Day 6 Lesson

Focus Verse: 1Samuel 15:22
"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.

Key word Obedience- An act or instance of obeying; the quality or state of being
  
Daily Insight

Our actions  can create  blessings or curses. I provided the whole chapter of Deuteronomy 8 so you can understand what I mean by create blessings or curses. Everyday we have to ask ourselves,"Are my actions in alignment with obedience or sacrifice. Obedience says to renew our minds daily. Are you renewing your mind daily? Whatever God tells us to do, no matter how small it may seem, we have to be obedient and do it. God knows what's best for us naturally and spiritually. For instance, one might think, well, I'm not fornicating, gossiping, serving idols or lying so I'm good. Not sinning is good, but that's not all there is to our spiritual life. For instance, He warns us about taming our tongues, renewing our minds, loving each other, forgiveness, praying, fasting and meditating on His word day and night. I won't go into all the reasons that He require us to do those things. However, continual practice of  reading the word, renewing our minds, praying and fasting helps remove the desire to sin and mature us spiritually. Nothing that the bible tells us to do is vain, it's to help us become more like Christ. Being that this challenge was tailored around what we think and say, I will encourage you to focus on the renewing process of the mind as you move into other areas that needs development. Are you sacrificing time doing other things, instead of spending time in your word. King David said that he hid God's word in his heart to keep from sinning. Meditating on God's word, daily, will help you stay focused on the things of God, and it will train you how to walk in obedience. Meditation is a form of training whatever you meditate on trains the mind. This is why it's important not to sacrifice  your time with God. Obedience will show up in your lifestyle. What have you been doing that's causing you to be disobedient to God? What's blocking your renewing process?

Deuteronomy 8

Do Not Forget the Lord

8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. ² Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

⁶ Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; ⁸ a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
¹⁹ If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. ²⁰ Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

Prayer: Lord help us to be doers of your words. Help us to apply what we learn in every situation. Amen

Faith: I will obey the Lord all the days of my life 

Watch my video on "The Power of Meditation 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKOrOrG6v-w

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