obedience

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Obedience When It Costs Your Life

4th March

“He went on a little farther and bowed with His face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.””

Matthew 26:39

Recently a video was released of the Christian persecution in Nigeria amidst the political unrest there. Sadly it showed some Christians that were beaten to unconsciousness and burnt in front of an extremely hateful crowd. The cost of following Christ regrettably ended their earthly lives in an in-human and barbaric fashion but gave them eternal life in Heaven. Sadly, our brothers and sisters in Nigeria are not only ones facing persecution for following and being obedient to Christ. Across the world, many face being beaten to death for following Jesus. Yet this is not some recent fad, it has been happening throughout history; no more so than in Jesus’ time.

Jesus Himself, knew the cost of what it meant to be obedient to His Father. He knew it would cost Him His life. He knew that by being obedient to what the Father commanded Him to do, not only would He have to carry the weight of all of humanities sins on His shoulders, but His own life would become the sacrificial Lamb, taking the punishment for our sins upon Himself. So great was the weight of His task that Jesus actually sweat blood. However, Jesus’ next words were remarkable and one which stand as a precedent throughout history…. “Yet not by will by Yours!”.

Jesus’ unwavering obedience to the Father and His insatiable love for us, took Him to the cross, where sacrificially He gave up His life for us, so that we may be forgiven and restored. Remarkably, although the cost was great to bear, Jesus counted it His joy to lay down His life. Let us remember that being obedient, although sometimes hard and the cost great, is our joy. It is our joy to say YES to Jesus. It is our joy to live obedient lives. May we all find joy today and forevermore, as we gladly live our lives in obedience to our Master.

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Obedience When It Hurts..

2nd March

“But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.” But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me!””

1 Kings 5:10-11

Naaman was a great commander, an Aramean General. Through him, God had given Aram many great victories. However, he had a disease, leprosy. Desperate for a cure, he traveled to the King of Israel to heal him from his leprosy. From there, he travelled to Elisha the prophet. Interestingly, Naaman had with him 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of fine clothing. He wanted to show the wealth of his King and his expectation was that money could buy his healing.

Instead, God through Elisha commanded Naaman to go and wash 7 times in the Jordan River. Yet this was not what Naaman wanted to hear. He wanted Elisha to wave his hands and heal his sickness. Perhaps Naaman had heard of Elisha’s previous miracles..? After much discussion with his officers, who advised him to listen to Elisha, Naaman was finally obedient and went to the Jordan and dipped himself in the river 7 times. Surely enough he was healed and went back to Elisha declaring that Elisha’s God was the one true God and that he would never again worship or offer burnt sacrifices to another god again.

‘Suppose Naaman had dipped himself in the Jordan only six times. He would have remained a leper. God gave specific instructions, and the healing came by obeying down to the exact number.’1 We too are faced with the same challenge, to obey God even when we don’t understand, even when it’s hard and even when it’s not what we expect we should do! We must remember that God’s actions are ‘not bound by out expectations, and His manner of working always remains His choice’2. Our job is to obey! God always knows best.

1David Jeremiah: Daily Devotions, 9th January 2016

2Everyday Men’s Bible, PG 505 NLT version

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Blessings Await Those Who Are Obedient

6th July

“Praise the Lord! How joyful are those who fear the Lord and delight in obeying His commands.”

Psalm 112:1

This wonderful poetic psalm is such an encouragement to the reader. It highlights the key blessings of obeying God commands. However, the psalmist highlights that the blessings are not just in begrudgingly obeying but in joyful obedience and submission to them.

It is one thing to acknowledge that we need to honour and fear God in our decisions, our thoughts and actions, yet the motivation behind it cannot be out of duty, but rather should be out of our heart wanting to please our Lord Jesus Christ.

When we do obey and honour God, there are countless blessings that await. Our children will be successful and blessed, our characters will shine out God’s riches and we will not be overcome by evil. God will shine a light in dark places to lead and guide us. We will be confident and fearless and be able to face adversity triumphantly. We will be so blessed that when we hear of bad news, we wont fear it because of the confident trust we have in the Lord’s care. We will be known for our generosity, compassion and righteousness. We will lend money generously and conduct our business affairs fairly. We give money to those in need and have influence and honour in society..

These things are not fantasy, they are God’s promises! There are in God’s word for a reason. They are the blessings of obediently following the Lord’s commands faithfully and joyfully. In His commands we do find direction, hope and joy. Let them come alive and be evident in your life so we can reap the blessing of an obedient child of God.