I am participating in an Online Bible Study through Proverbs 31 Ministries...studying Lysa TerKeurst's book What Happens When Women Say Yes to God. (GREAT BOOK!)
One of the things we are looking at this week is Radical Obedience. You know what I mean. It is fairly easy to obey when God calls you to do "normal" things.. Like that prompting to not sleep in, but to get up and go to church... that sudden need to call a friend and encourage her... even something like taking a meal to someone. Those aren't so outside the box.. they don't stretch your faith.. so they are, for the most part, easy to say Yes to. But then there are those other callings...the ones where you want to look at God and say "Surely you are NOT talking to me!?" Or as we are saying this week in our study "Say What!? God!"
I have had plenty of "Say What" Moments in my life. Some have been huge... like when God called my husband to leave his job... his secure paycheck every month with benefits job... and go... well that was the big catch.. God told him to resign, but didn't say what was coming next. And do you know the man obeyed! And when I wanted to explain to him why this was not a good idea, the Lord sent another "Say What" moment.. He told me to Be Quiet... to Submit to my husband's authority and to trust Him. Can you imagine!?
The amazing thing is I did just that. Although I definitely unloaded my feelings to the Lord about it! And here is the wild thing... God did have it under control. Within 2 days my husband had been offered another job.. out of the blue. Now this would seem a fairy tale ending if I could say it is the perfect job with twice the pay. But again.. God had a "Say What" moment for us. He sent a job, but the pay was less. "Say WHAT!?" And on top to that the man, again, obeyed the Lord and took the job. Once again, God had me be quiet.
And while it has not been easy at times financially, it has been one of the best decisions ever made for our family.. our marriage.. and for my husband.
Other "Say What" moments are not so huge, but can still be a stretch. Many years ago I was in the grocery store. I was an at-home mom with 2 small children. My husband was self-employed. And money was tighter than tight. (That is a reoccurring theme in our lives) I was in the grocery store and I saw a woman. Cannot say why she caught my attention, but it was obvious that she was distressed. She had maybe 2 things in her cart and looked lost as she wandered the aisles. Then I over heard her talking with another lady. It was quickly evident that the young woman was destitute. I thought how sad and moved on. Got to the check out with my own little bit of shopping and heard clearly the Lord say "Go back and give her $10" "Say What!" $10 might not seem much, but at that time we really didn't have it to spare. Plus I thought it would be so awkward.. embarrassing even. Nope, I knew I had misheard. So I proceeded to swipe my debit card and check out. It didn't go through.. tried again.. nope.. all the while I kept hearing "$10".. so the third time I hit cash back and got $10. Debit card worked like a charm. Once I was finished paying and bagging groceries, I went back and found the woman. Walked up to her and said "God told me to give this to you" as I handed her the money. She fell to pieces sobbing and grabbed hold of me right in the middle of Kroger. And guess what.. I didn't care what folks thought. I hugged her back and spoke blessings over her. Now I have no idea if she bought food or something else with that money. What I do know is I had obeyed and I could feel it!
I encourage you to follow through even in the "Say What" moments.. no matter how large or small. With Obedience comes blessing (Deut. 28).. and a faith that is strengthened and nurtured... and a deeper walk with the Lord.
Showing posts with label Obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obedience. Show all posts
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Judges ...
Reading in Judges recently... in Judges 1 we see that the Israelites disobey God as soon as they get the Promised Land. (Maybe that is why He keeps us in the wilderness so long!) He told them to drive out all the people and yet they don't. They keep some of the Canaanites and it says they were forced to do hard labor for the Israelites.. so Israel has forgotten their heritage of slavery in Egypt and become slave masters to the Canaanites.
I am thinking at this point Israel thought.. we're safe.. we have them under our thumbs.. we are God's people.. He won't deliver them like He delivered us.. but they have a lot more to fear than loosing the Help!
Judges 2:3 God says to them... ".. you have disobeyed me... now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you. They will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
Doesn't take long at all for the thorns to catch and the Israelites to be trapped in that snare..
v. 11 says they followed Baal.
Back up to verse 10 which says "All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."
Throughout Deuteronomy God has spoken to the Israelites through Moses and said over and over and over.. REMEMBER.. REMEMBER.. and what does He want them to Remember? The things He has done.. where they came from.. and He wants them to tell these things to their children and their children's children and teach them His laws.
It is obvious they did none of this... and this is the fruit their disobedience has borne.. the legacy they have left... a generation who does not know the Lord and who follow Baal!
Consequences... all our actions have consequences which often involve a future generation.
Oh Lord, May I hear You... listen to You... Heed You... obey.. FULLY. I want no thorns in my side or snares in my path.. nor do I want to plant them or set them for my children or their children... may I follow You wholeheartedly and leave a legacy of faith, honor and obedience to those who come behind.
I am thinking at this point Israel thought.. we're safe.. we have them under our thumbs.. we are God's people.. He won't deliver them like He delivered us.. but they have a lot more to fear than loosing the Help!
Judges 2:3 God says to them... ".. you have disobeyed me... now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you. They will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you."
Doesn't take long at all for the thorns to catch and the Israelites to be trapped in that snare..
v. 11 says they followed Baal.
Back up to verse 10 which says "All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel."
Throughout Deuteronomy God has spoken to the Israelites through Moses and said over and over and over.. REMEMBER.. REMEMBER.. and what does He want them to Remember? The things He has done.. where they came from.. and He wants them to tell these things to their children and their children's children and teach them His laws.
It is obvious they did none of this... and this is the fruit their disobedience has borne.. the legacy they have left... a generation who does not know the Lord and who follow Baal!
Consequences... all our actions have consequences which often involve a future generation.
Oh Lord, May I hear You... listen to You... Heed You... obey.. FULLY. I want no thorns in my side or snares in my path.. nor do I want to plant them or set them for my children or their children... may I follow You wholeheartedly and leave a legacy of faith, honor and obedience to those who come behind.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Testings
I have always loved Genesis 22 -- God's call to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. What obedience! What Faith!
I am using The Daily Walk Bible to read through the Scripture this year and each day has a short devotional thought with it. The one for this particular passage caused me to ponder this passage in light of my own life.
Verse 1 of Chapter 22 says "Sometime later God tested Abraham"... the comments are made in the devo that Abraham had already been through a lot of faith-stretching circumstances which were evidently preparing him for this, his biggest test.
And then these questions are asked... "Are you learning lessons today that will help you handle the tests God has for you tomorrow? Think of one faith-stretching situation you are facing today. How might God use it to prepare you for tomorrow? Ask Him to make you teachable in today's tests so you'll be prepared for the bigger ones tomorrow."
Great questions to ponder... great way to apply this to our own lives.
I am using The Daily Walk Bible to read through the Scripture this year and each day has a short devotional thought with it. The one for this particular passage caused me to ponder this passage in light of my own life.
Verse 1 of Chapter 22 says "Sometime later God tested Abraham"... the comments are made in the devo that Abraham had already been through a lot of faith-stretching circumstances which were evidently preparing him for this, his biggest test.
And then these questions are asked... "Are you learning lessons today that will help you handle the tests God has for you tomorrow? Think of one faith-stretching situation you are facing today. How might God use it to prepare you for tomorrow? Ask Him to make you teachable in today's tests so you'll be prepared for the bigger ones tomorrow."
Great questions to ponder... great way to apply this to our own lives.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Obedience or Independence
Today's Read from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers is just too good not to pass on! (You can read this wonderful devotional book daily at http://utmost.org/.. there is even an app to download it to your phone).
Obedience or Independence?
Nov
02
2011
If you love Me, keep My commandments —John 14:15
Our Lord never insists on obedience. He stresses very definitely what we ought to do, but He never forces us to do it. We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit with Him. That is why whenever our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an “If,” meaning, “You do not need to do this unless you desire to do so.” “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . .” (Luke 9:23). In other words, “To be My disciple, let him give up his right to himself to Me.” Our Lord is not talking about our eternal position, but about our being of value to Him in this life here and now. That is why He sounds so stern (see Luke 14:26). Never try to make sense from these words by separating them from the One who spoke them.
The Lord does not give me rules, but He makes His standard very clear. If my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone I have placed in competition with Him, namely, myself. Jesus Christ will not force me to obey Him, but I must. And as soon as I obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowded with small, petty happenings, altogether insignificant. But if I obey Jesus Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God. Then, when I stand face to face with God, I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed. When God’s redemption brings a human soul to the point of obedience, it always produces. If I obey Jesus Christ, the redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Obedience... yet again...
I pick a word of the year each year and have yet to decide on one for 2011. I am beginning to wonder if Obedience will be it. Oh my! Definitely need to pray about that!
On to what I wanted to share.... I read a devotional the other day by Robert J. Morgan (wrote The Red Sea Rules). He was talking about Noah and he said "So in an age in which people knew nothing of rain, God told Noah to build an enormous ship, and Noah obeyed completely, down to the last nail."
On to what I wanted to share.... I read a devotional the other day by Robert J. Morgan (wrote The Red Sea Rules). He was talking about Noah and he said "So in an age in which people knew nothing of rain, God told Noah to build an enormous ship, and Noah obeyed completely, down to the last nail."
I am always wowed by Noah's obedience.. his immediate and unquestioning obedience... I like to question God a lot!
Morgan then offered this.... which truly does give me (and maybe you) cause to stop and ponder....
"To measure your faith, pull out the dipstick of obedience. Does God tell us to build up others with our words? To be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another? To do the work of an evangelist? To avoid sexual immorality? To keep our eyes from vanity? To meditate on Scripture?"
Ouch... my toes hurt! We talk of taking God at His Word.. and we should.. we can walk confidently in every single promise we find in the Bible BUT we also need to take Him at His Word when it comes to His commands and do what He says.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Obedience... can't get away from it!
I have decided to read through the Bible this year. I have done this before. In fact, I did it several years in a row and found that after a while I was just reading to check off a box, so I stopped... using a plan, that is, I still read the Bible. It is time to read through again. There are many, many plans out there to fit everyone's lifestyle and preferences. Plans to read the entire Bible in a year or just one of the Testaments or just certain passages. I encourage you to look around and find one that fits your lifestyle and dive in!
I am using this plan: http://thepracticaldisciple.com/2010/12/one-year-bible-reading-plan.html
My reading for today was the Gospel of Mark, chapters 1 - 3. I am using the New International Version of the Bible for my reading. It is so easy for someone who has been reared in church and/or is familiar with the Bible to read and not really learn. Familiarity gets in the way of insight. I pray before I read, most days, and ask God to reveal something new to me as I get into His Word.. or to remind me of a truth I need to be reminded of. I think I got a bit of both today. What hit me as I read is a truth I know, but had never noticed in this passage.
In Mark 1 Jesus heals a man with leprosy and then "Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 'See that you don't tell this to anyone.'" (v. 43-44) He further instructs the man to do as the law requires and go show himself to the priest.
I've always found it odd that Jesus said don't tell anyone. Why not? Why not let the man tell and praise Jesus for doing this and bring glory to God the Father for miracles that still happen. What is the harm?
Other than the fact that the word tells us that God can do whatever He pleases... and He certainly does not have to tell us why (in fact, in Habakkuk He says basically if I told you why, you wouldn't understand)... other than all that, we see as we read on what happens.
Verse 45 tells that the man did go and tell others and as a result "Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places."
As a parent, my instructions to my children likely didn't always make sense to them, but I had my reasons and they were to obey without question. It is the same with God and His children. He says do or don't do and we are to do or don't do... no questions... no second guessing... no trying to reason with Him to do things our way... just simple, straightforward obedience... immediate obedience.
Father, Help me to obey You immediately and completely... stop me when I start to question or second guess You. Remind me that Your ways are not my ways and that You are in control, not me! I know Your ways are always best no matter how it may look to my eyes. Teach me to do as the old hymn says... to "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."
I am using this plan: http://thepracticaldisciple.com/2010/12/one-year-bible-reading-plan.html
My reading for today was the Gospel of Mark, chapters 1 - 3. I am using the New International Version of the Bible for my reading. It is so easy for someone who has been reared in church and/or is familiar with the Bible to read and not really learn. Familiarity gets in the way of insight. I pray before I read, most days, and ask God to reveal something new to me as I get into His Word.. or to remind me of a truth I need to be reminded of. I think I got a bit of both today. What hit me as I read is a truth I know, but had never noticed in this passage.
In Mark 1 Jesus heals a man with leprosy and then "Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 'See that you don't tell this to anyone.'" (v. 43-44) He further instructs the man to do as the law requires and go show himself to the priest.
I've always found it odd that Jesus said don't tell anyone. Why not? Why not let the man tell and praise Jesus for doing this and bring glory to God the Father for miracles that still happen. What is the harm?
Other than the fact that the word tells us that God can do whatever He pleases... and He certainly does not have to tell us why (in fact, in Habakkuk He says basically if I told you why, you wouldn't understand)... other than all that, we see as we read on what happens.
Verse 45 tells that the man did go and tell others and as a result "Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places."
As a parent, my instructions to my children likely didn't always make sense to them, but I had my reasons and they were to obey without question. It is the same with God and His children. He says do or don't do and we are to do or don't do... no questions... no second guessing... no trying to reason with Him to do things our way... just simple, straightforward obedience... immediate obedience.
Father, Help me to obey You immediately and completely... stop me when I start to question or second guess You. Remind me that Your ways are not my ways and that You are in control, not me! I know Your ways are always best no matter how it may look to my eyes. Teach me to do as the old hymn says... to "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)