WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE? (Part 2)
SONG
Lord, I give You my life.
I give You my soul. I live for You alone.
Every breath that I take,
Every moment I'm awake
Lord have Your way in me
TEXT
"... And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years" - (Luke chapter 1 verses 13 to 18)
In the first part of this message, I said our response to what we hear will determine what the result would be. From the same message we saw the positive responses of Mary and Peter to what they heard. Their responses made them have supernatural life experiences. Mary was the only woman to experience virgin conception and Peter walked on water to Jesus.
In today's message, we will be looking at the result of not responding positively to what we hear from God.
From today's Scriptures, we see Zacharias was a priest and was the husband of Elizabeth. They were both stricken in age and had no child. Both of them surely wanted a child. While Zacharias was burning incense before the Lord, an angel of the Lord appeared to him. "But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." (Luke 1 verse 13)
In spite of the fact that they were desperately in need of a child, Zacharias could not believe God's message through the angel. (Luke 1 verse 18)
In response, the angel pronounced judgment instantly saying, "And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." ( Luke 1 verse 20)
The consequences of unbelief can be very grievous, as we have seen in the life of Zacharias, he went dumb instantly following the pronouncement of the angel.
On the contrary, people of faith receive miracles and testimonies from God. They are not known to murmur or doubt God's ability to do what He said to do. These are people that experience victory according to divine ordering.
God is known always to have something better and greater than we can ever expect or think about, if only we can believe Him and obey His commands. The Holy Scriptures attests to this fact saying,
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us," - (Ephesians 3 verse 20).
To those who will dare to believe God's Word, their testimonies are assured, in Jesus name.
PRAYER
Everlasting Father, cause my heart to be in tune with You, that I will always believe and do Your Word, in Jesus Mighty name.