At Your Word, LORD!!!!

I write a lot about trusting the LORD and knowing that HE will do what HE promises us in HIS WORD!!!


I do this because I want you to know that GOD will make a way for you, if ONLY you will trust in HIM and do what HE says. 


I must admit that as much as I love the LORD, I am NOT always obedient.  I don’t always do what HE tells me to do WHEN HE tells me to do it. 


And I find that most folks are that same way.


We want things our own way and we want to do things in our own time. 


And a lot of us, just plain out don’t like or want to be told what to do.  That is, until we have made a complete and utter mess of things or until we are exhausted and have tried every other way to solve our problem or resolve our situation. 


When we have tried everything else, we are more than willing to do things GOD’s WAY. 


Most of the time, we are like little children who have our own ideas about how things should work.  And we do NOT want to listen to anyone else.


But when we refuse to listen to others, especially OUR FATHER in Heaven, we show NOT ONLY how stubborn and hardheaded we are, but also how foolish we are. 


When we realize how foolish we have been, it is time to learn to trust JESUS completely. 


And part of trusting HIM, is learning to be obedient.  If ONLY we knew how good it felt and how rewarding it is, to trust GOD enough TO DO WHAT HE TELLS US TO DO, WHEN HE TELLS US TO DO IT!!!


For me, that means when GOD nudges me and reminds me about getting my Social Security card out of the drawer, I have to get up immediately and get it!!! 


I think the biggest challenge for me in OBEYING GOD is to STOP PROCRASTINATING.  I also have to learn NOT to allow myself to get frustrated and quit what I know I am supposed to be doing before I get it done. 


Truthfully, every one of us needs to trust GOD so completely that we are willing to say, “AT YOUR WORD, LORD.”  And mean it.


With the kids in my classroom, I learned to say, “DO IT, NOW!”


This is a concept that we need to learn!  We need to learn that when GOD tells us to do something, HE is saying, “DO IT NOW!”


Some of us are NOT obedient to THE LORD, because we don’t know HIM and we do NOT understand that HE and HE ALONE is our provider.  And because we do NOT know HIM, we don’t truly trust HIM enough to do what HE says. 


Other folks are used to providing for themselves, and in ALL truth, they have never had anyone who provided for them or made a way for them.  So, they do NOT know how to depend on someone else. 


When you have never had anyone to love and care for you, it is hard to trust GOD and believe that HE loves you so much that HE truly gave HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON FOR YOU!!!  And it is hard to believe that HE will provide the things you need and want.  When you have always been the one to take care of things, it is hard to give up that control.


When you do NOT know someone, it is hard to believe that what they say is true.  It is hard to take them at their word. 


This is the situation that Simon Peter and his friends, as professional fishermen found themselves in. 


Can you imagine a preacher telling you, as a professional fisherman, to go and fish some more after you have fished all night?  What sense would that make? 


None!  Absolutely no sense at all!!!


There must have been something about Jesus that made Simon Peter decide to do as HE said. 


Or maybe he thought, What could it hurt?
 

Luke 5:1-4 (NKJV)

¹ So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, ² and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets.

³ Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

⁴ When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”


Because Simon Peter chose to do as Jesus said, he was blessed beyond measure. 


Luke 5:5-7 (NKJV)

⁵ But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

⁶ And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.

⁷ So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.


Can you imagine the look on Peter’s face when he and his partner began to haul up all those fish and realized that there were so many fish that their net was breaking?


Luke 5:8 (NKJV) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”


Can you imagine realizing that the man in your boat is NOT just an ordinary preacher, but HE is indeed the Christ, the ONE and ONLY SON of the MOST HIGH?  Only GOD can cause such a multitude of fish to swim into your nets. 


Luke 5:9-11 (NKJV)

⁹ For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” ¹¹ So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.


Mary, the mother of Jesus knew that GOD had spoken to her and Joseph.  She knew that her beloved son was indeed the Son of God.  So, when she spoke to the servants at the wedding, and told them to do whatever HE says, she knew that Jesus would do as she asked.  She knew that HE would provide wine for the wedding because she was HIS mother and she had asked HIM to do so.


John 2:1-8 (NKJV)

¹ On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 

² Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

⁴ Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

⁶ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece.

⁷ Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.


When we ask the LORD to take care of a situation, we can count on the fact that HE is perfect and that HE will NOT fail us. 


John 2:9-10 (NKJV)

⁹ When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

¹⁰ And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

Sometimes, GOD nudges us in a direction or we just feel to go another way or NOT to do something.


I remember one time many years ago when the folks that I was carpooling to college with left me in Commerce.  I was going to call my mom to come get me, but a girl offered to take me home.  We got in her car and headed to her house, so that she could change and leave her stuff there. 


However, as we started to leave Commerce, I began to have the most horrible feeling.  It was a terrible feeling of dread.  I had never felt anything like it before in my life.  I learned later that it was GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. 


I can’t tell you what would have happened, if I had left Commerce in that car that day with that girl, but I can tell you that it would NOT have been good! 


When I told her about this feeling and that I could NOT ride with her that day, she took me back to school, and dropped me off.  Maybe one day when I get to Heaven, I will ask the LORD about it. 


She came back the next day and said that she had made it home just fine and that nothing had happened to her.  What she didn’t consider was that in taking me back to school, she had been delayed in driving down that highway.  I still believe even today, that GOD probably spared her life and kept her from harm because she took me back to school that day.


At times, GOD gives us very specific instructions, telling us exactly what and how we should do things. 



As we read this passage, we can see, that GOD gave this prophet specific instructions telling HIM what to do and what NOT to do.


1 Kings 13:1-10 (KJV)

13 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

² And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

³ And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.

⁴ And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.

⁵ The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.

⁶ And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.

⁷ And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.

⁸ And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:

⁹ For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.

¹⁰ So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.


Many times folks will try to tell us that we haven’t heard from GOD or that GOD can’t possibly be telling us to do things in that way.  Or as the old prophet did, they will flat out lie to you, to get you to do things their way!!! 


1 Kings 13:11-15 (KJV)

¹¹ Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.

¹² And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.

¹³ And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,

¹⁴ And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.

¹⁵ Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.


When we know that the LORD has spoken to us, we need to obey HIM and refuse to listen to others, no matter what they say. 


1 Kings 13:16-18 (KJV)

¹⁶ And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:

¹⁷ For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.

¹⁸ He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.


The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened to the old man who lied, but it does tell us what happened to the prophet who disobeyed GOD.


1 Kings 13:19-24 (KJV)

¹⁹ So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.

²⁰ And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:

²¹ And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,

²² But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.

²³ And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

²⁴ And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.


This passage has a sad ending because of the man of God’s disobedience. 


I know, I know.  Why didn’t GOD kill the old man?  Why didn’t GOD strike him down for lying?


I have no idea. 


What I do know is that we are each responsible to GOD for our own actions and for obeying HIM!!!  And when we do NOT obey GOD, there are consequences.


I know that when we refuse to obey GOD, we miss out on the blessings that GOD has planned for us.


By being disobedient, we could miss an opportunity to witness to someone and save a soul from HELL.


By NOT going where GOD said to go, we could miss out on a financial opportunity.


Or even worse than that we could miss out on helping someone and showing them that GOD truly loves them.


You know, I don’t want to miss the blessings GOD has planned for me and I want to be in the right place at the right time to bless others. 


I want to trust GOD whole-heartedly and be obedient to HIM!!!


And one day, when I stand before the throne I want to hear, my LORD and Savior say, Well done, my good and faithful servant!!!  Matt. 25:21