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Obedience

Obedience Brings Knowledge

by TerryLema

I went to bed last night thinking about obedience and as I was reading in My Upmost for His Highest this morning apparently Oswald Chambers thought about it too.

He wrote, “The golden rule for understanding spiritually is not intellect, but obedience.  If a man wants scientific knowledge, intellectual curiosity is his guide; but if he wants insight into what Jesus Christ teaches, he can only get it by obedience.”

 Peter begins his first letter with a thought about obedience also “… [you] have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ…” [1 Peter 1:2 NIV]

Wow.  The Triune God … the Almighty God of the Universe who is above all … far above all … chose us, works to mature us, and gives us purpose in life. That purpose is obedience to Christ Jesus.  How important is our obedience if it mentioned in the same breath as God’s choosing and the Spirit’s sanctification?

I want to know God.  I want to see the world through His understanding and love people through His grace.  I want to live in the light.  I want insight into His purposes and thoughts … as much as I can understand the infinite with a finite mind.

Apparently, my obedience is key to seeing the fulfillment of this desire.  Oswald also said, “If things are dark to me, then I may be sure there is something I will not do.”

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God Spoke

by TerryLema

Last Sunday at The Way, Pastor Laura brought a message out of 1 Kings 18. That is the chapter that tells the story of Elijah’s confrontation on Mt. Carmel.  As she was speaking, God drove a few points deep into my heart. Yesterday, I wrote of the first one – God’s perfect timing.

The second thing that really registered with me on a morning when I was grumpy and out-of-sorts from the time change was “emotions did not matter. God spoke. Elijah obeyed.” She also noted that partial obedience is essentially non-obedience.

“’Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.’ So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.” [1Kings 18:1-2 HCSB]

The Scriptures have a lot to say about obedience. As I thought more about obedience, I remembered two events with Jesus in the New Testaments.

Mark 1:27: Jesus rebuked an unclean spirit in a man, and it immediately left the man. The reaction of those around him was instant. “He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him!”

Mark 4:41: The disciples were in a boat in a storm while Jesus slept. When out of fear they woke Him, He commanded the wind and rain to cease, which they immediately did. The disciples’ reaction was terror, “Who is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Isn’t it interesting that unclean spirits and the natural world obey immediately when God speaks, but men and women often debate with God hoping to change His mind?

God spoke to Elijah, “so Elijah went ….” When God speaks to us, He expects us to obey. That is a decision of our wills, not our emotions.

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Samson

by TerryLema

Growing up I remember going to a bunch of movies that were based on biblical themes. Some were directed by Cecile B. DeMille, such as The Ten Commandments, The Sign of the Cross, and Samson and Delilah. My favorite was Samson and Delilah staring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamar. I liked it because Victor Mature was so handsome and for his day–buffed.

When I looked up the movie recently, this was the description: “When strongman Samson rejects the love of the beautiful Philistine woman Delilah, she seeks vengeance that brings horrible consequences they both regret.”

When I read the original story, it is just a bit different. Samson was the one in love, Delilah was a prostitute who seems more interested in the money offered to her by the Philistines for the secret of Samson’s strength than she is in Samson. (Judges 16:4-31)

Which raises the question, if Samson was as buffed with muscles as he is always portrayed in movies, why would anyone question the source of his strength? It would be evident! Personally, I think Samson might have been a bit puny. After all, the source of his strength was not his muscles, it was his God.

As the angel told his mother when he announced to her that she would have a son, “the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” [Judges 13:5]

There were special conditions to be a Nazirite (Numbers 6). One of which was that he was not to cut his hair. All the conditions were outward signs of an inward separation to God. The strength was not in the outward signs of that separation, nor in the muscles of the body, the strength came from God through dedication and obedience to God.

Like Samson, our strength is not in the outward signs. It too, comes from God through our dedication and obedience.

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Eve, Mary

by TerryLema

Everyone has a story. You do. I do. And so do all those people in the Bible. We tell “Bible Stories” to our children so that they might learn about God as they see Him work in the lives of Bible “Heroes.” Maybe we should take a few days and look at some of those Bible Stories ourselves. I am certain we have not outgrown them. I know I haven’t.

 

How about starting with two women who played a pivotal role in “beginnings.” First, Eve; then, Mary. Both have a story. Both had a choice to make.

 

Eve, alongside her husband Adam, had walked with God amid perfection and beauty. They were given one rule, don’t eat the fruit of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” When Satan in the form of a serpent visited Eve while she was alone one day, he convinced her that God was wrong, and that God’s one rule was keeping her from knowing everything she should know. She bit. Then she gave the fruit to Adam, who also bit. And that was the beginning of the sin, death, struggle, and pain that has since plagued humanity. Gone was the perfection and beauty, replaced now by frustration and hopelessness. (Genesis 3)

 

Mary was a young maiden, engaged to Joseph, a carpenter. Alone one day, she had a heavenly visitor who gave her the news that God wanted her to bear His child. She was to give this child the name Jesus for He would save His people. Mary was afraid, after all she was probably just a teenager, and while every young Jewish woman desired to be the mother of the Messiah, this was still a very strange message. Mary didn’t completely understand, but she responded, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”  (Luke 1:26-38)

 

And with Mary’s response came a new “beginning,” one that would bring the offer of forgiveness, healing, life, peace, and redemption to humanity.  Gone was the frustration and hopelessness that entered with Eve’s choice. Now purpose and hope would be available to all who respond as Mary did, “I am the Lord’s servant, may it be to me as you have said.”

 

Two women, each with a story. One disobeyed what God said and brought death, the other obeyed in faith and gave birth to life.

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A Fatal Mistake

by TerryLema

During the occupation of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, the remnant came to Jeremiah with a request.  “Please hear our petition and pray to the LORD your God for this entire remnant. For as you now see, though we were once many, now only a few are left.   Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”  [Jer 42:2-3 NIV]

Then the remnant pledged to obey whatever God said.  Jeremiah did pray and brought back a message to the people that they were to stay where they were and not be afraid about going over to the Babylonians. If they stayed, they were safe.

Unfortunately, the people did not obey and Jeremiah told them, “I warn you today that you made a fatal mistake when you sent me to the LORD your God and said, ‘Pray to the LORD our God for us; tell us everything he says and we will do it.’ I have told you today, but you still have not obeyed the LORD your God in all he sent me to tell you.” [Jer 42:19-21 NIV]

I love the way the NIV says that … “you made a fatal mistake.”

They wanted an answer from God about what to do and where to go, but they did not like the answer they got. So, they disobeyed.  Instead of being safe, they were given over to the sword, famine, and plague.  It truly was a fatal mistake.

Aren’t we like that sometimes?  We seek God in prayer for answers, but when we get an answer we don’t like … well, that’s where the obedience is supposed to come in.  It’s easy to obey the answer we are seeking; not so easy to obey the one we didn’t expect – or didn’t want. 

God says stay, we want to go, so we go. May not be a fatal mistake, but it often is one that will affect our lives for a very long time.

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A Touch Word

by TerryLema

Obedience.  Tough word.   You can’t get very far into Scripture without realizing a couple things.  One, God desires obedience.  Two, we’re not very good at it.

We have to learn obedience because it does not come naturally to us.

I love two-year-old children.  That stage of development has been labeled the “Terrible Two’s.”  First time parents always seem slightly taken aback by their two-year-old’s.  The perfect, adorable, sweet little infant has for the first time begun to display the sin nature that is inherent in all of us.

Terrible Two’s quickly learn a few words that describe the place where they are in life.  “No!”  “Mine!”  “Me do!”

In adulthood we slightly bigger words to describe the stage we are in. “Rebellion! “Selfishness! “Self-Rule.”  In other words, disobedience.

Just like parents must now begin to teach obedience to their toddlers, so the Lord upon salvation begins to teach us obedience.  Some of the Lord’s commands are easy to obey, others are more difficult.  God will not give up, however, until His love in us is made complete in our obedience.

1 John 3:23-24:   Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us. [HCSB]

 

 

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Procrastination!

by TerryLema

Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today!

How many times I heard that saying as a young person. My mother was a very impatient person, if she told you to do something, you were to do it then and there. Saturday mornings my door was flung open and a loud shout came through that it was 7AM and I needed to get up, clean my room, and start my chores. I hated Saturday mornings as a teenager, I just wanted to sleep in, but my mother was relentless when it came to getting up, cleaning the house, getting laundry done, etc.

I know I was probably just as bad with my children when I told them to do something, I expected it to be done. I do not think, however, I was as militant about getting out of bed on the one day they had to sleep in!

Procrastination. That is putting things off. Stalling. Dithering. Delaying. It embraces the belief that if we can put off something long enough, we might not have to do it at all—especially the difficult stuff.

That is not the way of God. When it comes to the commands of God, we are not to procrastinate. We are to obey. Obedience is immediate. God speaks, we listen and obey. We do what He commands us to do. We do not argue, postpone, stall, dither, or delay.

“I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.” [Psalm 119:60 HCSB]

Oops, there is that little phrase, “I will” again. I will hasten. I will not delay. I will obey Your commands, LORD. That is the response. Immediate and Decisive. Of course, it also means we must know what His commands are!

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Choosing Life Brings

by TerryLema

This morning I read through the part of Moses’ sermon to the Children of Israel as they were camped next to the Promised Land. He reminded this generation, which would be the ones to enter the land promised their forefather Abraham, that God had given them the right to choose their response to His invitation.

“I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.” [Deut 30:19-20 NIV]

He said if they chose life, they and their children would live and be blessed. Then Moses added three things that would be part of that life they chose. They would love the LORD their God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.

What a beautiful picture of our life with the LORD God our Savior, Christ Jesus. It is one of love, obedience and faith.

They say the basics of life are food, water, air and light. Those may be the basics of physical life, but the greatest desire of our heart, I think, is to be loved and to love. We search for love (sometimes in all the wrong places). It drives us to seek out others who will allow us to love them and then love us back.

To know that we are called to a life that includes loving God is incredible. That blessing moves us to listen for and to God’s voice, the way someone listens to the words of a lover. It moves us to clink to Him in faith and loyalty.

Our relationship with the LORD God our Savior, Christ Jesus, meets us at the place of our deepest needs. It fills the yearning of our souls. I know He fills the yearning of mine.

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As He Loves Us

by TerryLema

It’s almost Valentine’s Day when the world thinks about “romantic love.” I know the restaurants will be full and the card and candy makers and flower shops will have a busy day. Maybe even the jewelry stores. I remember talking to a waitress once who told me that she hated working on Valentine’s Day because the tips weren’t very good. People had spent all their money on the dinner and gifts. However, she loved working Mother’s Day because it was the best tip day of the year. Apparently, we still want to impress our moms!

Jesus had a lot to say about love, not the romantic kind, but the love that emanates deep from His presence in us and captures not just emotions but a determined will of obedience. He said:

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” [John 15:12 NKJV]

“I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” [Matt 5:44-45 NIV]

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” [John 14:23 NKJV]

None of what Jesus said about love is easy.

We are to love each other as He loved us. That involves sacrifice.

He said we are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us as they persecuted Him.

And He said our love for Him will be seen in our obedience to Him.

Nope, not easy, and it is getting harder in our society today to follow Jesus’ way of love, but there is also a promise given. If we do love as He commands, He and the Father will come and make their home with us. Loving Jesus’ way may not be easy, but it is sure worth it! Amen.

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Fear & Faith – Part 2

by TerryLema

Yesterday we began to look at Mark 4:35-41, one of my favorite lessons in the lives of the disciples – the calming of the storm. In their obedience to follow Jesus’ command to “go over to the other side,” they had ended up in a great storm, one described by Matthew with the word, “seismos,” an earthquake on the sea.

While the disciples were fighting the elements, Jesus, exhausted, was asleep in the stern, resting on a pillow. Finally, when it appeared they were about to sink, they woke Him up, chastising Him for His seeming lack of care. “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?“ [v 38 NIV]

I love the people of the Bible, they are so real! Under the same circumstances, I would have done the same thing. And bless our sweet Jesus, He calms the storm. But then He does something else, He asks them where their faith was. They had heard Him teach many times, seen miracle after miracle, and even seen Him raise the dead. Did they think He was now going to let them drown?

Faith will always be tested. It’s not enough to merely hear a teaching, learn it intellectually, or even be able to repeat it. The lessons of God must be put into practical experience. What we hear from God’s Word must govern our daily walk with Him.

Jesus knew the storm was coming that night. It was part of that day’s lesson. The disciples had listened to His teachings, but had they learned them? The storm provided that opportunity.

Tomorrow – the greatest danger was not the storm.

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