ESOCS Devotional 15 August 2023: Hearing and Keeping God's Word

ESOCS Devotional 15 August 2023 – Hearing and Keeping God’s Word

MEMORY VERSE: “So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

TEXT: LUKE 11:21–28; ROMANS 10:17 (KJV)

¹When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace. ²²Butwhen a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils. ²³He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

²⁴“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ ²⁵And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. ²⁶Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

²⁷And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!”

²⁸But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

ROMANS 10:17

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Read Yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here

The word hearing refers to the awareness of the presence of sounds and placing meaning to that sound. It originates as vibrations of waves from point to another. These waves enter the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear through your nerves to your brain which interpret the waves and be understandable. It is very important to hear the word of God as we depend on it and read it daily to form an unbreakable bond with God. In this way we understand what He wants to do, his will and our purpose in life. God is so close to us when we call upon him and believe him in faith which comes only through hearing the word of God. You can hear the word of God through reading, meditating and memorizing the scripture.

The word of God could be heard through prophecy, vision dreams, word of knowledge and other ways, however hearing the word of God is not enough, rather keeping it or obeying or practicing what God has said is greater.

Obedience to the word of God means hearing the word of God and acting on it. This implies aligning our will to do God’s will, doing what God has asked us to do In so doing, we completely surrender to his authority and base our decision and our action on his word. Therefore Obedience to God is not only a way to worship him, but a way to get closer to him, prepare for whatever he leads you to and grow as a Christian.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14 is very explicit on the blessings accruable if we hear and obey the word of God: “And it shall come pass, if thou shall hearken diligently unto the voice of LORD thy God to observe and to do his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.”

In other words, hearing and total obedience to God’s word is first a way of showing God that we love him. In this way God recognizes us and empowers us to reveal himself to us, This activates his power to work in our lives. The benefits of Obedience to God’s word.

Obedience commits God to set you above all nations of the Earth (Dent 28:1).
It qualifies you to enjoy kingdom prosperity on Earth (Job 36:11).
Obedience provokes the blessings of God in the life of a man (Dent 25:2-3).
Obedience provokes generational blessings on your children.

The book of James explores the above topic “hearing and doing the word in chapter 1:21-25” but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only … But who looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but doer or the work (the word) this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

In summary, listening attentively to the truth of God’s word and obediently doing them makes you his choice or friend or after his heart like David. In response he will bless you.