(…continues from part six…)

7)            Hebrews 13:17 “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” This is why we should, after having criticized our leaders constructively, obey them, pray for them, and do everything in order not to have any ill feeling towards them. If they choose never to do the will of the Creator who puts them there, that will be their problems.

                James 3:3 “Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.” Doing the bidding of its master is the worth of the domestic animals, the horse inclusive. To ensure the obedience of the horse we apply the use of bridles for effective control. It must be controlled if it is going to be useful. To be useful to the cause of Jehovah, what did He do? He gave us some ‘dos’ and ‘do nots’. Even in man’s perfection of Adamic state – before the fall –, he had to abide by certain rules. In our fallen state what do we need? More rules to perfect our paths of righteousness, of course. Obedience is the key to Godly life.

                1Peter 1:22 “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:” to keep the tempter at bay. We do have lots of obedient acts to perform – all contained in the holy writ. 1Peter 3:1 “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;” which is not difficult to perfect: for the wives do have a perfection of a pattern in a great woman, Abraham’s wife. 1Peter 3:6 “Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” You cannot be the daughter of Sarah if you neglect your submissive duties to your own husbands. Satan will do everything to make it difficult for the woman to show Godly obedience to her husband. He was the evil one who derailed the first woman of Eden. The woman was the first to have acquired knowledge of good and evil. The satanic slant is still with the woman; she would like to exercise that evil proclivity.

                1Peter 4:17 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” Afflictive decisions await even the Church of God for improper teaching of the word of God. Did the risen Christ not promise to remove non-burning candles which were indicative of non-complying churches? If God would not spare people of His sanctuary, how worse is to be expected of unregenerate souls? Tragedy. But, the Christian is a blessed soul. The Christian’s life, knit with that of God the Father, is constantly watched over by the divinity of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ, the Author of our salvation: all because we have chosen to obey the eternal word of God, the Creator. Amen.

And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering

                We can learn from those who obeyed and submitted to the will of God.

                Abel. Genesis 4:3-4 “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4) And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:” Cain, the first born of humanity, decided to act the way he deemed fit. He forsook the instruction of God as passed to him by his father, the progenitor of the entire mankind, Adam. Divine forgiveness is perfected only by blood, so, God told Adam after He Himself had killed two sacrificial animals to save them from death to do the same, periodically. Abel heeded this instruction of blood sacrifice. He came before the LORD God with a sheep, the blood of which God used to cleanse Abel of his sins, just the same way Jesus would come to do a once-and-for-all substitutionary death for all mankind. Abel keyed into the futuristic finished work of the cross of Calvary. He, by his obedience, accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour. Faith in the word of God and the attendance obedience goes a long way to please God eternally, sometimes without one knowing it.

I give unto you power to tread on serpents

                Say this prayer, meaning it with all your heart:

“Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!” 

(…to be continued…)

Read part six here

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