Tag Archives: obedience

Appropriate desire

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You want to live.  You want to be at peace.  No one wants to die.  We desire life aggressively.  Because we know we will die, we seek to live as much as possible.

Even though life is rarely pleasant, for each day has sufficient trouble, we prefer our trouble over death.  This is not unreasonable.  As the sky is above the earth, so the desire to live drives us.

But what shall we do while we live?  Shall we chase after pleasure?  You can do that if it so pleases you.  But no gained pleasure has any effect on death.

Pleasure is our will.  We want it so that we can be at peace while we wait for death.  But I am not aware of a single pleasure among men that will give us sufficient peace to offset the pain of death.  Mention one and we will discover together the end of its pleasantness.  Man is completely incapable of providing lasting pleasure.

With that said, there is a pleasure which will last.  It is not the pleasure our body seeks.  For the body lusts after things that give it joy; no matter how temporary or small.  To find fulfillment is to find a pleasure that will last for eternity; therefore overriding the sting of death.

Now I introduce to you the Living God.  He is eternal because what pleases him last forever.  Jesus, His Son, has sacrificed Himself so that we may take part in what pleases His Father.  What the Father desires is called his will.  And as much as we take part in the will of God we find pleasure that will not cave to death.  The body will die but the will of God lives forever.

Admittedly the body will argue against the will of God.  For the body will always surmise that it knows better what is good.  Eating is better than fasting.  Being first is better than being last.  Power and pride is better than humility and service.  Riches are immensely better than poverty.  You can see the war that is sure to ensue.

Jesus teaches the exact opposite of what our body desires.  But our body will enter death and cease.  Our soul will continue on.  The pleasure of the body comes to end.  But the pleasure of God lives forever.

“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven is forcefully advancing and forceful men lay hold it.”

If you want lasting pleasure and peace you must learn to submit yourself to the will of God.  No matter what that means.

You may say you are not prepared.  Perhaps you are not willing to give up the pleasure of the body.  Then by all means die in your pleasure.  The choice is upon every man.

I have laid out, as clearly as possible, the difference between life and death.  I know personally how difficult it is to lay down the desires of the body.  But the peace God gives within my soul is worth every effort, every possible loss, and every possible pleasure.

Believe and submit and you will live.  Continue to trust the body to guide you and you will die.  The choice is obviously yours.

By His Grace

Love = Obedience

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Felice da Nicosia

Felice da Nicosia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Do you love me more than these?”

More than sex.  More than Envy.  More than money.  More than fame, profit, ownership,  pride, humility, lawfulness, religion, …

“If you love me you will obey my commands.”  want to stop sinning?  Learn to love the Lord.

His Word is true God cannot lie if we love him we will obey his commands.

Endlessly Less

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Less is More?

Less is More? (Photo credit: leosaumurejr)

A man speaks, “There is no God.”

Yet the man “spoke words.”

A ball says, “I am not flying.”

While it unwittingly obeys the desire of he who threw it.

Another man says, “I will obey truth according to my own will.”

While “according” holds its own definition.

Better to accept that we are “less”.

That is to believe that there is “endlessly More.”

Worse to hope that our less is sufficient.

Death comes to all; decay appears regardless our words.

Why not embrace what does not fade?

Why not seek the help to hope for what we do not perceive?

Choosers and Pickers

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Vehicle with its left directional signal activ...

Vehicle with its left directional signal activated. Front and side turn signals are visibly illuminated. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some people go to the store to shop for specific items.  They never leave with anything they didn’t plan to purchase before they arrived.  There aren’t many of these kind of people however.  Most people go to the store for one or two items in mind.  But in the course of shopping they are enticed into purchases they didn’t plan on.  They let themselves be directed by marketing.  Regardless our integrity as we go shopping we are, none-the-less, choosers.

The same is true in every aspect of life.  Do we choose to go to bed when we know we should?  Or do we stay up too late to face the next day rested?  Do we speak words that we know shouldn’t be spoken, or do we let it fly as our whimsical heart desires?   When we do our jobs, do we give it all that is true or do we only do enough to get by unnoticed.  Do we strive to fit in with the crowd or do we hate socially proper etiquette enough to do what is right, regardless how they taunt us to be like everyone else?

God has set us here to choose between His ways, our ways, and the ways of His enemy.  He says plainly that to choose any way but His is to be His enemy.  And, sadly, we all seem to choose to be His enemy far too often.  There is grace to cover our foolish and ignorant ways.  But we are encouraged to cease relying on grace alone to live out our lives in a willing obedience to His ways.  He tells us  “Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”  (Psalm 32:9)  But He allows us to choose our attitudes.

People build their own version of God’s commands.  And some rely on a strict code of obedience in their lives.  Our choices are laid out clearly enough, however.  Do we obey because we agree that Good is good?  Or do we obey because we fear punishment?  Perhaps we don’t even try to obey God because we simply don’t agree that His way is perfectly good and right.

Most drivers will turn on the turn signal long enough for one blink.  And they do this after they have begun to make their change of direction.  This isn’t obedience to the spirit of the law.  This is simply a nod toward the law.  The turn signal is there to tell others what you intend to do.  It is a warning for them that you’re about to make a change in the direction of your travel.  Look at how you treat this law.  Do you care about the others around you enough to develop a habit of use?   Or are you simply trying to avoid a ticket?  Turn on the signal a while before you make any moves, then you have obeyed the spirit of the law.

In the same way, we obey God’s commands so that we don’t hurt anyone.  We don’t obey so that we will receive praise.  We don’t obey so that we will gain eternal life.  We are to live out our lives in such a manner as to avoid harm to anyone, even God or ourselves.  Obedience is a choice we make every second of every day, and that for eternity.  We are to develop an attitude that looks for things in our lives that injure others (regardless how slight the offence).

Grace is provided as we seek His ways.  Grace is extended to all who turn from their selfish ways and seek the inclusive and harmless ways of God.  We show Him we care about what is good.  And He responds with the strength, wisdom, knowledge, and desire to serve what is pure and truly eternal.

Some people pick God’s things and ways apart, looking for the parts of it that make them look good or cause them happiness.  God says, take it all and apply everything you can.  What you lack I will supply with generosity.  We are all choosers.  Let’s not be a picker.

A Necessary Evil?

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May God grant to the living _ Westminster

There is such a thing as “honor among thieves”.  In full, we can consider all man’s intentions without God to be such.  But there is an honor among the holy.  And this can only be owned by submission to God’s Righteousness.

I mention this because all of us face temptations to gain what is not to be gained.  James put it this way:

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 So then, if you know the good you ought to do and don’t do it, you sin. (James 4)

What shall be said regarding this? We who worship the Living God through Jesus MUST strive to be a honorable people.   In the end, we must ask ourselves two questions.  Are we willing to admit that we are chasing after something that should never belong to us?  And are we willing to lay aside this “chasing” in order to do what is right before the Holy eyes of the Father in Heaven?

Since we will give account of all our actions, it is wise to become ready to abandon any evil chase.  This is a hard thing to accomplish.  And sometimes it is a hard thing to know what is purely good and what is called “a necessary evil.”  May God grant us wisdom to know the difference.  But above all, may we be willing to accept loss for the sake of what is pure and good.

Stay Ready

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Closed Doors

Closed Doors (Photo credit: drcursor)

Jesus is the One who opens or shuts doors of ministry.  He is the One who allows us to minister in certain places and in certain ways.  If the door you’re trying to enter is shut, don’t go looking for a way around it.  What we expect is rarely what God desires.  Often, the door open to us is the very place we would not normally be willing to go.

At the same time, each of us recognizes our blessing from Him.  We look at the tools He has placed in our hand and do our best to fan them into flame.  Rest.  There is a proper time and place for each of us to minister.  And when that place is reached the door will become open.  The question for all of us is this:  When the door opens will He find us banging on the door we thought He would surely open for us?  Or will He find us ready to move to the one He has opened?