Blessings In Obedience

Reading Time: 4 mins. 42 Secs.

Scripture Readings:

Deuteronomy 30:1-10; Joshua 1:1-9.

Read Next Devotional: The Plan

Day 10: Published on December 6, 2016

Have you been listening to the voice of the Lord? Are you making a conscious effort to listen to His instructions, daily? If your answer is no to any one of these questions, just know…your blessings may be hindered.

Being a believer of Christ takes work!

When I first became a Christ follower I didn’t really follow Him. I felt being a Christian entailed believing in your heart that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and that He rose again. See, this is what I was told what living for Christ looked like. I was so ignorant to having an actual functioning relationship with Him.

As a born-again believer, relationship with Jesus is required. And, just as any good relationship there are things that must be done in order to keep the relationship going strong. Besides love, the next crucial thing one must do to keep a strong bond is to spend time with one another.

As we spend time with the Lord we are learning more and more about Him. Isn’t that what happens as we do this in relationships with our friends and family? The bond in the relationship should grow that much stronger.

As we grow closer to the Lord our obedience to Him should be easier to do. God is not some task master bossing you around asking you to obey or else! But, we must understand that there are consequences that may come behind our disobedience.

The Lord is there to guide us on this journey of life. He adores us so much that there are some things He may warn us about before we do them in order to not bring bad consequences on ourselves. He is so loving in this way!

As we walk with the Lord daily and follow His instruction to us, we become a blessed people. But, it takes work to follow Him! You must first build a relationship so that your obedience to Him would become that much easier to do.

I remember a time in my life where it seemed as if almost everything was seeming to go wrong. I felt cursed! Some of the friends around me felt like I was, too! One by one, I began to lose friendship after another. I couldn’t understand why my life was this way. I was losing so much.

After my husband lost his job, my family and I didn’t have a stable place to live, so we were having to move from place to place. I felt as if we were vagabonds because we needed help and no one wanted to give it! I had to swallow my pride in a lot of areas.

I can remember times getting so bad for us one time, we slept in a U-Haul overnight with our whole house packed inside of it because we had nowhere to live! It was a nightmare!

This is when the Lord began to show me that He was drawing me nigh. He had a work for me to do and He wanted me to draw closer to Him, to be obedient to Him. He wanted to use me for His kingdom, but it was going to take some work.

He also explained that my obedience to Him would bring blessings upon my household. He told me that if I obey, he would bless every work my hands saw fit to do. This blew my mind! I figured I couldn’t be hearing from the Lord. I thought that deep down inside my subconscious, this is what I really wished would happen.

But I was soon to find out, it was really Him speaking. Once my spirit began to say yes by way of my actions, things began to completely turn around for us. My husband was now working and the job he had was paying way below what we needed to take care of a family of 6 (husband, wife, and 4 children).

The Lord began to open doors that blessed my household to have way more than we needed, even in midst of a low-paying job! He was not lying when He said He would bless us. He was able to go way beyond what I thought He had in mind. And, this was because my husband began to walk in this same obedience!

Later, when I was in my study of God’s word, the Lord began to show me scripture that confirmed what He said to me before. It states in Deuteronomy 30:9-10 “The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul”.

The Lord has brought us out in more ways than one. And, I am here to tell you that your obedience will bring forth blessings that are able to bless you, your family, and others around you! For there are blessings in obedience!

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for the blessings you provide even when I am not obedient. But, I want to walk in your favor where everything my hands find to do will be blessed. I pray that you would continue to strengthen me in my relationship with you so that obedience would come easily for me to do. Lord, I pray for blessings to follow me so that the people who are around me would be blessed, too. Thank you, Lord. In your name, I pray. Amen!

Quiet time meditation: Wait for the Lord to minister to you personally on what He may want to say to you. Be sure to pay attention to any areas that may pop up in your spirit (even silly things such as: how quick you may be to get angry with things or a friend or family member who has been bugging you with their problems.) This process could take anywhere from 10-30 minutes or longer. But, try not to rush this because you could be missing out on a great breakthrough. Within this quiet time the Lord wants to restore you in any broken areas and he wants to replenish your spirit for what has been used up.

Understanding what He means: This is a time to jot down some of those things the Lord has ministered to you while in meditation. Sometimes, the Lord may wait to speak to you throughout the day. Pay attention and jot these things down so that you won’t forget. You may even come up with more scriptures that may come to mind.