There are so many good results of
obedience. I could ramble on and on
about all that God gives us when we
obey. Generally speaking, obedience
to God gives us entry into all that He
has for us. It opens the door of His
blessings to us and keeps us in His
will. By obedience we stay in tune
with God and are given all the power
of God.

By obedience we put
ourselves in the middle of His love
and there we see His glory (Jn.
14:21). We will go on now to
examine six specific results of
obedience.
[b]

1. By obedience we become God’s
friend. The Bible says in John
14:21, “He who has My
commandments and keeps them, it is
he who loves Me. And he who loves
Me will be loved by My Father, and I
will love him and manifest Myself to
him.” The word “manifest” in this
verse means to disclose or to show
oneself. It is a term of friendship.
Therefore, as we see here, obedience
to God brings to us the friendship of
the Father and the Son.

In John 15:14 Jesus says it plainly:
“You are My friends if you do
whatever I command you.” That
thought, to be a friend of God, is just
overwhelming to me. It is hard to
comprehend and describe it. It is so
wonderful, so heartwarming. And just
think, God is willing to be a friend to
anyone who will come to Him and
obey Him.





2. By obedience we get to know
God’s will. It’s really quite simple:
the more we do what God tells us to
do the more we get to know Him as a
friend. And the more we grow as His
friend the more He reveals Himself
and His will to us. Hence, we will
find that His will is good, acceptable
and perfect (Rom. 12:2).

We will also find that His will is
mysterious, awesome, breathtaking
and quite overwhelming. If you read
the book of Ephesians (esp. 1: 7-12
and 3:1-20) along with the book of
Revelations (esp. chap. 19-22) you
will see what I mean. If you make it
our aim to obey God day by day He
will show you who He is and will fill
you in on many of His wonderful
plans. Let us pray with David from
Psalms 24:4: “Show me your ways, O
Lord, teach me Your paths.”





3. By obedience we bear good fruit.
A life that is obedient to God will
always bear good fruit.




4. By obedience we find power for
continued obedience. The initial
decision you make to obey God (to
commit yourself to God and to
surrender yourself to Him) gives you
a new power over sin. It sets you
free from sin. For the Bible tells us
in Romans 6:16-18, “Do you not
know that to whom you present
yourselves slaves to obey, you are
that one’s slaves whom you obey,
whether of sin leading to death, or of
obedience leading to righteousness?
But God be thanked that though you
were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine
to which you were delivered. And
having been set free from sin, you
became slaves of righteousness.”





Therefore, when we present ourselves
to God to obey Him, He gives us a
new power over sin and a power to
continue to obey Him. In fact, as
verse 18 tells us, by our obedience
we have made ourselves a slave of
righteousness. Hence, being a slave,
we are compelled to continue to obey
God and to be holy. It becomes our
nature. It is our new heavenly desire.





5. By obedience our prayers will be
answered. One of the things that will
happen when we obey God is that
our prayers will be heard and
answered. What a marvelous thing!
But I don’t think God answers our
prayers just on the basis that we
have gone through the mechanics of
being obedient. No, it is not that
way at all. John 15:16 seems to
indicate that answered prayer is a
type of fruit, or a manifestation of His
grace that comes to us as we abide
in Him; thus, as we make our
obedience a lifestyle. For the last
phrase of the verse, “that whatsoever
you ask of the Father in my name, He
may give to you,” seems to be an
extension of the former phrase, “that
your fruit should remain”. The word
“that” between the two phrases is a
connecting word that indicates that
the last phrase is connected to the
former phrase. Thus, our ability to
pray and receive answers is a type of
fruit.



But I also think that more fruit comes
as a result of our prayers. G.
Campbell Morgan suggests that the
verse should be understood this way:
“I chose you in order to bear fruit,
and in order that you may do so I
chose you to ask, and so to get in
touch with God, that fruit may
abound.” And so, I think that
answered prayer is a type of fruit,
and prayer itself is a means of more
fruit.


R. A. Torry and E. M. Bounds have
some things to say about obedience
and prayer.


R. A. Torry said, “If we would have
power in prayer, we must be earnest
students of His Word to find out what
His will regarding us is, and then
having found it do it. One
unconfessed act of disobedience on
our part will shut the ear of God
against many petitions.”


E. M. Bounds has said, “An obedient
life helps prayer. It speeds prayer to
the throne…Our Lord Jesus Christ,
‘holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners,’ had full liberty of
approach and ready access to God in
prayer. And He had this free and full
access because of His unquestioning
obedience to His Father.”


The Bible says, “Whatsoever we ask
we receive because we keep His
commands and do those things that
are pleasing in His sight” (1 Jn.
3:22).
The last

of obedience is the
most important.




6. By our obedience the Father is
glorified in the Son. In John 15:7-8
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and
My words abide in you, you will ask
what you desire, and it shall be done
for you. By this My Father is
glorified, that you bear much fruit; so
you will be My disciples.” Here
Jesus tells us that if we abide in Him
(which includes our obedience to
Him), we will receive answers to our
prayers. In verse 8 Jesus said, “By
this My Father is glorified…” The
word “this” means that when you
abide and obey, and when your
prayers are answered, then He will be
glorified.

[/b]

Secondly if we obey God's Word we
will be blessed in many ways.

a. If we follow the Lord's commands,
we will be blessed with financial
prosperity ( Dt. 28:11 ).


b. If we follow the Lord's commands,
we will be blessed with success
( Josh. 1:8 ).


c. If we follow the Lord's commands,
we will be blessed with long life ( Dt.
4:40; 5:33; Prov. 10:27 ).


d. If we follow the Lord's commands,
we will be blessed with eternal life
( Jn. 5:24 ).





The next phrase gives us the reason
why He is glorified. It is “that,” or
because in abiding and obeying and
in having your prayers answered “you
bear much fruit.” Therefore, the
Father is glorified by our obedience;
but it isn’t in our obedience alone
that He is glorified. No, He is
glorified by our obedience because
our obedience causes us to bear
much fruit.






#Happy_Sunday