All tagged obey
Does God have to move something, or someone, out of the way before we will see Him? Is our attention focused somewhere other than on Him? Our God is a jealous God... He told us so, which begs the question... why do we taunt Him with our inattention? This is my concentration today and I invite you to join me. I am asking myself if there are people or things in my life that keep me from Him or draw my attention away from His desire for me.
This morning let’s ask ourselves the same question that the resurrected Jesus asked Peter repeatedly... “Do I love Jesus?” And, as we hear those words ringing in our ears, let’s think about what love truly is. Then, knowing love, let’s measure the depths of our ability to love and ask yet again, “Do I love Jesus?” Finally, as we continue our exploration into what Jesus truly wants from us let’s ask for a third time... “Do I love Jesus?” Do we know the answer? Are we worshiping, obeying, and following what Jesus expects of us out of love? Is our love the same one that He asked Peter if he had?
Repeat this after me: “I will not be afraid today. My God stands with me, and in trusting this, I fear nothing.” Are we facing the world courageously with Yahweh, our God, or are we fearfully alone? Do we come up against trouble and then begin seeking God and Jesus Christ out of our desperation? Well, try walking with Them before hardship arrives! As human beings, our personal will saddles us with the desire to do things on our own. We find that we are plagued by the desire to face everything ourselves. Does this describe you and how you place your will first as you travel through life? In certain circumstances you might find worldly success on your own, but in the long run you will not… it will become a death sentence.
““Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 7:21 ESV
Do you place a bit of your will and self before God when He asks something of you? Do you use such language as "I will but", or "just let me do this first", or perhaps you try to negotiate with Him by saying "what about this?" Do you place your own conditions on following God's will for you? Maybe it's time to just respond as you should have from the start by saying… "here am I."
This morning, I am sifting through my life and identifying those things which God has asked of me that remain undone. For the most part I have done the big things, but what about those details that didn't seem too significant or relevant to the big picture... did I gloss over them and leave any of them undone?
How many times have we taken what God has asked us to do for Him and after starting to do that thing, made it into what we thought it should be? Perhaps the Lord told us to "Feed this man" and we dutifully did that, but then transformed our call into feeding, clothing, bringing him into our home... well you get the picture. We lost sight of the original vision, the very thing that God had asked us to do. We took what He asked us to do and attempted to improve upon His vision... His will.
My devotional reading for today had to do with those times between callings and it blessed me by helping me to wait patiently for God's voice. What do we do during these quiet times of our faith, the times between callings and other spiritual experiences? Sailors of tall ships and other sailing vessels call these hours and days when the wind isn't blowing as being "becalmed." When they find themselves sitting motionless, they make busy about the ship preparing for the next leg of their voyage while they wait for a breeze and hopefully a steady wind to fill their sails once more. We should do the same in our spiritual voyages. This is a time to mend the sails in preparation for the coming breeze… not to take up oars ourselves.
My devotional reading this morning was titled "Let Us Keep To The Point", and builds on Oswald Chambers' personal challenge of giving "My Utmost for His Highest". It presses the argument that we should yield to God's will always, and in every instance... without question. The apostle Paul likewise instructs the Philippians on living in the will of God as we live our lives. He speaks to them of living a life with Jesus and aligning ourselves with God's perfect will... without fear of death.
Have you ever been on a flight and after takeoff the pilot came on the intercom to say something like "welcome to flight 1974 to Boston. We should have a smooth flight and our trip will be 30 minutes shorter than planned due to having the jet stream at our backs. So relax and enjoy the flight"? Traveling in God's will is much like that; we are carried along with little to no effort because we are walking within the very breath of His will for us.
This morning I wrap up our contemplation and discussion regarding the ability of man to God's commandments. We have seen that God strengthens us through prayer, faith, and our relationship with him. For our part we need only to seek Him and acknowledge His son Jesus Christ as our savior. He does not force Himself upon us but allows us to decide to worship Him and to obey His law.
We spoke yesterday regarding the commandments and our need to follow them, but some will argue that in our fallen state (since the Garden of Eden) that we are incapable; is that true? Are we doomed to failure by the failures of Adam and Eve? Well, if that were ever true, then most certainly the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has solved that inability.
It pays to be obedient; this was the motivation behind the devotional message I read this morning. As I digested this thought, I couldn't help but contemplate the negative view that our society has of authority and rules. Despite this negative view of some, and the impression that secular laws and rules are made to restrain us, God's commandments were instituted to make us prosperous and keep us healthy. Jesus reiterates the fact that God gives us commandments out of love, and that they are to be obeyed. In return He will provide for us and answers our prayers. In His commandments, God is helping us to live better lives and rewarding us for our efforts.
Can we actually obey all of God's commandments? Man has been struggling to answer this question since Adam and Eve were first told not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And although they failed at keeping that one command God did not abandon them, but clothed them instead, and continued to love and teach them. Later, Moses came down from the mountain with even more commandments… And we all know what happened then; man continued to fail. So are we doomed to lives of failure? Is it any different today than it was then? Not really, but God has made provision for us. Are we ready to receive it?
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.
When God speaks do we answer straightway? When God says “Come” do we immediately go to Him? When Jesus says “Go do...” are we willing to drop whatever we are presently doing and go? By our very nature we are procrastinators, some of us more than others, but all of us have some degree of this trait in us. However, when God reaches out to us He expects action and not excuses, and for us to obey exactly as He has instructed. Are we obedient children of God?