Do these and be blessed

God demands obedience in all His walk with man. Whosoever or whatsoever you are, as long as you are walking with God, not minding your social status, God wants you to obey Him. Obedience to God entails you run away from sin and obey every instruction from Him. Disobedience to any of God’s instruction comes with terrible consequence. Remember King Saul, God appointed as the king of Israel, but as soon as he disobeyed God, God dethroned him.

I Sam.15v22-23, 26 say: “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offering and sacrifice, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.23: For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity, because thou hastrejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king. 26: And Samuel said unto Saul, l will not return with thee, for thou hath rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.”

The above verses describe how King Saul was rejected because of the sin of disobedience. In what ways are you disobeying God? You have ample opportunity to make amends now, if God can dethrone king Saul, what about you? You cannot be disobeying God and at the same time be expecting blessings from him, so, be careful not to draw down the wrath of God upon your life through obedience.

The blessings of God come upon a man that obeys him and keeps his commandments. Abraham is a good case study here. Gen.12v 1-3 says: “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that l will show thee. 2: And l will make thee a great nation and l will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. …4: So, Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him…”

Abraham’s obedience is a perfect example of obedience and righteousness. God told him to move and he moved without knowing where he was going to, but because he believed that God who called him is able to fulfill what he has promised, he obeyed immediately without looking back. Abraham’s obedience is what God expects us to emulate.

In our lead scripture above, God in His mercy and magnanimity counseled the Israelites to make sure that they obey the angel He sent before them and make sure that they did not provoke him, in other words, God is by that instruction telling us to obey Him in all things. The Israel of the Bible is a replica of people of the world. Rebellion, stubbornness, and recalcitrance are the stuck in trade of the people of this world.

Man is so stubborn that he is always challenging God, his creator. Today, so many people act in disobedience to the instruction of God. Many nations are advocating same sex marriage, some men turn themselves into females, God saw all this wickedness and regretted creating man, Gen 6v5-6says: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6: And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart.”

See the way God is regretting for creating man because of man’s disobedience, if not for the mercy of God, he would have wiped out the whole human race because the whole world is full of wickedness. The Psalmist says: “If God is to mark iniquity, who shall stand?”

Remember, our topic today says: ‘Do These And Be Blessed.’ What are the things that you are to do to be blessed? Firstly, you are to receive Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and savior. He is the only way, the truth and life, no man comes to the father except through him. Through the blood he shed on the Cross of Calvary, we have redemption. For without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. After salvation, the next thing is sanctification, which is the same as inner purity, Matt5v8 says: “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” You need to cleanse your heart from pollution and contamination of this world. At this stage, your heart should be filled with the meditation of the word of God, for the book of Thessalonians says, “this is the will of God, even your sanctification…”

After sanctification, the next on the line is Holy Ghost baptism, Acts 1v8 says: “And you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” The Holy Ghost is the personality that empowers you to do the things of God. Without the Holy Ghost, there is no power.Note, it was when the Holy Ghost came upon the apostles that they were empowered and spoke the word of God with boldness. The boldness and power cannot come without the Holy Ghost. So, every child of God needs the Holy Ghost. However, the Holy Ghost cannot come upon a dirty or polluted heart that is why you must sanctify your heart.

After Holy Ghost baptism, the next thing to ask for, is the fruit of the spirit, according to Gal 5:22. Then, you can begin to preach the gospel, according to Mk 16v15-17. These are the things you will be doing to attract God’s blessing and also for Him to fight your battle.

Moreover, remember you must make prayer your lifestyle because Lk 18v1 says, ”men ought always to pray and not to faint. ” 1Thesa 5v17 says: “Pray without ceasing,” so prayer is necessary for everything in this life, especially as we cannot see God. The only way to communicate with Him is through prayers. Pray ceaselessly, through prayers, you conquer your world and free yourself, family, career and everything concerning you from the hands of the enemies and wicked ones. As you do these things, God will continue to bless you.

As I conclude this message, let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter according to Eccl. 12v13-14: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14: For God will bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil.”