The sacrifice of obedience

Faith comes from above, it does not require your ability but it requires your obedience. If you say you have faith but you don’t obey God, your faith will not help you. Today I want to talk to you about the sacrifice of obedience. Many offer various kinds of sacrifices but many do not obey. We have read in the Bible that obedience is better than sacrifice. I want you to understand that your sacrifice shows your love for God, but that sacrifice has to be accompanied by obedience.

Many here believe that God will bless them, and I know for a fact that God will indeed bless you and enrich you. But believing without obedience means nothing. The Bible tells us that Abraham was a friend of God, now you can ask yourself how did he become a friend of God, is it because he believed God? No, Abraham did not only believe, but he was also obedient. That is how he became a friend of God.

Abraham was a friend of God and he could also speak to God and suggest anything to God. Many of us want to speak to God and suggest to Him, but for you to suggest to God, you have to first be obedient to Him. When Abraham suggested that God must not destroy the city of Gomorrah because of the few righteous men that were in the city, God listened to Him.

Many want God to listen to them but they don’t want to listen to Him. When you want God to listen to you, you must be full of love, you must be forgiving even when it seems hard, when you do these things, you obey God. When you obey God, you become a light to your family and to the whole world, and through your salvation and obedience many will be saved. When some of your relatives are facing death and destruction because of their sins, you will be able to suggest to God and plead for His Mercy. But if you are not obedient, God will not listen to your suggestion and your plea.

We saw Abraham’s obedience when God instructed him to give Isaac in Genesis 22. Abraham, did not start negotiating with Sarah or discuss the matter with his servants or any else, but he obeyed God immediately and fully. Abraham did not start to reason with God and remind God that this is his only son, and he will not be able to have another son because of his age. He just obeyed. God accepted Abrahams sacrifices because he was an obedient man.

Many of you God has spoken to you, but instead of obeying you start to reason with God. When He says give this much, you start to look at your budget and the surrounding circumstances, and you end up giving what God has not requested of you. Because of that disobedience, your sacrifice is not acceptable to God. Because of that disobedience you have invited poverty and debts into your life.

Abraham became blessed and he became the richest man on earth because he did not question God when God asked him for Isaac. Some of you want to see the abundant blessings of God, but you cannot see them because when God instructs you what to give in order to release your blessing, you start to question God. You even go to the extent of asking the Man of God if God really does require that amount of giving. When God speaks to you directly no Man of God can mediate, you must just obey.

When Abraham heard from God, he did not even discuss with Isaac, he just took Isaac, and his servants and went up to mount Moriah, when he got up to the mountain, he left his servants at a distance, because now he was going to carry out God’s instruction. There is a time in your life when you need to obey God to the point where you even leave those that used to support you behind. Yes they were there for you, and yes they have helped and prayed with you, but when it comes to carrying out the instruction of God you have to leave them behind.

When they got to the point of sacrifice, Isaac asked his father, where is the sacrificial lamb? Abraham held on to the instruction of God, and he answered his son by saying “God will provide”. Abraham continue to prepare to sacrifice his son, not because he did not love him, but because he is obedient. To what point are you prepared to obey God? Do you only obey God when it’s convenient for your? The level of your obedience will determine the level of your blessings.

In Genesis 22:17 & 18, God says to Abraham, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

When you obey God, there is no way that He will not bless you. God is able and He wants to bless you. The problem is if you are not obedient, the blessings of God will kill you. Learn to obey God in everything that you do, then you will prosper. As a Man of God, I want to see you blessed, this is why I teach you principles of obedience. As you are coming to give, allow the Holy Spirt to suggest to you how to give, and when God has spoken to you, obey.

May God bless you as you give.