FOLLOW
THE DECREES THAT GIVE LIFE
BREAD
45 When
Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to
heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may
command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words
for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are
crossing the Jordan to possess.” Deuteronomy
32:45-47 (NIV)
6 With
what shall I come before the Lord
and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt
offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord
be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I
offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my
soul? 8 He has
showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to
walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:6-8
(NIV)
9 How
can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not
sin against you. Psalms 119:9-11 (NIV)
103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than
honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I
hate every wrong path. 105 Your word is a
lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Psalms 119:103-105 (NIV)
15 If he
gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen,
follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he
will not die. 16 None
of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what
is just and right; he will surely live. Ezekiel 33:15-16 (NIV)
30 “As
for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the
walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, ‘Come and hear the
message that has come from the Lord.’
31 My
people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your
words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express
devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. 32 Indeed, to them you are
nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an
instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. 33 When all this comes true--and
it surely will--then they will know that a prophet has been among them.” Ezekiel 33:30-33 (NIV)
22 Do not
merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word
but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself,
goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently
into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not
forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:22-25 (NIV)
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for
they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My
prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them
from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world,
even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth;
your word is truth. John 17:14-17
(NIV)
BUTTER
“Faith,
as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience
to the commandments of Christ.” A.W. Tozer
“We
Christians too often substitute prayer for playing the game. Prayer is good;
but when used as a substitute for obedience, it is nothing but a blatant
hypocrisy, a despicable Pharisaism... To your knees, man! and to your Bible!
Decide at once! Don't hedge! Time flies! Cease your insults to God, quit
consulting flesh and blood. Stop your lame, lying, and cowardly excuses.
Enlist!” C. T. Studd
“Love
for God and obedience to God are so completely involved in each other that any
one of them implies the other too.” F. F.
Bruce
“Every
revelation of God is a demand, and the way to knowledge of God is by
obedience.”
William Temple
William Temple
“The best measure of a spiritual life is not its ecstasies
but its obedience.” Oswald
Chambers
“The gospel is
God’s good news. Though I was alienated
from God and under his condemnation, living a life full of doubt and
disobedience, God loved me and rescued me (Christ lived perfectly, died on a
cross canceling my debt with God and rose alive from death) to forgive my doubt
and disobedience; to be my righteousness and to be my power to believe God, say
yes to him in worship and no to my sin.” Dr.
Tom Wood
“Sanctification
is a life of Christ-centered choices, made evident in loving obedience to
God.” Mel De Peal
“Holiness is not a
feeling – it is the end product of obedience.
Purity is not a gift – it is the result of repentance and serious
pursuit of God.” Frances J. Roberts
“The
conviction of the Holy Spirit is always precise: He identifies root causes of sin, and He
moves the heart to specific acts of repentance and obedience. All those who trust God sufficiently to
desire to obey Him, and who are patient in waiting upon Him, will find
unfailingly that HE gives clear guidance.
‘In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths’,
promises Proverbs 3:6. For those who
love God everything is aboveboard. To
know Him is to know what He requires and more than that, it is to have the
power to carry it out. In fact these
two—enlightenment and empowering—go hand in hand, and where they do not, then
the Lord is not in it.” Mike Mason
“Never
dread any consequence resulting from absolute obedience to His command. Never fear the rough waters ahead, which
through their proud contempt impede your progress. God is greater than the roar of raging water
and the mighty waves of the sea. ‘The
Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever’
(Psalm 29:10). A storm is simply the hem
of His robe, the sign of His coming, and the evidence of His presence. Dare to trust Him! Dare to follow Him! Then discover that the forces that blocked
your progress and threatened your life become at His command the very materials
He uses to build your street of freedom.” F. B.
Meyer
“The
Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to
spiritual perfection. And we must not
select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others.
Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” A.W. Tozer
Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” A.W. Tozer
“Though
salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised
to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was
made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has been abrogated. We are to note and listen to the revealed
will of the Lord, giving our attention not to portions of it but to ‘all these
words.’ There must be no picking and
choosing but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessedness for the
Father and for His children. The Lord’s
blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before Him, He will
make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed.” Charles H. Spurgeon
HEART
SAVOR
- · God’s decrees give life – and life to the full. Sin brings death.
- · God is good and loving and totally worthy of my trust and obedience.
- · I am to follow His decrees for my good and His glory never one surpassing the other.
