THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE
BREAD
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. 19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. 20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not done evil by turning from my God. 22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees. 23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin. 24 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. Psalms 18:16-24 (NIV)
16 This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ 17 I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’” Jeremiah 6:16-17 (NIV)
21 “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! 22 For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, 23 but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” Jeremiah 7:21-24 (NIV)
8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9 He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. 10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. 11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. 12 Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. 13 He will spend his days in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land. 14 The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. Psalms 25:8-14 (NIV)
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in him. 28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. 1 John 2:26-28 (NIV)
21 “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” John 14:21 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Genuine faith can only be demonstrated by obedient action. If we truly trust in God and His Word and promises, then we will fully obey Him. Anyone can say they have faith, but the people who actually live by faith will act in obedience to God no matter where God leads them.” Michael Youssef
“A life well lived is simply a life filled with continual ordinary obedience in doing the next right thing particularly when no one sees, when no one is watching. No fireworks go off, no horns blow, no grand applause from an adoring audience. It is living the one life we have been given for an audience of the One Who gave it to us, for His pleasure for our good. Being a follower of sweet Jesus will always boil down to a matter of our faithful ordinary obedience. And will always lead to a life well lived.” BHY
“Every act of disobedience flows from a desire for something or someone besides God to be our first love, our true north, our reason for being. Each of us has his/her own unique potential ‘mistresses’—whether money, power, cleanliness, control, a relationship, material things, entertainment, or even a spouse or children. Whenever anything becomes more essential to us than God Himself (by the way, “anything” is usually a good thing), it becomes an idol. According to God, our true and everlasting Husband, we become spiritual adulterers. An idol is any person or idea, any created thing that captures our deepest affections and loyalties and will—and in so doing steals our attention away from God. An idol is anything that becomes more precious to us than Him. It’s not that we love the thing (whatever it is) too much. Rather, it’s that we love God too little in comparison to it.” Scott Sauls
“Love is the root, obedience is the fruit.” Matthew Henry
“Obedience to the law of Love is the most expedient way to preach the gospel.” Ann Voskamp
“The essential thing ‘in heaven and in earth’ is . . . that there should be long obedience in the same direction.” Friedrich Nietzsche
“The pictures of growth that God gives us in his word bid us to take the long view of sanctification. They shift our expectations from the fast to the slow, from the immediate to the gradual. We are farmers planting crops (Galatians 6:7). Grace grows in our souls much like God’s kingdom grows in the world: the seed slowly sprouts to the sky, the crops slowly fill the field (Mark 4:28). We plow and sow, water and watch, and bear fruit only ‘with patience’ (Luke 8:15). We are children growing up (Ephesians 4:14-15). Like all children, our bones grow slowly. We move from milk to solid food on our way to looking like our elder brother (1 Peter 2:2; Romans 8:29). One day we will be like him, but only ‘when he appears . . . because we shall see him as he is’ (1 John 3:2). We are runners in a race (1 Corinthians 9:24). The race is not a sprint, nor even a marathon, but a lifelong jog. Only when we reach the end of our lives can we say, ‘I have finished the race’ (2 Timothy 4:7). Until then, we ‘run with endurance’ (Hebrews 12:1), not wasting our legs in the first one hundred meters, but pacing ourselves to the end. We are travelers beneath the rising sun (2 Peter). Light is scattering our darkness, but only a shade at a time; our path is ‘like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day’ (Proverbs 4:18). Christ’s glory rises over us ‘from one degree of glory to another’ (2 Corinthians 3:18). We are farmers, children, runners, travelers. Each of these images reminds us that deep, pervasive holiness happens over a lifetime: God’s word slowly reframes our perspective on ourselves and the world. Jesus gradually extends his lordship over even the most ordinary of tasks. The Spirit steadily makes obedience in certain areas habitual. God renews us not at once, but ‘day by day’ (2 Corinthians 4:16).” Scott Hubbard
“God is the Great Giver and He desires for His people to be great givers as well. In God’s perfect economy, when we walk in faithful obedience to His commands, we will discover that we NEVER out give Him. What meager sacrifice on behalf of His children we perhaps make reaps a sure harvest even though it be extraordinarily hard. We live our lives for an audience of One to please Him not men. Never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” BHY
“Over time, the obedience we give, to God or to sin, changes us. Moments of worry, gossip, cowardice, or laziness, built up through habit, shape us — as do moments of trust, gracious speech, courage, or endurance. Eventually, we become like the one we obey. For all the liberation sin promises, handing ourselves over to him degrades us, dishonors us, dehumanizes us. He traffics in “dishonorable passions” (Romans 1:26), and leads us to do “things of which [we] are now ashamed” (Romans 6:21). Sin recruits only by deceit (Romans 7:11): he promises to give us whatever we want, and then leaves us with less than we ever had. Sin will ask nothing of you and promise everything. But follow him, and he will strip you, strike you, shame you. He may not be able to steal you from Christ, but he can drag you away and, for a moment, give you a taste of living death.” Scott Hubbard
“Faith, as Paul saw it, was a living, flaming thing leading to surrender and obedience to the commandments of Christ.” A.W. Tozer
HEART SAVOR
• “Trust and obey, For there’s no other way To be happy in Jesus, But to trust and obey.” John H. Sammis
• Ordinary obedience will make for an extraordinary life.
• God’s commands are always for our good and His glory never one surpassing the other.
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