Daily Huddle - Thu Jul 16, 2020 Little Then Big

Love you all, praying for you,

 
Perhaps the foundational principle in God’s Word – obedience.  It is worship, it is pleasing in the sight of God, it releases His blessing on your life, and is the pathway to fulfilling your purpose.  God’s promise, covenant and blessing are always tied to obedience.  The perverse – those reluctant to obey, don’t get it...  They never learn to walk in obedience, so they never learn what the blessing and abundance of God looks like or feels like.  The blessing of God in your life, the purpose of God in your life – are directly connected with obedience.  You can't have one without the other.  Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto death, God told His people through Moses if you will obey my commands I will pour out all these blessings on your life.  If you do not, all these curses will come on you.  Obedience is not for God’s sake, just as Jesus told the Pharisees, God can raise up children of Abraham from these rocks.  Obedience is for you – it brings wisdom, understanding, favor, and blessing.  The great men and women of old – were without exception obeyers.  Jesus' entire life was one big example and demonstration of obedience.  Obedience is not a burden, it’s a blessing, and it opens doors for you – God doors, not human doors.  Praying that you will review the PRISM Topics – Obey and Obedience, and the Relationship Topics – Love is Obey, and Love is Obey Verses.  The devil perverts obedience into evil.  Obey evil, or those who practice it, and life becomes miserable.  The wages of sin are always death.  Obey God and what He commands along with those who obey with you – and the blessings on your life will be so great they will be uncountable.  So how do you get there?  There is another foundational principle in God’s Word.  Little first – then Big.  Whoever is faithful in little is also faithful in much.  Many want to start with much, they want to start out on top, they don’t have the faith, the patience, the diligence or the wisdom to value the little.  That’s why they never get to the top.  And if they do, they fall quickly.  So how do you ensure that if God has planned it for you, that you can get to the top, and have the character to stay there.  Obey in the little.  There was a man in the Bible, who doesn’t get a whole lot of screen time.  His Name was Joseph.  His father's name was Jacob, named after the Jacob and Joseph of old - so he learned from a child the ways of God.  He’s so excited about marrying the most wonderful girl in the world, and to his absolute shock and grief – he finds out she's pregnant?  No way!  The disappointment was overwhelming, all of their plans and dreams, he would have bet his life on this girl, on her character and faithfulness…  Today it’s a common occurrence, back then – never – a complete and lifelong disgrace.  Choosing not to humiliate her, he was going to put her away privately, when He had a dream.  The angel of the LORD told him, “Joseph, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because the baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit.”  Now, I don’t know if you ever had a crazy dream before…  Maybe you dreamed you would be President someday – now that’s a crazy dream.  But at least there have been forty five of them to give you somewhat of an idea.  It’s not like it’s never happened before - ever, in all of human history.  But Joseph obeyed, immediately.  He took Mary to be his wife.  Not long after, an angel again appeared to Joseph again in a dream saying, "Take your wife and the child and go to Egypt because Herod is coming to kill him."  And Joseph gets up in the middle of the night, packs his family and the donkey and was long gone by morning.  Can you imagine that conversation?  "Honey, are you awake?"  "We're doing what?"  No time to text anybody - this guy is an obeyer.  When Herod died the Angel appeared again telling Joseph to return, and He obeyed, and again the angel told him, not to go back to Bethlehem - but to the region of Galilee, a town of Nazereth - to fulfill the prophecy spoken of the Messiah and where He would come from.   There are little things in life – and there are big things.  Joseph was four for four in the big things.  How does this happen? It doesn't happen by accident.  That happens on purpose.  Joseph didn’t obey for the first time in the middle of the night – it was what He was already used to doing.  He wouldn't think of doing anything different.  What most people would think was just bad pizza – Joseph had trained himself by obeying in the little – so when the big things came – He knew God's voice, and he spent zero time debating with himself – He was already obeying.  Little first, then Big.  Faithful in little, Faithful in Much.  Praying that you would look for every opportunity to obey in the little.  PiVAT before dinner is a great start - it's daily practice - of hearing and obeying.  PRISM each day is a great start, A Daily Call (God specifically told you to – Heb 3:13) is a great start.  Once the little becomes automatic, the big things that God tells you will be no different.  What little thing is He telling you to do today?  Did you ask Him?  Will you do it?  His blessing and His goodness is waiting!

Love you all,
dad