| “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.” – Jeremiah 7:23 |
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| Trust and Obey Our wonderful, loving, great, and glorious God looks for His people to OBEY! It is a theme spoken over and over. The first time we see God’s call to obey Him is in Exodus as from Exodus 19:5 we read “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.” Throughout Deuteronomy, one will read of the calls to OBEY God. Here are but a few examples: Deut. 12:28 “Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do [what is] good and right in the sight of the LORD your God. Deut. 13:4 “You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. Deut. 15:5 “Only if you carefully obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. Obedience opens doors of blessings while disobedience brings burdens accompanied by heartache and pain which sometimes comes from the discipline of God, but more often from the very consequences of the sin. When it comes to how much God VALUES obedience, we only have to read what Samuel said to King Saul in I Samuel 15:22. It reads, “Then Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,..” OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICE. Our God also wants us to walk in His ways. We are not to walk the ways of the world or surely not in the selfish ways of our own hearts. To walk in His ways is to WALK WITH HIM and to WALK LIKE HIM! Are you obeying His commands? Are you walking in the ways of God? Sometimes as I read a verse a song comes to mind and with Jeremiah 7:23 I can’t help but think of Trust and Obey. Here is a portion of that hymn: When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still And with all who will trust and obey! Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet Or we’ll walk by His side in the way What He says we will do, where He sends we will go Never fear, only trust and obey! Trust and obey, for there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey! Verse to DATE the Word on July 23 (7/23) is Jeremiah 7:23. It says, “But this is what I commanded them, saying, ‘Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you.” Obedience opens doors of BLESSINGS! Disobedience brings burdens! Continue Strong trusting and OBEYING GOD, And remember to DATE the Word |