The Lord God expects results, He expects obedience, and He expects praise.
Think on the parable of the servants who were given talents, (Matt. 25:14-30) and how the one who earned his master nothing had even that which he had taken from him. He expects us to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, (Romans 12:2) both results and obedience to the Holy Spirit in one verse.
He expects us to die to self, (Gal. 2:20) obedience and praise, the highest form of praise, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) All three in just one verse.
Those three basic tenets are revealed throughout the Scriptures, from Adam and Eve, who were commanded not only to obey the one law set against them, forbidden to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and tending the garden at the same time, to those who will bend the knee (Romans 14:11) both willingly and unwillingly towards the end of the age, results, through our efforts to obey the Holy Spirit all to the praise of the Most High.
Those who have been born-again are noticeable to the world, for we do not seek the things of the world that the wicked do, we look for a kingdom made without hands. (2 Cor. 5:1) We are noticeable to each other by the results of our efforts to be submissive to the will of the Holy Spirit, by obeying the Word of God in Spiritual discernment and wisdom, and by openly, honestly and without any shame or embarrassment praising His name in public, no matter the company we may find ourselves in.
There will come a day that we will be rewarded for our efforts, for the results that we have been blessed to achieve by obedience for the glory of God, and the result of those rewards will be the continuing praise throughout eternity to the only One who is “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:11)
Without obeying the will and Word of God, it is impossible to expect any results from ourselves, without praising Him no matter the circumstances that surround us, neither results or obedience would be possible, for our praise of the Lord is one of the highest honors that we can offer Him. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (Heb. 13:15) All three of these must be preceded by Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” By “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.” (Psalm 27:8) And by “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)
To praise God, to obey God, and to produce results for God, we must first not only seek God, but believe “that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Tim. 1:12) Our first thoughts, and the reasons for those thoughts, must be of God. The glory of God is to be our constant desire, our constant cause, in fact, the reason for our existence is to glorify God and to lift up the name of Jesus.
Our desire to praise Him will lead to a desire to be obedient to Him, and the result of those two items will be to continuously praise and obey Him, these three traits make for a child of God, they are a perfect, continuous circle. This is where the joy that our Lord spoke of in Psalm 16:11 is found, this is where the peace that passeth all understanding is found, (Phil. 4:7) and this is where we are to be found, in Him.
