No. 1563: How to live a victorious life as a Christian? The Power of Obedience Part 1

No. 1563:
How to live a victorious life as a Christian? The Power of Obedience Part 1

Joseph "escapes" from Potiphar's wife. It is to be obedient to God, to put God before one's own needs and desires.
Remarriage is the greatest sin among Christians today, isn't it?
When God himself says in his own word that remarriage for Christians is to commit adultery, as well as sex outside of marriage.
The battle today - the spiritual - is above all about these things!




I want to write three articles on how to live and experience a victorious and upright Christian life.

Where I will focus on different aspects of experiencing this.
It's all about grasping the biblical truths, believing, experiencing and living in them.
The first part is about obedience - then against the word of God, and the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
Simply obeying God, without anything but!

Deuteronomy 28. 1. If you are now listening to the voice of the Lord your God, and you are careful to keep all his commandments, which I command you today, then the Lord your God will exalt you above all the peoples of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon thee, and overtake thee, as long as thou hearest the voice of the LORD thy God: 3 Blessed art thou in the city, and blessed be thou in the field. 4 Blessed be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your livestock, and the fruit of your flock. 5 Blessed be your basket and your dough tray! 6 Blessed are you in your entrance, and blessed are you in your going out! 7 The LORD shall subdue thy enemies that rise up against thee; in one way they will go out against you, and in seven ways they will flee before you. 8 The Lord will bless you to be with you in your chariots and to accompany you in whatever you set out to do, and he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God gives you. 9 The LORD shall make thee an holy people unto himself, which he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be saved for you. 11 The LORD shall make thee plenteous in all good things, both in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The Lord shall open unto thee his rich storehouse, the heavens, and give thy land rain in due season, and bless all the work of thine hands; and you will lend to many people, but you yourself will not need to borrow from anyone. 13 The LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt always be on high, and never on low, if thou shalt hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day to keep and to do; today, neither to the right nor to the left, so you follow other gods and worship them. 15 But if thou shalt not obey the voice of the LORD thy God, but thou shalt keep all his commandments and his laws which I command thee this day, then shall all these curses come upon thee, and overtake thee.

Here we meet several conditions, but we can reduce it to two conditions.
What is important to God, and what is important to us.
For us, it is his goodness and blessing that are important.
To God it is that we are obedient, and as it is written:
"Intend to keep all his commandments."

This is the same thing we find everywhere in the whole Bible, be it the Old or New Testament.
Hear what is written in the New Testament.

Titus 2. 11 The grace of God that leads to salvation has been revealed to all men.

12 It raises us to reject wickedness and worldly desires, and to live self-control in the true faith of God in the present day.

13 Meanwhile, we hold out the blessed hope of the glory that will be revealed to us by our great God and by our Savior Jesus Christ.

14 He that hath given himself up to redeem us from all lawlessness hath cleansed his own special people, that they may seek after good works.

15 This is what you need to talk about! Warn and reprimand with full authority. Let no one despise you.

Here we meet the same, that the grace of God does something with us.
Blue. the scripture says this:
"That it may rejoice in good works."

We will strive to do all we can to do good deeds.
Jesus himself says the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matt. 5. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be kept hidden.

Nor does anyone light a lamp to keep it hidden under a measuring vessel *. You put it in a candle holder so that it will give light to everyone in the house.
       * modios = create, approx. 20 liters

16 So likewise ye shall let your light shine before men, that they may see their good works, and give glory unto their Father which is in heaven. ”
(End quote.)

Good deeds - there is something more to be kind and decent. It is to obey and follow the word of Jesus and God in a world that in many ways has turned away from the Lord.
Where it is "upstream" to walk God's way.
What is it to do good deeds?
It is, of course, to help the poor and needy.
But much more than that, just giving someone a glass of van is a good deed like us Lie with me! But he left his cloak behind in her hand and fled out of the house. 13 And when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had fled out of the house, 14 she cried unto her household, and said unto them, Behold, he hath brought a Hebrew man unto us, to bring shame. above us; he came in to me to lie with me, but I cried as loud as I could, 15 and when he heard that I kept shouting, he left his cloak with me and fled out of the house. 16 And she left his garment with her, until his lord came home. 17 And she spake unto him likewise, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought hither to us, cometh unto me, to put me to shame; 18 But when I began to cry, he left his cloak with me and fled out of the house. 19 And when his master heard what his wife had said, how did she say, Thus did thy servant against me, when his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him in the prison, where the king's prisoners were kept. and he was sitting there in prison.

Joseph's life and service to God were marked by total surrender, purity, and obedience.

We see today that this is very often omitted in the teaching / preaching where surrender is replaced by indulgence.
Purity with impurity, and obedience with tolerance.

This is not a passable path for us Christians, therefore obedience is the very key word to live the Christian life that God is pleased with and that leads forward!

Joseph was wrong, or to put it another way.
His Father embarrassed him a little, and God gave him revelations that none of his brothers had.
There was a lot of talk about the "Jante Law", but it was active within Joseph's family where most of his brothers became jealous of him.
Which in turn led to a hatred of Joseph.
This in turn led him to throw him into a well, and he was sold to some merchants, who were Midianites.

After Joseph's arrival in Egypt, he became Potiphar, who was a courtier and commander - in - chief of Pharaoh's bodyguard.
Here begins the real story of Joseph, for here he was tried, found worthy, and exalted.
But the basis of it all was undoubtedly Joseph's faith, obedience, and purity.

What happened here to Potiphar's wife? It was not love, but sensual and carnal lusts that Potiphar's wife allowed herself to be dominated and controlled by.
It reads: “Some time later, his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, 'Come and lie with me.' «

This in the world today it is honor and glory if one manages to "lay down" a "prey". This was probably also the case in Egypt almost 4000 years ago.
The human heart and human beings are exactly the same, and so are the carnal and sensual desires!

How did Joseph respond? We read, "How then shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

King David said the same thing when he sinned with Bathsheba and committed adultery.

Psalm 51. 6 I have sinned against you only, and what is evil in your eyes I have done, that you may be just when you speak, and be pure when you judge.

It is our relationship with God, from which all other things spring forth.
This was also what the Apostle Paul was interested in, so he writes the following, something I include from my Bible commentaries.

From Colossians 3: 3 You are dead, and your lives are hidden with Christ in God.

We are dead with Jesus and no longer live ourselves. We are hidden with Christ in God. This means that God constantly counts us as his own when we perish. We do this all too often, but we are just as wonderfully saved when we "make it happen" as when we "fail". Our lives are always in Christ and he is always perfect, therefore we are always perfect before God, even if we occasionally experience defeat. But defeat is not desirable but the condition of victory does not lie in us but in Christ.

4 But when Christ our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed in glory with him.

Christ is our life, not all things around him. In a marriage, the home, the house, the car and all other things are the frame around. But it is the one you are married to that is essential. It is possible to manage with both more and less of the outer frame but not the person himself. Then it would not have been a marriage and a relationship anymore. So it is with us and Jesus. He is our life.

One day we will be revealed with him and share in all that he has for us. We will experience this when we are revealed in the new Jerusalem with him.

5 Then let the earthly in you die: fornication, uncleanness, passion, lust, and money-seeking, which is nothing but idolatry.

The law demanded and gave nothing. Christ and grace tell the solution, we must die from it. A dead man demands nothing of? Sin can not demand anything from us either, we are dead therefore we must also beware of it. From what we have died, Paul mentions some of the components further in the verse. Not very cheerful things for a believer to do.

6 This is how the wrath of God strikes the disobedient.

It is spiritual as natural laws. We think we can decide where much of the sin we may have at any given time. But it will sooner or later rumble us. Anyone who says anything else has little or no experience in this area or he or she is not telling the truth. Genesis 4.7b. If you have good anger, you can look up. But if you do not have good anger, sin is lurking at the door. It will have power over you, but you will have dominion over it. "
(End quote.)

Sorry I brought so much from my Bible commentaries. But it was perceived as right and necessary as we are here talking about what separates us believers from being a carnal or true spiritual person.
It is to always live right in front of God and be obedient to His will and Spirit-Voice in even the hidden.
Where we live as strong and glorious with God on Monday as on Sunday.
In together with other people as alone!

It was not Joseph's love, but purity and obedience that led to victory!
There is no doubt that preaching, speaking and living far too little in purity and obedience today. This struggle and importance is always something that is easy to shift and take away.
Here we all fall short, but still.
It is this path that leads forward. Hear what Jesus himself said.

Luke 13:22 He went through cities and villages, teaching on the way to Jerusalem.

23 Then one asked him, "Lord, are there few who are saved?"

24 He replied: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate. Many will try, I say, but without success.

25 When the master of the house rises to close the door, you will stand outside and knock on the door. And you shall say, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' But he will answer them and say, 'You did not know where I came from.'

26 Then you will begin to say, 'Have we not eaten and drunk before you, and taught in the streets?'

27 But he will answer and say, 'You did not know where I came from. Get away from me, all you teachers of iniquity. '

28 There you will weep and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you will be cast out.

29 They shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.

30 And, behold, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
(End quote.)

Concluding remarks

I have tried here to say something about obedience.
It is both an action, but above all it springs from an abandoned life in together with Jesus and God the Father.

1 Joh.b. 1.3 What I have seen and heard I proclaim to you, that you also may have fellowship with us through the fellowship we have with our Father and his Son Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, the scripture also says that we must take care so that the Evil One or the Evil One does not touch us and take the inner turn on us.

1 Joh.b. 5. 18 We know that he who is born of God will not sin, for he who is born of God is careful that the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know that we are of God, but the whole world is subject to evil.
(End quote.)

In other words, it is a combination of obedience, and a life / community with God that enables us to be obedient. Scripture also says the following:

2 Cor. 10. 03 Because even though we live in the flesh, we do not fight for the flesh.

04 The weapons we use are not carnal, but by the power of God, who can tear down fortresses.

05 For we will tear down the buildings of thought and all the barriers that arise against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought that is not obedient to Christ.

06 And we are ready to punish all disobedience until you are fully obedient.
(End quote.)

Here we see how important, necessary and biblical it is not to give in to our flesh. Or something else that gets in the way between us and God.
But "control" every thought, and do not give in to unbiblical thoughts and desires!
It is obedience - to God!