Obedience Based Decisions

 

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.

 

Acts 5:32

So often we as a society equate numbers with success.

 

Think about planning a conference for a minute... what would happen if registrations in regards to numbers, were not where they needed to be a few weeks before the date of the event, and you began to get frustrated about the level of attendance.

 

Would you immediately allow that to drive you to gather up more to attend or would you be satisfied with those faithful few that would be attending?

 

We are all called to be led by the Spirit, not by outcomes. If God called us to put on a conference, then the outcome is up to Him as we have done our part.

So the day comes for the conference and you know you have done what the Holy Spirit has directed. The speaker stands up and begins to welcome people as though there were many in the room (even though no one is in the room at all). He introduces his friend and they begin the meeting. A few minutes later, people start to straggle in and by the time the meeting is over, ten had shown up, and one man in particular was impacted by the meeting.

Being led by the Spirit often means we must not use the world's standard for success as our measuring stick. You never know what an act of obedience will yield at the time—we must leave the results to God. Our role is to obey and from our obedience we will see the results and blessings that God has in store for us, even if it was not what we had expected or planned on.

Do you make decisions based on the potential outcome or by the direction of the Holy Spirit in your life?

 

Do you overly evaluate the pros and cons without consideration to what the Holy Spirit might be saying deep inside?

 

We are all prone to make decisions based on reasoning alone, instead though, ask God to give you a willingness and ability to hear the Holy Spirit and to obey His promptings.

That Which God Began

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 

Philippians 1:6

 

 

 

Do you understand what God has done?

 

He has deposited Himself in you.

 

As we grow in the knowledge and grace which God extends to us, we begin to change as we obediently follow He's teaching.

 

Following in obedience to God is not an option; and we must purpose to trust Him and the power of the Holy Spirit within us ("I will put a new way of thinking inside you. I will take out the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and I will give you obedient hearts of flesh. I will put my Spirit inside you and help you live by my rules and carefully obey my laws" Ezekiel 36:26–27) to complete that which He has began in us.

 

There will be times in our lives when we become distracted and chose to walk in disobedience, blinded by the real issue that is keeping us from following in obedience to God—sin.

 

It is not that sin has no more presence in our life, but rather that sin has no more power over our life. Temptation will pester us, but temptation will not master us as we put our focus on God and follow faithfully after Him.

Hunger And Thirst Of God's Word

Now that Thanksgiving Day has come and we have eaten our share of bountiful food, let us turn our minds to the bountifulness of God's Word. As we know, God's Word often describes our longing for God as a deep hunger or thirst. Hunger and thirst are basic drives we all experience, and there is also a hunger and thirst within our spirit. This fallen world can never satisfy, but we keep going back to it, as if it can. We set our sights on the objects of a thousand different desires, none of which give us the lasting pleasure we long for.

The following passages remind us of what we really crave, and what will satisfy our deepest longings:

 

• "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for thee, O God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2)

• "My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, in a dry and weary land where there is not water" (Psalm 63:1)

• "O taste and see that the Lord is good." (Psalm 34:8)

• "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6)

• "Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture said, streams of living water will flow from him'" (John 7:37)

• "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost form the spring of the water of life" (Revelation 21:6)

• "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life" (Revelation 22:17)

We long for God's Word, the truth which is an extension of Himself, that clarifies and explains, and shows us life as it really is, not as it is constantly misperceived. The world leaves us empty and unsatisfied, but there is an eternal sweetness to God's Word.

 

We are to develop a taste for God's Word, for it is as desirable and essential for our growth; as eating healthy food and exercising regularly are. If we develop a habit of daily meditating on God's Word, we will deeply appreciate it, realize our need for it, and miss it deeply whenever we are away from it too long.

If we are not craving God's Word, we have forgotten what we are missing—or perhaps we have never known. If that's the case, dive into it and stick to it like you would with eating healthy and exercising regularly.

 

Making The Most Of Your Time

Making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

 

Ephesians 5:16

 

 

 

Many people never finish what they begin—unfinished paintings, ministries that never come to fruition, dreams that always remain dreams, and there are relationships that never become all they could be—but it doesn't have to be that way.

 

And the answer can be found in the phrase "making the most of your time" (See Ephesians 5:16a). If we are ever to turn our dreams into realities and our hopes into facts, it will be only when we have made the most of our time.

 

Paul knew firsthand the importance of redeeming his time and we see this in Acts 20:24, "I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus." In other words, God has given us a time boundary, and within that time He has defined a course.

 

Paul is saying, "I want to finish the specific course and specific ministry in the specific time given to me." At the end of his life Paul could say, "I have finished the course" (See 2 Timothy 4:7)—he completed the race because he made the most of his time.

 

How about you, are you in fact making the most of the time that God has given you?

The Masterpiece Of Thunderstorms

 

When a storm approaches there is usually the resonating sound of distant thunder, as the storm burst upon us, and it begins to rain. Not just a light misty rain, more like a heavy rain that pours and pours and with each lightning strike, the rain gets harder.

The wind, the rushing of the rain, and the echoes of the thunder have a way of captivating our entire being. It is amazing how quickly a thunderstorm can rush upon us and then be gone without even a trace. It is as if in each storm, for the little moment of its whole existence, God takes time to paint a masterpiece.

Is it not the same with our lives—which are but for a moment in view of eternity—if we will only let Him paint in us the picture of His image, His unique life for us, and His love?

Think about it the next time you have the pleasure of experiencing a thunderstorm and ask God to renew a deeper longing within your heart, to let Him paint the masterpiece He has in store.

Walking In Wisdom

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise.

 

Ephesians 5:15

 

 

Paul has been describing since the beginning of Ephesians 4 that we are to "Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called" and then proceeds to describe this worthy walk with the following characteristics:

 

• A humble walk (See Ephesians 4:1-3)
• A united walk (See Ephesians 4:4-16)
• A unique walk (See Ephesians 4:17-32)
• A loving walk (See Ephesians 5:1-7)
• An illuminated walk (See Ephesians 5:8-14)
• A wise walk (See Ephesians 5:15-17)  

Keep walking in wisdom!

What Our Hearts Crave

 Thus says the Lord: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.'

 

Jeremiah 9:23-24

 

 

 

Tozer once said:

"Is it not true that for most of us who call ourselves Christians there is no real experience? We have substituted theological ideas for an arresting encounter; we are full of religious notions, but our great weakness is that for our hearts there is no one there."

Are we in fact engaging in a conscious effort to cultivate our relationship with God?

 

Have we only concluded God is good today or have we tasted and seen that He is good (See Psalm 34:8)?

 

One encounter with God can change us in a way that nothing else can—it is what our hearts crave because it is what we were created for—and that is a personal communion with Him.