2 Corinthians 2:14-15

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

 

key text. 

 

John 2:1-4

 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.

 

some quotes on obedience. 

 

1. ‘Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.” Oswald Chambers

2. “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are at opposite sides of the same coin.” A. W. Tozer

3. “Maturity comes from obedience, not necessarily from age.” Leonard Ravenhill

4. “Obedience means marching right on whether we feel like it or not. Many times we go against our feelings. Faith is one thing, feeling is another.” Dwight L. Moody

5. “A ton of prayer will not produce what an ounce of obedience will.” Ed Cole

6. “You cannot obey God without your obedience spilling out in a blessing to all those around you.”Adrian Rogers

7. 1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD?To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

 

Instruction 

A direction or order.

A detailed information about how something should be done or operated.

 

Instruction requires an action, response and obedience to the latter. 

 

• The instruction you choose to obey is the instruction that will ultimately be a blessing.

• Simply obeying instruction will bring rewards or result. 

• The opposite is true (Disobedience will result into stagnation or even death.

• The Lord will not strive with us or arm twist us into submission.

• Disobedience to the instruction will trigger the consequences of our lack of obedience. The results will not be immediate but this will eventually lead to the undesired results. 

 

 

Isaiah 1:19

If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

 

 How to respond to Instructions. 

 

1. Everything God created contains an invisible seed of instruction ,an assignment, to solve a specific problem. Within an individual is an invisible calling  purpose or destiny.

 

Luke 1:31-33

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”

 

Luke 1:38

Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

 

 

 

Lord help us identify the seeds of instruction to complete our assignments and the courage to follow through.

 

 

2. Instructions may be ignored, disregarded, distorted or completed out of sequence. This will result into delays, stagnating in one season or even spiritual or physical death. 

 

An example is Jonah 1:3 But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. 

 

Prayer point:

Lord help us to leant to hear your instructions and be obedient to the instructions we receive.

 

3. Instruction can be so simple making no sense or logic that we disregard or totally ignore. The simplicity of the instructions can sometimes cause us NOT to be obedient. 

 

2 Kings 5:10-11

And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’

 

Prayer point:

Lord help us to have child like faith to follow instructions even when they seem too simple or makes no logical sense.

 

4. Take the first simple step in following instructions.

 

1 Kings 17:10-11

So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

 

Prayer point.

Lord help us to take the first simple step of obedience and to have the courage raise to a higher demand.

 

5. Always go over and above to deliver on the instructions.

 

2 Kings 13:18-19

Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”

 

Prayer point:

 

Lord help us to go over and above the instructions.