Blessings of Obedience and the Results of Disobedience

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Obedience to God isn't an option. Those who truly love the Lord will obey Him and it will be a delight to do so. Obedience to God isn't always easy and there will be times when we will fail, but if we repent, God is always faithful to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.  Each morning the children and I try to have a short morning devotion. I thought it would be nice to type out the blessings of obedience and the results of disobedience and laminate them as a reminder of the blessings that follow obeying the Lord and as a warning of the path of disobedience. We plan to study some of the scripture references for our devotions in the upcoming weeks. 
Jesus didn't come only to forgive us of our sins, but He came to save us FROM our sins. Jesus gives us the power to overcome sin. In Him we have victory!
 
In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 1 John 3:10

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.
Hebrews 5:9

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
James 1:22

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
 Matthew 7:21

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Blessings of Obedience:

Peace with enemies- Proverbs 16:7

Deliverance- Proverbs 11:21

Strong confidence and a place of refuge- Proverbs 14:26

Eternal life- Rom.2:7

Preserved by the Lord.-Ps. 121:7

Long life-Pr.3:2

Favor with God-Pr.3:4

Direction- Pr.3:6

Health to bones-Pr.3:8

Provision- Pr.3:10

Prayers that are heard- Pr.15:29

Delivered out of trouble- Pr.11:7

Fruitful life -.12:12

Mouth of wisdom- Pr.10:31

Peace, quietness, assurance- Isa.32:17

Mercy and truth- Ps.32:10, Pr.14:22

Children taught by the Lord and peace- Isa.54:13

Life everlasting -Gal.6:8

Happiness- Ps. 128:2

Blessings- Ps.128:4

No fear- Isa.54:14

Everlasting joy and gladness- Isa 51:11

Crown of righteousness- 2 Tim.4:8

Grace and glory -Ps.84:11

Life, righteousness, and honor- Pr.21:21

Friend of God- John 15:14

 

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. 1 Samuel 15:22

We can give all our money to the poor, share the gospel, teach sunday school, take care of the sick; but it doesn't matter if your ministry isn't the outflow of obedience.
 On the outside we may look the part, but if we lack obedience to the Lord and we're living intentionally in our sin without repenting or forsaking our sin, then nothing else matters.  Nothing we do can make up for lack of obedience to the Lord.  Before we can ever obey the Lord we have to first be born again; which means to be given a new heart that desires to please the Lord.  Without a new heart and the Spirit of God living inside of us, we can never live a life of obedience and will face the consequences listed below.
Results of Disobedience:
Death- Rom.8:6

Wrath of God- Rom2:7

Shortened life- Prov.10:27

Curses- blindess, madness, confusion, and disaster-Deut.28:20,28

Unfruitful life- Lk.8:14

An end that leads to destruction- Phil.3:19, Prov.10:29

Enslaved, weighed down- Lk.21:34-36

Death -Ezek.18:4

Will reap vanity and corruption- Pr.22:8, Gal. 6:8

Trouble- Pr.15:6

Never satisfied- Pr.13:25

Will perish -Ps.1:6, Ps.37:20

Will reap what he sows- Ps.7:15

Lack of understanding- Prov.28:5

Sudden calamity- Pr.28:18

God’s displeasure -Pr.15:8

Far from the Lord- Prov.15:29

Tribulations and anguish- Rom. 2:9

No peace- Isa.57:21


 

Keep Running

Exhausted, I stare down into the sink. It’s clogged. Has been for several weeks. When it does slowly drain it leaves a dark grimy film, and no matter how many times I scour it, the grime returns each time it’s clogged.
(Which is daily.)
I stare at the water; it isn’t going anywhere. I look up into the mirror, my face red from exertion, hair soaked with sweat. I just got off the treadmill.
The absurdity of it strikes me: I’m exhausted from running nowhere.
In so many ways.
Tears sting my eyes as my reflection blurs sideways. I had thought about it while running, had thought about how ridiculous it was to run, all alone, for forty minutes and not get anywhere.
Why God?
Why am I getting nowhere?
Everyday I get up. You do too. Everyday we obey God in the mundane details of life behind the scenes. We wipe counters, noses, and bottoms. We listen, labor, love–often alone. We wash, work, worship. And then we wake up the next morning and do it all again.

Read the entire article called, "When You Feel Like You Live On A Treadmill" HERE. So encouraging!
When you're exhausted and feel like you're going no where- Keep Running, beloved sister in Christ!

The Decision to Homeschool

God has revealed to me that it is His will for me to homeschool my children. This has been a very hard decision to make. I was one of those moms that used to say that I would NEVER homeschool my children. I had a list of many reasons why I would never homeschool which included- not enough patience, not smart enough, not enough time, didn't know how, kids wouldn't like it, kids would fall behind academically, they wouldn't know how to act/behave in the "real world", my family would think I'm weird (absolutely crazy) along with many, many more. With a difficult toddler on top of all those reasons I pretty much convinced myself that homeschooling would be impossible. As you all have heard, never say never and NOTHING is impossible with God. My children currently go to a wonderful christian school, but over the last several months God has given me a passion for homeschooling my children. Over the last 2 years my daughter has had hours of homework almost every night after school. This leaves barely any time to be together as a family. If my kids are gone 8 hours a day and they come home with homework then how will I "train my children up in the way they should go"? Whose job is it to raise my children? Is it the Sunday school teacher's job, the school's job, or is it my job? What is the real reason that I refuse to homeschool my children? Those were some of the questions I asked myself before making the decision to homeschool. To be completely honest, it is much easier for me to send my 2 oldest children to a christian school and only have 1 child at home. When my youngest naps, I have free time (me time). It's also easier to keep up with my housework with only 1 child at home. Notice how my reasoning was all about ME? The real reason I said I would NEVER homeschool was my own SELFISHNESS. I just had myself convinced otherwise. I want more than anything to glorify my Lord and do His Will. I know without a doubt that His Way is always the BEST Way! I feel complete peace with my decision to homeschool, although I know that this path will not be smooth sailing, but difficult at times. I also know that God's Grace is always sufficient. God doesn't call me to be perfect, but to be faithful. Just as I read in a wonderful book called "A Field Guide to Homeschooling", by Christine Field- "There are no perfect homeschoolers- just a number of commited people who put one foot in front of the other and step out in faith to do the job they feel called to do."

Just a quick end note:
Sending your child to a christian school and choosing not to homeschool is not wrong. The only way it is wrong is if God has called you to homeschool your children and you refuse to be obedient to the calling. I don't know how long God has called me to homeschool. It may only be for a year or until they graduate. I do know that I will continue to step out in obedience until God shows me otherwise.

This post was shared at Raising Homemakers as well as A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.