Living in Obedience: Giving In The Lord's Will by Maurice Paul Obonyo - HTML preview

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Chapter Two

How Can A Person

Give To The Lord

According To His Will?

If a person has been giving to the Lord according to His will, that person will receive from the Lord in a good and pressed measure. If that person is not receiving from the Lord, he has a curse upon his life. What curse does such a person have upon his life? It depends on what sin he or his forefathers practised that grieved the Lord. If he or his forefathers were practising a sin of worshipping false gods, he will receive from the Lord but what he receives will be stolen by the enemy. If he does not repent of his sin or the sin of his forefathers, he will be unable to benefit from what the Lord has given to him.

When a person gives, he is also expected to receive a reward as a result of giving according to the Lord’s will. How will a person know how to give according to the Lord’s will? That person will have to give in accordance to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If that person has not yet abided in obedience to the Holy Spirit, he need not give. The giving which such a person will practise will not have any reward attached to it. How can a person know when the Holy Spirit requires him to give? If you have been able to abide in obedience to the Holy Spirit, you will not find it difficult to give. I was told by the Holy Spirit to give my children Him. When the Lord told me that, I did not understand. I received understanding as to why He told me to hand over my children to him when I went into isolation with the Lord. If you have been told by the Lord to give to Him, it is usually because the Lord has a plan that you know not of. Had I refused to give the Lord my children, I would not have been given the gifts which I now have from the Lord. How does the Lord expect you to give to Him? If you are abiding in obedience to the Lord, it is inevitable for you not to give. At that point you have a good relationship with the Lord.

When you have a relationship with the Lord that is not rooted in love, you will find it difficult to obey some of His commands. If Abraham did not love God, he would have doubted God and would have refused to take Isaac with him for the sacrifice. He was tested by God and he passed that test. Had it been that he was a carnal man, he would have failed that test. Tests are one of the ways that God uses to identify who is able to love Him and who wants to love Him for what He has. If Abraham did not love God, he would have rather kept back his son. If Abraham had not given up Isaac, he would have lost him. Has God ever tested you? If you have no idea whether you have been tested by God or not, then you are not yet a disciple of the Lord. God is not going to test a person who has not yet been in obedience to the Lord. If you think that you are able to love God and yet cannot abide in obedience to the Lord, you have not yet found God. When the Lord tells you to obey the simplest of His commands and you call it foolishness, then you will not be able to find God. Some people think that their holiness is what qualifies them to be in the Lord’s presence. These people have been deceived by religion.

Religion is not a way that a person can be able to find God. If you are a religious person, you are under a curse of the law. People who find God are people whom the Lord has tested. What is the difference between a test which is from the Lord and a test that is from God? A person who has been tested by the Lord, is a person who is on his journey to finding God. If you have found God, He will also test your love for Him. A person who has been tested by God will have a future in His will. If you have been called by the Lord, you have been tested by the Lord already. At the time the Lord calls a person, he is usually in a place that is antagonistic to the Lord’s will. If you are in the Lord’s will, the Lord will direct you to Him. If you are outside the Lord’s will, He will call you to Him. Does it mean that there are people who are never called but that are doing the Lord’s will? Yes, there are people who are already in the Lord’s will and need not be called by the Lord. It does not mean that when the Lord calls you, you were involved in sinning against Him. It rather means that when the Lord calls you, you are not in His will. The Lord can even call church ministers who are teaching and preaching on a continuous basis. If you have heeded to the Lord’s call, He will then embark on a series of tests to ensure that you are able to stand the call.

I was called by the Lord 8 years ago. I wondered why the Lord had given me gifts that were of the prophetic. At that time, I had set out to become a businessman. I always thought about owning a business as a way to freedom. I read books concerning people who had set up businesses an run them successfully. I also looked for books that had famous entrepreneurs. That was my biggest desire. When I failed, I went and asked the Lord for help and He spoke back to me! I was overcome with amazement that the Lord could speak back to me! If I was a businessman, I would have been doing the enemy’s will. If I was not a prophet, I would not be able to live for long. The Lord had cursed everything that I had set out to do outside His will. Are all businessmen cursed by the Lord? No, I was not supposed to be a businessman because it was not what the Lord willed for me. If there are people whom the Lord has destined to be businessmen, the Lord will bless them to become businessmen. I had a greater calling and the Lord did not want me to engage in business. If you are asking: how can a businessman keep his business and serve God at the same time? The answer is that it is impossible! If you are a businessman and the Lord calls you, it means you have to stop doing that business. If you continue, you will acquire curses from the Lord.

When a person is called, that person has to start on a journey of acquiring gifts that are from the Spirit so that he can be able to do the Lord’s will. If he is distracted by activities that are not in the Lord’s will, he will not be able to stand firm in the Lord’s will. When a person is in the Lord’s will, he is a target for the enemy to tempt. If you are not in the Lord’s will, you are already able to be tempted by the enemy without you being able to become an overcomer. A person that is caught up in doing the enemy’s will cannot stand temptation. He may delay temptation but will eventually succumb to the enemy’s traps.