LETʼS TALK ABOUT INSTRUCTIONS

Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions.”

1 Samuel 10:8 NLT

The beginning of Saul’s reign began with instructions and his ending also came when he began to disobey instructions. God has given us plenty of room in which to move around within the confines of protective instructions. When you choose to venture beyond the boundaries He so lovingly set, the dragon waits to bind you and devour you as well as your children.

The Oxford dictionary defines Instructions as detailed information about how something should be done or operated.

In this kingdom we reign and rule by instruction. The result or reward of instructions might tarry but it’s worth waiting for. It will surely come to pass because, faithful is he that hath promised.

TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONS

• General Instructions – General instructions are detailed information about how things should be done or operated. The Bible provides the general instructions.

• Specific instructions- Specific instructions are detailed information pertaining to an individual or a particular person.

The Bible provides general standards for Christian living. The Bible reveals the general instructions of God for your life. The Holy Spirit leads you into the specific instructions of God for your life. The Bible is complete, no doubt, and touches every aspect of human endeavor. But if the Bible was all we ever needed, God would not have bothered giving us the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was given to us to guide and lead us in the specifics of our lives.

WHY YOU DON’T RECEIVE INSTRUCTION

Here’s a check list to help your introspection.

• NO Personal relationship with God

• Not studying scripture

• Disobedience

CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEYING INSTRUCTIONS

I’ll stick to just two consequences which covers all others.

• Death- most times disobedience to instructions doesn’t kill just you, it affects people around you.- Ask Achan in Joshua 7:1-26

• You lose out on the promise – Ask Moses in Deuteronomy 32:52

5 THINGS TO DO TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTIONS

1) Have a personal relationship with God-

You do not have personal relationship with everyone you LOVE, KNOW, TRUST or BELIEVE in. So knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, believing in His works and words, does not equate to a personal relationship, It is possible to be a born-again believing child of God, and yet have no personal relationship with God. Many serve the Lord passionately in their churches, never missing prayer meetings, church rehearsals etc. Some serve the Lord through ministry work, running different errands for Jesus and in Jesus’ name. While all of that on its own is not bad, the question remains? Is that all Jesus wants?

John 15：15 tells me otherwise, let’s look at three different translations

ESV No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

NLT I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves . Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me

NIV I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you

It is okay if you start from the place of service, it often always starts from there, but PLEASE keep in mind that what Jesus is after is FRIENDSHIP, it is INTIMACY.

True spiritual depth can only be accessed, not through services , but through intimacy.

2) Study the Word

You don’t know what you miss by not studying the Word of God for yourself, in the intimacy of your own room, as often as possible. Scripture is the palpable whispers of God. If you want to hear the voice of God, you must like the sound of flipping through the Bible. Search with a heart eager to hear from Abba. Listen, the Bible says scripture is there

• To teach you what is true To help you realize what is wrong in your life.

• To correct you. So it just doesn’t tell you what is wrong and stop there （it is the enemy that does that) it tells you what is wrong and then how to correct it.

• It teaches you to do the right thing.

• It trains you in righteousness.

3) Listen to Instructions

You remember when God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his son? Abraham dutifully obeyed. But the Angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven.

Abraham! Abraham! Do not harm the boy…..

Abraham had a listening ear. What if he was on Twitter (not that its wrong), or absent-minded, perhaps chatting away or even on evangelism? If he didn’t listen, he would have killed his source of laughter – Isaac, and probably would have maintained that he was at the will of God.

So today, this is a little reminder. Yes, God told you to move to do it. What else has he said? Now, if he hasn’t said anything new, please stick to the initial instructions. However, is it that he hasn’t called or you aren’t listening? Don’t be in haste. Don’t kill your Isaac.

4) Obey

When you constantly disobey the Holy Ghost when He gives simple and subtle instructions, your spiritual perception will eventually become dull and unreceptive to His voice. Ask the Lord to help you reawaken your spirit to hear him. Be quick to obey when He speaks.

In Genesis 26, Isaac was instructed by God to stay in the Philistines due to famine.

He obeyed… Just as God instructed him, irrespective of the physical condition (famine) staring him in the face. He had a family to consider; servants, workers, business, etc., but he stayed in the land of famine. He preferred to obey God and trust that He’d come through.

5) Always keep a Journal

God is always speaking. Even in his stillness lies an Instruction. Instructions can come while studying, praying etc.

Always be ready to receive instructions.

I will stand like a guard and watch. I will wait to see what the Lord will say to me. I will wait and learn how he answers my questions. Habakkuk 2:1 ERV

There is always that place of waiting on God to be instructed. Instructions would guide us through and
prevent us from regrets. The result or reward of instructions might tarry but it’s worth waiting for. It will surely come to pass, because faithful is he that hath promised.

The instructions of God is not a conference call, neither is it a seminar gathering. His instructions may be inconvenient and stretch you out of your comfort zone, but, dare to obey Him. Face your instructions.

Conclusion

You must always remember that there are certain Divine Instructions that do not change with the changing times and seasons… There are certain Divine Instructions that do not change because we have become modernized, with diverse trends and styles.

Stop Suggesting that God’s instructions aren’t enough or doesn’t make sense. Saul was given instructions and he decided the best way to do it. It made “sense” to him, but it wasn’t the instruction. When God gives an instruction, it most often goes with a pattern for execution. It doesn’t have to make sense, but it makes God. The things of the spirit cannot be understood by mere sense. Notice what I didn’t write “I didn’t say, it can never be understood.” It can, but by revelation. God is not out to hide his will and he doesn’t cast his treasures carelessly.

Always remember if it is God’s instruction, it must be done God’s way. Nothing else.