Wednesday, August 4, 2021

Obedience




Obedience - compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority.

The summer is waning and my Bible studies are over.....there's a lull (a temporary interval of quiet or lack of activity) between now and the beginning of Fall studies. This summer has seen a destruction of my comfort zone, as I knew it for so, so long, and obedience has been the vehicle God has used in that destruction. So, I desire to be obedient to God's calling in my life. But he's showing me how I've attached other things to the obedience. If I say yes to that mininstry, surely it will be greatly successful! If I don't allow fear to grip me and say yes to additional testing and surgery, surely the results will be favorable. If I sit at his feet daily, saturate myself in his word, surely life will be generous and kind to me. If I obey his command to "love your neighbor" surely I will not face persecution.....surely people will be kind to me....I won't get hurt.....right?

So let me tell you about this amazing God I serve. What does my time at his feet look like now that my summer studies have ended. My devotionals feel stale, I need refueled, refreshed, renewed. And echoing in my head, from wonderful mentors, is this, "you don't need another book! The Word of God, your Bible, is all you need." So for four days in a row now, I have held my Bible and prayed, "God, as I open my Bible this morning, show me what it is that you want me to see, learn, apply, share, read, write, recite, memorize, store, ponder. In the precious name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, I KNOW that your word is all I need. Amen"

Day 1

Revelation 3:14-16 - “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

I aways wondered why the angel would say, "I wish you were either one or the other". I thought "hot" meant on fire for the Lord and "cold" meant you didn't really think about him at all. And "lukewarm" was a kind of meh....take it or leave it. But Laodicea was a beautiful city with hot springs and cold springs. The hot springs were healing and the cold springs were refreshing. One commentary says this: "Lukewarmness is a picture of uselessness. Hot water heals, cold water refreshes, but lukewarm water is useless for either purpose (L. Morris) It was as if Jesus said, "If you were hot or cold I could do something with you. But because you are neither, I will do nothing." The lukewarm Christian has enough of Jesus to satisfy a craving for religion, but not enough for eternal life."

I don't want to be a lukewarm Christian. I want God to be able to use me.

Day 2

Psalm 138:2 - I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.

You have exalted ABOVE ALL THINGS your NAME and your WORD! Day TWO of simply opening his word, he confirms to me that NOTHING is above his name and his WORD! How incredible is that? God has shown me that I'm doing exactly as he wills for these waning days of summer!!

Day 3

Daniel 3:16 - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

Did you catch that? BUT EVEN IF.....EVEN IF the ministry fails....EVEN IF the results aren't favorable....EVEN IF people aren't reciprocal.....God is able!! They were obedient EVEN IF the result was DEATH!

Day 4

I held my Bible this morning. Eyes closed praying......now I'd be remiss if I didn't say I know my Bible well enough, even with eyes closed that picking a spot to randomly open isn't quite so random. I know if I'm going to land in Old Testament, New Testament or Psalms. I still believe that where I open it will be exactly where God wants me to be but that was never truer than this morning. I prayed, picked a spot, opened my eyes, opened my Bible totally surprised that I wasn't in the New Testament at all. My Bible was upside down and I ended up in Numbers. What could God show me in that book? Out loud I asked that exact question as I began to read.....so very precious you guys.....

Numbers 9:15-19 - On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD’s order and did not set out.

They OBEYED the Lord's order......At night the cloud shone like fire to provide light! God's full provision IN their obedience. Can you even begin to imagine? Sometimes they moved in a day or two and sometimes not for months. I've packed up and moved enough in my life for 10 families. It's a task in and of itself....add children, animals, lack of modern conveniences....YIKES! But the example of obedience, the confidence of God's provision, no matter what? Priceless!

So, in this time of retirement, I desire to be obedient to God's calling. I'm not gonna lie....that can be scary.....but it's such a desire of my heart these days. There is peace there...no matter my circumstances.....and yes, I'm still waiting......and though I believe the results will be favorable.......but EVEN IF......... the lessons I'm learning in the waiting I pray I never forget.

God, thank you that as I open my Bible with the desire to be rejuvenated by your word that you have been so incredibly faithful. So incredible are your provisions that if I didn't write them down I'm not sure I could grasp the grandness of them. I pray Lord as I am obedient you will carry on to completion the good work you began in me until the day of Christ Jesus. You are an amazing God and today all the glory and honor belongs to you.


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Rest in his arms....

"Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If ...