08/05/2018 - Obedience , and a Gem of Wisdom
Are you obedient to God’s Word, His call, and His will for you each day? Have you tried and failed over and over again as you have struggled in your faith? Well, if you are struggling, and you are failing, there is s gem of wisdom I will share with you today. It is so simple, and yet so overlooked by many who approach God’s Word with a desire to obey it... and Him.
“But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.'”Jeremiah 7:23 ESV
Obeying God in every part of His Word, and applying what comes of that obedience to the totality of our lives is the ultimate desire of every true believer. This morning as I contemplated my devotional reading, written by Andrew Murray, I read a restatement of a theme that I have repeated over and over again in my own writing. This is the gem of wisdom I promised, and he puts it so well... listen..,
“The secret of true obedience, I believe, is a clear and close personal relationship to God. All our attempts to achieve full obedience will fail until we have access to His abiding fellowship. It is God’s holy presence , consciously abiding with us, than keeps us from disobeying Him.” - Andrew Murray
Relationship, relationship, relationship... it is the iron that sharpens us, and in the case of God, the spade that loosens the soil of understanding. An acquaintance can tell us truth, and we can hear it, but when someone with whom we have a close relationship tells us that same truth it grows roots into us.
Most of us have a great number of acquaintances, fewer friends, and very few people with whom we claim a close personal relationship. Acquaintances come easy, and they slip into and out of our lives, however, friendships require work and carry within them the promise of a much deeper relationship; they are harder to form, and hurt you deeply when lost.
Then there are those precious few close personal relationships that extend beyond mere friendship, and which are few and far between; they grow out of a fledgling friendship, and wrap themselves around the deepest parts of our lives. We place our trust in them, and share back and forth the most intimate details of who we are, and of our most honest desire as to who we wish to become. These are special feelings for carefully selected people, like our spouse, a close family member, our spiritual mentor, and just maybe our pastor. More rarely, a distant friend will grow to occupy this role, but in all cases the loss of such a person will devastate you... it will rip your heart out and take years to recover from... if you can recover at all.
This is what Murray was talking about when he wrote of having a relationship with God. This is the gem of wisdom that that will make it possible for us to obey Him when our shallow inclination is to do otherwise. To form this closeness with the Lord takes work, and many hours of conversation... prayer. It grows out of a casual meeting, into a friendship, and then becomes a relationship that embodies a deep and abiding love. It is hard to enter into because, unlike with those with whom we share relationship here on earth, God is spirit, and the relationship we have with Him must also include a deep and abiding faith upon which our love is built.
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”Hebrews 11:6 ESV
Although each of us contains a dormant seed of faith, Jesus Christ, through his redeeming death and resurrection, brings us back to that place in which God can begin to resuscitate it, and kindle this eternal ember of life within us. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand God’s Word, but then it is between ourselves and God to infuse this budding togetherness with love, truth, and an enduring trust... relationship is formed. From this joining together God’s wisdom begins to take root.
“And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"”Mark 9:23-24 ESV
God loves us and desires a relationship with us. When we enter into it with Him His love and faithfulness bind us to Him just like it did with Abraham and the people of Israel. And He will celebrate our coming, and teach us so that we will be able to obey Him, because His mourning would be extreme should even one of us be lost.
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”Zephaniah 3:17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for showing yourself to me, and I thank you for the friendship you extend, but most of all Holy Father I thank you for the deep and abiding relationship into which we have entered. You are my God, and I love you with all that is within me. I suffer at the slightest hint of being separated from you, and I celebrate your grace through Jesus Christ with gladness and singing. Help me Merciful Father to obey you in all things. Open my ears to your Holy Spirit as He speaks your wisdom to me, and let me see clearly as He guides me in your will for me. Let me hear your voice calling me, crisp as a shout in the quiet of early morning. Let this day with you be like none other before it; may my faith increase hour by hour as I feed on the manna of my love and togetherness with you. I humble myself in servitude to your desires Gracious Father, and I know your loving presence like none other. Be with me always, and never let me stray. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God, who loves me throughout eternity, and in whom my love is complete forever.
Rich Forbes