Tag: obedience

Our Spiritual Gifts are Best Released through Our Living Testimonies

1 Corinthians 12:6
There are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Spiritual gifts are bestowed upon us for the sole purpose of spreading the Gospel. These gifts are freely given to us by Almighty God for the salvation of others. When we try to teach, preach or evangelize by our own strength and capability, we will be unsuccessful. The power is not in us. The power is in the Holy Spirit that is within us. We must let the Holy Spirit lead us and let the outpouring of the Holy Spirit be our product.

It is not our job to convert people. It is our job to have people drawn to us by the way that we live our lives in Jesus Christ. Even though our labors may be ordinary, if they are done as works of faith, labors of love and with persistent hope in Our Savior, the Holy Spirit will carry on and complete the work of Our Heavenly Father in His children.

Once drawn to us by our walk with Jesus, the people around us will have Jesus revealed to them as the way, the truth and the life. The supernatural work of salvation will begin through our simple natural acts of obedience to the Holy Word of God. Through our living testimonies, those around us will be able to receive every good and perfect gift that Our Heavenly Father has prepared for them.

Let us surrender our lives to the work of Our Redeemer. Let us learn to listen to and obey the urgings of the Holy Spirit as He directs us to minister to others. Let us learn to wait with great faith and hope as the Lord prepares the hearts of those that He equips us to serve.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing Yourself to the world through the obedient works of Your humble servants who are so undeserving. We thank You, Lord, for assigning to us various gifts, administrations and operations for us to carry out in the name of Jesus. We rejoice, Father, in knowing that the world can learn of Your good and perfect gifts by observing the lives of those who have already accepted Your gift of salvation and are obedient to You in the ordinary things of life. We pray, Lord, that Your grace will fill our hearts so that the world will know You. We ask all these things in the name of the Captain of Our Salvation, Jesus Christ.

Opening Our Destinies in Christ Through Surrender

Matthew 26:42
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Jesus Christ, the only perfect man to ever walk the this earth, fell on His face, cried out to His Father in heaven and asked to be freed of His upcoming duty. In the same overwhelming moment, Jesus fully surrendered everything to the will of His Father. In this same moment, we saw the two wills of Christ, the human and the Divine. Jesus could not turn from the supernatural plan that His Father had for Him, even though He knew how much it was going to cost Him in the flesh. Jesus knew He was submitting to God’s perfect plan for the salvation of all men.

It is certain that we will find times in our lives when we are nearly overwhelmed by the thought of what is ahead. Our flesh will be ready to give in to defeat. It is precisely at these times that we must fall on our faces before Our Heavenly Father and surrender to His will for our lives. At these times, there is no resource to us greater than our prayer for strength. It is in these times that we receive the supernatural blessing that we need to obey God’s calling on our lives.

Our Father in heaven has given us life. He sustains our lives everyday. God, Himself, made the ultimate sacrifice by sending His Son to die for our sins, so that He could grant us eternal life with Him. Our full surrender to the Father is the only appropriate response that we can offer to His calling on our lives.

Let us go to the Father in prayer for the strength that we need to surrender to His plan for our lives, especially when the cost to go on seems so high. Let us rejoice in knowing that we will receive all that we need to overcome anything that is blocking our way to our destinies in Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us life in flesh, sustaining our every breath and granting us eternal supernatural life through the atoning sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus. We rejoice in knowing that the obedience of the Son to Your will paid the complete price for our salvation. We pray that we will find all the strength that we need to completely surrender to Your will. May we bear the fruit of Your will as we walk in obedience every day of our lives. We ask all these things in the name of the One without sin, Jesus Christ.

In God We Trust

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Our faith comes into play whenever we encounter pain, conflict or disorder in our lives. Our natural reaction is to try to fix everything ourselves. All too often, we do not turn to God until we have exhausted all of our own failed initiatives.

God wants us to turn to Him first. He wants us to grow into a place where we trust Him for everything, whether it be big or small. We grow into this place through our relationship with Jesus. The Psalmist David captured the relationship perfectly in Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.

Let us believe that God is who He says He is. Let us trust in His promises to reward those who seek Him. Let our faith draw us near to Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the endless fount of faith that you make available to us through Your Son, Jesus. We praise Your name for the comfort that we enjoy because of the faith that we have in Your promises. Lord, we ask for the wisdom to turn to You first in all things. May You provide the grace for us to free ourselves from the need to try to fix everything ourselves. We humbly ask that all of our earthly efforts be in obedience to Your will and plan for our lives. We pray that through the love of Jesus all that we do will be as worship to You. We ask all these things in the name of the One who is faithful and true, Jesus Christ.

The Privilege of Being of Service to Almighty God

Esther 4:14
For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.

God had a unique will and plan for Esther’s life. He wanted her to be the instrument that He used to deliver His people. He wanted her to know that He would bring favor for His people through her efforts. But God would not make the choice for Esther, she had to make her own choice to follow His instruction. If she did not follow His will, God made it known that He would find someone else who would be the instrument of delivering His people.

God was very clear in conveying the options to Esther. What He did not say to her was, “Thanks, I could not do this without you.” God can accomplish His plans without any help from us. If we are not obedient in doing the things that He asks us to do, the loss is not His. He will find a replacement to do His good work because He loves to use His children to accomplish His work. It brings Him great pleasure and glory.

But if we are not obedient to the things that He asks us to do, it is our loss. The work that we do for the Lord is more about our sanctification process than the results of our work. Who we are in Christ is defined by our obedience to His calling.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us how we can fulfill God’s will and plan for our lives. Let us seek to join the Lord in His good work.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege of serving You on this earth. We rejoice in knowing that we bring You great pleasure and glory when we do Your good work. We pray, Father, that You will open our eyes so that we may see the ways in which You are calling us to serve You. We pray, Lord, that You will prepare our hearts to surrender to Your will for our lives. May all that we do be for Your pleasure and Your glory. We ask all these things in the name of the Great King Over All the Earth, Jesus Christ.

Truly Living as Jesus Did

1 John 2:6
Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

No matter where we are in life, no matter what season we are in, no matter what circumstances surround us, we must choose to live our lives as Jesus did. We must have the attitude of Christ in all things. It is not enough to learn all we can about Jesus’ life. We must learn to live our lives as Jesus lived His.

Jesus was willing to leave His seat of glory in heaven in order to come to earth and fulfill the plan of the Father for His life. He humbled Himself by giving up His heavenly stature and taking on the form of a man. He willingly accepted all the scorn, all the mockery and all the suffering, even unto death. He always put the interest of others first. He told us Himself that, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

Let us ask ourselves with what attitude do we approach all things in life. Let us undertake serious self-examination. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to examine us and let us know whether we are truly living as Jesus did.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending us Your Son as the perfect model for our lives. We exalt the name of Jesus who was the only man who ever led a life that was without sin. We lift our hands in praise and worship as we bow before Our Savior with a grateful heart. We pray, Father, that You will show us how to live the Kingdom life on earth like Jesus did. We ask that the Holy Spirit lead us to live our lives with the attitude of Christ. May we be humble, gentle and obedient in all things as He was. We ask all these things in the name of spotless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

When Our Obedience is Tested by a Hard Word from God

Luke 18:22
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

The young ruler, as he is often called, was given the directive to sell what He had and follow Jesus. It was a hard word for the young man to take. He walked away from all that Jesus had offered because he could not give up his earthly treasures in exchange for the treasures that Jesus offered to him.

For most all of us, God’s words do not come to us in such a direct manner as the words spoken to the young man. They do not come in clear audible context. God’s directives come to us in the faint internal whisperings of the Holy Spirit. We receive more of a gentle urging of the spirit rather than an anything audible. Nonetheless, we are challenged just like the young ruler to decide if God is the most important thing in our lives.

Maybe, unlike the young ruler, it is not our treasures that we are holding on to. Maybe we are holding on to a job that keeps us away from our family. Maybe we are holding on to an outside interest that keeps us out of church on Sunday. Maybe we are holding on to a habit that limits our ability to draw closer to God. Maybe it is simply pride that is keeping us from fully surrendering to Our Savior.

Whatever it is, it is clear to Our Lord what we are holding on to. In His loving kindness, He will insure that which we are clinging to is exposed. The Holy Spirit will reveal the things of the flesh that we are clinging to. The Holy Spirit will send us urgings that are designed to test our obedience. If we ignore the urgings, they will become weaker and weaker until they eventually cease. If we are obedient to the urgings, they will become clearer and clearer to us. God’s inspiration will become a greater part of our lives as we begin to seek the urgings of the Holy Spirit in all of our endeavors. Through the process of obedience and surrender, we will learn to walk in the fullness of Jesus Christ.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the things that we are placing above God in our lives. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to show us any areas of lack in our spiritual walk with Christ. Let us submit to the urgings of the Holy Spirit so that we may live the abundant life that God has planned for us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for drawing us to Yourself through the gentle urgings of the Holy Spirit. We praise You for providing the ever present Counselor in our daily lives. We pray that our minds and hearts will be receptive to all that the Holy Spirit brings to us. We ask for the strength to release the trappings of our flesh that are keeping us from surrendering fully to Your Son. May our obedience bring richness to our daily walk with Our Savior. We ask all these things in the name of Our Treasure on earth and in heaven, Jesus Christ.

God Orchestrates His Will on Earth through His Obedient Servants

Judges 3:31
After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.

For most of us, Shamgar is another one of the Bible characters that goes by mostly unnoticed. It is so easy to breeze right by Shamgar when reading in Judges. Today’s passage and one brief mention in Judges 6 contain all that the Bible reveals about Shamgar. But God’s inerrant Word wastes nothing. Every person mentioned in the Holy Scripture is worthy of study. So it is with Shamgar.

Shamgar was in a line of judges who served Israel. Some of the judges were disobedient to God, bringing defeat and misery upon the Israelites. Some of the judges were obedient to God, bringing victory and peace upon the Israelites. Shamgar was an obedient judge. We know that because he saved Israel from their enemies.

We can surmise a few things about Shamgar that should be inspiring to us. He was probably a simple man, a farmer (as implied by his use of the oxgoad as his weapon). Because he was obedient to God, he was given the supernatural power to slay the Philistines using his cattle prod.

God used Shamgar to save the nation of Israel from the Philistines. God is not limited by our abilities nor our resources. He delights in using the obedient to orchestrate His will on earth. He is waiting to use us.

Let us surrender all that we are and all that we have to Almighty God. Let us come to serve Him in ways that we cannot even imagine.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing to us in Your Holy Word how You use your obedient children to carry out Your plans on this earth. We rejoice in knowing that You will release Your supernatural power through anyone of us as we surrender to Your calling on our lives. We exalt the name of Jesus who has made us worthy to serve You. We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to join You in Your work on earth. We pray that You will provide the grace and strength that we need to gain the victory that You have set aside for us. We ask all these things in the name of Our Omnipotent King, Jesus Christ.

Our Growth is What is Important to God

Mark 6:45
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

The directive was clear to the disciples. “Get in the boat. Go to the other side of the lake. Wait on Me.” So off they went, obedient to the directive given them. They probably assumed this would be a relatively easy trip. Little did they know that their journey would be difficult. In fact, their journey was described as painful for the wind was strongly against them. But in the midst of their struggles, Jesus showed up and the winds ceased. Once again they were reminded of the power and ever presence of the Lord in their lives. Once again God received the glory.

This passage reminds us that life is not about achievements, not even achievements in the areas that God is leading us. We may have the feeling that God is leading us to a particular end. He is, but not how we are thinking about it. The goal of getting to a particular end is simply a by product of the process that God is taking us through. With God, the process is the end.

All the trials that we encounter in life become part of the process of preparing us for our eternal place with the Father. The process is complete when we seek the will of the Father in every circumstance in our lives. His purpose is that we call on Him and His power in each moment that we live, regardless of the end that we may be working toward.

Let us be alert to each precious moment in our lives. Let us recognize that each moment is an opportunity to surrender to Our Savior and to obey the calling of Almighty God. Let us understand that it is our growth that is important to God, not the end result.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for being ever present with us during the chaos of our lives. We thank You that we can call on You every single moment of our lives to be our strength when the trials of life come against us. We pray that You teach us how to live every moment of our lives aware of the sanctifying process that You are taking us through. May our relationships with You mature beyond our expectations as we experience the fullness of Jesus Christ in our lives. May we savor each moment, knowing that it brings glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We ask all these things in the name of the Lord over all, Jesus Christ.

Seeking the One Who Calls Us

Acts 9:6
But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

Paul’s writings provide the foundational truths upon which our faith in Jesus Christ is built. But as great as Paul’s writings were, his living testimony may have provided even more valuable teachings to those who are seeking to be disciples of Our Savior.

In Acts, we read that before Paul was given any specific spiritual task to accomplish, he was simply asked to “rise and enter the city.” If Paul had failed to be obedient in following this simple command, we would not have all the writings of Paul in the Bible. Some other obedient man would be there in his place. But Paul was obedient in this first dramatic calling and to all the others that the Lord issued to Him, so he became one of the greatest men in all of the Bible. His teachings have been a blessing to generations of people throughout the ages. His legacy continues to live on today.

The other thing that we learn about Paul is that he never sought the favor he received. He only sought the one who called Him. So it is with us. We will receive favor from the Lord, not because we seek favor but because we seek Him.

Let us be mindful of Paul’s example. Let us seek the Lord first. Let us be obedient to His calling on our lives. Let us rejoice in how he uses us. Let us celebrate the favor that He pours upon us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to Yourself. We seek You, Lord. We humbly come before You and ask forgiveness for all the times that we have fallen short in our obedience to You. We pray that You will strike us down like You did Paul, so that we may see how we have offended You and so that we may turn our lives toward the path that You direct us. May the Holy Spirit guide us, inspire us and provide our strength to overcome the torments of our flesh and the attacks of the enemy. May we learn to be slaves to Jesus Christ and not slaves to this world. May Your grace be with us always. We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.

Increasing the Fullness of His Love in Our Lives

1 Thessalonians 3:12
And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word increase means to become or make greater in size, amount, intensity or degree. It can be assumed that Paul was speaking to all these nuances held in the definition of the word increase when He was writing to the Thessalonians.

It is certain that Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians to continue to increase in numbers just as all the other early Christian churches were doing. It was his prayer that the Lord would cause them to increase through the abounding love that they would have for one another and for the world around them.

It is just as certain that Paul was also teaching that as the Lord provided for their increase in numbers that He would necessarily provide them with an increase in the intensity and fullness of His love. Thus these early Christians would have the increase in the amount of love that they would need to win the world for Jesus Christ. It would, in fact, be their cup spilling over with His perfect love that would draw others to their church and to Christ Himself.

And it would also be in accordance with all of Paul’s other teachings for him to be praying that the Lord would increase the Thessalonians in one other area. Paul was surely praying that there would be an increase in the degree of holiness, humility, knowledge and spiritual joy that would be poured out upon the Thessalonians in the form of the grace of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Their increase as individuals was critical to the growth of the Body of Christ.

And so it is with us. God calls us to serve Him. He calls each of us to pour out His perfect love to the world around us so that the Body of Christ may increase. Subsequent to our obedience, He adds to us and grows us according to His good and perfect will and purpose for our lives. This process of individual and corporate increase is continuous throughout our lifetimes.

Let us abound in love for one another. Let us share our love for Christ so that others may be drawn to Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good and perfect purposes that You have for our lives. We rejoice in knowing that we will be able to continually serve You, not only on this earth, but also on into eternity. We pray that You will show us where You are calling us to pour out Your perfect love. Father, we ask that we never tire of the service that is at hand. May we always increase in our service to Your kingdom. We pray, Lord, that we may also increase in our holiness as we serve You. We ask all these things in the name of our holy and awesome Savior, Jesus Christ.