The God of Special Favour 11 10 Be Committed To His Commitment.

You must come to a point in your life where you do not seek any other thing than God. God wants us to be committed to his commitment. When you do this, he will bless you as if you are the only one on earth.

Act.4:2

2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Here they persecuted the apostles but they could not be stopped because they were committed.

Beloved, when you are committed, no force of hell can stop you. The kingdom of this world is a kingdom of power, and power can change hands but the greatest power is the power of God.

When God connects you by favour, you must be committed. Many lose their place because they are not committed. And one thing that makes people reduce their commitment to God is fear.

Beloved, do not give in to fear. When you fear people, you lose power with God. Power with men can fail. Rulers can have power with people but what you need is power with God.

When you honour people who love sin, you lose power with God. You love the sinner but hate his sinful life.

Act 4:7-12

7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;

10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

The enemy envies the name of Jesus, there is no other name by which men are preserved but the name of Jesus. Jesus is the permanent solution to human trouble.

The apostles were threatened not to preach in Jesus name because of the envy of the religious leaders.

Beloved, give men honour as much as possible. But no man must take the place of God in your life. People lose power when they fear men.

Act.4:13

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.

Thank God the apostles refused to be silenced. They answered the religious leaders with boldness.

Beloved, here are two types of boldness;

1. Boldness of Ignorance

2. Boldness of Knowledge.

When you look at God, you become like God. That is why the devil is always trying to take us from God to other things.

The people noticed that the apostles were bold and were ignorant men, so they marveled at them.

All of us can become a wonder to our world. When you look at the word of God, you change and become what you see. Reality changes for truth.

II Cor.3:18

18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

When your commitment to God is yielding result, people will want to join you. But when they come to join you, will you make them become like you or you become like them. You must let them become like you so as not to lose favour with God.

1. Be committed to his word. When they came against the apostles, they went to their company; they went to pray.

Act 4:23

23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. The church started with prayer not preaching. Beloved, don't stop praying.

2. Be committed to his instruction. They did not commit themselves to the instructions of the Pharisees despite the fact that they commanded them not to preach in His name.

3. Be committed to divine calling. The apostles were committed to his purpose. Favour works for you when you become commited to his purpose.

Those who do not know people trust them without a proof. Those who know people, don't trust cheaply.

Don't commit yourself to people. Jesus did not commit himself to people, beyond your knowledge of them. The fools and the young trust all, the wise and mature test.

You earn trust and not claim trust.

Jn.2:23-24

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.

24 But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,

He knew all men, he knew human beings cannot be trusted. It is only God that does not need a proof to be trusted. Yet he told us in tithing we should prove him.

Some are only committed to God because they need miracles. To do this is to insult his intelligence. God is committed to those who love him for who he is not for what he can give. God is bigger than stuffs or things.

Bartholomew followed Jesus when he was healed. But the crippled man by the pool went back to his enemies when he was healed; the very thing Jesus warned him about.

(John 5:14-15)

14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

Beloved, when you come to Jesus, you must hold unto him. Anything can bring you to Jesus, but after you have come, you must settle down to get transformed by the word.

You must know God for yourself. Don't be a son that is looking for another son to hear his father. Like the children of Israel in Sinai, they told God to speak to them through Moses. If they had intimacy with God, they would not have failed.

God does not want to be used; God wants us to be genuine. He does not just commit to us without testing us. He knows the fickleness of men. We must be genuine in our faith and in character as we commit ourselves to God. God tested the genuineness of Abraham.

Gen 22:1-2

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
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The same God will test our genuineness.

Do not behave like the children of Israel who were not stable in their commitment to God. They kept on pleading with Moses to take them back to Egypt. They always allowed the mixed multitude to influence them for evil.

When they left Egypt, slaves suddenly became celebrated. People saw God moved on their behalf in a mighty way, so a mixed multitude followed from Egypt.

Ex.12:38

38 And a mixed multitude went up also with them; and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle.

Success is attractive, this is why you must be watchful. As God is favouring you, don't let people that are attracted to your success influence you negatively. You must choose the good and refuse the evil.

The unbelievers, who do not have purpose, join you when you are doing well. Some of them will change and become committed to God. But some will not change. Don't be deceived that everybody means well. Don't allow those that don't change to bring you down.

Favour has both good and bad side. God in one night transferred the wealth of Egypt to the Israelites but they did not know how to manage the wealth. They were house born slaves.

Beloved, God wants increase in your life, but you must not allow the increase to bring you down. This was the same error of Solomon. Success destroyed him. He died bowing down in the house of an idol.

The mix multitudes were always inciting them to go back to Egypt until the people of God were destroyed.

Those who join you must not destroy you. They do not know what you have gone through. Do not let anyone be commited to you when they are not committed to God. Don't allow them to influence you against God.

I Cor.11:1

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

Allow people to influence you as long as they are following God. Don't allow the devil to infiltrate your home and family. As God improves your standard, don't let anybody eat your food without serving your God.

Our first commitment must be to God.

Anyone that joins himself to your increase must be discipled.

Ruth and Rahab were well discipled. They became ancestors of Jesus. Don't let them bring you down. You must live for the Lord.

The world should not determine your dressing. Don't be lost in the crowd. Have a high standard. On the long run, quality will provoke quantity.

Let God settle your future before you grow so that there will not be condemnation in your life.

Matt. 5:14

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

You must shine in the midst of gross darkness.

Eph.5:8

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Enlighten the darkness anywhere you find yourself.

Great development came through Christians that were committed to God.

Aeroplane, Telephone, radio, locomotives and others were technologies that were invented by committed Christians.

God gave them ideas to make the world a better place. Don't let the devil deceive you that you have nothing to offer by following God. Walk the walk, everywhere you step, let darkness disappear.

1 Thes.5:8

8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Don't let the multitude influence you for evil. Use your power. Stop looking for the honour of men. Come out of worldly clubs; who abandoned you when you are in trouble.

Mt.13:27-30

27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

You are the good seed that God is sowing. The enemies always come to sow tears. You must be watchful, God knows how to preserve you when you are in the midst of darkness.

God out of mercy opened the eyes of Lot to do things he would not have normally done. God was merciful to him because of Abraham.

Homosexuality came around his house and he offered his two daughters to them in place of the strangers. What look like trouble became a blessing and opened to him a way of escape.

His wife that has been used to Sodom looked back. She left Sodom but Sodom did not leave her. She died for her error.

Beloved, never allow Egypt to be in you. Make God your priority. You may not be able to change others. The in-laws of Lot did not listen to him. Change yourself first. God knows how to salvage you in the midst of failing nation.

Don't allow anybody to pull you out of your commitment to God.

Chapter end