What is True Obedience?
Are you trusting God with the very details of your life so that He can lead you in the way you should go?
” I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” Psalms 40:8
We must be willing to obey God’s Will and do exactly what He asks us to do, no matter what we think or how we feel. He has our Best interest in mind and is the only one that knows the future and He Loves You so much that He gave His Son Jesus up for YOU-that He will Spend eternity with You!
Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” Matthew 4:19
*Sometimes we forget that God calls us. It’s not about us as much as it is about God’s mission here on this earth. We need to listen to these calls and obey. Trust-Knowing that God has a purpose for what He is doing that we may not see or understand.
***Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned Obedience from the things he suffered. Hebrews 5:8
*Even Christ “Learned Obedience” by obeying his Father through each temptation he faced.
*We often misinterpret obedience as offering material sacrifices to God.
***Rather “True Obedience” lies in offering our broken and repentant hearts to Him and obeying His word in our lives.
“Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.” Acts 9:8a
* There is a place of Obedience for all of us. For Paul, it was being struck blind on the Damascus road.
* God literally knocked him off his horse with a blinding light.
* A voice from Heaven asked Paul why he was persecuting Him (Jesus).
* When Paul arose, he could not see. *Jesus told him to go to Damascus and meet a man named Ananias. There, Jesus restored Paul’s sight through Ananias.
Each of us has a place of obedience.
* For some, it requires only a Nudge of pressure to gently lead us toward God. *For others of us, a lightning bolt is necessary to get our undivided attention.
Many who are hard-hearted rebel against the living God. Yet God’s love for these individuals is so great that He takes extreme measures to gain their attention-and their hearts.
When you come in contact with people like this, do not fear their arrogance. **Instead, see them as God sees them-as people who need the Savior and who could be a powerful force in the Kingdom if God saved them.
It is a sign to begin Praying for them!
We’ve all heard the saying, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” In many cases this is true. God has called many hard cases into His Kingdom through miraculous circumstances in order to save their lives from the pit of hell and transform them into a sweet-smelling fragrance.
Do not let the hard exterior fool you.
* These are needy people who are crying out for help in their own prideful way. Whenever God begins this process in the life of a sinner, He has others standing by to assist.
Ananias was the person in Paul’s life. He found it unbelievable that Paul really could have been saved.
An angel had to convince him.
Has God placed such an individual in your path? Perhaps God desires to use you to be an “Ananias” in the life of one of His wayward children.
To do so requires a willingness to come Alongside that one who needs your help. Who knows, that person could be the next apostle Paul.
True Pure Obedience to pleasing God in our lives– will often meet the needs of those around us.
1 Peter 1:22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
*Are you trusting God with the very details of your life so that He can lead you in the way you should go?
* Are you allowing Him to teach you? **Seek the Lord today for what He wants to teach you and allow Him to lead you, and you will ensure peace and righteousness in your life.
If we don’t allow God to cleanse us, we’ll end up “contaminating” everyone we come into contact with. But if we allow Him to transform us, we’ll be a:
* “…fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…”
2 Corinthians 2:15
*God wants our hearts more than he wants our actions. He knows that when he has our obedience to His direction, the things we do will fall in line with his will.
Father we pray that we may be obedient in your sight, that we may set our minds on offering our hearts as sacrifices of our obedience. Lord we understand that you do not desire the fat of rams as sacrifices,but you desire our obedient hearts. Lord through your word we see that Obedience and Faith are what pleases You, not religious works, though they may seem noble–help me see what You want. We pray that we may listen to your still and small voice, even when it is difficult to do so. This will ensure that we learn to obey your Word. Amen…
1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.