I received an inquiry from a FAM Fellowship member yesterday, seeking clarification regarding some of the things we teach and promote in FAMM because she struggles with the concept that we have to be obedient to be blessed by the Lord; and more precisely, to see our marriages restored. Yet, it’s difficult to read the Word of God without concluding that HE requires us to trust and obey Him in order to receive is greatest blessings and the desires of our hearts. So when we have a difficult time accepting the need for obedience and are misled to believe that God just wants us to “desire to do good” or to have “good intentions,” we are likely to end up frustrated, disappointed and unfulfilled as Christians and even more particularly as men and women standing for marriage restoration. And since this is something many others might struggle with as well, I hope this post will help clarify our need to obey and trust God, because it’s just not possible to overstate the vital necessity of obeying and trusting in God as we stand for the restoration of our marriages.

One powerful passage of scripture, among many others illustrating that is Psalm 84; which I strongly encourage everyone to read and seriously study. Yet as we read this and all scripture, it’s absolutely necessary that we don’t ignore, disregard or minimize some of the important, conditional and descriptive words we tend to glide over; such as “dwell” and ”ever” in verse 4;”in” and “set” in verse 5: “pass through” and “they make it” in verse 6; “”go from strength to strength” and “til each” in verse 7; “”strong>in your courts” in verse 10; “whose walk is blameless” in verse 11; “who trusts in you” in verse 12. According to this passage and many, many others, it’s clear that the blessings of God are attained through an abiding walk and relationship with God as we totally and completely trust and obey Him.

Furthermore, according to what Jesus taught in Mark 12:29-30, the greatest and single most important commandment of all is that we put God FIRST in EVERYTHING; that we love God with ALL of our heart, soul, mind and strength. And based on the following passages of scripture, it’s undeniably clear that it’s not possible to separate obeying God from loving God, particularly when we pay close attention to the important, conditional and descriptive words in the passages of scripture below:

Deuteronomy 11:1 – [Love and Obey the LORD] Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.

Deuteronomy 11:13-14 – So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul-then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and oil.

Joshua 22:5 – But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your
soul.”

Nehemiah 1:5-6 – Then I said: “O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you.

Psalm 119:167 – I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly.

Daniel 9:3-5 – So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws.

John 14:15 – [Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit] “If you love me, you will obey what I command.

John 14:21 – Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

John 14:23 – Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

John 14:24 – He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

John 15:10 – If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

1 Peter 1:22 – Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

1 John 2:4-6 – The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

1 John 5:3 – This is love for Godobey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

In addition to the Bible unambiguously proclaiming that we don’t truly love the Lord if we don’t obey Him; it also makes it clear that obedience is a byproduct of faith. As Romans 1:5 states…Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And as Hebrews 11:8 reveals, faith requires acting in accordance with God’s instructions even when we don’t know the outcome…By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. And it’s very important to note that IF Abraham had NOT gone where the Lord called him to go he wouldn’t have ended up being WHERE he needed to be to receive the inheritance God intended to give him! Many times men and women have shared how they dreaded events or circumstances that seemed so terrible and totally contrary to everything they wanted and were standing for; only to discover later that it was those very same events and circumstances that the Lord literally used to bring about the restoration of their marriages! So His ways and thoughts are indeed higher and different than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9), which is why He specifically tells us NOT to lean to our own understanding; to just trust Him with ALL of our hearts and to acknowledge Him in ALL of our ways (Proverbs 3:5-6)!

However, it’s not right to conclude or suggest that God “punishes” us because we aren’t perfect; even though it is true that God is not obligated to BLESS us when we don’t trust and obey Him. But there IS a difference. As I once heard it said, and as Psalm 84 and many other passages of scripture confirm; when we trust and obey the Lord, we are under the glory spout where the glory pours out! But when we don’t trust and obey God, we give the devil power and authority in our lives and as we know, he comes ONLY to steal, kill and destroy. And Jesus very powerfully affirmed God’s requirement for obedience in Luke 6:46-49, when He taught that when we OBEY Him and DO what we know His Word tells us to do, our homes will withstand anything and everything that comes against them. BUT when we hear His Word and DON’T DO what He tells us to do, our homes will come down with a great crash and be completely destroyed! It just doesn’t get any clearer and simpler than that; especially in light of Jesus’ own words in Luke 6:46. So the question we all must ask and answer for ourselves is the same one Jesus asked then and still asks today…“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

So, whether we understand it or not and whether we like it or not, it is undeniably clear that we can’t count on God’s blessings, protection and provision if we don’t obey and trust in Him. That’s exactly why Jesus told us in Luke 9:23 that to follow Him, we have to deny our flesh and pick up our cross daily…Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Then in Luke 14:27, He even further declared…And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. But when we obey God and put our trust in Him, we will be blessed in ways beyond anything we can even begin to ask or imagine, as revealed in the following passages of scripture:

Psalm 37:4-6 – Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Proverbs 16:20 – Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD.

Isaiah 26:3 – You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

Jeremiah 17:7 – “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.

Daniel 3:28 – Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Daniel 6:23 – The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Nahum 1:7 – The LORD is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him,

John 14:1 – “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.

Romans 10:11 – As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And the really GOOD NEWS for all of us is that no matter how big a mess we’ve made of our lives and/or marriages, we have God’s awesome assurance and promise in Isaiah 55 that He CAN AND WILL turn it ALL around an give us so much better than the seeds we’ve sown when we just turn from our sinful ways and turn to Him, which He will do for the everlasting renown of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ! So let us be among those who put our trust in the Lord as we stand in faith and obedience on the power and promise of His Word for the full and complete restoration of our marriages and families, and we will indeed be blessed and encouraged because we will not be disappointed or put to shame when we do!

Psalm 84
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. [
7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
8 Hear my prayer, O LORD God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 Look upon our shield, O God; look with favor on your anointed one.
10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
12 O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

Posted Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 10:57 pm in Seeds Of Faith.