Obedience Is the Key That Unlocks God’s Promises
By Rick Warren 

“Follow all the directions the Lord your God has given you. Life will go well for you” (Deuteronomy 5:33 GW).

Have you ever thought about the link between faith and obedience? When you trust someone, you do what they say. If you don’t do what someone tells you to do, it means you don’t trust them.

In the Bible, God links faith and obedience over and over again. The promises of God are conditioned on your following the directions he gives you.

Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “Follow all the directions the Lord your God has given you. Life will go well for you” (GW).

God has made some incredible, specific promises in his Word about obedience. In fact, there are so many promises that I can’t list them all here. But here are a few:

“God blesses those who obey him” (Proverbs 16:20 TLB).

“He saves those who obey him” (Psalm 7:10 GNT).

“The Lord watches over those who obey him” (Psalm 33:18 GNT).

“The Lord takes care of those who obey him” (Psalm 37:18 GNT).

“God gives us what we ask for because we obey God’s commands” (1 John 3:22 NCV).

“Always obey the Lord and you will be happy” (Proverbs 28:14 GNT).

“Keep God’s laws and you will live longer” (Proverbs 19:16 GNT).

“Those who obey him have all they need . . . Those who obey the Lord lack nothing good” (Psalm 34:9-10 GNT).

That’s an incredible list of promises. If you follow God’s directions, you’ll be blessed, saved, watched over, taken care of, given what you ask for, and happy; you’ll live longer and lack nothing good.

Obedience is the premise behind all of the promises. God gives you his promises by grace. But you get to enjoy his promises when you follow his instructions.

Sometimes you understand God’s instructions. But sometimes you don’t. And you need to obey whether or not you understand.

Some of God’s commands might sound confusing. Some may seem unfair. For example, the Bible says to take the first 10 percent of your income and give it back to him. It says that when people do evil to you, you are to do good back to them. These things don’t always make sense from a human standpoint. But the things that don’t make sense to us are the things God asks us to do by faith. He wants us to trust him and obey anyway.

I want you to enjoy all of God’s promises. Obedience is the key that unlocks them. Choose to follow his directions today in faith. He promises to reward you for your obedience.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick

For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!

Encourage a Graduate in Your Life

Graduation time is here, and chances are there’s a young person in your life who could use some encouragement, along with a little guidance.

Set them up for success with Pastor Rick’s The Purpose Driven Life: Selected Thoughts and Scriptures for the Graduate.

Filled with inspirational Scripture, biblical wisdom from Pastor Rick, and beautiful imagery, this unique, hardcover gift book provides a priceless reminder of the bountiful life God has planned for your graduate—and it will empower them to seek his unique plan and purpose for their life.

We’d love to send you a copy of this special resource as thanks for your gift today to help Daily Hope take the transforming power of Jesus into more lives around the world.

So request your copy below—and set a young graduate on the path to all God has for their life!

*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.

This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.