Love Him? Obey Him

Good Afternoon to All!

Answers to the Bible Challenge- Teachings

1. c) godly fear (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7)
2. b) wisdom (Proverbs 4:7)
3. b) speech (Proverbs 15:1)
4. a) the virtuous woman (Proverbs 31)
5. d) all of the above (Job 21:13, Prov. 21:17, Luke 8:14)
6. no prophet is welcome in his hometown (Luke 4:16-30)
7. a sequence of blessings (Matthew 5:3-12)
8. Jesus (Matthew 6:25-27)
9. a judge you (Matthew 7:1-2)
10. b) free (John 8:32)

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Love Him? Obey Him

If you [really] love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands. (John 14:15 Amp. version)

If ye love Me, keep my commandments. (KJV)

Reference Verses: Christ's Words-- Mat. 28:20, John 13:34, 21, 15:10, 14, Acts 10:42, John 3:23.
Obedience--Deut. 26:16 This day the LORD thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments: thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thin heart, and with all thy soul. Next ref. (Deut. 32:46)

Obedience- Better than Sacrifice--1 Sam. 15:22--An Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Next ref. (Jeremiah 7:23)

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In the verse for today, Jesus says we demonstrate our love for Him by obedience to what He says. Whenever I think about hearing from God, I keep coming back to the fact that we won't hear Him clearly if we are not obeying Him in what we already know to do. Without obedience we have a guilty conscience. As long as we have that guilty conscience, we cannot have faith and confidence (see 1 John 3:20-24).

The goals of a Christian should be quite different from the goals of a nonbeliever. Those who are not serving God want money, position, power, and things, but as Christians, our primary goal should be to obey and glorify God. I went to church for many years without giving a great deal of thought to obeying God. I was following a religious formula hoping that would make me acceptable to God, but I had not made a full commitment to be guided daily by His principles. Open your entire life to God and invite the Holy Spirit as Your Teacher in life. Do your best to obey His directions, and when you fail, ask for forgiveness and begin again. Don't waste time and energy feeling guilty, because in Christ we can always have a new beginning. Pray about obedience, study it, and actively pursue it every day. In this way, we demonstrate our love for God.

God's Word for you Today: NO matter how hard we try not to, we all make mistakes, but as long as we refuse to give up we will reach our goals.

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As I have said in times past, Jesus' commands are more than just the Ten written on the tablet. Yes, those are VERY important. After all, I remember Jesus saying that the second commandment embodies them all. To Love One another....

We must contend though, that Jesus NEVER requested ANYTHING. He always told His people what to do. He always stated consequences of what would happen if we didn't do what He said. If we look at it that way, then EVERYTHING He told us to do was a commandment . Of course, I understand that because there are different faiths, people look at the commands in different light, even though the words are the same. For example, take the scripture1 Cor. 11:15 which says that a woman's long hair is her glory and is to be used as a head covering and 1 Peter 3;3 which says:Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting of the hair and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornamented of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. While the Pentecostal faith takes these verses literally, and do not believe the cutting of women's hair, or wearing unnecessary silver or gold jewelry (we do wear wedding rings and watches). Other faiths tend to concentrate on the part of the scripture that says God looks at the hearts of people. While this is true, why then would He make it a point to tell us not to do this if He doesn't care?

The reason I bring this up is not because of this specific scripture, but to show that there are many commands that people tend to think of as "not important" or not as I say "a heaven or hell issue". This being said, while I do believe people will go to heaven even if they cut their hair or wear jewelry, this comes under the heading of "obedience to God". How much is too much disobedience? How much disobedience will God allow us before He says "enough"? I don't know about y'all, but I really don't want to find out. Therefore, if I read something in His Word that He says is an abomination, or that He abhors, or even if He says just don't do it, I plan on doing my best, to abide by His wishes. I am definitely NOT SAYING that I will never disobey, because just as Joyce said earlier, we all make mistakes.

Another thought just came to mind also. One of my favorite contemporary Christian songs is "Do You Still Feel the Nails". It is an older song, but it rings so true. It is talking about the Crucifixion of Christ and His nail-scarred hands. It asks Christ this question. Do you still feeling the nails every time I fail? Do you
hear the crowds cry crucify again? In other words Christ died for our sins, our transgressions and our failures to stay away from sin. Does He still feel the nails in His hands every time we let Him down by disobeying Him or sinning?

Just some Food for Thought. If we cannot obey the small things He asks of us, what are we going to do when the BIG temptations and questions come up?

Good night to all and May God Bless.


Devotional taken from "Joyce Meyer's Hearing from GOD Each Morning"
References from: KJV Holy Bible
Thompson Chain-reference KJV Holy Bible
Amplified Version Holy Bible