You must obey all the commandments I give you today. If you do, you will not only live, you
will multiply and will go in and take over the land promised to your fathers by the Lord.    Do
you remember how the Lord led you through the wilderness for all those forty years, humbling
you and testing you to find out how you would respond, and whether or not you would really
obey him?    Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a
food previously unknown to both you and your ancestors. He did it to help you realize that
food isn’t everything, and that real life comes by obeying every command of God. [TLB]
This is a very important scripture from the Old Testament and if you look at Mathew 4: 1-
4, it says: “Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, to be tempted there
by Satan. For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. Then Satan
tempted him to get food by changing stones into loaves of bread. “It will prove you are the Son
of God,” he said.   But Jesus told him, “No! For the Scriptures tell us that bread won’t feed men’s
souls: obedience to every word of God is what we need” [TLB].
That is why I fear when I hear people running down the Old Testament but most of the
texts in the New Testament are actually direct quotes from the Old Testament.
Man are not only a physical being but also a spiritual being. You have food for the physical
aspect of your life and the word of God for the spiritual aspect and the spiritual realm
controls the physical. So your spiritual life should be more important to you than your
physical life, because if you get it right spiritually – it will manifest in the physical.
By man, we mean the human race. So just as food is important to us, so is the word of God.
The spiritual takes precedence over the physical; especially in the days we are currently
living in till the coming of Christ – the Bible says it will be more difficult to become a
Christian as you will be compelled to compromise and live according to the standards of
the world and if you are not ready to compromise, you will suffer for it. So what will help
you overcome is to live by every word of God.
One interesting thing is that God claimed responsibility for some of the things that the
children of Israel went through. He did that in order to teach them that bread is not
everything and that they were not created to live by bread alone but “by every word that
proceeds out of the mouth of God” [Matthew 4: 4]. He thought them all these lessons while
they were in the wilderness.
It is not everything that happens to a child of God that is from the devil! God sometimes
allows us to go through challenges as a test to know what is in our hearts and how we will
respond in the face of trials. There are some Christians who are Christians only when
everything is going their way and all their needs are being met by God – at that time it is
easy to be a Christian but when the devil comes and you begin to experience negative
things that is when you know who is a real Christian and who is not. Some of us are going

through our test period now and as a Christian, if everything is going on well for you at all
times, then your Christianity is questionable.
Incidentally, God said when, for forty years, you were going through the wilderness, this is
what I did. When Jesus was fasting and praying in the wilderness, the devil came to
persuade Him to compromise what He knows to be the will of God thereby disobeying God
and yield to the desires of the flesh. But regardless of the pains and the challenges in the
wilderness, Jesus remembered that the wilderness experience is a time of proving to know
what is in your heart and whether you will obey God or not.
Sometimes ago I preached a messaged titled, ‘’Profiting From Trials’’ which in summary
said that life in this world is not meant to be easy because we are living in a fallen world as
a result of Adam’s disobedience to God. Although Christ had come to redeem us from this
fallen world, we have not transited into the fullness of our liberty. We are enjoying some
degree of the benefits of redemption but the climax is when we meet Him face to face in
heaven then we would be freed from all pains, sicknesses, troubles etc. But while we are in
this world until the coming of Jesus Christ, there’re bound to be trials and temptations. And
so if you experience any of these things this year or in the coming years, don’t think that
God has forsaken you! Once you are living right according to the God’s word, know that it is
the time to prove that you truly love God and not serving Him for what you will get as
benefits. If God have not done any other thing for you, but had sent His son to die on the
cross of Calvary in order for us to be saved that is more important than anything else. This
is enough to live the rest of your life praising Him, worshipping and obeying Him in totality.
The book of James 1: 1 – 4 says,  ‘’From: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To: Jewish Christians scattered everywhere. Greetings! Dear brothers, is your life full of
difficulties and temptations? Then be happy,   for when the way is rough, your patience has a
chance to grow… So let it grow… For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will
be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete’’. [TLB]. Also in Romans 5: 3:
‘’We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good
for us—they help us learn to be patient.    And patience develops strength of character in us and
helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and
steady.    Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens
and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us… because God has given us the
Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love’’ [TLB]
In the light of some of the teachings from our pulpits today, once things are not going your
way, then it must be the devil and you will quickly bind it! Some will even say you are no
more a Christian. Romans 8: 35 – 38 says,  ‘’ Who then can ever keep Christ’s love from us?
When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because he
doesn’t love us anymore? And if we are hungry or penniless or in danger or threatened with
death, has God deserted us? No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to
face death at every moment of the day… but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours
through Christ who loved us enough to die for us.   For I am convinced that nothing can ever
separate us from his love…” [TLB].

We are the ones who can separate from God if we so desire. If you run away from God, your
problems will compound but if you allow the problems to drive you closer to God that is
where answers will come from.
In this challenging year, don’t be moved by what you see, feel and hear. Always ask yourself
what does the word of God say about my present situation? What does the Bible say, how
do I respond? What should be my attitude? And if you respond according to the Bible, you
are living by every word of God and He will never let you down. Sometimes God allows
challenges in order to strengthen and prepare us for the great things He is about to do in
our lives. Always remember Job’s experience and how the devil recounted all the things
that God did for him, as the reason job loves and serves Him. While God said He knows Job
better, He allowed Satan to take away everything Job has but not his life! And God said you
would see that he would still serve me! Even when Job’s wife suggested that he should
curse God and die in the face of all the challenges, Job refused and God was pleased and the
devil was put to shame. Today, if it were some of us we would have thrown in the towel.
Biblical Christianity entails that we must be ready for any challenges and make up our
minds that regardless of what the enemy throws at us – we will remain strong and faithful
in the direction God wants us to go, living according to His word and God will vindicate us.
EXAMPLES OF WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE BY EVERY WORD OF GOD
‘’ When Jesus arrived in Capernaum, a Roman army captain came and pled with him to come to
his home and heal his servant boy who was in bed paralyzed and racked with pain.   “Yes,” Jesus
said, “I will come and heal him.” Then the officer said, “Sir, I am not worthy to have you in my
home; and it isn’t necessary for you to come. If you will only stand here and say, ‘Be healed,’
my servant will get well! I know, because I am under the authority of my superior officers and
I have authority over my soldiers… And I know you have authority to tell his sickness to
go—and it will go!” Jesus stood there amazed! Turning to the crowd he said, “I haven’t seen
faith like this in all the land of Israel! And I tell you this, that many Gentiles like this Roman
officer, shall come from all over the world and sit down in the Kingdom of Heaven with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.   And many an Israelite—those for whom the Kingdom was
prepared—shall be cast into outer darkness, into the place of weeping and torment.” Then
Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go on home. What you have believed has happened!” And the
boy was healed that same hour! [TLB]
1. Believing the word; The Centurion believed in the power of the spoken word of God
and so he said to Jesus to speak a word and by faith his servant was healed.
2. Responding to the word of God; Luke: 17: 11-14.
The ten lepers did something amazing, when they met with Jesus entreating Him to
heal them of their leprosy, He [Jesus] instead of praying for them as usual, directed
them to go and show themselves to the priest. They responded and they were
healed and made whole. If the word of God says you are healed; respond to it
accordingly by acting on the word and your miracle will take place. This year we
have to believe God to strengthen our faith so that regardless of what we face we
remain strong in the faith and in the word of God.
3. Committing our plans to God: Mathew 14: 22 – 33. Peter saw Jesus walking on water
and he spoke to Jesus saying, “If you be the one, tell me to come? In other words,

since Jesus is the one asking him to come he is assured that he is safe because he has
committed the Master into it; thus, when he began to sink, he called out on Jesus to
help him and Jesus did. This shows that when you commit your plans to God, you
will be rest assured that your plans are safe in His hands.
The word of God can never disappoint. Every other thing is subject to change but the
word of God cannot change. Whatever it is we are going through as individuals, families,
and church or as a nation, the God of all impossibilities will see us through.

QUOTES:
“Your spiritual life should be more important to you than your physical life, because if you
get it right spiritually – it will manifest in the physical.”