[Scripture]
Deuteronomy 28:1-7
“Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the LORD your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body and the produce of your ground and the offspring of your beasts, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD shall cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.”
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters,
This is the fourth session on ‘Blessings’. The second aspect that we will look into to receive blessings is what it means to truly obey.
I told you that true meaning of obedience is to do with the eyes of faith something that you cannot really do if you consider the current situation. It is not just doing something you can do, but to do something with faith that you could not do otherwise. As a matter of fact, most of believers are found to be disobeying until they enter into spirit.
There are several types of disobedience in faith, and in the last session I explained to you five types of disobedience. First, you disobey because you lack the capabilities. Second, you disobey even though you are able to obey. Third, you are found disobeying because you are not able to do it and stop at a point. Fourth, you disobey because things do not agree with your thoughts. Fifth, you try to obey but are found to disobey because you do according to your own thoughts.
Sixth, you disobey because something is not to your liking.
Namely, you disobey because of such evil feelings as resentment, anger, envy, and jealousy. Simply put, you don’t follow others’ words because your feelings are hurt. Even when you do the work of God, because of evil feelings peace might be broken, dissension is caused, and you disobey.
Even in history, many times people destroyed themselves because their feelings were hurt in wars. They could obviously see their destruction coming, but they disobey their king or their master because they could not control their petty feelings.
Seventh, you disobey because you are not willing to obey at all.
They do not have any faith to believe in God or trust in God, so they are not willing to obey in the first place. Even though they come to church and listen to the messages, they don’t believe the word of God at all, or they even stand against the Word, or their consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
I briefly mentioned seven types of disobedience, and I hope you will look back on yourself once again so that you will not have any disobedience from now. Isaiah 1:19 says, “If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land;” I pray in the name of the Lord that you will consent and obey the Word of God and enjoy abundant blessings on this earth.
Dear brothers and sisters,
The third and last condition to receive blessings concerns believing the word of God.
Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Also, Isaiah 55:11 says, “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
God’s word is always and certainly fulfilled. And to believe in God is to believe the Word of God completely.
To believe the words of God is to believe that His words are fulfilled in His plans and providence according to His will.
We cannot interpret the words of God as we want and according to our standards. But many people want to receive the answer of God when they want it, and in the way they want, and in the amount they want. It means they interpret the Word of God in their own way.
But the thoughts of men and the thoughts of God are just so incomparably different. Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Therefore, even if the word of God is different from our thoughts for the moment, and even if things seem to be going in a completely different direction than the word given, our faith must not be shaken.
In the case of Joseph, it seemed that things were going in the opposite direction from the dream given by God. But, he trusted and relied on God until the end, until God fulfilled his dreams. Abraham believed the promise of God until the end, even when he had to give his only son Isaac as a burnt offering to God. As in his case, if we believe in God, we will believe until the end without swaying midway, even though things do not go as we thought should.
But in most cases, people’s faith will be shaken if things are not done according to their thoughts, namely if things are not done in the way or at the time they expected. Their trust in God is shaken. But God says such people should not expect they will receive an answer from God. James 1:6-8 says, “But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
God promised Abraham descendants, but God’s word was not fulfilled right away. It was fulfilled after a long time had passed, at the most appropriate time in God’s sight. Abraham finally got his seed of promise, Isaac, because he believed in God until the end.
Those who are doing businesses should remember this, too. If you have committed your business to God with faith, you should not just make decisions as you see fit. You have to wait until God gives you an answer at the most appropriate time. It is important to believe the word of God until the end.
That’s what I’ve been doing up until today. Even though I could not see anything before my eyes, I just believed when God mentioned blessings. My faith never swayed even though things were so difficult in reality.
When God told me to lead many of you to New Jerusalem, it was clear that nobody was clearly qualified to enter there. And yet, I just believed because it was the word of God, and I looked up to the fruit of His word with the eyes of faith. Then, God worked for the good of everything at the appropriate moments. Now, we see that countless fruits of whole spirit, spirit, and rock of faith are coming forth.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Until now, we have looked into the three aspects in receiving blessings, namely the words and commandments of God, obedience, and faith.
