31 Faith-Building LessonsSample

LESSON 25

Obedience: The Key to Divine Prosperity, Part 1

9Then he sheweth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded. 10He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. 11If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. 12But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.

Job 36:9-12

After reading that verse, it is obvious that God does not love poverty. He loves the poor man, but poverty is a curse in the sight of God. Thank God we’ve been redeemed from the curse of poverty.

13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:13-14

God has set forth certain laws, rules, requirements, and conditions which, if observed and carried out, will result in a life of prosperity and pleasure. However, if these laws and conditions are ignored, bondage will be the result.

Do you know that we are the greatest of all God’s creation? Man is God’s most prized creation – His crowning achievement. However, man is the only creature that God made who rebels against Him. The mule won’t, which is supposed to be the most stubborn animal in existence. Yet he won’t disobey God.

There was a time when God told the prophet Balaam to preach, and the prophet wouldn’t obey. So, God anointed the prophet’s donkey, and the donkey preached (Numbers 22). Now, that ought to tell us something about how ignorant man can be. The mule, being a stubborn animal by nature, had better sense than to disobey God while man rebelled against Him.

Did you know that the birds won’t rebel against God? God told the prophet, Elijah, 3Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan…4I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there (1Kings 17:3-4).

Did you notice that when God commanded those birds to bring the prophet bread and meat twice a day, they didn’t say, “I don’t want to. I did it last time. Get the sparrow.” Birds don’t argue with God. The raven would not think of disobeying God.

Fish won’t disobey God, either. One day, when Jesus needed tax money, He said to Peter, Go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee (Matthew 17:27).

I’m convinced that when Jesus said that, every fish in every body of water immediately went to hunting money because none of them knew which was going to be the first one Peter would catch. The fish didn’t jump out of the water and say, “Jesus, we’re not going to do this. We’re tired of hunting money for ignorant folks who can’t pay their own taxes. You’re just going to have to get it some other way. Peter got himself into this mess, let him get himself out!”

No, they wouldn’t argue with God. Do you know why? Because God created all things, and all things are subordinate to God. Only to man did God give a will because He wanted man to be as close to Himself as He could possibly make him. IT IS OUR CHOICE TO OBEY OR DISOBEY GOD.

God plainly tells us that if we obey and serve Him, we shall (not may but SHALL) spend our days in prosperity and our years in pleasure. He also made it very clear that if we do not obey, we shall perish.

The Bible says that Jesus was the express image of God (Hebrews 1:3). He came into this earth and perfectly expressed the will, the nature, the ability, and the ways of God. The Bible says that while He was here, He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). There is nothing you and I will ever go through that Jesus has not already conquered. He’s been there and knows what it’s like to live on this planet. Thank God, the Bible says that we have a High Priest who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. Jesus knows what it is like being here. He knows how mean and ugly people can be. He experienced it Himself. He knows the pressures and trials of this world because He confronted them, also. But He overcame them all (Praise God!), and He left us an example to follow.

Listen to the testimony of Jesus: …the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him (John 8:29). That ought to be our number one goal. OUR PRIMARY GOAL IN THIS LIFE SHOULD NOT BE TO GET RICH; IT SHOULD BE TO PLEASE GOD. If you will please God, you’ll be rich. God will see to it that you have every need met (Philippians 4:19).

We need to realize that God has set forth certain laws and conditions which we must obey if we are to receive those needs met. God is not going to make us obey them or force us to live by His commands. He just simply says, in essence, “Here’s what I am providing for you. If you are intelligent enough to do what I say, then here’s what I will do for you. If you won’t do it, then I have no other choice but to let you lead your own life. If you live like the rest of the world, you will perish with them, and you’ll die without knowledge.”

God has said, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). There’s no excuse for a lack of knowledge in the day and age in which we live. The Word of God is going forth like never before in this nation and in this world. There is no excuse for the Body of Christ dying and being destroyed because of a lack of knowledge.

All the seals have been taken off God’s Word. The Holy Spirit is revealing to us the inner workings of our Covenant with God and showing us how to live by it. The Amplified Bible says in Proverbs 1:22, How long, O simple ones…will you love being simple? The wisdom of God is available. It’s crying out in the streets.

13Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom…14For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit of it better than fine gold…16Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor.

Proverbs 3:13-14, 16 (AMP)

The wisdom of God is available to us. We need to make the decision to be obedient to God, and to quit leaning to the natural, to the ways of this world. You do realize, don’t you, that God and carnally minded man are in opposition to one another? The world has one way of doing things; God has another. They are diametrically opposed to each other.

If you listen to most forms of mass communication today, you’re going to hear the world’s way. But the Bible says that there are two kinds of wisdom in the earth. One is earthly, sensual, devilish (James 3:15). For the most part, that is what is being conveyed to the world.

The sad thing is that the Body of Christ has fallen into the trap of going along with what the world says. If the world says we’ve got depression, then we get depressed. If it says we’ve got inflation, then we get inflated. Generally, whatever the world says, many of God’s people accept it as the “gospel truth.” But it is not the Gospel truth.

There is another truth, another wisdom that is from above (James 3:17). That truth tells us that we, Christians, are not subject to this world’s system. We belong on a higher plane!

It is sad to report, however, that many of God’s children are not enjoying all the benefits of that higher life. They simply lack the self-discipline it takes to get into God’s Word to make up their minds that they are going to live in this higher realm whether anybody else does or not!

It takes much determination to do that. Most people haven’t been trained to exercise self-discipline. Our society today is geared to a sort of take-it-easy, hang-loose, if-it-feels-good-do-it mind set. The attitude seems to be, “If the preacher says something I don’t like, I’ll just leave. If things don’t go the way I like, I’ll just quit. If I don’t feel like going to church, I’ll just stay home.”

With such a take-it-or-leave-it, anything-goes attitude, no wonder so many people are having a hard time financially, physically, and spiritually.

Somewhere down the line, you have to draw a boundary in your life and say, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, those are deeds of the old man. I am a new man, and I am not going to live that way anymore.” When you make that decision, be forewarned. In probably about the next 30 minutes, you’re going to get a marvelous opportunity to go back to the old way. Why? Because Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word (Mark 4:15) – if you let him! Be assured that the devil will come to try to force you back to your old way of life.

Now I know that this is not the easiest decision that you’ll ever make, but it’s worth it! I want you to know IT IS WORTH ALL THE HOURS SPENT IN GOD’S WORD AND IN FELLOWSHIP WITH HIM. It is worth the effort and the discipline it takes to refuse to go the world’s way. It is worth it because DUE SEASON comes, hallelujah! It begins to show up in your life, and then it becomes a lifestyle, and then you wouldn’t consider going any other way!

I can’t imagine living the way I used to live. I can’t imagine turning back on God’s system now. This thing works. Hallelujah, I’m blessed. God is prospering me. I’m in good health. I’m having the time of my life.