Tag: obedience

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Truth Sessions (part 6) Doing YOU…is not doing good!

Luke 17:28-29: 28 “It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

Live your best life…
You do you…
Live your dream…

I can keep going, but you get the picture. On their face those words of advice sound harmless. Actually, they sound pretty good. But, Jesus actually teaches the opposite. People focus on the sin being done in Sodom as the reason for it’s destruction. In the verse above you see Jesus giving a more insightful reason…living your life in a manner which bears no acknowledgement to God or the heavenly pursuits. The people just “eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building” were destroyed right along with the wicked behaving ones. Verses 32-33 of the same chapter in Luke goes on to warm us about the consequences of holding on to our own pursuits in life.

In reflecting on this truth I am reminded of an old song by Steven Curtis Chapman called “More to this life”. Here is the chorus:

But there’s more to this life than living and dying,
More than just trying to make it through the day;
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see,
And there’s more than this life alone can be.

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Truth Sessions (Part 3) – Blessings don’t come from prayer…

One of the most frustrating things that happen when people become Christians is that they don’t experience the radical life change and blessings raining down from Heaven as they are lead to believe by what I call the “Slot Machine in the sky” sermons so prevalent today.  Say the prayer and accept Jesus, go to church, tithe (if you want to), be a good person, and pray and God will bless you with health and prosperity.  That is the checklist straight from the “Christians for Dummies” book.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a big proponent of the “…for Dummies” books.  But, there are no shortcuts or clef notes when it comes to God.  He already provided complete instructions called The Bible,  the perfect example in Jesus Christ, and the consummate instructor in the Holy Spirit.

Joshua 1:6-9 NIV

6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.

7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

In this text, God was speaking to Joshua just before Joshua was to take over leading the Isrealites after Moses’ death but this instruction is a recurring theme through God’s word and is still speaking to us today.  God’s blessings does not come from prayer even though prayer is of the utmost importance in a Christian’s life.  Blessings come from obedience.  Ephesians 2:10 states that we were created in Christ to do good works which God had already planned for us. Once saved we are remade and re-purposed.  When you get a new job you don’t continue to do your old job and expect raises, bonuses, much less a continued paycheck!  Yet, we apply that logic to becoming reborn in Christ.  Jesus provided the new job discription in Matthew 28:19-20, demonstrated how to do the job in the life He lead on earth, and provided a life coach in the Holy Spirit to ensure we will always have the proper guidance. To unlock the ubundant life we are so desperate to have is not through prayer, it is through obedience…Matthew 6:33

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Posting beyond the “Like”…

Life can be so heavy and burdensome.  The weight of responsibilities can be too much to bear.  The pain and evil in this world can seem relentless.  I’ve noticed a trend where people are now only posting positive things to stem the tide of negativity and provide a brief respite from the craziness.  Posting for the “like” is what I call it.  The problem is that the “like” is brief and you find yourself scrolling and scrolling looking for more “likes” never really finding the rest we are seeking.  I recently had a very discouraging bit of news about a ministry activity I was involved in where what I shared about Gospel didn’t stick.  In the midst of my pouting God impressed on me “you did all that to get the Like”.

Deuteronomy 12:9-10 NIV

” 9 since you have not yet reached the resting place and the inheritance the LORD your God is giving you.

10 But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety.”

This instruction from the OT was to the Israelites in crossing over into the promised land.  This rest or easing of life’s burdens as told in chapter 11 (v. 18-20) comes through complete faith in and relentless meditation on God. Not in ourselves. No measure of cute post about puppies or unicorns, self help quotes, or inner strength statements to garner “likes” will give us the rest, the life easing balm we so desperately seek.  “Likes” change moods. “Life” which is only found through complete faith in and total obedience to God will bring us into His rest.  We must go beyond getting the “like” to giving the “life”.

 

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Trust and obey…

John 2:1-11 NIV

1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b]

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside

10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

Jesus’ first recorded miracle and the major theme is obedience. The problem was presented to Jesus and then they obeyed his commands. They focused on what He told them to do and He provided over and abundantly. Whatever the need, just present it to God and then go about His work. He will provide and His provision is sweet and complete! His wine is better than our best! Trust and obey…