Obeying God

A Christian is one who recognizes Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, as God manifested in the flesh, loving us and dying for our redemption; and who is so affected by a sense of the love of this incarnate God as to be constrained to make the will of Christ the rule of his obedience, and the glory of Christ the great end for which He lives.  Charles Hodge

When you suffer and lose, that does not mean you are being disobedient to God. In fact, it might mean you're right in the center of His will. The path of obedience is often marked by times of suffering and loss.  Chuck Swindoll

Have you ever felt that God was telling you to do something and ignored it?  I know there have been many times in my life when that happened.  Because God’s ways are not ours, we decide we are going to ignore it because God couldn’t possibly want us to do something that is against everything we understand. 

When you do the God test on something you think God is calling you to do and it passes the God test then you probably should do it even though it doesn’t make worldly sense.  By the God test I mean, you read scripture that tells you it will benefit God’s Kingdom not ours. 

One of the most important things to remember about God is that He doesn’t think like we do.  He is so far beyond our thought processes that we will never understand it.  That is why He is God and we aren’t.

Here is the silly part. Many years ago when I first started working, every job I ever had was selected by me.  I didn’t put any thought into what God might want me to do.  Sometimes I hindered God from blessing my life because I thought I knew what was best for me.  So I didn’t pray about it or ask God what He wanted me to do.  I just took my resume, applied and hoped for the best.  The irony is I often got the job I applied for but it sometimes wasn’t God’s best for me. 

Obedience to God isn’t about our decisions in our life; it is about God’s.  When we let go of our need to control our life and let God take control, we are blessed and other people are too.      

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, so many times in my life I didn’t allow You to lead me.  Pride and disobedience were my companions.  Help me to remember that obedience to You means there will be times when I will not understand what You ask of me.  Help me to step out in faith that You know what is best for me and intend it for my good.  I can then live in joy knowing that You are with me even when it doesn't make sense.

Scripture: Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”  Matthew 16:24-28