Say Yes!

1 Samuel 15:22 says, “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”.

This year our theme is Obedience. So, let’s kick off 2019 by looking at what obedience is to God. In our verse today, the word obey is translated from the Hebrew word shâmaʻ (Strongs H8085) which means to hear, to hear with interest,  listen to or give heed to, to obey or to yield. When the Bible speaks of obedience, it is telling us to hear God or listen to Him, to give heed to His words and to obey and yield to what He has spoken.

Jeremiah 7:22-23 puts it this way, “When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey me [listen to me, hear me, give heed to me, yield to me], and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’”

The words in [brackets] are mine and are taken from our definition of the word “obey” above. What God desires from us is that we listen to Him, hear Him, give heed to Him, yield to Him and obey Him and He will be our God and us His people. When we do everything just as God says, all will be well with us. Now, isn’t that a wonderful promise?

Our objective this year, is to hear God more. Trust me, this is a real faith journey. Hearing God and believing you have heard from God takes faith. It also takes accountability. Surrounding yourself with godly people who can pray with you. It requires you to have spirit filled leaders who can come into agreement with you, tell you when perhaps you are a little bit off or when to put things on a shelf and wait on God. God puts people in our lives so we do not get derailed by the enemy and lose our faith. I love this quote from Bob Goff, he said, “God intended us to travel through life as a community. Think bus, not unicycle.” We need to realise that the enemy works in seclusion and isolation, God works in family and community.

Let us learn how to obey God and say, “Yes” to God. Our yes to God is the best yes we can ever give. In 2019 going forward let us yield to God and every word He speaks. Let us live our lives surrendered to Jesus. Fully embracing the fact that we no longer live, but Jesus Christ lives in us. Which means- this is His life within us. He can use it and do with it as He pleases. Sometimes there is no better news to hear than that! Then there are days when what God wants you to do conflicts with what you want to do and you have to lay aside your will and your desires for His will and His desires over your life. Then the yielding begins!

It’s not a bad thing, it is great! I was thinking the other day, “I’m so glad God is not a super villain”. Weird thought but I’m sure it gets the message across. God is a good God. His plans and His desires over our lives are for good (Jeremiah 29:11). Let’s trust God with our lives as we journey through 2019. God is not out to control us, but rather to lead us from victory to victory and glory to glory as we begin to live our lives the way He intended us to. Let us make 2019 our year of yes. YES to God and a solid no to the distractions of the enemy. It is going to be an awesome year! 
 
Love and blessings,
 
Melissa Tsingano.