I’ve not always been a good Christian.

In fact, there have been times since I was born again when this child of God has disappointed His Father.

But He’s been good to me, and I thank Him that He is longsuffering with His children. I’m reminded that it is “through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23)!

The Lord is my Shepherd, and He is always able to find me when, through disobedience, I make a misstep in following Him.

Haven’t we all made a few missteps along the Way? Haven’t we all had some difficulty with obedience?

Another misstep is our tendency to operate in self-righteousness. Oh yes, I got issues, you got issues, all God’s children got issues! Let’s agree that God wants to speak to and help every one of us on the crucial subject of obedience.

Read Acts 5:22-32. Out of this passage, we are thinking of obedience, and we’ll shorten the word to the form that we find in verse 29. “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

We’ll use the letters in the word o-b-e-y to discover what an obedient follower of Christ looks like. This four-letter word is an action verb. That means your actions really count in following Christ.

Let’s allow God to help us become the obedient followers of Christ that He needs us to be!

O – Offer

An obedient follower of Christ will offer praise to God.

The Apostles of the Early Church were convinced that regardless of the circumstances they found themselves in, that obedience meant that they would praise God through them. They would often just praise God that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus!

But think about the Right Reverend Jonah (the Prophet)! He didn’t even think about praising God until he had taken many steps in the wrong direction. It was in the belly of the whale that Jonah decided to have a praise service. In that sanctuary, he declared, “I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”

As soon as he acted upon the prerequisite of obedience, the priority of praise, God moved on his behalf! He caused the whale to vomit that prejudiced preacher out onto the dry ground!

Christian, could it be that God is waiting for you to obey Him with a praise offering before He will allow you to experience the deliverance you need? And friend, you don’t have to wait until you find yourself swallowed up in a whale of a mess to offer praises to God. Offering praises to God is a part of the lifestyle of an obedient follower of Christ.

Some folks are always ready to give glory to other people. They will lift up politicians and athletes, but seldom will they pause to praise the God of all glory.

I understand that we ought to honor those to whom honor is due. Some politicians I like better than others, and I like sports, too. But I would really love to see God’s people get just as fanatical about offering praise and thanksgiving to the God of our salvation!

We obey God when we thank Him, who is worthy of all our praise. We can never praise Him enough.

Jesus teaches us that our prayers ought to begin and end with praise and thanksgiving (Matthew 6:9, 13). We begin with “Hallowed be thy name,” and we end with “For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.” The Spirit teaches us that “in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6).

When it comes to offering praise to God, we ought to be as determined as the Psalmist (34:1-3). He declared, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear of it and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.”

This letter “O” teaches us that obedient followers of Christ will offer praise to God.

B – Believe

An obedient follower of Christ will believe in the promises of God.

Many Christians fail to exercise faith in the promises of God. Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. If you truly believe something, you’ll act on it!

In other words, belief determines behavior.

We should remind ourselves, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” and “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:1, 6).

In Hebrews 11:33, there is a summary statement regarding all those who made it into the Hall of Faith. About whom, it is declared “who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises…”

Friends, we must obtain the promises. To obtain means to get hold of them and make them work for us! But alas, the problem with many Christians is that if they read them, they fail to remember and recall them. Therefore, a follower of Christ must take time to work at believing the promises of God.

Peter and the other apostles believed and practiced the words that Christ gave them. It’s recorded in Acts 5:42 that “they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” Because so many who name the name of Christ fail to believe and practice the words of Jesus, there are too few obedient followers of Christ. When many should be thriving as princes with God, they merely exist as paupers in a dry and thirsty land (Lodebar).

Followers of Christ ought to obtain the words in red and begin to believe and practice the words of Jesus. In order to obey God, we must believe His promises.

As a young Christian, I learned a hymn that brought reinforcement to my soul. One particular verse says, “Standing on the promises that cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.”

And so the letter “B” has spoken to us about the need to believe the promises of God; by doing so, we will be the obedient followers of Christ that He has called us to be.

E – Enjoy

An obedient follower of Christ will enjoy the peace of God.

If you’re a saved person, then you already have peace with God. You were a sinner by virtue of your first birth into the human race and by virtue of choice. And because of the sin in your life and on your heart you did not have peace with God (Romans 3:23, 6:23). But a miraculous transaction took place when you got saved. When you looked to the Lord by faith and confessed that you were indeed a sinner, and you asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, the Savior came right in and brought His salvation to your life. At that moment in time, you were born again.

But at the same time, a legal transaction took place in Heaven. Your name was recorded in the Lambs Book of Life, and the righteousness of Christ was placed on your account. And you were justified according to Romans 5:1. “Therefore, being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s the peace with God that every true follower of Christ enjoys.

But even though we have peace with God and we know we’re going to Heaven, life is hard! And it is in those hard times that you need the peace of God. The benefit of being a child of God is the privilege of prayer. And when we get this right according to God’s Word, we can enjoy the peace of God. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

Our world is filled with hatred, strife, and evils of many kinds, and millions of people unsuccessfully seek peace. But I want you to know that as a born-again child of God, you can enjoy peace in the midst of it all.

Romans 14:17 reminds us that “the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” You shouldn’t get so caught up in the things of this world that you jeopardize this most valuable asset called the peace of God.

Christians sometimes worry instead of accepting God’s peace. This happens easily as the mind gets stuck in stinking thinking.

It reminds me of some of the older cars I drove growing up. Ever drive a straight shift? Sometimes those old transmissions would get stuck in gear. Many times, there was a used-up clutch behind it all. And even though it would be a struggle to get the transmission in the right gear with the clutch in disrepair, I’d force it in the right gear so I could make it home.

Friend, God has given you the power to change your mind and the will to stop the stinking thinking. Force your mind to think about the right things so you can make it home and enjoy the peace of God all the way Home. Isaiah 26:3 says “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.”

We must look to God for real and lasting peace. We please the Lord when we accept His peace. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

“E” has preached to us that an obedient follower of Christ will enjoy the peace of God.

Y – Yield

An obedient follower of Christ will yield to the purpose of God.

As we obey the Lord with this final letter of our 4 letter word, I want to once again use an illustration from my life as a parent.

Quite often, I’ll tell one of my children to do or not do a certain thing. I’m their father, and from my perspective, they should just do what I say! Yet many times, they will ask, “Why?” or “Why not?” And, of course, my favorite response is, “Because I’m your father, and I said so!” But that’s not always the best response.

As I’ve grown in Christ I’ve learned that it’s okay for me to stay calm and try to explain the reasons behind the steps of obedience I require them to yield to. But the dilemma is that they are just children and they think like children. They just don’t always understand me or what I try to explain to them. But I still require them to yield to my decisions. Why? Because, as their father, I can see farther down the road than they can. I’ve experienced more of life than they have, and with God’s help, my decision-making skills are much better than theirs.

I think you’re starting to see the application here. Our Heavenly Father says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).

You see, obedience is often blind for us as followers of Christ. But that’s okay! Because even when we’re obediently yielding to His purposes as walking by faith we still get to enjoy His blessings. Regardless of whether or not we ever understand God’s purpose behind what He tells us, we are still responsible for yielding to His purpose.

The basic Bible principle here is that obedience brings blessings to our lives, and disobedience invites just the opposite (see Isaiah 1:18-20).

“Y”? An obedient follower of Christ will yield to the purpose of God.

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By using this one word, “obey”, from Acts 5:29, we have learned something about what an obedient follower of Christ should look like and do.

Answer these personally.
Do you offer praise to God, regardless of the circumstances?
Do you work to believe the promises of God?
Do you enjoy the peace of God in the midst of a life in disrepair?
Do you yield to God’s purpose even when you don’t understand?

Our Father wants to help you today. Look to Him in prayer!

Perhaps you’ve read this message and you need to make the first step of obedience by believing in and becoming a follower of Christ. Do you have peace with God? Have you been justified by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Would you go to Heaven if you died today? Look to Him in prayer!