Tag Archives: Obedience

RESISTING EVIL. 041315

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PICS 092114 094Matthew 5:38 [Jesus said] “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person.”

Jesus says we’re not supposed to resist the evil person.  We’re supposed to give up, give in, let them have their way.  How can we possibly do that?  The only way we can even consider doing it is if we have truly surrendered to God and we have His Spirit in our hearts.  Then we can say, “Lord, I don’t like this, but I’m going to do what You say.  I’m going to be obedient.”  Why?  Because God really CAN do something about it.  He turns the world upside down every day, just to bring honor and glory to Him.  He can supernaturally intervene and change peoples’ lives, just because we surrender and obey.

It reminds me of Bobby Ray, a friend of mine in prison.  Bobby Ray leads a little Bible study out in the Rec Yard.  One day, he’s getting ready to have the Bible study, and this guy walks up to him and says, “You make me mad.  I’m going to whip your ‘rear’.”  Now Bobby Ray is a big guy, about 50 years old, maybe 6’2”, weigh about 250, not an ounce of fat on him. He says to himself, “I don’t have to take this kinda stuff off this guy.” Continue reading →

God Is Your Life. 040915

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Male hands with babyDeuteronomy 30:19-20:  “ . . . I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;  that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days.”  This passage is part of the renewal of the covenant that the Lord made with the people of Israel at Mount Horeb.  This comes at the end of Moses life, part of his Departing Address to the people, just before the Song of Moses that is recorded in Deut. 32. Continue reading →

Seek God With All Your Heart. 040815

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MeditationDeuteronomy 4:29-31:  If [even after worshipping idols] you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you .  .  . when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

What does it mean, ‘With All Your Heart”?  Yes, I know, it means that you’re really serious; that you really want to have a relationship with God; that you want the benefits of having a close relationship with Him, because what you’ve been doing definitely isn’t working.

Sounds like, from the next sentence, that if you’re tired of going on without God, and you’ve done a whole lot of really stupid stuff, (like worshipping something besides God), and all these [bad] things come upon you .  .  . when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice.  .  .  God won’t forsake you or destroy you or forget the covenant He made with your fathers, because He is a merciful God. Continue reading →

CORRECTION AND DISCIPLINE. 040615

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Warning SignHebrews 12:5-8 says, “My son .  .  .  and do not lose heart when He scolds you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he [corrects] everyone he accepts as his son.” .  .  .  If you are not disciplined—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.” NIV

My son Ian, 16, just got his ‘real’ driver’s license, and an ’88 Ford pickup.  Along with the license and the truck he got a few hard fast rules to live by.  FIRST RULE “keep your parents informed.”        Second rule: Don’t drive near the HEB, the primary shopping area by our house. It’s dangerous: traffic accidents, teenage drivers and others not paying attention; cell-phones, texting and other distractions.  Not a place for an inexperienced driver.

The other night, after supper, he says, “I’m going to go drive around just for fun.”  He said he’d drive in the neighboring subdivision and be back in 25 minutes . We agreed.  In 25 minutes he called.  He said, “I’m down here across from the HEB and the truck won’t run.”  When I arrived, I asked him about gas. Turns out he bought a little gas ($2.50 worth) 3 days ago.  No wonder he ran out. Continue reading →

House on the Sand.033015

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Eroded beach with house, Pititinga, Natal (Brazil)[Jesus said] “Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, is like a fool who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”  Matt 7:26-27.

What does this mean? ‘House’ means me or you and our lives; the things we base our lives on; the things we surround ourselves with.  The things we rely on when the storm comes.  Continue reading →

OBEDIENCE. 032515

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Ephesians 2.8In the 22nd Chapter of Genesis is the story of when God told Abraham to get his son Isaac, the ‘Son of God’s Promise’, and take him up on a mountain, and “offer him there as a burnt offering.”  The very next verse in the story says, “So Abraham got up early the next morning and started out.”

It really is clear in the Bible, that from the beginning, God’s preferred means of reconciling Himself to men (really His only method and means) is by grace through faith; and this episode is but one of many examples of that message found in the Bible. Continue reading →

HUMILITY IS SURRENDER.032015

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Jesus with a jug of waterThe underlying key to all aspects of our relationship with Jesus is our surrender to Him.  So how does humility express surrender in our lives?  Early on, I thought the essence of humility is surrender; such as in Philippians 2:5, 8; where it says, ” Let Jesus’ attitude be in you.  .  Who, being found as a man, humbled himself, and became a slave, and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross.”

Continue reading →

TRUE OBEDIENCE. 022515

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Silhouette illustration of a man praying under the lightIn Matthew 21: 28-32, Jesus tells the story of the man who had two sons.  He went to the first and said, “Go to the vineyard.” And the son said, “I will not.” But afterward, he regretted it and went.  Then the father went to the second son and said the same.  That son said, “I’ll go.”  But he didn’t.  Then Jesus said, “Which one of the sons did the will of his father?”  [the Pharisees] said, “The first.”

Then Jesus tells the Pharisees that the sinners will get into heaven before them because the sinners BELIEVED what John the Baptist preached and were changed; while the Pharisees didn’t believe even after they saw it.  Jesus compared them to the second son, who said the right thing, but didn’t do it. Continue reading →