How Sweet It Is
The Magnificent Benefits of Living a Life of Obedience to God
Daniel Whyte III
How Sweet It Is: The Magnificent Benefits of Living a Life of Obedience to God by Daniel Whyte III Cover Design by Atinad Designs. © Copyright 2017 TORCH LEGACY PUBLICATIONS: DALLAS, TEXAS; ATLANTA, GEORGIA; BROOKLYN, NEW YORK All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher and copyright owner, except for brief quotations included in a review of the book. The Bible quotations in this volume are from the King James Version of the Bible.
Contents Introduction 1. How Sweet it is to Trust in God 2. How Sweet it is to be Loved by God and to 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Love God Back How Sweet it is to Fear God How Sweet it is to Meditate on the Word of God How Sweet it is to Obey God How Sweet it is to Pray to God How Sweet it is to Be Faithful to God
Introduction When I was a child, my family and I used to watch a TV program that my dad loved called The Jackie Gleason Show. Jackie's signature phrase (other than “To the moon” when he got angry with his wife, Alice), which he used in reaction to almost anything good, was “How sweet it is!” While he was often referring to the good feelings generated by some break for him and his middle-class family (which by the way the show was situated on Chauncey Street in Brooklyn, New York, which is the same street my family lived on during those years) or some good fortune that the family received, the same phrase can be used to describe the blessings of a life dedicated to God. We normally tell our children that they can't have “sweets” too often, and certainly not before dinner. But the spiritual sweets that I will discuss in this book are something that God wants you and I to have every day of our lives. As the Psalmist wrote, “in God's presence is fulness of joy; at his right hand are pleasures for evermore.” God wants you and
I to enjoy these benefits. In the words of C.S. Lewis, He wants us to have our cake and eat it too. The life of commitment to God is the only source of true, lasting blessing. Of course, there are other sources that promise blessing. The devil promises the pleasures of sin, but they only last for a season. His “blessings” are like candy-coated poison. The world tells us that if we do things its way or our way, we will be happy and wealthy. But this promise always comes with a downside, like a beautiful jellyfish in the ocean—lovely to look at, but carrying a painful, sometimes deadly sting. It is interesting that while the blessings promised by the devil and the world have repeatedly been proven to be empty, God is the one who is often seen as the killjoy. But, when we look at Scripture—not to mention the experiences of millions of Christians down through the centuries—we quickly see that that is not the case. God wants you to be blessed. God wants you to enjoy life. God wants you to have joy. God wants you to have “good success” in life. The secret to these things lies in living life God's way.
Just to be clear, the life of “sweetness” that I am talking about does not mean a life free from trouble and tribulation. The Bible, and the experience of every human being since Adam, tells us that “in this world, ye shall have tribulation.” What I am talking about is living the kind of life where you can find and abide in the sweet spot even in the midst of seemingly unblessed situations. I am talking about having the kind of life that the early Christians had where they were able to sing songs of praise to God as they were being burned at the stake or ripped apart by wild animals. By the grace of God, I have been able to say, “how sweet it is,” about my life for years now. Once I learned that I needed to trust God, love God, fear God, meditate on the Word of God, obey God, pray to God, and be faithful to God—and I started doing these things on a consistent basis by the power of the Holy Spirit, I began to experience the sweetness of a life committed to God. And I can tell you that there is nothing like it on earth. There have been times when I have felt as though I could not handle receiving
from the Lord and I have actually asked Him to stop blessing me. Every individual should strive for that kind of existence. By describing the many blessings of such a life in this book, I hope to encourage you to do just that, so that one day you can sincerely declare, “How sweet it is!�
1 How Sweet It Is to Trust in God “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.” --Psalm 28:7 “Faith is a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.” --John R. Stott Isn't it great to be able to trust someone? Maybe it's your spouse, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a co-worker. Whoever it is, it is great to be able to put your confidence in them and not have to worry about your trust being betrayed. You can leave them with your most valuable possession, and know that they will take care of it like it was their own. You can confide in them and not worry
about them gossiping about your private affairs. They have never lied to you and you know that, when the chips are down, they will tell you the truth—even if it may hurt you or make themselves look bad. We all love the trustworthy people in our lives. Do you know who the most trustworthy person is? The Bible says God “cannot lie.” There is no hypocrisy or lack of authenticity in God. He declared in Malachi 3:6, “I am the Lord, I change not.” James said there “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” in Him. If this is true, there is no wonder why the wisest man who ever lived declared, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” God is someone whom you can trust, lean on, and depend upon. Because He is omniscient, He has all knowledge. Nothing is strange or difficult for Him to understand. You don't—and you can't—understand everything in life; but it is essential that you know the One who understands everything in life and beyond life.
Imagine that you are a tourist in a foreign city. You don't know how to get to and from certain places in the city, so you hire a tour guide. God is like that tour guide. You must trust Him to get you where you want to go and need to go. The benefit of trusting God is that you do not have to worry about the past, the present, or the future. You know that all of it is in His hands. Many people wrestle with worry—worry about past mistakes, present problems, and future uncertainties. Their state of worry will persist as long as they try to keep matters in their own hands. But the Bible says, “Cast all your cares upon him, for he careth for you.” That's trust. Give your worries to the Lord and let Him handle them, and you can be worry-free. The verse that comes immediately after Proverbs 9:6, quoted above, reads, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” When you are trusting in God, you no longer have to worry about the future. You should plan for the future, but you should not be paralyzed
or paranoid about the future. When you trust in God and let Him direct your paths, you know that all of the future belongs to Him and that nothing will happen to you in it that is outside of His knowledge or will. It is sweet to trust in God because He will never lie to you. You cannot get that kind of certainty from anyone else. It is good to know that there is at least one person whom you never have to doubt or second-guess. As Louisa M.R. Stead wrote: Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I've proved Him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! Oh, for grace to trust Him more! I'm so glad I learned to trust Him, Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend And I know that He is with me, Will be with me to the end.
Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to trust His cleansing blood And in simple faith to plunge me 'Neath the healing, cleansing flood! Yes, 'tis sweet to trust in Jesus, Just from sin and self to cease Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest, and joy and peace. How sweet it is to trust in God!
2 How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by God “We love him, because he first loved us.” --1 John 4:19 “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.” --Augustine God is love, the Bible says, and one would be hard-pressed to find any sweeter truth. Many people go through life seeking love—from parents, from authority figures, from the opposite sex, from friends. But the sweet thing about God's love is that it is not dependent on anything we say or do. He loves us unconditionally, without any string attached. You do not have to earn God's love in any way. He loves because it is in His nature to love.
The Bible uses a special word to describe God's love— agape. This love is defined as “goodwill, benevolence, or willful delight.” It is a love that comes free of expectations and contingencies. People may love you because of how you look or what you do, but that is not how God operates. God chooses to love you and me. Isn't that amazing? We talk about “falling in love” or having a “crush” on somebody as if we can't help ourselves, as if we have no control over our feelings for others. But not God. He doesn't have to love us, but He deliberately and specifically sets His love on us individually. Romans 5:8 says, “God commendeth (or demonstrated) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” First John 3:1 adds, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” God's love is also self-sacrificial. He allowed Himself to be harmed in order to do something that would benefit us. That is what happened when He sent His only begotten
Son Jesus Christ to Earth to die on the cross for our salvation. It hurt God deeply when He had to turn His back on His Son. He knew it was going to hurt going in, but He did it anyway because He loved us. Don't waste your time looking for unconditional, selfsacrificial love from other human beings. You won't find it. As much as some may strive to love like God loves, human love and human capabilities have their limits. You will save yourself a lifetime of heartache by understanding this. Knowing, accepting, and abiding in the love of God frees you from the hamster wheel of human striving for love. Only God loves perfectly, completely, and continually. How sweet it is to be loved by God.
3 How Sweet It Is to Fear God “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” --Matthew 10:28 “The remarkable thing about God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.” --Oswald Chambers Fear is not normally associated with positive emotions. Society tells us not to be afraid. But, in the Bible, the word fear carries with it the element of respect. Fearing God is not about being scared out of your wits that He is going to zap you if you do wrong. Fearing God is about recognizing Him for who He is and living your life in accordance with that knowledge.
Jesus gave us a great idea about who God is in the verse at the beginning of this chapter. God is the One—the only One—who can destroy both our bodies and our souls. No man can do that. The devil, though he may want to, can't even do that. Many people live their life based on the fear of what man can do to them. They are afraid of disapproval from their parents or other authority figures. Afraid of losing a job. Afraid of a boyfriend or girlfriend or spouse leaving them for somebody else. Afraid of losing a friendship. But we do not have to be afraid of any of these things. The worst we can suffer at the hands of another person is physical death. And God says we shouldn't fear even this. The writer of Psalm 118 declared, “I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” the most a man can do to you is destroy your body. But that is going to happen eventually anyway. God says, “Fear Me, who can destroy your body and your soul.”
The sweet thing about fearing God is that it frees you from all of your other fears. When you fear God alone, you know that nothing bad will happen to you unless it is within God's will. A healthy fear of God can go a long way to a peaceful, stress-free life. How sweet it is to fear God!
4 How Sweet It Is to Meditate On the Word of God “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” --Joshua 1:8 “The reason we come away so cold from reading the word is, because we do not warm ourselves at the fire of meditation.” --Thomas Watson The Word of God is a great gift to mankind, and we, as God's children, are commanded to meditate on it. The word “meditate” means to: think deeply or to focus one's mind on something. When we meditate on God's Word, we are
keeping it in our minds at all times, we are thinking about it, and we are allowing it to influence our actions. One of the great benefits of meditating on God's Word is that it allows us to have a ready defense against the attacks of the enemy. The devil loves to attack us in our minds. He wants to challenge and change our thinking. If he can control our thinking, he can control our actions. The Bible says, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” in his life. The only way we can combat the devil's presence and influence is through the Word of God. It is our weapon, our sword against the enemy. It is the only one we have. The Word of God is the “sword of the Spirit.” We wield the sharpened edge of God's blade against sin, evil, and temptation. And this blade is “quick, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.” When we use the Word of God against Satan, we are unleashing the most powerful force in the universe against the evil that seeks to take over our lives. It doesn't stand a chance. Remember: It was the Word of God that created the world
and it is the Word of God that sustains the world. It was the Word made flesh that defeated Satan at the cross and defeated death and the grave. Imagine what this same Word can do for you. How sweet it is! Another benefit of the Word of God is that it helps us have a positive mental attitude. I know a lot of people in the Christian community frown on that term because if its association with humanistic movements (think yourself happy, think your way to success, etc.). But I believe God wants His children to have a positive mental attitude. He does not want us to be negative, depressed, and discouraged individuals. He wants us to be upbeat and positive in our attitude towards life. Notice Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.�
Isaiah 26:3 also says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” The source of our positive, peaceful, and powerful thinking is the Word of God. If we meditate on the Bible, we will begin thinking God's thoughts about life. And even though the path before us may look dark and dim, God's Word enables us to have a powerful outlook. Scripture reminds us that “nothing is impossible with God” and that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” How sweet it is to meditate on the Word of God.
5 How Sweet It Is to Obey God “Hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.” --1 John 2:3 “If you look up into His face and say, "Yes, Lord, whatever it costs," at that moment He'll flood your Life with His presence and power.” --Alan Redpath Too many people view obedience to God as a drudgery— something they ought to do even though they don't feel like doing it or even want to do. But God wants His children to happily obey Him. And we can be joyful about obedience if we remember the benefits that come from obedience. When we obey God, we know that we are always in the will of God. If you are a true Christian, you will be
bothered when you sin. You will not be able to just continue life as usual because, in the back of your mind, you will know that you have violated God's Word. But when we obey God, we have peace of mind. We don't have to look over our shoulder, worrying about when the consequences will show up. Even if our obedience puts us at odds with other people, we will know that we have pleased the Person who is most important. It is a great feeling to know that we are in the will of God, and that feeling can only be had if we are obedient to God. Not only does obedience to God give us peace of mind, but it is the only way to guarantee God's blessings in our lives. I have told people many times: God blesses obedience and He does not bless disobedience; He never has and he never will. The blessings of God do not always come the way that we want them or expect them. But you can be sure that whatever blessings God gives you are better than anything the world can give you. The Bible says, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.�
Don't try to seek blessings on their own. Obey God and let Him bless you as He sees fit. As the song says, “You can't beat God giving no matter how hard you try.” How sweet it is to obey God.
6 How Sweet It Is to Pray to God “Verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.” --Psalm 66:19 “We can be tired, weary, and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength.” --Charles Stanley The Bible commands us repeatedly to pray. There are an abundance of commands to pray and examples of prayer in all of Scripture. Not only in Scripture, but down through the centuries, many Christians have attested to the power and benefits of prayer. There are a multitude of benefits to prayer, and time and space prevent us from enumerating them.
Prayer is a conversation between you and god. Through prayer, you have the ear of the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God. With all that God must be concerned with, He stoops to hear the concerns of man. David marveled at this when he wrote, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” As amazing as it may seem, God is mindful of you. He wants to hear your thoughts, fears, worries, and concerns. He is a Friend whom you can go to at any time—a Friend who always hears. Sometimes, that is all we need—a friend who listens to us when we talk—whether the topic of conversation is joyful and upbeat or depressed and worrisome. But God does better than that. Not only does He hear us, but He answers us when we cry out to Him. Sometimes, He speaks to our hearts, giving us the answers that we seek or telling us to leave the issue alone and let Him handle it. Other times, he acts on our behalf in the physical realm, bringing about either a miraculous or natural solution to the problems that we face. Still other times, He tells us to wait on Him, letting us know that He will act when the
time is right. And often, He must correct our desires themselves, helping us to see the fault in our requests so that we may no longer ask amiss. Through prayer, we are able to bring our desires, concerns, and worries directly to the Father, knowing that He will give us audience. How sweet it is to pray to God!
7 How Sweet It Is to Be Faithful to God “A faithful man shall abound with blessings.” --Proverbs 28:20 “I'd rather die in the will of God than to live outside of it.” --Jack Hyles Perhaps, the trait that God values the most in His servants is that of faithfulness. The word “faithful” means loyal, constant, or steadfast. We know from Scripture that God is faithful. He does what He says He will do. He has never let us down. But faithfulness is something that we all should strive to make a part of our lives. When we are faithful, we are inviting God to shower blessings on our life. As the verse above states, a faithful person will “abound with blessings.” The word “abound” means to have a large number or a large amount. Who
wouldn't want a large amount of blessings? But faithfulness also has some other important benefits. When we are faithful to God, we know that we have a purpose in life. Many in our world struggle with this issue of finding their purpose. But those who have already made up their mind to do whatever God commands them to do do not have this problem. They have put their entire life in God's hands and they are willing to follow Him wherever He leads, go wherever He tells them to go, and do whatever He tells them to do. Even if they get discouraged, or if they don't see the benefit in what they are doing, faithful people just keep on doing what they know is right. They are steadfast and constant. They do not worry too much about what comes next or what others are doing. They know they their purpose is to serve God and be faithful to him. When a person has this kind of mentality, they also are not constantly worrying about what comes next. They are not asking, Where do I go from here? Or, How do I get to the next level in my career or my family? If God wants them
to remain in the position they are in, they are comfortable remaining there. We see powerful examples of faithfulness in such people as Abraham, Joseph, and Esther. Abraham followed God blindly, not knowing where he was going or what God planned to do with him. Joseph stayed true to God even while he was in jail in a heathen land for a crime he had not committed. Esther did not shirk from doing what was right even with the might of the Persian empire against her. These people experienced great blessings and deliverance from God. And you can do the same if you are faithful to Him. How sweet it is to be faithful to God!
Start Living the Sweet Life The blessings that you have read about in this book can only be received by those who have trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior and who are walking in the power of His Holy Spirit. Here is how you can trust Jesus Christ as your Savior today and receive the Holy Spirit into your life.. 1. Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7: 20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” 2. Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…” 3. Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather
fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” 4. Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.” 5. Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jesus Christ, John 3:16). With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The
Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” If you are willing to trust Christ as your Saviour, please pray the following prayer: Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life. Amen. For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to GospelLightSociety.com and read What To Do After You Enter Through the Door. Please email us at gls@gospellightsociety.com so that we can send you free material that will help you grow in your newfound faith in Jesus Christ.
Resources to Help You Live the Sweet Life Trusting God
7 Keys to the God-Blessed Life, by Daniel Whyte III
Trusting God, by Jerry Bridges
Trusting God Day by Day: 365 Daily Devotions, by Joyce Meyer
The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer
Why? Trusting God When You Don't Understand, by Anne Graham Lotz
Loving God
God Loves You: He Always Has, He Always Will, by David Jeremiah
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God, by Francis Chan
God's Love: How the Infinite God Cares for His Children, by R.C. Sproul
66 Love Letters: A Conversation with God That Invites You into His Story, by Larry Crabb
Fearing God
The Joy of Fearing God, by Jerry Bridges
The Fear of the Lord, by John Bevere
The Forgotten Fear: Where Have All the God Fearers Gone? by Albert N. Martin
Meditating on the Word of God
Battlefield of the Mind, by Joyce Meyer
Study and Meditation, by Jan Johnson
Meditating on the Word, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Obeying God
What to Do When God is Whipping Your Behind: How to Have the Proper Response to God When You Are Going Through His Chastisement, by Daniel Whyte III
A Life of Obedience, by Andrew Murray
The School of Obedience, by Andrew Murray
Courageous Faith: My Story From a Life of Obedience, by Charles F. Stanley
The Insanity of Obedience: Walking with Jesus in Tough Places, by Nik Ripken
Praying to God
The Prayer Motivator, Volumes I-III, by Daniel Whyte III
Kingdom Prayer: Touching Heaven to Change Earth, by Tony Evans
Prayer—Asking and Receiving, by John R. Rice
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, by Timothy Keller
Prevailing Prayer, by D. L. Moody
Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer, by Max Lucado
The Battle Plan for Prayer: From Basic Training to Targeted Strategies, by Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick
Being Faithful to God
My Utmost for his Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Be Committed: Doing God's Will Whatever the Cost, by Warren W. Wiersbe
Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus, by Kyle Idleman