I mentioned yesterday that Abraham and Sarah challenged God’s promise. The result was of their own making then, yet the whole world continues to deal with it today. They created Ishmael. That is what we do when we try to make God’s promise happen. We reap what we sow. 

Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption…” What fleshly thing have you sowed that you are still reaping?

I also noted that God did not bring up their failure to wait. In Romans 4, God only spoke of Abraham’s faith. So it is with us. Romans 4:7-8 in the Amplified says, “Blessed…are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered up and completely buried. Blessed…is the person of whose sin the Lord will take no account nor reckon it against him.” What amazing grace!

Verse 16 says of God’s promise, “Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” That’s us!

Every moment in our lives is a new, pristine canvas. There are no markings from our past on it. Nothing mars its perfection. This is where we often fail to block the ‘failure thought’ from satan’s fiery dart lies. Our past is passed. We cannot go back and change anything. We are called to go forward.

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith…” This very moment is now faith. It is our uncharted present. Not to worry. The Lord has gone before us to prepare the way through. He is our Leader. Our path is tempered according to His wisdom of our faith’s strength.

All prepared paths in our trials: develop not destroy; encourage not defeat; strengthen not weaken; establish not uproot; expand and not shrink back. In Luke 9:61 they told Jesus that they would follow Him but (excuses). His reply fits us as well. Verse 62 says, “…No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” God’s work is right now in your present. Looking back only causes you to plow a crooked furrow. The past is behind you and cannot be changed, the future is ahead and cannot be reached, but the present is now.

Parenthesis are mine. Micah 6:8 says, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require (seek with demand) of you but to do justly (fitting), to love mercy (goodness, kindness, faithfulness), and to walk humbly (to show humility) with your God?” 

Here is something from my homework this morning. What is a servant’s heart? Luke 17:10 says that when the servant had done what was required of him, he was called unprofitable. I looked up some words in my 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary regarding this.

Merit means: to have the right to claim reward in money, regard, honor, or happiness. Here is a quote from South: A man at best is incapable of meriting anything from God. From this I realized that many broken expectations occur when we assume God will do something because we deserve it. It is a fiery dart thought that hits the ‘error’ button. Servants have no rights. Our walk before the Lord is because of His grace. He paid the penalty of our sins with His death. He canceled our debt and set us free to serve Him with gladness.

I love Romans 4. I turn to it each time I face an impossibility. Why? Abraham’s example instructs my heart. God had promised him that he would have a son with Sarah. Genesis 18:10 says, “…I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son.”

Their hearts challenged that promise as time continued and no child. Remember Ishmael. Yet this is what God said. Romans 4:19 says, “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body (since he was about a hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” The word consider means to ponder and think about. This is where we often fall into error.

Dialoguing about our impossibilities in our mind fortifies them. We roll the whole situation around in our mind until it takes all our focus. Abraham resisted that temptation. Romans 4:20 Amplified says, “No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith AS he gave praise and glory to God.”

What was the basis of Abraham’s faith? Verse 21 says, “And being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” This is where faith meets doubt and overturns it. We have to focus on God and not our impossibility. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all…” How does He work this? The verse goes on to say, “…according to the power that works in us.”

What is that great power? It is the same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead. His resurrection power dwells within us! Ephesians 1:19-20 says, “…the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead…”

Since God did raise Jesus from the dead, He is able to take us through anything that seems an impossibility to us. His divine power dwells within us. Romans 8:11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” What a promise!

Circumstances that seem impossible to us, are divinely orchestrated opportunities for the Lord to reveal Himself to us in a way we have not seen Him before. Think back on your former trials. How did the Lord take you through? He magnified His character that thrilled your inner being, and caused praise to burst out of your heart. He is always ready to do it again, and again. He does not operate through our past victories. He takes us into new victories.

What impossibility do you face right now? Fortify your heart through the truths of His word. What did the Angel say to Mary? Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” This is God’s commendation. Verse 45 says, “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of things which were told her from the Lord.” God’s word is true. Mark 11:22 says, “…have faith in God.” He is Faithful. 

How we spend our time behind closed doors affects every aspect of our lives. it influences what we think about, what we say, what we do. When we live out the gospel, it empowers us to bring change. However, when we live for ourselves, gratifying our flesh, we only drag others down.

When I was really young, I went to our State Fair with a family from our church. I saw my first chameleon. It was so small and so green. Yet, when put against a bright cloth, it would turn the color of the cloth. It fits into its environment. In Jesus’ priestly prayer He asked the Father something. John 17:11 says, “…Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.”

Verse 15 says, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in them.” We are to be in the world, but not allow the world’s system to influence us. We are called to be the influencers!

Romans 13:12 says, “…Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Verse 14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh.” The world system operates only in the flesh. Roman 8:5 says, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”

Peter was acting like a chameleon and Paul took him to task. Galatians 2:11 says, “…I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed.” Verse 12-13 says, “For before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.”

There is the key to why we are spiritual chameleons. We blend in with whatever crowd we are with because of the fear of man. Proverbs 29:25 says, “The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.” The fruit of the fear of man is: insincerity, lack of integrity, the message and messenger are not the same, pretense, and a facade.

James 3:10 is the chameleon mouth. It says, “Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.” Proverbs 10:17 Amplified says, “He who heeds instruction and correction is (not only himself) in the way of life (but also) IS a way of life for others. And he who neglects or refuses reproof (not only himself) goes astray (but also) causes to err and is a path of ruin for others.”

That verse should be very convicting! The path we walk on influences others. We can make David’s prayer our own. Psalm 25:4-5 says, “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.” May we exemplify the Lord through our thoughts, words, and actions.

I have a 1828 Noah Webster dictionary. I like it because it uses Scriptural examples of words. Using Psalm 92:12, the meaning for flourish is: to grow in grace and good works. The verse says, “The righteousness shall flourish as a palm tree…” Here is something interesting about the palm tree that I learned from a pastor when I was young.

The leaves of the palm tree are green and flourishing at the top. That is not the case when we stand below and look up. I can see some palm trees from where I live. After a tremendous wind storm, the street was littered with dead branches and chunks of dried bark. I had to skit them as I drove by.

We are clothed in God’s righteousness. We flourish when we walk in His ways. When we are walking in our flesh, we drop dead branches that cause others to skirt around us. The testimony of Jesus is not attractive to them. Our lives do not display the gospel. The process of progressive sanctification is to help our leaves be green, and the fruit of the Spirit evident through our walk.

Another definition in the 1828 dictionary really caught my eye. It means: to open, expand, enlarge, or to shoot out, as in glory. Wow. Think of Isaiah 54. Verse 1 bids the barren to sing. Verse 2-3 says, “Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left…”

Here is an example of God’s orchestration. After I typed the above, I looked at my homework verse for today that I am to meditate on. It is 1 Timothy 4:12. It says, “Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example to those who believe.” What a perfect verse to add to this post.

Do the following exemplify the Lord in your life? The words that you speak, your character, love, faith, and purity are displayed before others. Do they imitate Christ? In 1 Corinthians 11:1 Paul wrote, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” Paul wrote two letters to Timothy. Each one instructed him on how to walk uprightly before others.

God’s word in us is what will cause us to flourish. It is not something that we can do. It is the sole work of the Holy Spirit as we delight in God’s word. Hebrews 4:12 says that God’s word is alive, active, and powerful. I like to think of it as yeast in bread dough that permeates throughout our heart. Kefir has billions of active bacteria that bring healing as we ingest it. Psalm 107:20 says, “He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”

Isaiah 55:11 says of God’s word, “…it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” God’s word hidden in our heart will prosper. It will permeate every aspect of our lives so that we are not barren or fruitless. John 15:8 says, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

I am taking an online college class on Biblical Counseling. I was working on my assignment last night. During the day I was meditating on Psalm 1:1-3. I memorized these verses when I was a child. They are in my heart reservoir. The question I had to answer for my homework was: What would it look like if my life was described by these verses?

Verse 2 says that if we delight in God’s word and meditate in it we will bear fruit in every season and be prosperous. When I pondered the question, the Holy Spirit gave me three words that so impacted me that I burst into tears. The secret to spiritual prosperity is NO SPIRITUAL BARRENNESS.

Delighting in God’s word involves our spirit which shuts out our flesh. The Hebrew word for ‘delight’ means: pleasure, desire, longing, that in which one takes delight. Meditating means to think about it, pondering the truth of it, conversing with it in our heart, walking in it, and making it our own. We would cherish every moment and become lost in our communion with the Lord. 

Psalm 92:12-15 uses the word flourish four times. Flourish means to be green and verdant. Verse 14 in the Amplified says, “(Growing in grace) they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap (of spiritual vitality) and (rich in the) verdure (of trust, love, and contentment).” Now watch what the purpose of this is.

Verse 15 says, “To declare that the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” We will be living memorials! My dad was. I took care of him for 10 1/2 years at home and then he had to go into a care facility. He was a living memorial. He tootled all over that place in his wheelchair with his Bible on his lap. There was one bitter prodigal that he befriended. When my dad died, Keith followed him four days later.

Does ‘spiritual vitality’ describe your walk with the Lord? I like to visit Job 21:24. The Amplified says of a man who died in full strength. It says, “His pails are full of milk (his veins are filled with nourishment) and the marrow of his bones is fresh and moist.” Moses died in full strength. Deuteronomy 34:7 says, “Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.”

We will live out our fashioned days according to Psalm 139:16. Quality of life is to bear fruit until the Lord takes us home. Psalm 91:14 says, “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.” Verse 16 says, “With long life I will satisfy him, and show Him my salvation.”

Joshua 1:8 says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Observe to do is: reading for understanding, gaining insights on what blocks our witness, and conviction that brings course correction.

Proverbs 3:7-8 says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.” Evil is iniquity or sin. David understood iniquity. Psalm 51 was written after he sinned with Bathsheba. Verse 2 says, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.”

Verse 5 is a statement about every one who is born. It says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; and in sin my mother conceived me.” We are born with a sin nature because Adam and Eve disregarded God’s word. 

David’s sin with Bathsheba was in direct violation of God’s word. Look at how the Lord described it. 2 Samuel 12:9 says, “Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?…” Listen to the consequences. Verse 11 says, “…Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house…”

What was the first thing that happened after that? One of his sons, Amnon, raped one of his daughters, Tamar. Then another son, Absalom, killed Amnon. The list goes on and it gets far worse. One adversity after another within his own household. Do you have adversity in your families? You might ask the Lord where you disobeyed His word.

Acting independent of God is the work of our flesh. John 6:63 says that our flesh profits nothing. That means not one thing we do in our own strength has any benefit. In fact, it throws us into spiritual decline rather than growth. What is God’s antidote for one who is spiritually barren? Isaiah 54 was written to Israel. We can make a personal application. It says, “Sing, O barren. You who have not borne! Break forth into singing, and cry aloud…” Our flesh bears no fruit.

When we are spiritually fruitless, we need to go to God’s word. It is like an owner’s manual. We can use it to troubleshoot. Here are some examples. You are feeling depressed. Proverbs 12:25 says, “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” There is the root to the problem and the solution.

Here is another. You are feeling fearful yet there is no danger. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” First of all, the fear is not from God. It is a fiery dart lie from the enemy of your soul. The truth is God’s provision for all of His children. Power. Love. Sound mind. A sound mind is disciplined through patterns. We gain understanding of how our thoughts should be through applying God’s word to our lives daily.

We are called into a holy calling. We are equipped through His word. Obedience brings blessings and not cursing. When you have time you might go back and read about that in Deuteronomy 28. Though it was written to Israel, we can apply it to our hearts. 2 Peter 1:3 says that He has given us all things to prosper in our walk with Him. It comes through our relationship with the Lord. He showers the humble with His grace, but He resists the proud who walk in their flesh.

Waiting tries our independent spirit to the max. Anytime we act independent of God, we are acting in our flesh. All actions are preceded by thoughts. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord.” There is a great example for us in 2 Samuel 6:1-8. 

Years ago this section became very alive for me. I was the secretary for our church at the time we were in a church split. We were praying before we began our work day. As I was praying, I felt this in my spirit: do not stretch out your hand to steady what I am shaking. That lesson has remained with me.

God had a prescribed way that the ark was to be carried. When David attempted to bring the ark back, they put it on a new cart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah put his hand out to steady the ark. God struck him dead. You can read it all for yourself. God’s way was for the priests to bear the ark on their shoulders with poles.

God’s ways are far higher than our ways. When we seek to do something in our own way, He will shake it. You might look back in your life and remember times when you attempted to do something independent of the Lord. It didn’t turn out well. How many times does He oppose our way, yet we keep pressing through?

Balaam is another example. The Lord told him not to go and he went. Numbers 22:22 says that the Angel of the Lord stood against him as an adversary. Verse 32 says, “…Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before me.” Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.”

Perverse means to be contrary. 1 Peter 3:9 says, “Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” The path of the obedient is strewn with grace, blessing, and favor. The path of the disobedient? Proverbs 13:15 Amplified says, “…the way of the transgressor is hard (like the barren, dry soil or the impassable swamp).”

Are you stuck in the quagmire of your own making? That is what happens when we act independently of God. 2 Peter 1:9 is the fruit of not doing what God has said to do. In this case it is to add to our faith. It says, “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.”

We forget that we are not our own. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” God’s way for us is clearly outlined in His word. John 15:5 clearly states a truth that should govern our heart. It says, “…for without Me you can do nothing.” Let that be a banner over our lives, especially when the Lord tells us to wait. Waiting His way is heart-dependence.

In 2018 I had a fraudulent charge on my credit card. It was my error. I was working on my computer and this notice came across my screen that I needed to immediately call Apple (I have a MAC). I didn’t know how to get the notice off my screen so I called. I have many times shared my screen with Apple because it is easier than having them try to explain something to me. I’m a visual learner.

I should have… Ever had ‘should have’s’ in your life? I didn’t realize what was happening until I got a phone call later in the evening asking for my credit card. Long story short. The Lord reminded me of all this when I woke up the next morning. I went into my bank account and could not get in. They had changed my sign in, but had not yet figured out my password. The bank stepped in and stopped the whole thing.

Had I immediately inquired of the Holy Spirit when my screen was blocked out, it would have saved me a lot of hassle. Every time we encounter a new obstacle in our path, we need to stop and ask the Holy Spirit what to do.

We can take another lesson from the life of David. I love this passage in 2 Samuel 5:17-25. Two exact same scenes, yet David specifically inquired of the Lord for each. It is far too easy to fall back on some way that the Lord delivered us before. His mercies are new every morning. Every situation we encounter has His unique way of deliverance. That is where trust comes in.

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” David listened and then did exactly as the Lord instructed. That is what brought the breakthrough in the battle with the Philistines (which speak of our flesh).

Our flesh is what causes us to veer off the path the Holy Spirit is leading us on. We ‘think’ that we know what to do. Psalm 23:3 says, “…He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” That path of righteousness is working God’s will and ways into our thought processes which then affects how we walk.

2 Samuel 5:18 says that the Philistines had deployed themselves. David asked the Lord if he should go up against them. The Lord told him to and that He would deliver them. There was a great breakthrough. David named the place Baal Perazim. He said in verse 20, “…The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water…”

In verse 22 the Philistines again deployed themselves. Same scene, but David stopped and inquired of the Lord. This time his instructions were totally different. Verses 23-24 are my ‘go to’ verses. It says, “…You shall not go up, circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly…” Waiting is a trial that reveals any hidden flesh.

When we don’t wait, we veer off God’s chosen path. Verse 24 continued…”For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” When we wait for the Holy Spirit to lead us in our battle to recover all, He will then expose our fleshly stronghold so that we can defeat and destroy it.

We are never to go out without Him leading us. That only causes us to act independently and sin. We cannot walk in the dark. We are children of light. The Holy Spirit leads us into the light that illuminates what has been hidden. Only He knows where and what. 

Waiting, watching, listening for the sound to advance. Not moving until the Lord says to move tries our faith. Will we continue to wait? Saul didn’t wait and he lost his kingdom. We will forfeit the moment of opportunity that the Lord has set up if we are not attentive. Years ago my pastor wrote me a little note: seize the opportunity in the moment of the opportunity. 

What has been stolen from you? What have you lost that you once had? How has the enemy of your soul pilfered your goods? Years ago we used to sing: I went to the enemy’s camp and I took back what he stole from me…

David and his men had their wives, their children, and all their livestock stolen. Their city was burned. Every time I read this story in 1 Samuel 30, I picture the scene like this. David and his 600 men were coming back from Gath. They were exhausted.

As they crested the hill and looked down on Ziklag, how did they emotionally process what they saw? Verse 4 says, “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”

Verse 6 says, “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters…” What? Stoning him? How did David respond? The verse goes on to say, “…But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

David leaned hard on the Lord. He asked the Lord very specifically what he should do. Verse 8  says, “So David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? And He answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” 

Verse 19 says, “…David recovered all.” Wow! Recover all. That is the Lord’s promise to us as well. When we arm ourselves with the smooth stone-verses needed to fell our giant, we have promises in His word to lean on. Think back to the life of Job. After he obeyed the Lord in praying for his ‘friends’ the Lord restored his losses.

God’s word is backed by His faithfulness. Isaiah 55:11 says that His word cannot fail. It will not return to Him void. Titus 1:2 says that God cannot lie. 2 Timothy 2:13 says that God cannot deny Himself. John 3:34 says that God does not give His Spirit by measure.

John 10:10 brings it all into God’s perspective. It says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” We were never called to be in want or to lack anything needed to run our race of faith.

2 Peter 1:3 says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” ALL things. The condition is met through our relationship with the Lord. The more time we spend communing with Him, gazing at Him, the more we come to know His ways.

1 John 5:3 says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” The law was a burden that no one could carry. Jesus came to fulfill the law. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”

To keep His word, is to obey Him in all His ways. Our progressive sanctification is a path of obedience. As we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, He will always lead us into truth. Things were stolen from us, when we veered off the path He had us on. 2 Timothy 2:25-26 says, “…if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

Captivity to satan makes us spiritually weak. That was his whole point. He wanted to capture us so that he could destroy our faith. Isaiah 5:13 and Hosea 4:6 point the finger at our lack of knowledge. In order to strengthen our faith, we have to know the Lord and His ways. He strengthens our faith through our trials. He uses them to expose and remove the dross that was hidden by satan to undermine our faith. Do you, like David, know how to strengthen yourself in the Lord when attacked by the enemy?

Twice, it seemed, that the Lord had set it up for David to kill Saul. Both stories are intriguing. 1 Samuel 24:2 says that Saul had 3,000 men. Verse 3 says that Saul, “…came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recess of the cave.)”

David’s men felt that it was a perfect set up. They urged David to kill Saul. David secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Verse 5 says, “Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe.”

Listen to David’s honor of God’s word. Verse 6 says, “…The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.”

Watch this next time. Saul was asleep and his men were asleep around him. 1 Samuel 26:12 says, “…For they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on them.” David and Abishai crept up to them unnoticed. In verse 8 Abishai said to David, “..God has delivered your enemy into your hand…”

In verse 9 David told Abishai to not strike the king, “…Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” David instructed Abishai to take the spear and jug of water.

David was honoring God’s word by obeying it. Psalm 105:15 says, “…Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.” David understood that God had given him the kingdom, but it would be in God’s impeccable timing. 1 Samuel 26:10 says, “…As the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish.” David’s words were prophetic.

What about us? Do we have the honor of obedience? I’m working on memorizing the first 15 verses in Psalm 119. I’m stumbling over some of the words. Verse 13 says, “With my lips I have declared all the judgments of Your mouth.” Have you? I haven’t. All means no exception.

Our obedience is an outward show of a heart that honors the Lord above all else. Psalm 119:2 says, “Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.” John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…”

John 5:19 says that the Son can do nothing of Himself. Verse 20 says, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does…” John 3:35 says, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.” 

Philippians 2:8 says of Jesus, “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” The Father’s love for the Son, and the Son’s love for the Father is not within our ability to comprehend now.

When we truly grasp how much the Lord loves us, our natural heart’s response is obedience. We honor Him through our wholeheartedness. We obey His word because He first loved us. All we have to give Him is our heart. Psalm 119:10 says, “With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments.”

Psalm 138:2 says, “I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above Your name.” We magnify the Lord when we obey His word from a heart of love.