophetic focus for the month as we heard yesterday is Word Practice Secures Profitable Living and we began looking at this subject in our Week of Spiritual Emphasis, the day one yesterday;
‘UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF OBEDIENCE’ and we are going to be going further tonight and I believe that the Spirit of God will grant us light in the name of Jesus Christ.
It is important that we begin by recognizing from God’s Word that, every Word of scripture is ordained for the profiting of the redeemed (2 Timothy 3:16). But the profiting of the Word is only accessible by the channel of obedience of faith (Hebrews 4:2) and the only faith that produces is the faith that is backed by action (James 2:18, 26). Church Gist. So, the profiting of every Word is at the instance of obedience of faith; it is acting out scriptural instructions in faith that provokes the virtues of the Word to deliver on our behalf (John 2:5). It is taking steps in faith that causes the virtues of the Word to deliver on our behalf. That is why the Word of God makes it clear that being a Word hearer and not a Word doer is self deceit (James 1:22). It is engaging with the Word that provokes the Word to deliver on our behalf (James 1:25).
So, the blessing is not in knowing, the blessing is not in writing; the blessing is in doing. Our obedience is what triggers the content of the Word to deliver on our behalf and that is why you discover that, obedience can be set to be the gateway to a world of breakthroughs. In Luke 5, Jesus came across Peter in his most frustrated state and gave him a simple instruction; “Launch out to the deep and cast your net for a draught.” And the Bible says that, Peter said, we have toiled all night, we have caught nothing. Nevertheless, at Your Word, we will go and they went and the Bible says, they caught a net breaking, boat sinking order of breakthrough by obedience to a simple instruction.
So, the pathway to breakthrough is obedience. It is following God’s instructions that positions man for supernatural breakthrough (Isaiah 45:1-3). But what is the trigger point for this breakthrough?
The Word of God makes it very clear; he shall let go my captive and he will do it not for price, nor for reward. He will engage obeying what I command him and the result of it will be breakthrough on every side. Church Gist. So, our breakthrough is traceable to our obedience. It is also important that we recognize that where obedience is exhibited, God’s presence is manifested (John 14:21). So, the manifestation of God is the aftermath of the exhibition of our obedience. It is our obedience to God that secures the manifestations of God on our behalf.
We look at the example of Jesus in John 8:29, He said, “He that sent me is with me: my Father hath not left me; My Father has not left me alone because I do always the things that please Him. It is what I am doing that is allowing Him to continuously remain with me. My obedience to His instruction is the secret to my access to His company.” So, it is important for us to understand that if we are going to see God manifested in our lives, manifested in our midst, then it will be a product of our obedience. Obedience is the key.
We look at the example of Jesus; He is the Author and the Finisher of our faith and the Word of God tells us in the book of Philippians 2:5-11: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…” His authority was a product of His obedience. It means that if you and I are going to see unquestionable authority, as God has ordained for us, then it will be traceable to our own obedience. Church Gist. But it is important that we note that, the obedience that works must have specific characteristics. So, what kind of obedience works?
This evening we are going to look at two of them in particular:
1). Love motivated obedience (1 Corinthians 13:1-8). So, the profiting of our obedience is tied to our love. Our love for God is what determines the effect of our obedience. Every man’s heart is what determines each man’s path. God is first interested in your heart. He said, “My son, give me your heart.” (Proverbs 23:26).
The obedience that will matter to God is the obedience that is motivated by love. Where love is the motivator, obedience will always provoke result. Our love for God is the critical factor (2 Corinthians 5:14). The love of Christ, that is what God expects of you and of me, that our love for Him will begin to propel our action in obedience. We are obeying Him as motivated by love. Church Gist. That is what causes our obedience to provoke result (2 Chronicles 16:9, Jeremiah 17:10). So, God responds to our heart for Him. That is why we are told that, God is a God of knowledge (1 Samuel 2:3), by Him actions are weighed. So, our actions carry weight on the basis of our motivation and that motivation, when it is love that motivates, then that action carries weight before God.
You must understand therefore that, the love factor is a vital factor in determining the outcome of our obedience. Why are you doing that which you are doing? What is the motivation to your action? Are you taking steps because you love God, are you taking steps because you are after the heart of God? That is the difference maker. The secret of David in scriptures was traceable to one thing and that is his heart for God (1 Samuel 13:14). A man after God’s own heart, a man whose desire is simply to please God, a man who is in pursuit of what God loves. That is what set David apart. He didn’t say, I have found a great commander, organizer, a mighty man of valour; “I have gone to look for a man after my own heart.” Whatever it is that you are not, God can make you as long as you have the heart for Him. David came with a heart and God made him into what he desired of Him.
Every other thing you saw out of David was the product of the help of God (Psalm 89:19-23). It is important for us to understand that our heart for God is the ultimate motivator that causes our obedience to produce results and that is why you discover that, when a man has a heart for God, he doesn’t lack in the pursuit of God. Church Gist. The question when you see somebody who is no longer pursuing God is a question of the heart. When our heart for God is intact, our pursuit of God will be continuous. You will see that our pursuit of God will remain a perpetual thing (1 John 5:3). When you are a lover of God, you are never offended by any commandment of God; you are excited by it.
Every time God commands, you are excited by it. It is one of the evidences of the genuine posture of our heart for God. Looking again at the example of David, you will find a man that was excited about everything that concern God (Psalm 122:1). You ask how many times did David go to the house of God? The Bible says, three times, he went to pray a day and praise seven times a day (Psalm 55:17, Psalm 119:164). Three plus seven, equals ten a day in twenty four hours. He would do many other things inside the day but anytime they say, “Let us go into the house of the Lord,” he was excited. That is why you discover that genuine lovers of God, they don’t struggle to obey God. What God commands is what they desire. Every commandment of God motivates them into action. That is one of the vital attributes of a lover of God and it is this kind of obedience that God is seeking after.
When your heart is perfected by love, your access is perfected to God. God will always be on the lookout. There are those who are looking for God and there are those God is looking for; those whose heart is after Him, He is looking for them (2 Chronicles 16:9) and anyone God is looking for, He will find them. Church Gist. So, you must understand that for you and I, our heart for God is the critical factor in determining the result of our obedience.
- I pray today that by the encounter we are having in His presence tonight, God will give to each one of us, a new heart!
- A heart that is loaded with the love of God, God will give to each one of us a new heart.
You will discover that, that is usually the starting point of God with any individual. When Saul encountered Samuel, the first thing that happened to him is in 1 Samuel 10, God gave him a new heart. It will start with our heart (Proverbs 23:26). Your heart in love and passion and when that is given to Him, He makes great things out of you.
- I see God making greatness out of each one of us in the name of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:9
Those who are lovers of God are living wonders on the earth. As they obey every instruction, wonder is the result. You find the wonders of God following after them (Romans 8:29). Everything just working on their behalf, nothing is permitted to work against them because their love for God is intact.
- Today I see the fire of God’s love being rekindled afresh in each one of our hearts!
#PastorDavidOyedepoJnr
#LFCWorldwide
#MorethanAConqueror
#SpiritualWeekofEmphasisDay2
#Thursday2ndJune2022
#ChurchGist
Join any of our Telegram Channels.
t.me/ChurchGist
t.me/CGWitness
