The Lord God blesses us and has indeed blessed us in many ways. Throughout our life we have seen a generous portion of His favor upon us. None of us can deny this from the day we believed Him to become His children. He is constantly on the look out to care for us. He dedicates His everything to bring happiness into our lives. His patience toward us is unfathomable and also His love. He thinks ahead of us so that we do not suffer disappointment and eternal loss. He does not desire we suffer more than we could bear. For this reason, He brings new things into our lives. He changes the direction of our lives as many times as He deems necessary that His compassions toward us are new every morning. There is not a man on earth that can fully describe His love toward him. Yet, a few words like that from a man of God cast some insight to it and that inspires us for a heart that yearns for the Almighty Lord. “And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, ‘Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under curtains’” (1 Chron. 17:1).
God blesses us to a certain extent (which is more than we expect) that we would in turn have a passionate heart that desires Him. By the way, His blessings are directly related to our obedience to Him. Consider David. He was a man blessed greatly by the Lord. He was blessed so much that Israel favored him more than Saul and his family. The Lord took David from being a shepherd to a man that would lead His people under His vigilance. David did not falter, which is a testament to his obedience. God knew beforehand his heart and the way he feels for Him. When David was blessed greatly, he deeply felt in his heart that he ought to do more for the Lord. An urge was born in him to glorify Him for the state He has put him in. Many do not pause and consider how wonderful and loving our God is. It is primarily because they have never learned of it or never been taught of it, which then is the cause for their inexperience of Him. Obviously, to everything that has been said until now, and as already mentioned, complete obedience is the key to know the kind of God we have. Even a partial obedience does not suffice to know Him.
When we see the urge born in David, we see a man blessed by God to yearn to glorify God even more. What does it say of God and those who obey Him? He calls them to obey Him that He could bless them to even more glorify Him. That which David felt about the ark of the covenant of the Lord was not common. For God did not let that feeling or thought flow into anyone else but David, a man whom He considered of His own heart. Though He gave David His thought, His intent was different. His plans which are higher than man’s dictated the way by which He should be honored. So, David obliged to His plan and did the work necessary that His desire to build a house by the hands of his son is fulfilled. It was not that David sinned and God rejected him to build Him a house, but the work God assigned him for His people did not suit him for building Him a house. Moreover, He wished to bless David’s house by more than a generation.
Sometimes we wonder what God is thinking of us and of the plans He has for us. If His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways higher than ours, we cannot begin to imagine how well He thinks of us and the plans He has for us. For this reason, we heard Him say, “Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, My servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame’” (Isa. 65:13). This is regarding us who believed Him and obey Him no matter what. How He accomplishes this is totally in His wisdom. Where then will be our suffering, if indeed we are suffering? It will vanish. The joy of the Lord will recompense us with all the delightful things. He has promised we will not be put to shame. He has called us His servants, who were never His servants. He changed His thoughts for us and made plans for them. Here we are today under His wonderful canopy where we can neither lack nor be disappointed. Now, we know there is a way to assess our relationship to the Lord. It is by obedience. Still, there is another way to it. It is by the urge we possess to honor Him. This is by being greatly blessed by Him. So, whether we obey Him or yearn to glorify Him, it is profitable. For in both the Lord God is honored; and the latter is for a greater impact for Him.
We are chosen to cause a greater impact for the Lord. The Lord does not want us to be where we are, but to grow in Him and receive from Him that we have His thoughts to do according to His will. All things must be done by His will, no doubt. The only time we recede from producing a greater impact for Him is when we sin or when we try to escape His will. Remember, David did not come to have an urge for the Lord in a flash. He had to obey the Lord’s will for it. From the time God chose him, he walked in His will. There were hardships, suffering and fears in it, but they all had to vanish at some point. The joy of the Lord recompensed him with every delightful thing. Listen, God has planned great, even greater things for us sufficient for our lives and He desires we unravel them. As we do it, He takes us to delightful heights. We will be taller in our imaginations for Him and our imaginations will be His thoughts. The impact we produce for Him will be worthy of our blessings. He makes us a blissful proverb in the mouths of those that witness us.
A servant of the Lord can only go from glory to glory. “Then He said to them, ‘How is it that they say the Christ is David’s son?’” (Luke 20:41). This was the glory God bestowed on David. And to each one He bestows a glory so that it stands forever reminding men of His power, promises and faithfulness. Why did God choose David of all the men of Israel? It was because he greatly obeyed Him and was one who did not nullify His wisdom in choosing him. Does it all seem unbelievable? Are not the things in the Word the truth and written for our sake? And from the pious words of Jesus all things are possible to him that believes. Many feel following the Lord by His will as difficult and try to abstain from Him. These are the ones that fail to see the delightful things that lie ahead. If they walk in Him, they would know. When Christians partially walk in Him, they miss His faithfulness. Partial obedience keeps them in sin. They sulk and get frustrated with life. Yet, this is not what God wanted for them or anyone else. For this exact reason His Word is given so that we have confidence. So, Paul in the Spirit said, “For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
Our confidence in the Lord’s faithfulness builds from understanding that sin should not rule over us. (If it rules us, we miss seeing His faithfulness). Inversely, it tells us that if sin is not ruling us, we are on the path to produce greater impact for Him. Life under Christ Jesus is very different from under the Law. Law gave no room for grace. It brought death. Christ Jesus brought to us grace, which means once we are saved we will never be cast out. At the same time, if we continue in sin knowing we are under grace, we fall very short of seeing God’s faithfulness. In other words, His promises toward us will be greatly delayed and sometimes His plans and promises will not be availed. At this juncture, we suffer the consequences of sinning against grace. It will be painful. Can we ever come back onto God’s track? Certainly; we must repent of our sin, learn from our pain and make it a binding to obey Him. The plain wisdom in Paul’s words is we should fear grace. We can understand it from the following. “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 1:1).
When he wrote to those Christians calling them faithful in the Lord, it is a testament to their fearing grace. Being obedient to the Lord is being faithful in Christ, and thereby, revering the grace that is of Him. For all the things we have done and will do His death has paid the price. This is grace. So, now, what does it mean by sin shall not master over us? It means we ought to be faithful in Jesus. This is the way for all the delightful blessings of God. Then, will there be a reason for us to not have a greater impact for Him? It is impossible. The gospel does its work in us through the power of Christ. And our bodies do not tend to deviate from the glory that is due God. In other words, our inner man controls our body that God is eternally glorified in Christ. Then, when the time appears, we fully see and understand why God loved us so deeply and delight in it. “They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads” (Rev. 9:4).
So, my brethren, seek to be blessed by God that you should possess the heart of the man of God. Fear grace revering the price paid for availing it knowing that God intends to lead you from glory to glory. You have been blessed. See to it that you have a greater impact for the Lord, yet, according to His guidance. The Lord will never leave you, but with your obedience will bless you with more so that you become a means to glorify Him. For this reason, you have been separated from the rest. “For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:21).