Keys To Greater Expectations Series

OASIS POTTERLIGHT CHAPEL INTERNATIONAL

OCCASION: Sunday Service, Sermon

THEME: My Year Of Greater Expectations

SUBJECT: Keys To Greater Expectations

PREACHER: Rev. (Prophet) Rudolf E. Y. Mensah

DATE: Sunday, January 9th, 2022

TEXT: Psalm 128:1-6, NIV: "...Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him." You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Yes, this will be a blessing for the man who fears the LORD. May the LORD bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children's children-- peace be on Israel.

The book of Psalms is the book of wisdom. This wisdom book has released two great keys that will help us to unlock greater expectations from God in this new year. So many blessings will be poured upon us such as the showers of blessings. We are to expect God's abundance of blessings that will surprise us beyond our imaginations if we go buy the wise sayings of this book of wisdom.

If there is anything to wish for or to be desired in life, it is to be the type of person who is God-fearing. One that is God-fearing is one whose ways pleases the Lord.

Nothing provokes the blessings of God than "fear of God and walks in His ways". Nothing attracts blessings to us than fearing the Almighty and living in obedience to His will.

Fearing God and walking in obedience to His will is the most important thing ever to be desired and pursued in life.

The question is who doesn’t want a happy home? Happy and god-fearing homes are an essential part of building God’s kingdom here on earth. Everyone wants to be happy. Few people are willing to follow God’s way to get there. The world thinks being a Christian takes away your joy. They couldn’t be more wrong. The greatest joys in life come from knowing God and living under his blessing. And that, in a nutshell, is what Psalm 128 is all about.

I. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FEAR THE LORD

To fear the Lord does not mean to be afraid of God so that you run away from him. Rather it means to be in awe of God’s majesty so that you approach him with great reverence and respect. It is to put God first in your life.

Fearing the Lord means to be in reverent awe of His holiness, to give Him complete reverence and to honour Him as supreme ruler and Creator of the universe in beauty, purity, power and splendour.

when the psalm writer reflects on God as Creator, he says: “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere Him. For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm” (Ps 33:8-9).

For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5; Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer’s fear is the reverence of God.

Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe are exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe.

II. WHO ARE THOSE WHO FEARS THE LORD

According to the Psalmist, those who fear the Lord are those who walk in God’s ways. Walking with God means moving alongside God in faith, trust and obedience as you pass through your life's journey. For the most part, focusing on God and following His lead will keep you on the right path.

There are several people described as “walking with God” in the Bible, beginning with Enoch in Genesis 5:24. Noah is also described as “a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God” (Genesis 6:9).

Micah 6:8 gives us a glimpse into God’s desire for us: "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Walking with God is not an activity reserved for a select few. God desires all of His children to walk with Him.

When we walk with the Lord, He becomes our heart’s greatest desire. Knowing Him, hearing His voice, sharing our hearts with Him, and seeking to please Him become our all-consuming focus. He becomes everything to us. Walking with God requires letting go of anything that would be a distraction. When the Bible speaks of "walking," it often refers to a lifestyle.