James 1:22-25 ESV
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
This is one of my favorite sections of scripture. This combined with 2 Timothy 3:16-17 encourages me. I know God is perfecting me through His word. The one challenge I have is obedience to His word.
The image James brings up would be like you looking in the mirror, seeing a piece of spinach stuck in your teeth and doing nothing about it. If we look at God's word as just literature we lose out on the life-changing experience He offers us. If however, you believe the Bible is God's way of communicating with us, you are more likely to do His word.
By doing God's word you not only learn it you get to know God. You become who actively loves God and others. Those actions become a witness to others (Matt 5:16).
Make no mistake, you don't have to be a Bible scholar to let God's word change you. You have the Holy Spirit who dwells in you and teaches you (1 Cor 6:19-20; John 14:26) and the Bible is God's and it can perfect/complete you (2 Tim 3:16-17). How can this happen? As the Nike advertisements say, ''Just do it!''
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Forgiveness
Isaiah 1:18-20 ESV
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Please read Psalm 66:18 and Proverbs 28:13. I thought of these verses right off because this portion of scripture the Lord is putting it all on the table: "You have sinned, but you can be clean."
Personally, I see Isaiah 1:19-20 in a new light, and that would be accepting or rejecting the forgiveness God has for us and the results of following either path. Obedience and disobedience in this case could very well be the difference of confessing and forsaking the sin or holding and hiding the sin.
2 Corinthians 7:10 talks about godly grief/sorrow and worldly grief/sorrow. We started with God addressing our sin and giving us a choice to accept forgiveness or to reject it. 2 Corinthians 7:10 guides us in understanding that accepting that forgiveness is no light matter, but comes from the sorrow we know from disobeying God in the first place. Guilt, or worldly sorrow, doesn't produce the confessing or forsaking but rather produces either rebellion or depression, i.e. death.
What does this mean to us? We sin. God knows. We know. We can be feel bad about it, beat ourselves up over it and just shut off God from our lives. Or we grieve because we disobeyed God, turn from and forsake the sin and then continue to grow in the Lord.
18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Please read Psalm 66:18 and Proverbs 28:13. I thought of these verses right off because this portion of scripture the Lord is putting it all on the table: "You have sinned, but you can be clean."
Personally, I see Isaiah 1:19-20 in a new light, and that would be accepting or rejecting the forgiveness God has for us and the results of following either path. Obedience and disobedience in this case could very well be the difference of confessing and forsaking the sin or holding and hiding the sin.
2 Corinthians 7:10 talks about godly grief/sorrow and worldly grief/sorrow. We started with God addressing our sin and giving us a choice to accept forgiveness or to reject it. 2 Corinthians 7:10 guides us in understanding that accepting that forgiveness is no light matter, but comes from the sorrow we know from disobeying God in the first place. Guilt, or worldly sorrow, doesn't produce the confessing or forsaking but rather produces either rebellion or depression, i.e. death.
What does this mean to us? We sin. God knows. We know. We can be feel bad about it, beat ourselves up over it and just shut off God from our lives. Or we grieve because we disobeyed God, turn from and forsake the sin and then continue to grow in the Lord.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Reliance on the Lord
Psalm 143:10 ESV
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
Sometimes, I believe, we get so caught up in doing what is right, that we forget to let God lead us in doing right. Yes, we have a responsibility, but it is a very simple one - obey the Lord. As scripture opens up to us, it becomes very clear that we have two choices on every issue: obedience or disobedience.
Now for those of you, and I know you are there, who think this is too simple to be operable, please hear me out. You may indeed think you are correct in your assumption, but hopefully, by this short piece of scripture and some digging you will be able to get your priority down so this is a simple choice. I believe that this goes beyond doing right or doing wrong.
This one verse gives a window into the dilemma we face. "Teach me to do Your will." Where is God's will found? Where is the instruction manual? Of course, its the Bible. Having problems understanding the Bible? "Let your good Spirit lead me..." 1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us the Holy Spirit dwells in us and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 assures us that the Bible is from God and that it instructs us in making the right decisions. We can pray for wisdom, James 1:5 says God will give it to us. So, we have God's inspired Word, the writer of the Word within us, and access to abundant wisdom - can we learn God's will?
How does this address the "in between" areas we face? Where it doesn't seem like there is a clear obey or disobey decision. Let me present my opinion that there will always be a decision and the reason it is not clear is that we don't have the mind of Christ in the matter. Romans 8:6-7 clearly relates the fact that the one who is not spiritually minded will not obey God. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 in a nutshell tells us we are to judge things with the mind of Christ which we have been given.
That being said, if a situation is unclear, pray for the wisdom, leading in His will, and that you rely on the mind of Christ on judging that situation. Go to the Bible to see what His will is on the subject. If that subject is not addressed take in consideration the outcome of each decision - what is God's will there? Galatians 5:13 lets us know we have much freedom in actions, but not to use that freedom for ourselves but to love others. I find that verse clears up much when I can't discern many situations.
It comes down to the fact that God has given us the tools and resources to follow Him. The best resource is that He gave Himself to us; so we just need to stop relying on our own will and just follow His.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
Sometimes, I believe, we get so caught up in doing what is right, that we forget to let God lead us in doing right. Yes, we have a responsibility, but it is a very simple one - obey the Lord. As scripture opens up to us, it becomes very clear that we have two choices on every issue: obedience or disobedience.
Now for those of you, and I know you are there, who think this is too simple to be operable, please hear me out. You may indeed think you are correct in your assumption, but hopefully, by this short piece of scripture and some digging you will be able to get your priority down so this is a simple choice. I believe that this goes beyond doing right or doing wrong.
This one verse gives a window into the dilemma we face. "Teach me to do Your will." Where is God's will found? Where is the instruction manual? Of course, its the Bible. Having problems understanding the Bible? "Let your good Spirit lead me..." 1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us the Holy Spirit dwells in us and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 assures us that the Bible is from God and that it instructs us in making the right decisions. We can pray for wisdom, James 1:5 says God will give it to us. So, we have God's inspired Word, the writer of the Word within us, and access to abundant wisdom - can we learn God's will?
How does this address the "in between" areas we face? Where it doesn't seem like there is a clear obey or disobey decision. Let me present my opinion that there will always be a decision and the reason it is not clear is that we don't have the mind of Christ in the matter. Romans 8:6-7 clearly relates the fact that the one who is not spiritually minded will not obey God. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 in a nutshell tells us we are to judge things with the mind of Christ which we have been given.
That being said, if a situation is unclear, pray for the wisdom, leading in His will, and that you rely on the mind of Christ on judging that situation. Go to the Bible to see what His will is on the subject. If that subject is not addressed take in consideration the outcome of each decision - what is God's will there? Galatians 5:13 lets us know we have much freedom in actions, but not to use that freedom for ourselves but to love others. I find that verse clears up much when I can't discern many situations.
It comes down to the fact that God has given us the tools and resources to follow Him. The best resource is that He gave Himself to us; so we just need to stop relying on our own will and just follow His.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Following the Lord Regardless of Our Estate
Psalm 126:5-6
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Do you see what is incredible in this portion of scripture? It's not necessarily the results of joy. It's the fact that the ones who came back with joy did what was required of them regardless of "how they felt." They went beyond their emotions and they obeyed the Lord.
Why does this mean so much to me? I make excuses. I have a chronic disease when not kept in check will result in wicked mood swings. So how do I combat that? I now do everything I possibly can to keep things in check. I let the Lord take care of me so I can be obedient to me. And sometimes I have to really pay attention to Him so I don't get out of line.
This last Sunday was a perfect example. My day starts at about 5 in the morning and I'm usually home by 12. This week we had a visiting pastor, so we went out for lunch (I was expecting this so I made provisions to keep things in check physically). We had a meeting that went a little longer than expected after that (uh oh, I didn't plan for that). That meeting ran right up to my next meeting (not to worry, I can text my wife to bring me something so that I can keep physical things in check). Oh no! I can't find my phone - I must have left it in the car, the car that my wife is now driving (no worries, I can slip over to the computer and still text my wife - phew).
The meeting is now done and hopefully my wife is there with the nourishment I need to get through the prayer service which starts in 5 minutes. I get down the stairs and there's my beautiful bride - I'm saved. "Did you get my message?" I ask. "My phone is dead," is the answer.
Okay, all is not lost - I'm not quite in bad shape yet, but he rumblings are there. If I slip out early and go home I can avoid the mood swings and be okay. I can't go home - we have a FEMALE babysitter at home. Egad! This doesn't look good.
Fortunately, my wife had the time to run and pick me up something during the music and I had time to take care of things and we both were able to serve the Lord that night.
All this to say is that sometimes we choose not to serve the Lord because of how we feel (sometimes it's legitimate - mostly we are copping-out). But we go ahead and obey, even in the midst of emotional turmoil, we are more likely to return with joy - true joy in the Lord, because we died to self and put Him first in our lives.
5 Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
6 He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Do you see what is incredible in this portion of scripture? It's not necessarily the results of joy. It's the fact that the ones who came back with joy did what was required of them regardless of "how they felt." They went beyond their emotions and they obeyed the Lord.
Why does this mean so much to me? I make excuses. I have a chronic disease when not kept in check will result in wicked mood swings. So how do I combat that? I now do everything I possibly can to keep things in check. I let the Lord take care of me so I can be obedient to me. And sometimes I have to really pay attention to Him so I don't get out of line.
This last Sunday was a perfect example. My day starts at about 5 in the morning and I'm usually home by 12. This week we had a visiting pastor, so we went out for lunch (I was expecting this so I made provisions to keep things in check physically). We had a meeting that went a little longer than expected after that (uh oh, I didn't plan for that). That meeting ran right up to my next meeting (not to worry, I can text my wife to bring me something so that I can keep physical things in check). Oh no! I can't find my phone - I must have left it in the car, the car that my wife is now driving (no worries, I can slip over to the computer and still text my wife - phew).
The meeting is now done and hopefully my wife is there with the nourishment I need to get through the prayer service which starts in 5 minutes. I get down the stairs and there's my beautiful bride - I'm saved. "Did you get my message?" I ask. "My phone is dead," is the answer.
Okay, all is not lost - I'm not quite in bad shape yet, but he rumblings are there. If I slip out early and go home I can avoid the mood swings and be okay. I can't go home - we have a FEMALE babysitter at home. Egad! This doesn't look good.
Fortunately, my wife had the time to run and pick me up something during the music and I had time to take care of things and we both were able to serve the Lord that night.
All this to say is that sometimes we choose not to serve the Lord because of how we feel (sometimes it's legitimate - mostly we are copping-out). But we go ahead and obey, even in the midst of emotional turmoil, we are more likely to return with joy - true joy in the Lord, because we died to self and put Him first in our lives.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Obeying the Land's Law
Romans 13:1-2
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
I find this portion of the Word particularly convicting. The reason why I find this convicting is that I don't follow every law of the land to the letter. This should not be too surprising as the Old Testament shows us that we can't even follow God's law.
I'm going to bring up the most common example for most of us and that is obeying the speed limit - there may be others, but in my opinion this is one that gets many Christians. I believe that being subject to government authorities includes obeying the laws made by those authorities. The only exception would be when the government's law interferes with God's law (Acts 5:29). BUT, if I say I believe it and don't act it, I'm a hypocrite. If I'm following Christ, I need to be without hypocrisy (James 3:17). So, when I drive 5 miles an hour over the speed limit, I am basically going against scripture.
Now, I know we try to justify our actions on the road. "I need to keep up with the flow of traffic." If you break this law because everyone else does do you do the same with God's law? "The speed limit is not enforced here." Do you have the same attitude towards sin? ("I got away with it so I guess it's okay"). "Nobody uses this road so I'm not putting anyone in danger." Once again do you use this with God? ("I'm not hurting anybody, so it's okay").
See devotional Monday, June 9, 2008 - Driving Out the World - Judges 1 If we let the world influence our behavior towards the government can't it be said that we let the world influence our behavior towards God? God instituted government, so we need to be consistent with our obedience to the laws and our obedience to God. We are to be different: a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9).
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
I find this portion of the Word particularly convicting. The reason why I find this convicting is that I don't follow every law of the land to the letter. This should not be too surprising as the Old Testament shows us that we can't even follow God's law.
I'm going to bring up the most common example for most of us and that is obeying the speed limit - there may be others, but in my opinion this is one that gets many Christians. I believe that being subject to government authorities includes obeying the laws made by those authorities. The only exception would be when the government's law interferes with God's law (Acts 5:29). BUT, if I say I believe it and don't act it, I'm a hypocrite. If I'm following Christ, I need to be without hypocrisy (James 3:17). So, when I drive 5 miles an hour over the speed limit, I am basically going against scripture.
Now, I know we try to justify our actions on the road. "I need to keep up with the flow of traffic." If you break this law because everyone else does do you do the same with God's law? "The speed limit is not enforced here." Do you have the same attitude towards sin? ("I got away with it so I guess it's okay"). "Nobody uses this road so I'm not putting anyone in danger." Once again do you use this with God? ("I'm not hurting anybody, so it's okay").
See devotional Monday, June 9, 2008 - Driving Out the World - Judges 1 If we let the world influence our behavior towards the government can't it be said that we let the world influence our behavior towards God? God instituted government, so we need to be consistent with our obedience to the laws and our obedience to God. We are to be different: a peculiar people (1 Peter 2:9).
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