Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12
Our Bright Lights year came to a close this last Sunday as we ended the year with a meeting on practical modesty and a Christmas party. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Set 8 – Meeting 4
Practical Modesty Suggestions
Listen to CD
Scripture:
Isaiah 3: 16
– 26
Matthew 6:
22 – 23
1 Cor. 10:
31
1 Cor. 11:
15
1 Thess. 5 :
21 – 22
Main Concepts:
Modesty is
possible! With a little creativity, we
can change many outfits to make them modest.
It’s
important to give thought to what we wear and seek to dress in a way that looks
appropriate for our body-shape. Just
because someone else wears something doesn’t mean it is right, or that it will
look nice on us!
Our
appearance is more than just our clothing.
We should examine our jewelry, makeup, hair, and countenance as well.
Modest
clothing does not have to look “frumpy” or old-fashioned, but can look nice and
attractive.
“And whatsoever ye do in word or
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father
by Him.” Colossians 3:17
Stories of
Samson and Delilah, David and Bathsheba, and Solomon and his many wives. In each of their lives, their tragic downfall
was largely due to the influence of women.
Instead, catch a vision of how you can be a powerful influence of
encouragement to boys by testimonies of purity…Abigail and David.
Sword Drill
2 Cor. 5: 17
– 21
Romans 12:2
Ephesians
6:2
1 Thess.
4:4-6
1 Timothy
2:9
James 4:4
1 John 2:15
Main Concepts
Dress modestly…
Even though
the Lord does not give us specific rules about how to dress, He does give us
some important principles to follow. He
gave these to us for a reason – not to make our lives difficult, but because He
loves us and wants us to focus our hearts on Him!
Do Not Copy the World…
The clothes
we choose to wear are an outward sign of the condition of the our heart. Since our outward appearance communicates so
much, we need to be intentional about what we wear. If we are truly seeking the Lord, it will be
reflected in every area of our life, including clothing.
Do Not Defraud…
We need to
be careful that we are not a stumbling block to others, but choose rather to
encourage others and build them up.
Honor Your Father…
The promised
blessing that comes from honoring your parents includes the “little things,” as
well as the “big things.”
Remember that You are
Representing Jesus Christ…
Our goal
must not be to please ourselves, but to honor Christ and represent Him well.
“Favour is deceitful, and beauty is
vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” Proverbs 31:30
Activities
Divide into
groups and create a princess dress out of paper and tulle, choosing one girl to
“dress up”…afterwards discuss the creativity of each princess’s attire.
Bright Lights Set
Eight – Meeting One: What Should I Wear?
Listen to CD
Personal
Testimonies of a time when you were too concerned (or not concerned enough)
about what clothing you wore, and what happened as a result. Here are some other testimony ideas: times when your clothing choices were
motivated by pride, fear, or insecurity, or how you’ve made the commitment to
seek the Lord for His approval alone in what you wear.
Sword Drills
Psalm 45:13
1
Corinthians 6:20
1 Samuel
16:7
1 Timothy 2:
9-10
1 Peter 3:
1-7
Proverbs 31:30
Main Concepts
God looks
first at our heart. It is so
important that we bring our desires under God’s authority, and have a heart
that desires to seek and please Him.
One of the
first things that people notice about us is the way we are dressed – we need to
remember that we are representing the King of kings!
God will
provide for us! He adorns the lilies of
the valley and He is faithful to provide for His daughters.
We should
carefully evaluate what influences our clothing decisions and make sure that
our motives are pleasing to the Lord.
“Therefore
take no thought, saying, What shall we eat?
Or, what shall we drink? Or, wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the gentiles
seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things. But seek ye first the kingdom of
God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:31-33
Kicking off another new year of Bright Lights! Welcome back girls :)
Set Seven Meeting
Six – How To Make a Wise Comment
Fellowship
Worship
Listen to CD
Acts 17: 16
– 34
Tell a story
about a time when you said something foolish and later wished you had kept your
mouth shut!
Examine some
situations in Scripture where Jesus wisely answered those who were trying to
trick Him. (Matthew 12:2….Mark 11:28….Luke
20:20, 28-33)
What are 3
good questions to ask ourselves before we speak: Is it true?
Is it kind? Is it necessary?
Our words
consist not only of what we speak with our mouth, but include any written
communication as well. All of these
truths regarding wise words apply to letters, e-mails, chatting, texting,
tweeting, etc.
Wise
comments are very relevant to sharing the gospel…let’s review that! J
Main Concepts:
Words are
very powerful. The have the power of
life or death (Pr. 18:21). We will give
account for every idle word spoken (Mt. 12:36)
As
ambassadors of Christ, we need to choose words that are meaningful, edifying,
and profitable to others.
In order to
be strong for the Lord in our youth, it is important that we learn to relate
with others in a way that is respectable, thoughtful, and socially mature.
Learning
good conversational skills is an essential part of shining our light brightly
for the Lord.
The most
important comments we can make are those which glorify the Lord and point
others to Him.
“Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of
edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” Ephesians 4:29
There is a
battle raging in our world today.
Christianity is under attack. The
Bible is under attack. We need to know
what we believe and why, and to be able to defend the truth.
The bible is
our foundation. It is completely
trustworthy, and we must examine everything we hear in light of the truth of
God’s Word. We need to submit our
fallible mind to the infallible Word of God.
1 Peter 3:15
says to be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks us a reason for the
hope we have in us. We need to be
prepared with wise and logical answers for those who ask us questions about our
faith.
“Therefore
whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them, I will like him unto a
wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
and the rain descended, and the the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” Matthew 7: 24-25
Activity:
List some of
the common criticisms people speak against the Bible and good answers to their
attacks. Here are some examples:
-The
Bible was written by men
-What
about all the different translations?
-There
are errors in the Bible
-Science
has proven evolution to be true
-What
about dinosaurs?
-Where
did Cain get his wife?
-How
did all the animals fit on the ark?
-If
God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?
Bright Lights Set
Seven – Mtg. Four: How to Be Wiser Than
Your Enemies
Bible
reading challenge update!
What are some
tips that help you stay awake or alert as you read in the morning or at
night? Which biblical discipline is the
hardest for you to be consistent in?
What distractions or hindrances make it difficult for you to be
consistent? Share one verse that has
stood out to you recently. Name one
benefit you have seen in your own life as you have been faithful in reading
God’s Word each day. (For a great
article on Biblical Disciplines go here:
http://www.acts17-11.com/disciplines.html )
Stories and
Illustrations…
Be Wiser
Than Your Enemies!
Wisdom and
knowledge are very different. Two different people could look at exactly the
same sets of information and come to entirely different conclusions. The
problem is this – our understanding varies according to both our perspective
and our experience.
We may think
we know what a familiar mountain looks like, but when we see that same mountain
from a different direction it looks entirely different. It’s all a matter of
what our perspective is. We may set out to climb the mountain a certain way,
but discover it’s impossible to approach the summit from that direction.
Whereas the man with experience of having climbed the mountain before, may set
off in a direction that looks longer, but he will always get there first,
because he has learned from experience.
The problem
with life is that we can look at all the circumstances prevailing around us and
be at a loss as to what is the right thing to do. Our knowledge is limited, our
perspective is not perfect and we have limited experience. What we lack is the
wisdom to know what to do. We may have the facts but we don’t have the
understanding as to what to do with the facts!
But there is
One who has all knowledge, and His perspective on events and circumstances is
always just right. The Lord is not limited by the horizons of our own
experience. On our journey through life we desperately need to be taking our
instructions from Him. No wonder the Psalmist was able to say ‘your commands
make me wiser than my enemies.’ When we hear and obey His voice we will always
be on solid ground.
His wisdom
is essential if we are going to make our way through this fallen world, in
which the enemy of souls is constantly wanting to trip us up and take us off
course. With His wisdom we will always be wiser than our enemies – as we
acknowledge Him, He will make our paths straight and show us the way to go –
every step of the way.
Prayer:
Father God, I confess that many times I have depended on my own knowledge and
experience and have not listened to your voice or taken note of what you have
said in your Word. Help me, Lord, to look up to you for the wisdom that passes
all human understanding so that I will be wiser than my enemies and experience
your blessing on my path. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
What could you
accomplish in an hour a day for a year?
Sword
Drill….
Deut. 4: 5-6
Joshua 1:
7-8
Psalm 19:
7-8
Psalm 119:
97-100
Prov. 2:
1-11
2 Timothy
3:14-15
Main
Concepts…
Build on our
last lesson of Delighting in God’s Word by purposing to memorize and meditate
on Scripture. Catch the vision for what
you can achieve in this area if you put your whole heart and mind into it.
Wisdom does
not come from having a lot of “head knowledge”.
There is no wisdom in boasting of your own accomplishments. The main goal of wisdom is to have hearts
that are seeking the Lord.
There is no
wisdom in what the world tells you when it says that it is ok to relax during
your youth and not worry about using your time well. Wisdom comes from listening to God’s Word,
which instructs us to do the exact opposite.
When you are
young, you are able to memorize more easily.
This is also the time of life where you have more free time than you
will later on. We should take seriously
the challenge to memorize as much as we can during our youth. It is easy to get caught up in activities
which are not wrong, but aren’t the best use of time or won’t count for
eternity.
Familiarizing
ourselves with Scripture allows us to use it to speak truth in our hearts. When Satan tries to tell us lies, we can use
God’s Word to counter those lies. The
Lord Jesus did this in Matthew 4 when He was tempted by Satan.
One of the
biggest hindraces to reading and memorizing God’s Word is laziness and a lack
of self-discipline. It is very important
to use time wisely…
“The
entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the
simple.”Ps. 119:130
Activities:
Read several
verses in Proverbs, divide into groups and have the girls act out how they can
be wiser than their enemies by applying these verses.
Memorize Ps.
1: 1-3 by experimenting with different memorizing techniques.
Have each
girl choose one Bible verse or passage that she wants to memorize and meditate
on in the upcoming weeks. Copy it onto
an index card, decorate it, and start memorizing it. Quote the verse at home throughout the next
few weeks and at the next meeting be ready to share something you’ve learned
from it.
Set Seven Meeting
Three – Delighting in God’s Word
Stories and Illustrations
Fanny Crosby
Frances Jane
Crosby was born into a family of strong Puritan ancestry on March 24, 1820. As
a baby, she had an eye infection which an incompetent doctor treated by placing
hot poultices on her red and inflamed eyelids. The infection did clear up, but
the result was that scars formed on the eyes, and the Fanny became blind for
life. A few months later, Fanny's dad became ill and died. Mercy Crosby,
widowed at 21, hired herself out as a maid while Grandmother Eunice Crosby took
care of little Fanny.
Fanny's
grandmother took on the education herself and became the girl's eyes, vividly
describing the physical world. Grandmother's careful teaching helped develop
Fanny's descriptive abilities, she also nurtured Fanny's spirit. She read and
carefully explained the Bible to her, and she always emphasized the importance
of prayer. When Fanny became depressed because she couldn't learn as other
children did, Grandmother taught her to pray to God for knowledge.
A landlady
of the Crosby's also had an important role in Fanny's development. Mrs. Hawley
helped Fanny memorize the Bible, and often the young girl learned five chapters
a week. She knew the Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon,
and many of the Psalms by heart. She developed a memory which often amazed her
friends, but Fanny believed she was no different from others. Her blindness had
simply forced her to develop her memory and her powers of concentration more.
Blindness never produced self-pity in Fanny and she did not look on her
blindness as a terrible thing. At eight years old she composed this little
verse:
Oh, what a
happy child I am, although I cannot see!
I am
resolved that in this world contented I will be!
How many
blessings I enjoy that other people don't!
So weep or
sigh because I'm blind, I cannot - nor I won't.
In 1834
Fanny learned of the New York Institute for the Blind and knew this was the
answer to her prayer for an education. She entered the school when she was
twelve and went on to teach there for twenty-three years. She became somewhat
of a celebrity at the school and was called upon to write poems for almost
every conceivable occasion.
On March 5,
1858, Fanny married Alexander van Alystyne, a former pupil at the Institute and
now taught there as a professor. He was a musician who was considered one of
the finest organists in the New York area. Fanny herself was an excellent
harpist, played the piano, and had a lovely soprano voice. Even as an old woman
(Fanny lived to be 95) Fanny would sit at the piano and play everything from
classical works to hymns to ragtime. Sometimes she even played old hymns in a
jazzed up style.
After her
marriage, Fanny left the Institute, and in a few years she found her true
vocation in writing hymns. She had an agreement with the publishers Bigelow and
Main to write three hymns a week for use in their Sunday school publications.
Sometimes Fanny wrote six or seven hymns a day. Though Fanny could write
complex poetry as well as improvise music of classical structure, her hymns
were aimed at bringing the message of the Gospel to people who would not listen
to preaching. Whenever she wrote a hymn, she prayed God would use it to lead
many souls to Him.
In her own
day, the evangelistic team of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey effectively
brought Fanny Crosby's hymns to the masses. Today many of her hymns continue to
draw souls to their Savior for both salvation and comfort: " Blessed
Assurance," "All the Way My Savior Leads Me," "To God Be
the Glory, " "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior," " Safe in the
Arms of Jesus," "Rescue the Perishing," "Jesus, Keep Me
Near the Cross," "I Am Thine, O Lord," and many more.
Though her
hymn writing declined in later years, Fanny was active in speaking engagements
and missionary work among America's urban poor almost until the day of her
death in 1915. She sought to bring others to her Savior not only through her
hymns but through her personal life as well. What happened when Fanny died? Perhaps
one of her later hymns tells it best:
When my
lifework is ended and I cross the swelling tide,
When the
bright and glorious morning I shall see,
I shall know
my Redeemer when I reach the other side,
And His
smile will be the first to welcome me.
I shall know
Him, I shall know Him,
And redeemed
by His side I shall stand!
I shall know
Him, I shall know Him
By the print
of the nails in His hand.
Fanny Crosby
was probably the most prolific hymnist in history, writing over 8,000 hymns. As
many as 200 different pen names were given to her works by hymn book publishers
so that the public wouldn't know she wrote so large a number of them. She
produced as many as seven hymns/poems in one day. On several occasions, upon
hearing an unfamiliar hymn sung, she would inquire about the author, and find
it to be one of her own!
If you were
to take fifteen hymnals and stack them one on top of another. Taken all
together, that's about the number of hymns Fanny wrote in her lifetime! Of
course, many of those have been forgotten today, but a large number remain
favorites of Christians all over the world. In her lifetime, Fanny Crosby was
one of the best known women in the United States and a strong Christian whose
legacy of faithfulness to God is exhibited by the hymns that will be sung for
all eternity!
Watch 2 videos of Bibles being
distributed and the rejoicing that accompanied those events!
Sword Drill
Job 23:12
Psalm 119:
92 - 105
Proverbs
30:5
John 8:31
1 Timothy 4:
11 – 15
1 Peter 2:2
Main Concepts
If we want
to strong in the Lord, it is vital that we are daily receiving nourishment from
God’s Word. If we want to be wise it is
vital that we are going directly to the source of wisdom – the Bible.
Reading
God’s Word is not a duty that we should dread, but rather a great blessing and
privilege! The more we get to know the
Lord and His Word, the more we will naturally want to spend time in it.
Delighting
in God’s Word is primarily a decision – not a feeling. The emotions will come, but it begins with a
commitment to read consistently and faithfully.
If we
neglect God’s Word, our appetite for it will diminish. However, the more we spend time in it, the
more our appetite will grow.
“Blessed is
the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way
of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
and in His law doth he meditate day and night.”
Psalm 1:1-2
Activities
Write
testimonies about what you have learned from God’s Word in the past, and how
God has used it in your life…these will be compiled into a Bright Lights
newsletter.
Bible
reading challenge! Spend at least 5
minutes reading in your Bible every day (more if possible!) and mark your
schedule…have your mom or dad be your accountability partner. Bring back your schedule to our next meeting
to get a prize.
Personal
examples of times you have been rebuked by the Lord or others, and what you
learned from those experiences
Sword Drill
2 Samuel 12:
1 – 13
Job 5: 17
Proverbs 1:
23 – 33
Proverbs 3:
11 – 12
Matthew 7: 3
– 5
Hebrews 12:
6 – 10
Revelation
3:19
Main Concepts
No one likes
being rebuked, but correction is an important part of the process of being
conformed to the image of Christ. The
challenge is to stop thinking of rebukes as something negative, and begin
seeing how God uses them for our good.
The key to
applying this lesson is having humility.
If we have humble spirts, we will be able to admit that we have faults
and need to grow – and even thank those who rebuke us!
Purpose now
that from this day forward you will respond to all rebukes in a way that is
totally different from your natural inclination. Listen.
Think before you speak. Show
humility. Determine to think seriously
about what the person says to you, and seek the Lord regarding what He is
trying to teach you.
Often
rebukes come from our authorities.
Having the right attitude towards authority can help us have the right
attitude when we are rebuked.
God’s Word
is a tool for our correction and training (2 Tim. 3:16). We should take seriously the rebukes and
instructions that God has written in the Bible.
“My son, despise not the chastening
of the LORD; neither be weary of His correction; for whom the LORD loveth He correcteth; even
as a father the son in who He delighteth.”
Prov. 3: 11-12
Activities
1. Practice humility…write down 3 things that
you dislike doing (and that you don’t usually have to do) and then choose one
of them to do in the coming week.
2. When we purpose to obey God in some
particular area, tests will surely come our way. Record any situations this next couple weeks
between meetings where you receive a “rebuke” from your parents, the Lord, or
someone else – no matter how small the rebuke.
Evaluate how you responded to each one.
If you respond in a wrong way, determine what you will do differently
next time!
3. Younger girls in one group, older ones in
another. Older girls do something silly
to their appearance (shirt on backwards, hair in sill style, roll up on sleeve,
etc…) Younger girls make negative
comments about their appearance and older girls first demonstrate a wrong
response, and then a right response.
Younger girls also make positive comments to practice encouraging others
even when they see problems.
4. Several examples of rebukes acted out in
skits…demonstrate right and wrong ways to receive rebukes.
Tell a story
about the wisest person you know. What
do you respect about them? How did / do
they influence you?
Sword Drill
2 Chron. 1:10-12
Job 28:12-28
Prov. 2:1-6
Prov. 8:33
Prov. 9:8-12
Prov. 10:19
Prov. 23:4
1 Cor.
1:18-31
James 1:2-5
James 3:13
Main Concepts
The Bible
stresses repeatedly that wisdom is valuable, and is something we should
fervently seek to acquire.
There are
many sources which claim to have human “wisdom,” but only God has ultimate,
unchanging wisdom. We need to be careful
about who we are listening to and what we are believing.
Wisdom
involves learning to look at life from God’s perspective, which is usually different
from our perspective.
“For wisdom is better than rubies;
and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” Proverbs 8:11
Our meeting this time was something a bit different...we watched a movie called "Awakened" (winner of 2014 Best Documentary at the Christian Worldview Film Festival) and then had a discussion about it afterwards.
Some of the film's topics included using the years of your youth wisely, avoiding crushes, handling wordly influences and technologies with wisdom, evangelism, seeking a deeper relationship with God, and communicating with parents.
For more information on the movie (which I highly recommend to every family with young tween or teen aged girls!), go to the official page at:
http://awakenedthemovie.com/
A review of the movie can be found on the Christian Film Database site at:
Are we
compartmentalizing our Christianity? Do
we go to church for 2 hours on Sunday and consider our spiritual duty done for
the week? Are we living our lives in
submission to Christ and His will in everything we do, or do we seek to rule
our own lives? Do we have a vibrant
loving fellowship with the Lord, or an apathetic, distant one? Do we crave the things of the Lord, or the
things of the world? Are we feeding our
flesh or our spirits? Do we hear from the Spirit and often feel the presence of
the Lord, or have we quenched and grieved the Spirit to the point where we
can’t remember the last time we felt God working in us?
While we
know we’ll never be without sin this side of heaven, are we honestly, to the
best of our ablility, striving to choose to obey God’s will and Word?
Praise God
that He continues to persevere and have patience with me. Praise Him for His never ending love. Blessed be the Lord Jesus. Thank you Lord.. Thank you for sacrificing
yourself for my sins. I love you too. He’s teaching me that obedience is very
important. He has allowed satan to sift
me, repeatedly, on the same topics in my life.
I have found that these repeated areas are the lesson, that must be
learned. Now don’t get me wrong, we must not look at obedience in a fashion to
gain blessings.. That’s selfishness and not a heart for God. When I speak about
received blessings, a blessing is a result of having a right heart for God..
Having a right heart for God will result in obedience, out of love for Him and
reverence.. which results in blessings. If the blessings are first then it is
the me-first mentality versus God first.
I have had a
challenge with a certain sin that has repeatedly come up in my life, a lack of
obedience. I was quenching the Spirit
because I like what I did more than I liked obeying Him. Thank you for forgiving me Lord. I found that it boiled down to just heeding
His voice. It was a matter of
choice.. Choose obedience to God or
disobey. He has been trying to teach me
this over and over.. He has given me the “outs” every time.
And even though I have noticed the outs almost single time, I chose to
grieve the Spirit.. I did this cuz I loved what I was doing more than Him. Ugh, that’s hard to confess, but I had to
confess it to Him. It’s Truth.
At any rate,
here is a testimony or 2. I was going through the same cycle of this sin. My self-talk said “You’re good now. You’re more filled.. You’re stronger
now. He’s with you. You can do this.” Ah, then the sword of the Spirit came into my
thoughts..”Take heed lest you fall…”
Then I heard the Lord say… “Remember…. Remember all of these previous
times… You said the same thing and sinned every single time. These are memorials and they are there for a
reason. What makes you think this time
is any different that the previous ones?”
DING, the light went off. I have
continued to sin in this area because I kept deceiving myself into thinking I
was strong enough to overcome. This
time, I knew better, with the Helpers help.
Blessed be our Guide. So, I chose
obedience. Bam, the very next morning, 3
prayers were answered. Blessings.
This
happened a couple of weeks ago, and I don’t remember all 3. 1 was for a brother in-Christ who helped me
come to the Lord. He was falling and
then he ended up MIA. I couldn’t reach
him for around 6mo. I kept praying for
the Lord to help bring him back to Him.
Bam, 6:30 the next morning, he called.
“Joe. I’m back with Christ.”
Praise God! The other, also for
months, I was praying for a family member to draw near to the Lord. I talk to
this family member that day, bam, he starts talking about the Lord.. about
faith, etc. I didn’t have to do
anything.. God did it (that’s another topic on its own). I don’t recall the 3rd one, i should have
blogged about it when it was fresh. I do
remember 3 prayers answered the next morning.. Obedience and blessings.
This
happened again last week. An email went
out to the Body at our church. A brother
in-Christ who cannot see needed a ride to the dentist. I’m laid-off and had the time.. but I didn’t
want to do it. The Lord showed me that
if it’s something “I” don’t want to do, then do it. lol.
The night before the dentist appointment, I was convicted.. I called him
out of obedience “Do you still need a ride?”
He said “Praise God! Yes I do.”
The next morning, I pick him up.
He was going to a community college to have his teeth cleaned. I told him that I’ve tried to get in there
for a cleaning but they are so backed up and are not returning my calls. I dropped him off and decided I would go in
and talk to them when I came back to pick him up. As I drove off… I get a call from the receptionist
at the clinic from my friend’s cell phone: Blessings: “We have an opening today
at 3pm.. If you can make it, we’ll knock $10 off”. Praise God! But He’s better than $10 off.. I
said blessings.. not a kind gesture, haha:
I show up, they do the initial examination.. and then the instructor
comes over. She checks out my teeth and
said that they are having a hard time
filling 24 slots for the student’s final exams.
They only have 12 filled. She
said my teeth perfectly fit the criteria for one of these slots. She said that if I agree to it, all of the
xrays they just took and the cleaning will be free of charge. Of course I accepted.
Obedience
(hearing a doing) results in blessings.
Hearer and a doer. See somewhere around James 1:24. When I disobey the
voice of the Lord, I separate myself from God.
When I hear His voice and know what He wants me to do… I have to force
myself to be in obedience, regardless of what I want to do. That’s a heart
towards God and we will surely receive blessings. He says so.
Is He good
or is He good? I so love you Lord..
thank you for helping me. This testimony of how obedience and blessings work
can be witnessed in a real-life situation here as well: Faith in God’s
provision
Answer:
Obedience to God proves our love for Him (1 John 5:2-3), demonstrates our
faithfulness to Him (1 John 2:3-6), glorifies Him in the world (1 Peter 2:12),
and opens avenues of blessing for us (John 13:17).
Faith is
necessary to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and if our faith is genuine and true,
we will live a lifestyle characterized by righteousness, modeling the example
set for us by Jesus Christ. We obey His commands, not because we have to, but
because we want to, because we love Him. We are enabled to obey because, once
we believe in Christ and are saved, we are remade. We are not the same people
we once were. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he
is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
When we obey
the Lord, we can live a life of joy, without shame, rooted deeply in the Lord
and confident in our eternal hope. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). Our obedience is actually part of our assurance
that we truly know God (1 John 2:3).
When God’s
children obey their Heavenly Father, He is glorified. Jesus told us that the
plan is for others to “see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven”
(Matthew 5:16). Of course, performing “good deeds” requires obedience to the
One who calls us to good deeds. A Christian’s testimony of holiness is a strong
witness that God is at work in the world.
“Blessed are
all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him” (Psalm 128:1). The Bible
often tells us that God blesses and rewards obedience. James 1:22-25 says, “Do
not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. . .
. Whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues
in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in
what they do.” See also Psalm 119:1-2.
God is gracious.
If we haven’t been living for Him, if we haven’t been following His
commandments, if we’ve been living in and for the world, we can be transformed
by the blood of Jesus Christ. We can ask God for forgiveness, and He will give
it. And He will choose to forget the sin, just as if we had never committed it
in the first place. God is glorified when He extends forgiveness, because it is
written, “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their
minds. . . . Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews
10:16-17).
Submission
is more than just obedience. It is an
attitude from your heard; it’s joyfully putting yourself under someone else’s
authority and giving up your own way.
Our pride
often gets in the way and causes us to want to make our own decisions, be
independent, or do things our own way, instead of submitting to others
Submission
is one of the hardest things to do. But
God blesses and rewards us for choosing to obey Him. We will partake of His divine guidance,
protection, and favor when we choose Him as Master of our lives.
