Deuteronomy 5:16 (AMP) Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.
Deuteronomy 4:40 Therefore you shall keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God gives you forever.
Proverbs 10:27 (Amplified Bible) The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord prolongs one's days, but the years of the wicked shall be made short.
Proverbs 28:16 A ruler who lacks understanding is [like a wicked one] a great oppressor, but he who hates covetousness and unjust gain shall prolong his days.
Ecclesiastes 8:13 But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not [reverently] fear and worship God.
In order to be blessed and sustain longevity in our spirit, health, and lives, we are to keep His commandments/commands. The reverent and worshipful fear the Lord prolongs our days. Following and walking in God's commandments not only brings prolonged days but it will go well with our children. In other words, our children will be BLESSED. When we hate evil and seek justice, it shall prolong our days.
The opposite is that the wicked will live short lives. This word "wicked" in much of the bible is not referring to the unbelievers but many of His people who are rebellious throughout the generations.
In the fifth commandment, the act of honoring our father and mother is not the source of prolonging our days per se but it is the obedience to God that prolongs our lives. It is following God's commandments that prolongs our days.
Many of God's people die early. Why? When they are in sin or rebellion, God will discipline/judge His people. However, many of God's people then and even today have no idea how He chastise and discipline those He love. And as a result, many resist His judgments instead of humbling themselves and repenting.
Proverbs 15:10 There is severe discipline for him who forsakes God's way; and he who hates reproof will die [physically, morally, and spiritually].
Yes, we may see wicked people who are not believers prosper and live long lives but they are not whom God loves as His sons and daughters.
Hebrews 12:6-8 For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes.7 You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline? 8 Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all].
We are chastised and disciplined to be sharers of His own holiness.
Hebrews 12:10 For [our earthly fathers] disciplined us for only a short period of time and chastised us as seemed proper and good to them; but He disciplines us for our certain good, that we may become sharers in His own holiness.
Therefore, understand and know His Name is Jealous! Know and understand He is a God of Righteousness. HIS JUDGEMENTS ARE IN THE MIST OF OUR LIVES SO THAT WE MAY LEARN RIGHTEOUSNESS!
Isaiah 26:9 My soul yearns for You [O Lord] in the night, yes, my spirit within me seeks You earnestly; for [only] when Your judgments are in the earth will the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God).
When God's people face difficult circumstances in their lives, many run to the altar for healing, breakthrough, restoration, and quick solutions. Many are not receiving their prayers answered because we are not realizing the root of our condition. Everyone likes to blame the devil but if the devil has any power over us it is because we would have given him that power and authority over to him through our sin or disobedience.
Many who are in difficult circumstances like to compare themselves to Job. Yes, Job was considered a righteous person but so are we! We are the righteousness in Christ but it does not mean we cannot sin and fall away! And if we sin or live in sin, we will reap what we sow. What happened to Job? Job worried too much. He worried about losing everything and what he keep fearing in his mind came to pass.
Job 3:25 (AMP) For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me.
When things do not go our way, let us not get angry with the Lord. It is too easy to get angry with the Lord. But who are we to question HIM. We get angry because we think we are innocent. How can the clay question the potter? Our minds are finite and do not have the ability to know how Big He really is. As the author of Hebrews says, "submit and endure correction as sons and daughters." Let us ask Him to search our hearts so He may reveal what does not belong there. Let us hunger for His Righteousness!
Job 40:6-8 (AMP) Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, saying. 7 Gird up your loins now like a man; I will demand of you, and you answer Me. 8 Will you also annul (set aside and render void) My judgment? Will you condemn Me [your God], that you may [appear] righteous and justified?
Jeremiah 10:24 (AMP) O Lord, correct, instruct, and chastise me, but with judgment and in just measure—not in Your anger, lest You diminish me and bring me to nothing.
Fire of God
Steve Yong Kim
May 17, 2012
Umm.. what should I do if instructions given by one parent is contradicted by another and even I consult them both about their contradictory instructions they are still in disagreement with another?
ReplyDeleteMy parents also sometimes jokingly recommend me to act in a certain way that makes it difficult to tell whether they mean it or not even after I asked them if they're serious about it. Should I follow such instructions? I am aware that I should not do anything which my parents disapprove of - John Wesley taught me that (sermon) - so am I sinning if I dally in doing something they told me to. This happens sometimes when I just wake up and am too tired to get out of bed so I laze around for a few minutes.