EXTRAVAGANT WORSHIP (part1b)

June 09, 2007- June 16, 2007

CHAPTER 03:   ENERGETIC COMMITMENT

Psalm 119:33-35

 ³³ Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;     and I will keep it to the end.^[a]
34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
   and observe it with my whole heart.
³⁵ Lead me in the path of your commandments,
   for I delight in it.
³⁴ Give me understanding, that I may keep your law     and observe it with my whole heart. ³⁵ Lead me in the path of your commandments,     for I delight in it.

OBEDIENCE is a word in the Bible many Christians would like to ignore, but Abraham was committed to obeying God. Abraham was filled with inspired zeal to so anything and everything God asked him to do, even when God asked him to offer his beloved son as a sacrifice. Abraham’s readiness was evident  because after he had heard from God, he rose early the very next morning to begin his pilgrimage of obedience.

Genesis 22:1-19

The Sacrifice of Isaac

 ¹ After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ² He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” ³ So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. ⁵ Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy^[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.” ⁶And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. ⁷ And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” ⁸ Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
 ⁹ When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹² He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”;^[b] as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”^[c] 15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven ¹⁶ and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his^[d] enemies, ¹⁸ and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.

Because Abraham was obedient, God opened up His storehouse of blessing upon His servant. Isn’t it awesome that God is willing to bless all of the nations of the earth because of one man’s obedience? What might God do with out obedience?

OBEDIENCE – Submission – habitual yielding to authority

-       Yield – requires obedience

We are to decide to obey and then commit to authority when everything is lively, but submission is not submission until we don’t agree with what we have been asked to do. Until we obey even when we disagree, we have never submitted at all. We were in agreement, but we weren’t in a submission.

Why are people so afraid to obey – to commit – to submit- and habitually yield to authority?

OBEDIENCE requires a response of TRUST and a COMMITMENT to that response.

OBEDIENCE requires an actual follow through, and people are not great at finishing what they begin. People generally are all great starters because everyone likes quick, instantaneous provision and change. But most people moan if they have to wait seconds larger than normal at the drive-thru! Everyone wants immediate results, few people are prepared to wait. But GOD IS A BUILDER NOT A MAGICIAN. He is a BUILDER OF LIFE, and the finest buildings always take time.

Life’s journey will always include a few valleys, but If you don’t give up trusting God, you will enjoy great victory on the other scale of the valley . God has plans for you that are way beyond anything you could ever ask or think. God promises to work all things together for your good, but often we are not willing to endure and obey Him while we wait for results. We are willing to respond, but often were not willing to put the commitment into that response that would allow us to enjoy the final victory.

We fail because we try to obey God in our own power. We were never called to live this supernatural life by natural means. We were created to a godly life, through the infilling power of the Holy Spirit. God’s Word says

Zechariah 4:6

⁶  Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

When we receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. We receive His Holy Spirit to dwell in us and give us the power to be witnesses of His glory. Salvation requires us to live a life of purpose through the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why we adapt Paul’s prayer from

Ephesians 3:16-19

¹⁶ that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
 

In the Old Testament, people obeyed because it meant death if they didn’t, so obedience was a fairly good option. But in this new life in Christ, under a new covenant; obedience is an issue of the heart. Obeying God is not a fact-based decision- it is a FAITH-BASED decision.

We can obey the Lord because He requires it, regardless of what we see. But it s best to obey because WE TRUST GOD. Trust does not observe obedience through the eyes of man but by seeing God’s instruction through the eyes of the Spirit.

THE BEST PROOF OF YOUR LOVE FOR THE LORD IS OBEDIENCE. NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS, NOTHING ELSE.

-       Charles Swindoll

Obedience is not for the faint hearted, obedience is for the warriors. Obedience if for the ones who can stand strong despite circumstance and say “yes” to God and no to themselves/

Obedience to God is a yielded heart to God. Obedience is a beautiful part of worship.

I. FEAR OF THE LORD

The  fear of the Lord inspires obedience.

Deuteronomy 5:29

²⁹ Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants^[a] forever!

Forever is a great promise! Yet if we do not obey, if we start looking at our lives with human eyes and not eyes of the spirit, we hinder that promise from God. He wants our hearts to fear Him. He wants us to keep His commands always so that it might go well with us and with our children forever.

The fear of the Lord is a deep, reverential sense of our accountability to Him. He is our Comforter, and we can talk to Him as our Best fried. But He is also the Creator of the universe, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He is our salvation. He is our healer. He is our provider. He is our perfect Lamb of God.

The Lord listens to our praise and worship. he listens to what we say about Him to others.

Malachi 3:16

 ¹⁶ Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.

As Christians, we are children of the living God with incredible access into His throne room. But because he is a loving Father, He requires obedience.

The Holy Spirit faithfully guides us. It’s still our choice to obey, but if we don’t yield to God’s authority, we will end up going in circles around the mountains, instead of onward to greater adventures, and we all fear the Lord and reverence Him. May we all receive the blessings that obedience bring into our lives.

II. PUT YOUR FAITH IN GOD

Proverbs 3:5

 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,     and do not lean on your own understanding.

To always trust in God and not be lead by what we see, to obey God’s word and to trust His Perfect timing is always a character building lesson! Surrender to the incredible heart of our Lord, because His ways are higher than our ways.

Sometimes it’s grad to understand, but it’s a reality that His ways are better than ours every single time.

III. COUNT THE COST

We treasure something that has cost s personally. If we’ve worked really hard for something and it is finally ours, we hold it carefully. Children who are constantly given everything they ask for without responsibility to the price have no right to the value of the possession. The goals in our lives will cost, but we should be willing to count the cost. Whatever the prize to gain Christ and His love is worth it.

Sometimes you may need to count the cost and push through to God’s promised land, most likely it will be on the side of a wall of hardship. The majority of people don’t pay the price of obedience that would lead them through the walls that hides the promise land. They retreat and they ever find out what was just on the other side.

Proverbs 4:7

⁷ The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,     and whatever you get, get insight.

Revelation 21:6-7

⁶ And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. ⁷ The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

One must be an overcomer in order to inherent the promises of God. An overcomer is one who will resist any competition and any schemes of the enemy. God says that the one who is an overcomer will inherit all this – free access to the springs of the wonder of life.

Valuable things cost something. We must decide whether we are willing to pay the price.

To be a valuable leader in the house of God, one must be prepared to count the cost needed to become that person.

·         To become a great singer, musician- requires great discipline, practice and more practice)

·         to become great children takes love and looks of it.

How valuable something is to you determines the price you are willing to pay for it. Every time you pay the price it makes you stand taller. It makes you stronger, and you become bigger person in Christ. If you are facing a lost, don’t pull back from it. Pay the price to be an overcomer.

1.    Be accountable to someone if you need help to endure, talk to your friends, pastors, mentors, your accountability group or your cell group. Godly counsel will encourage and inspire you to pay the asking price.

2.    Be enthusiastically committed to pay whatever it takes to receive the price. Increase your commitment to God’s way  to his Promised Land for you. There is always a new level to reach in your relationship with god, with a new price tag of obedience to pay it’s worth the price- it cost Jesus everything to offer it to you. Be committed to obey God with enthusiasm, not because you are trying to impress people around you, but because of your love for Jesus. Do whatever it takes to see His kingdom advance.

3.    Count the cost and do it beautifully and do it with joy. Once you commit to that decision, you won’t even consider it anymore.

The Father is looking for someone who will not be swayed to give up the race. He is looking for people who will march around their Jericho one more day, one more time, even as many times as it takes to see the wall come down that is keeping them away from His promises. He is looking for people who have counted the cost and have chosen to follow Him.

To give up our rights that this life is just not ours to live. Pay the price at just do it. You will never wonder if God Is true to His promises once you learn to quickly obey Him with committed enthusiasm. Hold on to the certainty of this promise from God-

Hebrews 6:13-19

The Certainty of God's Promise

 ¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵ And thus Abraham,^[a] having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,

When God makes a promise, it is settled. Perseverance is the way in which you receive that covenant of promise in your life. dare to commit your life totally to God. Dare to persevere and see what that perseverance will bring forth. Hang in there, because the promise of God is unchanging, it is certain. It’s your choice to receive the promise.

n  MAKE A COMMITMENT TO ENTHUSIASTICALLY SERVE HIM WHATEVER THE COST