Commit Yourself
Commit means to entrust, entrust your life to God. We are told to trust God and
when you consider how trustworthy God is, that shouldn’t be so hard to do. Our job
is to make the determination to commit ourselves to God, and believe that Jesus who
is the author and finisher of our faith, He does the work.
Commitment is the beginning of trusting God (Psalms 37:3-6) written by David, it
says “trust in the Lord Yahweh, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and
verily you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the Lord Yahweh, and He shall give
you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord Yahweh; trust also in
Him; and He shall bring it to pass. And He shall bring forth your righteousness as the
light, and your judgment as the noonday”.
David also writes in Psalms 31:1-5 “in You O Lord Yahweh, do I put my trust; let me
never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me,
deliver me speedily; be You my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore for Your name’s sake lead me, and
guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for You are my
strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord Yahweh
God of truth”.
David had a good relationship with God, and he would often rehearse the things
which God had done for him. We too, can look back at our lives and see the hand of
God at work on our behalf. There is a song, count your blessings, name them one
by one, see what the Lord have done.
One thing that David said as he was about to fight with the giant, he said “is there
not a cause”. The giant was threading all of Israel and they were afraid, but David
knowing that God was with him, he knew that God would deliver him. We have to
commit ourselves to God, remember that Jesus said “seek ye first the kingdom of
God and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Also in Proverbs 16:3 it says “commit your works to the Lord Yahweh and your
thoughts shall be established”. As we make the commitment, God establishes our
thoughts.
When we consider that Christ committed Himself to us first, in that while we were still
sinners, God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough, but
because He loved us (Romans 5:6-11) “for when we were, yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die;
yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commends His
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. for
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the
atonement”.
In the book of Daniel, we see in chapter 1 how Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat and he asked the eunuch
to test him and the three Hebrews boys, by giving them vegetables and water for ten
days. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in,
then the prince of the eunuch brought then in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king
found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore stood they before
the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of
them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that
were in all his realm. Because of their commitment, God lifted them up.
In chapter 3 we see that a decree was made that at what time you hear the sound of
the music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
has set up. And whoso falls not down and worship shall he same hour be cast into
the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time, when all the people
heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music,
all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. But there was told the king, there
are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded you;
they serve not your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. And he spoke and said to them. Is it true, that you do not
serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? And he gave
them another change, and said but if you worship not, you shall be cast the same
hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver
you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to
the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. If it be
so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and
He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
Now because of their commitment to God, they held their peace, and even though
they were cast into the burning fiery furnace, God did deliver them. The world wants
you to conformize your beliefs. But we see that God was exalted when they didn’t.
Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spoke, and
said to his counselors. Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?
They answered and said to the king, true, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see
four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form
of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said; blessed
be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel, and
delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and
yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own
God. Therefore I make a decree. That every people, nation, and language, which
speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall
be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no
other God that can deliver after this sort.
Again in chapter 6 you see that the king was tricked to made a decree that any one
who prayed to anyone but the king for the next 30 days would be cast into the den of
lions. But Daniel didn’t change his commitment, he went home and opened his
windows and prayed as he always had done. Daniel was cast into the den of lions,
but God shut the lions mouth and he was not hurt, and when the king came to the
den in the morning, he called out to Daniel, and Daniel was lifted up out of the den.
Then the men who tricked the king were thrown into the den and the lions devoured
them and their family.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27 “therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of Mine,
and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And
the raid descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that
house; and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these
sayings of Mine, and does them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it”.
We have to commit to hearing His words and then doing them. James says the same
thing in James 1:22-25 “but be you doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is
like to a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholds himself, and goes
his way, and immediately forgets what manner of man he was. But whoso looks into
the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but
a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed”. We have to commit to be
a doer of the word. Psalms 68:11 says “the Lord gave the word; great was the
company of those that published it”. We have to be committed to the word of God.
We have to believe the word of God and then speak the word of God.
Jesus spoke in Matthew 17:20b “for verily I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, remove here to yonder place; and it
shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you”. Faith is believing the word of
God and then acting on it.
Jesus Himself said “I speak to the world those things, which I have heard of Him. I do
nothing of Myself; but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:
26,28). We being a Christian, are to imitate Christ as a dear child.
You will be tempted to speak things contrary to the word of God, but it will take a
diligent commitment to speak the word only. Remember the centurion in Matthew 8:
8. Jesus said “for whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose
his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39 and 16:25).
The apostle Paul made a commitment to follow Jesus after his conversion on the
road to Damascus (Acts 9). His commitment didn’t stop at the difficulties, even from
the dungeons, he wrote much of the New Testament, and would write “rejoice in the
Lord, and again I say rejoice”. He tells Timothy in II Timothy 4:5-7 “watch you in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your
ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”.
Remember that faith is a fantastic adventure in trusting Him.
Revelation 12:11 says “and they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death”.
There have been many martyrs though-out history who keep their commitment to the
end, and by doing so, they might have died, but many were added to the church,
because they saw their commitment.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 16, 2010
Commit means to entrust, entrust your life to God. We are told to trust God and
when you consider how trustworthy God is, that shouldn’t be so hard to do. Our job
is to make the determination to commit ourselves to God, and believe that Jesus who
is the author and finisher of our faith, He does the work.
Commitment is the beginning of trusting God (Psalms 37:3-6) written by David, it
says “trust in the Lord Yahweh, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and
verily you shall be fed. Delight yourself also in the Lord Yahweh, and He shall give
you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord Yahweh; trust also in
Him; and He shall bring it to pass. And He shall bring forth your righteousness as the
light, and your judgment as the noonday”.
David also writes in Psalms 31:1-5 “in You O Lord Yahweh, do I put my trust; let me
never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me,
deliver me speedily; be You my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me.
For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore for Your name’s sake lead me, and
guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me; for You are my
strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord Yahweh
God of truth”.
David had a good relationship with God, and he would often rehearse the things
which God had done for him. We too, can look back at our lives and see the hand of
God at work on our behalf. There is a song, count your blessings, name them one
by one, see what the Lord have done.
One thing that David said as he was about to fight with the giant, he said “is there
not a cause”. The giant was threading all of Israel and they were afraid, but David
knowing that God was with him, he knew that God would deliver him. We have to
commit ourselves to God, remember that Jesus said “seek ye first the kingdom of
God and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
Also in Proverbs 16:3 it says “commit your works to the Lord Yahweh and your
thoughts shall be established”. As we make the commitment, God establishes our
thoughts.
When we consider that Christ committed Himself to us first, in that while we were still
sinners, God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not because we were good enough, but
because He loved us (Romans 5:6-11) “for when we were, yet without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die;
yet perhaps for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commends His
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. for
if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much
more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the
atonement”.
In the book of Daniel, we see in chapter 1 how Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat and he asked the eunuch
to test him and the three Hebrews boys, by giving them vegetables and water for ten
days. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in,
then the prince of the eunuch brought then in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king
found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore stood they before
the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of
them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that
were in all his realm. Because of their commitment, God lifted them up.
In chapter 3 we see that a decree was made that at what time you hear the sound of
the music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king
has set up. And whoso falls not down and worship shall he same hour be cast into
the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Therefore at that time, when all the people
heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music,
all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden
image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. But there was told the king, there
are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon,
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded you;
they serve not your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. And he spoke and said to them. Is it true, that you do not
serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? And he gave
them another change, and said but if you worship not, you shall be cast the same
hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver
you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to
the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter. If it be
so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and
He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
Now because of their commitment to God, they held their peace, and even though
they were cast into the burning fiery furnace, God did deliver them. The world wants
you to conformize your beliefs. But we see that God was exalted when they didn’t.
Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spoke, and
said to his counselors. Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?
They answered and said to the king, true, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see
four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form
of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke, and said; blessed
be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel, and
delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and
yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own
God. Therefore I make a decree. That every people, nation, and language, which
speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall
be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no
other God that can deliver after this sort.
Again in chapter 6 you see that the king was tricked to made a decree that any one
who prayed to anyone but the king for the next 30 days would be cast into the den of
lions. But Daniel didn’t change his commitment, he went home and opened his
windows and prayed as he always had done. Daniel was cast into the den of lions,
but God shut the lions mouth and he was not hurt, and when the king came to the
den in the morning, he called out to Daniel, and Daniel was lifted up out of the den.
Then the men who tricked the king were thrown into the den and the lions devoured
them and their family.
Jesus says in Matthew 7:24-27 “therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of Mine,
and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And
the raid descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat upon that
house; and it fell not for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these
sayings of Mine, and does them not, shall be likened to a foolish man, which built his
house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it”.
We have to commit to hearing His words and then doing them. James says the same
thing in James 1:22-25 “but be you doers of the word, and not hearers only,
deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is
like to a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholds himself, and goes
his way, and immediately forgets what manner of man he was. But whoso looks into
the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but
a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed”. We have to commit to be
a doer of the word. Psalms 68:11 says “the Lord gave the word; great was the
company of those that published it”. We have to be committed to the word of God.
We have to believe the word of God and then speak the word of God.
Jesus spoke in Matthew 17:20b “for verily I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, remove here to yonder place; and it
shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you”. Faith is believing the word of
God and then acting on it.
Jesus Himself said “I speak to the world those things, which I have heard of Him. I do
nothing of Myself; but as My Father has taught Me, I speak these things” (John 8:
26,28). We being a Christian, are to imitate Christ as a dear child.
You will be tempted to speak things contrary to the word of God, but it will take a
diligent commitment to speak the word only. Remember the centurion in Matthew 8:
8. Jesus said “for whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose
his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39 and 16:25).
The apostle Paul made a commitment to follow Jesus after his conversion on the
road to Damascus (Acts 9). His commitment didn’t stop at the difficulties, even from
the dungeons, he wrote much of the New Testament, and would write “rejoice in the
Lord, and again I say rejoice”. He tells Timothy in II Timothy 4:5-7 “watch you in all
things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of your
ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”.
Remember that faith is a fantastic adventure in trusting Him.
Revelation 12:11 says “and they overcame him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives to the death”.
There have been many martyrs though-out history who keep their commitment to the
end, and by doing so, they might have died, but many were added to the church,
because they saw their commitment.
Sermon by: Harriet Bond
Date: April 16, 2010
