09/01/2024
Jesus talks about keeping (being obedient to) His commandments in the book of John. He isn't talking about an obedience based on fear, but an obedience founded in love and a desire to follow Him. When we obey the biblical commandments out of love and not duty, Jesus will manifest Himself in us, and we will experience the love of God; a love like none other.
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
John 14:21 KJV
Obedience is our faith in action. It is doing what, in our heart, our faith directs us to do. It is the Word of God and His commandments coming alive within us and changing who we are as a person, and what flows from us. In the late 1800s, Pastor E.M. Bounds spoke about obedience in this way...
"This obedience must be without questioning or complaining. Obedience is faith in action. It is the outflow, the very test of love."
Pastor Bounds went on to write that there is a correlation between our ability to feel the Holy Spirit and the obedience we exhibit when the Spirit calls us to act.
"The gift of the Holy Spirit in full measure and in richer experience depends on loving obedience... Obedience opens the gates of the Holy City and gives access to the tree of life."
We all know people who dutifully perform acts of kindness to others and who adhere to the commandments as they were given, but do so without the attribute of love being present in them. Yet, the absence of love makes these acts worthless. Without love we can never experience the fullness that obedience is capable of delivering into our lives. Paul emphatically wrote of this fact.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV
So, are we just punching the time clock of faith and obedience, or are we coming lovingly to do the Lord's bidding? Even in our earthly workplace, our toil is joyful when we love what we are doing and perform our duties willingly. On the other hand, we can perform our work assignments equally as well, but without loving what we do, the same effort ultimately produces disinterest and a sense of frustration in us... this bleeds over into every other aspect of our lives, and taints our relationship with God, and those who surround us.
I have worked for companies that had a culture of managing by fear, and I have worked for companies that managed out of a love for their mission. The difference is dramatic and unwavering. Under the influence of fear employees produce for a while and then leave in discontent, but when employees feel, and love, the mission of the company they will redouble their efforts, need less direct management, and produce a happier workplace.
Our faith is the same, we watch as people jump from church to church searching for something that they aren't quite able to describe, when in fact, the real issue isn't with the church at all, but with the way they approach their faith. Joy in worship and fellowship begins in lovingly adhering to the Commandments and Word of God, and becoming a humble servant based on love... it is not won by achieving a sense of self-satisfaction, having our egos stroked, or fulfilling one’s prideful needs. So, what then is the measure of our faith when we look inward? What is the measure of our love? What is the measure of our humility or servitude? What is the measure of our joy? These are questions we need to ask ourselves and come to grips with.
“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift.”
Ephesians 4:1-7 ESV
Thus, as we look at obedience, let's not judge our success by the quantity of the work we perform, but the quality of that work in as much as it is a reflection of the Lord, and our loving desire to obey Him. Let’s reap life’s joy based on the love we have placed there, and not the things we want to gather. God is not a dictator nor a taskmaster, He is our Holy Father, and Jesus is our friend, brother, and savior. God desires us to be happy and to serve Him out of our love for Him. He loves us as we love Him, but with a far greater intensity.
“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O Lord.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
Psalm 36:5-7
This morning I pray that we are all lovingly obedient to God, and that the fruit of our selfless obedience is His blessing. I pray that if any of us are unhappy, or unfulfilled, that the Holy Spirit will help us as we seek righteousness in love, and will lead us in overcoming whatever has soured our service to God, and spoiled our faith. I pray that we all find the heavenly joy, satisfaction, and peace of God through our loving obedience to Him.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your commandments and those of Jesus Christ, your Son. Thank you for loving us as you do, and for having instilled in each of us the capacity to love you in return. Help us Father to be obedient and to serve you with a full measure of agape love… that love you have for us, and we for you. Agape, the highest form of love; everlasting, never ending. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who was, and is, and is to come. Holy are you who has not only loved us from the moment of creation, nor from the instant of our conception, but who has loved us always, for In you there is no beginning nor end, and such is the eternal nature of your love. We remember the moment we first believed and that we first loved you, but how awe inspiring is the thought that you have loved us always with no such beginning or end. Praised be your name for showing us your unbound mercy, washing us clean of sin with the blood of Jesus, and for showering us with eternal grace through your Son Jesus… the Messiah, the perfect and unblemished lamb of the new covenant. In love we will obey you, and forevermore we will pray to you, worship you, praise you, and yield ourselves to your will. In you we will experience eternity, and the greatest love there was, is, and ever will be.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, you are our Father, our Friend, and our God. And from the moment of our creation we have said your Word is true, prayed unceasingly to you, and claimed our blessings from your goodness… Amen.
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”
Psalm 90:2 ESV
““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””
Revelation 1:8 ESV
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 1:3-6 ESV
Rich Forbes