All in Obedience
In John Chapter 2 we find the first miracle the Lord performed. They were faced with a situation they had no control over, and they needed help. Jesus’ mother instructed the servants with these words, “Whatever He says to you, do it”. Stop. Read it again. Let that sink in.
A much younger friend works out with me to help me improve my health. She regularly reminds me that I “pace myself” when I’m doing any given physical challenge. While she would like for me to exert myself fully throughout, instead I start slowly and gradually increase my effort. She says I hold back.
When our pastor started preaching from the book of Romans, we received stickers of a visual way to share Christ with others. I stuck mine in my Bible and promptly forgot about it. The day it fell out changed my life and eventually the life of someone else as well.
And so, as King Cyrus decreed: everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5). Under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the building began with the altar so the morning and evening sacrifices could be offered and the sacred feasts celebrated. Next the foundation of the temple was completed with much fanfare. But then the enemy intervened, frustrating the work and eventually bringing it to a standstill (Ezra 3-4) for fifteen plus years.
Having an undivided heart recently became a goal of mine. What does that even mean? I decided to earnestly seek answers from God.
On a recent trip to a car wash I tried to tip the young man who washed the baked-on bugs off of people’s vehicles before they passed through the wash. His response totally caught me by surprise.
“No mam! This is my job! It’s what I do!” He made this statement with a huge smile on his face and in all sincerity. I totally believed him.
Last year was one of the most difficult years of my life while enduring ongoing and worsening health issues surrounding my beloved husband and brother. Several months before the medical journeys began, God led me to a Bible study on spiritual warfare. I tried to wiggle my way out of it, but my Savior knew I was on the threshold of experiencing new types of brokenness and vulnerability—new enemy territory.
We have all been there – had a spiritual high and an outstanding experience with the Lord. Then what happened? We took our eyes off the prize of God’s best for us and find ourselves in a mess.
Hebrews 11, often referred to as the “Faith Chapter,” mentions by name people who chose to display strong faith in God. Interestingly enough the stories of some of the faithful mentioned there came from the book of Judges found in the Old Testament. These people lived years and years before the writing of the book of Hebrews, but God had the writer include their names. God commended them for their faith.
A much younger friend works out with me to help me improve my health. She regularly reminds me that I “pace myself” when I’m doing any given physical challenge. While she would like for me to exert myself fully throughout, instead I start slowly and gradually increase my effort. She says I hold back.
Wow! Gideon’s 300 men soundly routed the Midianites. Amazing what God can do with the man He calls in the strength He gives him. To God be the glory! And the enemy stayed far away from the people of God for as long as Gideon lived: During Gideon’s lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years (8:28).
Observing a little boy who just learned to walk proved insightful to me. He loved irregularities in sidewalks or parking lots like manholes and water grates and had to check each one out.
Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, feared the Israelites after learning what they had done to other kingdoms as they made their way through the land. He summoned Balaam, a known diviner (similar to a sorcerer), to put a curse on these people.
A much younger friend works out with me to help me improve my health. She regularly reminds me that I “pace myself” when I’m doing any given physical challenge. While she would like for me to exert myself fully throughout, instead I start slowly and gradually increase my effort. She says I hold back.
You are a living stone. In the previous verse, Peter said Jesus is a living stone. You are being compared to Jesus! Wow!
You are being built into a spiritual temple. The architect and builder are none other than God himself! He promises to complete the project.
During an appointment with a trusted doctor, I mentioned that some of the foods I loved had begun causing me some stomach distress when I ate them. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “That sometimes happens to women of your age.”
God has called me to do a task. A big one. He’s confirmed it over and over, and yet, for the past two years, I have done all manner of things to avoid it. Why do I do this?
As we travelled through Mississippi almost to our destination, we noticed a car on the side of the road. A woman stood beside the opened back door crying so hard her whole face turned red.
Everyone needs rules, right? But what if those rules tend to keep our spirituality bound instead of giving us the gift of freedom in Christ?
You’re thinking to yourself as you roll your eyes: not these same old verses again! Wait. Hear me out.
Repetition is good. I’m a slow learner and I’m forgetful. Nagging is annoying, but repetition isn’t nagging. Repetition is effective communication. Brain scientists believe seven repetitions help us remember almost anything. One form or another of the phrase “do not be afraid” in the Bible is repeated 365 times. One encouragement on fear for every day of the year!
