July 24 – Obedience is Forever and Ever

“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” - 1 Peter 1:22-23 (NASB)

Of  all things we are called to do as believers in Jesus who is God Almighty, obedience is the most difficult.  It is also the most important. “The first and the last thing [our] God asks of [us] is simple, universal, and unchanging obedience.i ” After God created the first two people of the human race to live in His world, He immediately began to communicate with them and he continues to do that with us today. We learn about Him through the Holy Spirit inspired writing of His people like Apostle Peter. We learn about his love in giving His Son to die for us and by believing in Jesus we receive eternal life.  We are born again through God's Word. And this is for eternity because God's Word is His communication to  us and it is eternal. The love indicated here by Peter is the love of choice, the kind of love that can respond to a command. “Fervently” means to stretch to the limits. We can trust Him forever and live with Him forever. His Word will never perish or fade away – let's trust it today and every day.

i Murray, Andrew. The School of Obedience [Annotated, Updated]: If ye love me, keep my commandments – John 14:15 (p. 3). Aneko Press.  

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September 29 – Love Is Obedience

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. ” – John 14:15 (NASB)

“And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.” – 2 John 6 (NASB)

There are more than a few essentials that we need to know and understand if we seek to live our lives as Christians in a manner worthy of our Savior Jesus Christ. Honestly, don’t we actually have a tendency to avoid thinking too much about some of the essentials. One essential is loving God. Having been born of God and having received eternal life, God the Holy Spirit lives within our spirit. Jesus the Son of God is with us in Spirit as well. Now, here it is: Love for Christ is inseparable from our obedience. When Jesus says in John 14:15 “My commandments” these are not only Jesus’ ethical commandments in context (John 14:23-24), but the entire revelation from the Father. In his second letter John defines love, not as a sentiment or an emotion, but as obedience to God’s commands. If we are obedient to the truth as contained in God’s commandments, the fundamentals of the faith are identified as walking in love. There is no “falling in” and “falling out” of love with Jesus. There is only our love by our obedience to His Word exactly as He gave it to us. 

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March 15 – Doing God’s Will Anyway

“Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” – Jeremiah 32:17  (ESV)

Our verse comes from the story in the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. The prophet purchased a plot of land from his cousin even though the Babylonians were nearly at the gate of the city. The anticipation was that soon Jerusalem and all in the Kingdom of Judah would be conquered and taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar. This truly did come to pass so Jeremiah’s real estate purchase seemed fool's errand. But it wasn’t foolish, because God had directed him to purchase this piece of land. Thinking through the wisdom of his legal transaction bewildered Jeremiah and he goes to God in prayer. Notice how he first extols the sovereignty of God. “Nothing is too hard for you,” is what Jeremiah says. He acknowledges God’s directions in buying the field even “though the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.” The promise that nothing is too hard for God is a promise we take to heart today. Whatever God leads us to do, if we know God is indeed giving us that direction, we can know its outcome will be what God intends it to be. Let’s trust God no matter what He has given us to do.

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June 22 – Happiness is in Knowing

If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.- John 13:17  (NASB)

Remember, Jesus taught us how to be ‘Blessed’ in Matthew 5.  If we are blessed it means we are ‘Happy’ and who doesn’t  want to be Happy these days of conflict and crisis.  We might say “we’re in a world of trouble.” Consider some of the ideas people make trying to solve the serious human condition of hate.  The “know these things” Jesus references are the things that lead us to serve others in the name of our Lord Jesus. In his book “My Utmost for His Highest” Oswald Chambers says, “If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the smooth waters … you have to get out through the harbor bar into the great deeps of God and begin to have spiritual discernment.” Our God allows and promises us times of crisis – for our benefit.  The world continues to reject God, continues to create the chaos. Great acts of self-sacrifice signaling our “virtues” are not what God wants. It is a great deal better to fulfil the purpose of God in our lives by seeking and discerning His will than practice counterfeit obedience trying to align with current trends. 

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July 23 – How to Know

“But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:”  1 John 2:5 (NIV) 

Our focus for the past six days has been of God's Word as the psalmist treasured it in Psalm 119.  Today we find again, in the New Testament letter of First John, the instruction regarding the importance of our attitude and response to His Word.   When we read or hear the words of the Bible taught in person or by radio, television or other recording, we have the opportunity to pay attention to what we are being taught.  God's Word is meant to be obeyed and our verse tells us what happens when we obey what God has said to us.  We will obey God if we truly love Him and He responds to our obedience by showing us more of His love for us.  So, the promise is that by obeying God we will experience His love and we will be more of aware of His love for us.  Also as we obey Him, His love will touch other people through us – that is the purpose of His love, it is for us and for others to experience through us.  It is also there to confirm our position in Him.  We can know we are in Him if we obey His Word. 

October 25 - Love and Obey

“Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21 (NIV)

Bible promises often come with conditions stipulated and that is true in the case of this verse. This promise is for those who obey the words which Jesus has spoken. During the last evening before Jesus is arrested to end up on the cross and die, He gave his followers many promises which were given to us as well. By obeying Jesus we show our love for Him. But the promise then that goes with it makes it worth it all. Obedience to God's word shows our love for Jesus. He promises to love us and to show Himself to us. What a wonderful privilege to have Jesus as a part of our lives each day and to know that He loves us as we live in obedience to Him.

June 23

“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”  James 1:25 (NIV)

Obedience is a very important part of the Christian life. Just hearing God’s word is not enough. We must put it into practice. It is easy for us to forget what we have heard from God’s word. We get so involved in the daily activities and forget what God has told us. We need to remember that there is nothing more important than the spiritual truths that come to us in one way or another. This verse promises a special blessing if we obey God’s voice. He is watching each of us longing to see us living obedient lives.

April 7

“Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.” Jeremiah 7:23 (NIV)

Through the prophet Jeremiah, God reminded His people of what He had told their ancestors, the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. As we read these words, we should realize that when we hear God’s word preached or taught, He is talking to us. It’s up to us to listen and to follow what He says. He wants us to be obedient to what we learn – to put it into practice. That’s how we show that we are really His. He says, “Obey me, I will be your God, and you will be MY PEOPLE!”