OBEDIENCE – must be timely

Numbers 14:
40 Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range of hills. “Let’s go,” they said. “We realize that we have sinned, but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us.”41 But Moses said, “Why are you now disobeying the Lord’s orders to return to the wilderness? It won’t work. 42 Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you. 43 When you face the Amalekites and Canaanites in battle, you will be slaughtered. The Lord will abandon you because you have abandoned the Lord.”

44 But the people defiantly pushed ahead toward the hill country, even though neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant left the camp. (New Living Translation)

When the Israelites realized their foolish mistake, they were suddenly ready to return to God. But God didn’t confuse their admission guilt with true repentance, becuase he knew their hearts.Sure enough, they soon went their own way again. Sometimes good actions or intentions come too late. We must not only do the right things; we must do them at the right time.

Otherwise, we have to face the consequences.

The kind of obedience God desires is complete and instant.

OBEDIENCE – dont be careless about

Leviticus 10
1 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2 So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (New International Version)

What was the unholy fire that Nadab and Abihu offered before God? Leviticus 6:12,13 mentions that the fire on the altar of burnt offering was never to go out, implyimng that it was holy. It is possible that Nadab and Abihu brought coals of fire to the altar from another source, making the sacrifice unholy. It has also been suggested that the two priests gave an offering at an unprescribed time.Whatever explanation is correct, the point is Nadab and Abihu abused their office as priests in a flagrant act of disrespect to God, who had just reviewed with them precisely how they were to conduct worship.

As leaders, they had special responsibility to obey God because they were they were in a position where they could easily lead many people astray.

Aaron’s sons were careless about following the laws for sacrifices. In response, God destroyed them with a blast of fire.

Performing that sacrifices were an act of obedience. Doing them correctly showed respect for God.

It is easy for us to grow careless about obeying God. Some of Gods commands are simple to obey.

Others, require more careful attention.

Disobedience to God always brings correction.

OBEDIENCE – leads to God’s glory

Levitcus 9:
22 Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.23 Moses and Aaron then went into the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown. (New International Version)

In Leviticus 9:6 Moses said to the people, “When you have followed the Lord’s instructions, then his glory will appear to you.” Moses, Aaron, and the people then got work and completed the instructions. Soon after, the glory of the lord did appear.

Often we look for God’s glorious acts without concern for following his instructions. Do you serve God in the daily routines of life, or do you wait for him to do a mighty act? If you depend on his glorious acts, you may find yourself sidestepping your regular duty to obey.

OBEDIENCE – Opens the door to God’s care

Exodus 15:
26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” (New International Version)

God promised that if the people obeyed him, they would be free of the diseases that plagued the Egyptians.

Little did they know that many of the moral laws he later gave them were disigned to keep them free from sickness. God’s laws for us are often disigned to keep us from harm.

OBEDIENCE – How it is learned

Exodus 16:
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.” (New International Version)

God promised to meet the Hebrews need for food in the wilderness, but he decided to test their obedience.God wanted to see if they obeyed his detailed instructions.

We can only learn to follow by following.

We can only learn obedience through obeying.

OBEDIENCE – Obey God even when the task seems impossible

Exodus 6:
10 Then the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”12 But Moses said to the LORD, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”(New International Version)

Think how hard it must have been for Moses to bring God’s message to Pharoah when his own people had trouble believing it.Eventually the Hebrews were sure that God sent Moses. But for a time, he must have felt very alone.

Moses did obey God, however, and what a difference it made!

When the chances for success appear slim, remember that anyone can obey God when the task is easy and everyone is behind it. Only those with persistent faith can obey when the task seems impossible.

OBEDIENCE – Obedience to God can’t be compromised

Exodus 8:

25 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”26 But Moses said, “That would not be right. The sacrifices we offer the LORD our God would be detestable to the Egyptians. And if we offer sacrifices that are detestable in their eyes, will they not stone us?

27 We must take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, as he commands us.”28 Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the LORD your God in the desert, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”

29 Moses answered, “As soon as I leave you, I will pray to the LORD, and tomorrow the flies will leave Pharaoh and his officials and his people. Only be sure that Pharaoh does not act deceitfully again by not letting the people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD.”(New International Version)

Pharaoh wanted a compromise.“All right, sacrifice, but do it here,” he said. Then he said, “Go, but don’t go far away.”

But God’s condition was firm: The Hebrews had to leave Egypt.

Sometimes others will want to compromise on the commands God gives to believers. But commitment and obedience to God cannot be negotiated.

When it comes to obeying God, half-way obedience won’t do.

OBEDIENCE – Obeying God may bring more problems

Exodus 5:

4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

6 That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: 7 “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. 8 But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”(New International Version)

Moses and Aaron took their message to Pharoah just as God directed. The unhappy result was harder work and more oppression for the Hebrews.

Sometimes hardship comes as a result of obeying God.

Mixing straw with mud made bricks stringer and more durable. Pharoah had supplied the slaves with straw, but now he made them find their own straw and increase their production of bricks as well.

Are you following God, but still suffering–or suffering even worse than before? If your life is miserable, don’t assume you have fallen out of God’s favor. You may be suffering for doing good in an evil world.

OBEDIENCE – When it is right to disobey authorites

Exodus 1:17-21

17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”

19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”

20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. (New Living Translation)

Against the Pharoah’s orders, the midwives spared the lives of the Hebrew babies. Their faith in God gave them the courage to take a stand for they knew was right.

In this situation, disobeying the authority was proper. God does not expect us obey those in authority when they ask us us to disobey him or his Word.

The Bible is filled with examples of those who were willing to sacrifice their very lives in order to obey God or save the lives of others. Esther and Mordichai, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are some of the people who took a bold stand for what was right.

Whole nations can be caught up in immorality (racial hatred, slavery, prison cruelty), but following the majority or the authority is not always right. When we are ordered to act in disobedience to God’s Word, we must take a stand to obey God rather than man.

Did God bless the Hebrew midwives for lying to Pharoah? God blessed them for not becuase they lied, but because they saved the live innocent children.

This doesn’t mean that a lie was necessarily the best way to answer the Pharoah.

The midwives were blessed, however, for not violating the higher law of God which forbids the senseless slaughter of innocent lives

OBEDIENCE – May mean having to give up something

Genesis 22:
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. (New Living Translation)The next morning Abraham began one of the greatest acts of obedience known to man.

Over the years he had learned many tough lessons about the importance of obeying God. The time, his obedience was prompt and complete.

Obeying God is often a struggle, it may mean giving up something we truly want.

We should not always expect our obedience to God be easy, or come naturally.

Our decision to love is an ACT OF OBEDIENCE

Note from Sharon:

In reading this article, I was blown out of the water at the emphasis of “Loving one another”.

One thing that came to mind, however, as I read it was that Jon Walker continually used the term of “loving one another” as in relation to other believers.

I, personally, believe that this entire article would be better if emphasis was placed on the fact that we should “love one another, including non-believers as well as believers”.

God loved “all”. To love “all” is the only way that we can point people to the Savior, the great Lover of “all”. To limit our love to “believers”, I think, would undermine the purpose of His plan of salvation.

Love is an act of your will
by Jon Walker

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34 NIV)

Fellowship — Love is an act of your will

That may fly in the face of falling in love, or your notions of romance in the moonlight. Now, don’t get me wrong – there’s plenty of room for romance in God’s world, but it pales in comparison to how the Great Lover sacrificed to bring you into oneness with him.

That Great Lover, God Almighty, says we must choose to love one another. We’re to love other believers regardless of how we feel about them or how unlovable they may appear.

No matter how difficult it may seem, we’re to actively, consistently, and deeply love the believers God brings into our lives, our congregations – and our Bible studies.

Love is a command; our decision to love is an act of obedience

God considers loving one another so important that he told us we must do it. (1 John 4:21)

It is a lesson so important that the Apostle John consistently describes love and obedience as synonymous: If you love Jesus, you will obey his commands. (John 14:15, 23-24; 15:12, 14, 17; 1 John 2:3; 5:3; 2 John 1:6)

Why is obeying connected with love?

Because it reflects unity among believers, a oneness of spirit that is foundational to our union with God, a necessary element of all true and anointed kingdom work: “The message you heard from the very beginning is this: we must love one another.” (1 John 3:11 TEV)

Christ crushes the myth that love is based on feelings. He pushes the definition of love to a higher level – where behavior and beliefs combine into godly action. Love is no longer a schoolyard romance or a relationship dictated by compatibility. Rather, real love is – and has always been – a mother stumbling to her baby’s crib for the fifth time in one night, or a passenger giving up his place on a lifeboat to save someone else from a sinking ship. Love is Christ on a cross, dying for us – even while we were still lost in our sins. (Romans 5:8)

Jesus requires us to view other people as highly valued children of God, well worth of our time, attention, and energy. As members of God’s family, we must choose to love, not selectively choose who to love.

Love requires community

We cannot obey Christ’s command in isolation. We must be connected to other believers in order to “love one another.” Being in community with other Christians forces us to drop our “relationship fantasies,” where everyone we know is easy to get along with and every conflict is resolved in happy compromise.

God shaped each one of us differently, and he knows we all bring different perspectives and needs into any community. The hurts, habits, and hang-ups present in any group of believers create potential for conflict, but God’s design is to use that conflict to help us grow in Christ.

So what?

Love carries high standards

Jesus says we are to be to one another what he is to us. The love of Christ is selfless, sacrificial, and submitted to the Father’s will. His standard of love is personal, reaching out to the undeserving, looking past their faults and into the desperate needs of their hearts. Relying on God’s grace, begin moving toward that standard.

You cannot meet the standard

God’s standard is so staggering we can reach it only by relying on the spirit of Christ within us. To paraphrase Galatians 2:20: “It is no longer just I who loves, but Christ who loves in me. And this unlovable person that I now love, I love by the faith of the son of God, who loved this unlovable one first and gave himself up for this person I incorrectly see as undeserving of my love.”

Love is more than the minimum

Our love is not to be measured by the minimum of what we can do, nor is it to be limited only to those who appear deserving. Our standard for real love is that God “… loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins … since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” (1 John 4:10-11 NLT)

How would your relationships with other believers change if you began to love them with the standard of Christ?

OBEDIENCE – Hesitating to obey

Genesis 19:

16 When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. (New Living Translation)

Lot hesitated and the angel seized his hand and rushed him to safety.

He did not want to abandon the wealth and comfort he enjoyed in Sodom.

It is easy to criticize Lot for being hypnotized by his attraction to Sodom when the choice seems so clear to us.

To be wiser than Lot, we must see that our hesitation to obey stems from the false attractions of the pleasures of our culture.

OBEDIENCE – Abraham’s obedience affected world history

We all know there are consequences to every action we take. What we do can set into motion a series of events that may still be going long after we’re gone.Unfortunately, when we are making a decision, most of us only think of the immediate consequences. These are often misleading because they are short-lived.

Abraham had a choice to make. His decision was between setting out with his family and belongings for parts unknown or staying right where he was.

He had to decide between the security he already had and the uncertainity of traveling under God’s direction.

All he had to go on was God’s promise to guide and bless him. Abraham could hardly have been expected to visualize how much of the future was depending on his decision to stay or go.

But his obedience affected the history of the world.

His decision to follow God set into motion the development of the nation that God would eventually use as his own when he visited Earth himself.

When Jesus Christ came to Earth, God’s promise was fulfilled: through Abraham, the entire world was blessed.

You probably don’t know the long-term effects of most decisions you make.

But shouldn’t the fact that there are long-term ramifications cause you to think carefully and seek God’s guidance as you make choices and take action today?

OBEDIENCE – why we should obey God

Genesis 17:Abram Is Named Abraham

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. (New Living Translation)

The Lord told Abram: “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life”.

God has the same message for us today.

We are to obey Him because He is God.

That is reason enough.

If you don’t think the benefits are worth it, consider first who God is–the only one who has the power to meet your every need.

OBEDIENCE – It saved Noah’s life

The story of Noah’s life involved not one, but two great and tragic floods.The world in Noah’s day was flooded with evil.

The number of those who remembered the God of creation, perfection, and love had dwindled to one.

Of God’s people, only Noah was left. God’s response to the severe situation was a 120-year-long last chance, during which he had Noah build a graphic illustration of the message of his life.

Nothing like a huge boat, built on dry land, to make a point! For Noah, obedience meant a long term commitment to a project.

Many of us have trouble sticking to any project, whether or not it is directed by God. It is interesting that the length of Noah’s obedience was longer than today’s expected lifetime. Our only comparable long-term project is our very lives.

But perhaps this is one great challenge Noah’s life gives us: to live, in acceptance of God’s grace, an entire lifetime of obedience and gratitude.

OBEDIENCE – Key to Abel’s life

Abel was the second child born into the world, but the first to obey God.All we know about this man is:

1. his parents were Adam and Eve,
2. he was a shepherd,
3. he presented pleasing sacrifices to God,
4. his short life was ended at the hands of his brother Cain.
The Bible doesn’t tell us why God liked Abel’s gift and disliked Cain’s, but both Cain and Abel knew what God expected. Only Abel obeyed.Throughout history, Abel is remembered for his obedience and faith (Hebrews 11:4), and is called “righteous” (Matthew 23:35).

The Bible is filled with God’s general guidelines and expectations for our lives.

It is also filled with more specific directions.

Like Abel, we must obey regardless of the cost, and trust God to make things right

OBEDIENCE IS NOT SELECTIVE!

When thinking about what obedience means, search your heart thoroughly.Are we obeying God in ALL things?

If there is even one area in which we are not totally obedient,
then we are not really obedient at all.

Because Obedience to God is NOT SELECTIVE!

Without total obedience we cannot have the FULL joy of our salvation!

And God created the commandments with “cause and effect” if we obey, or if we do not.They are all for our ultimate GOOD!

OBEDIENCE – failing to obey is sin

Genesis 3:14-19

14 Then the Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.

15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”

16 Then he said to the woman,
will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you

17 And to the man he said,

“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.

18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.

19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.” (New Living Translation)

Adam and Eve learned through painful experience that since God is holy and hates sin, he must punish sinners.The rest of the book of Genesis recounts painful stories ruined as a result of sin.

Disobedience is sin and breaks our fellowship with God.

Fortunately, when we disobey, God can forgive us, restoring our fellowship with him.

satan is our enemy–he’ll do anything he can to get us to follow his evil, deadly path. The phrase “You will strike at his heel” refers to satan’s repeated attempts to defeat Christ during his life on earth.

“He shall strike you on your head” forshadows satan’s defeat when Christ rose from the dead.

A bruise on the heel is not deadly, but a strike on the head is.

Already God was revealing his plan to defeat satan and offer salvation to the world through His son Jesus Christ.

Adam and Eve affected all of creation, including the environment.

Years ago people thought nothing of polluting streams with chemical waste and garbage. This seemed so insignificant, so small.

Now we know that just two or three parts per million of certain chemicals can damage human health.

Sin in our lives is strangely similar to toxic waste. Even small amounts are deadly.

OBEDIENCE – we should obey because God tells us to

Genesis 3:11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”

12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”

“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”

Adam and Eve failed to heed God’s warning in 2:16, 17. God’s command not to eat from the Tree of Conscience showed the essential nature of the obedience to God.Most commands of God are obviously for our own good.

But more important, the reason for obeying God is that he tells us to, and that must be reason enough.

When God asked Adam about his sin, Adam blamed Eve.

Then Eve blamed the serpent.

How easy it is to excuse our sins by blaming someone else.

We often fall into the trap of blaming others or circumstances for our personal failures.

But God knows the truth! And he holds each of us responsible for what we do.

Admit sin and apologize to God.

Don’t try to get away with sin by blaming someone else

OBEDIENCE – the way to true freedom

Genesis 3:

5God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.

Adam and Eve got what they wanted:An intimate knowledge of both good and evil.

But they got it in a distorted and painful way. satan had twisted their thinking by telling them they could know the difference between good and evil by doing evil.

We sometimes have the illusion that “freedom” is doing what we want. God says true freedom comes from Obedience and knowing what NOT to do.

The restrictions He gives us are for our own good, showing us how to avoid evil.

We have the freedom to walk in front of a speeding car, but we don’t need to be hit to realize that it would be a foolish thing to do.

Don’t listen to satan’s temptations to experience evil in order to learn more about life.

satan used a sincere motive to tempt Eve–“you will be like God, knowing both good and evil”

To become more like God is the highest goal of humanity.

It is what we are supposed to do.

But satan misled Eve on the right way to accomplish this goal.

He told her that you become more like God by defying God’s authority, by taking God’s place and deciding for yourself what is best for your life.

You become your own god.

But scripture clearly states that to become like God is not to be God Himself.

Rather, it is to reflect His characteristics and recognize His authority over your life.

Like Eve, we often have a worthy goal but try to achieve it in the wrong way.

It’s like paying off an election judge to be voted into office. Serving the people is no longer the highest goal.

The ultimate goal of self-exaltation is rebellion against God.

As soon as we begin to leave God out of our plans, we are placing ourselves above Him, which is exactly what satan wants us to do.

OBEDIENCE – God doesn’t force us to obey him

Genesis 2:16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (New Living Translation)
God gave Adam responsibility for the garden and told him not to eat from the Tree of Conscience. Rather than physically preventing him from eating, God gave Adam a choice, even though Adam may choose wrongly.God still gives us choices today, and we, too, often choose wrongly. These wrong choices may cause us pain and irritation, but they can help us learn and grow and make better choices in the future.

Living with the consequences of our choices is one of the best ways to become more responsible.

Why would God place a tree in the garden and then forbid Adam to eat from it?

God wanted Adam to obey, but He gave him the freedom to choose. Without choice, Adam would have been a prisoner forced to obey.

The two trees presented an exercise in choice, with rewards for choosing to obey or consequences for choosing to disobey.

(Unless otherwise stated, parts of this series of studies on Obedience have been taken from The Living Life Application Bible by Tyndale)

Fill yourself with the Word

How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your Word and following its rules.

Psalm 119:9 NLT

Let the Bible fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.

Henrietta Mears

A drunk meets a cop

Dawson Troter, founder of the Navigators, was student body president, basketball team captain, and class valedictorian when he was in high school. But then life fizzled out. He gambled, drank to excess, and caroused. He was staggering through the streets one night when a policeman stopped him, took his car keys, and asked, “Son, do you like this kind of life?” “Sir, I hate it,” replied Trotman. Instead of arresting him for drunkenness, the policeman urged Dawson to change his life.

That encounter was a turning point. Dawson attended a church gathering were he was challenged to memorize ten Bible verses stressing salvation. Trotman memorized the verses, then memorized another ten the next week. Several weeks later, as he pondered the meaning of what he had learned, he quietly prayed, “Oh God, whatever it means to receive Jesus, I want to do it right now.”

Trotman never got away from the power of the Word. As his knowledge of the Bible grew, he realized that a combination of prayer, worship, service, and the study of Scripture produced spiritual growth.

Harold J. Sala in Heroes

David used every technique he knew to ensure that he’d do things God’s way. He programmed God’s Word into himself so that he could retrieve it at crucial points along the way. He recited God’s Word aloud, reinforcing his learning. He studied and reflected on God’s Word. All this transformed his character and kept him on the right path.

Adapted from Men of Integrity Devotional Bible with devotions from the editors of Men of Integrity, a publication of Christianity Today International (Tyndale, 2002), entry for June 5.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

Every word is true

Every word of God proves true. He defends all who come to him for protection.

Proverbs 30:5 NLT

We must both affirm the inerrancy of Scripture and then live under it.

Francis Schaeffer

The perfect word

In a world of shifting loyalties, devious cons, and ever-evolving ideas, we need to know where to anchor our souls. We aren’t diligent enough to analyze every counterfeit that comes our way, nor are we perceptive enough to expose every false philosophy. Human rationalism is not equipped to establish eternal truth. That’s why we need help. Only God can point us in the right direction.

It’s a comfort when we are searching for absolutes to actually find them. According to this proverb, such absolute truth will shield us. What from? Every subtle deceit, every malicious word, every doctrinal error, and every false messiah. Much to our dismay, the world is full of empty promises. If we are left to ourselves to figure them all out, we will spend our lives tossed around on tumultuous waves of competing “truths.” By the time we obtain understanding by our own efforts, it’s too late to settle on the foundation of God’s wisdom. In short, we need to be anchored in revelation.

How do we do that? A daily time in God’s Word is a good first step. It works truth into our minds on a regular basis. But is that really enough?

Here’s a good pattern to follow:

Ask God every day to convince your heart of His truth and to give you discernment of lies.
Find at least one verse a week to memorize. Chew on it, let it sink in, look at it from every angel, and come up with specific ways to apply it.
Don’t just study God’s Word, fall in love with it.
Consume it as voraciously as your favorite meal.

God has a way of working into our hearts the things we love. If we love the flawless Word, the flawless Word will dwell within us.

Adapted from The One Year® Walk with God Devotional by Chris Tiegreen, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for May 17.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

Six terrific truths about time

1. Nobody can manage time. But you can manage those things that take up your time.

2. Time is expensive. As a matter of fact, 80 percent of our day is spent on those things or those people that only bring us two percent of our results.

3. Time is perishable. It cannot be saved for later use.

4. Time is measurable. Everybody has the same amount of time…pauper or king. It is not how much time you have; it is how much you use.

5. Time is irreplaceable. We never make back time once it is gone.

6. Time is a priority. You have enough time for anything in the world, so long as it ranks high enough among your priorities.

by
Lewis Timberlake
~~~~~~

Consume my life

This week’s promise: God’s Word is Powerful

Consume my life

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim Elliot, 1949

God, I pray Thee, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.

Jim Elliot, 1948

Jim Elliot’s prayer

When he died [at the hands of the Auca Indians], Jim left little of value, as the world regards values.…Of material things, there were few; a home in the jungle, a few well-worn clothes, books, and tools. The men who went to try to rescue the five [missionaries — all of whom died] brought back to me from Jim’s body his wrist watch, and from…the beach, the blurred pages of his college prayer-notebook. There was no funeral, no tombstone for a memorial.…No legacy then? Was it “just as if he had never been”? Jim left for me, in memory, and for us all, in these letters and diaries, the testimony of a man who sought nothing but the will of God, who prayed that his life would be “an exhibit of the value of knowing God.”

The interest which accrues from this legacy is yet to be realized. It is hinted at in the lives of…Indians who have determined to follow Christ, persuaded by Jim’s example; in the lives of many who write to tell me of a new desire to know God as Jim did.…His death was the result of simple obedience to his Captain.

Jim Elliot and four other missionaries met their deaths trying to reach the Auca Indians for Christ.

Elizabeth Elliot, Shadow of the Almighty

Adapted from The Prayer Bible Jean E. Syswerda, general editor, Tyndale House Publishers (2003), p375.

Digging Deeper: End of the Spear by Steve Saint (Tyndale, 2005), son of Nate Saint, chronicles the story of the encounter with the Ecuadorian tribe, which also became a major motion picture.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

A vision of heaven

A vision of heaven

Now I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and then goes to war. His eyes were bright like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him, and only he knew what it meant. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.

Revelation 19:11-13 NLT

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne; Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but His own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee, and hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

Crown Him with Many Crowns,
Matthew Bridges (1800-1894)

Crown Him with Many Crowns

Matthew Bridges became a convert to Roman Catholicism at the age of 48 and published this hymn three years later under the title “The Song of the Seraphs.” Godfrey Thring, an Anglican clergyman, added several stanzas to the hymn about thirty years later, with Bridges’s approval. So a Roman Catholic layman and an Anglican cleric, who probably never met, were coauthors of a hymn about heaven, where Christians of every tribe and tongue, as well as of every denomination, will crown Him Lord of all.

One of the aspects that Godfrey Thring felt was missing in the original was a stanza on the Resurrection, and so it was added. “His glories now we sing who died and rose on high, who died, eternal life to bring, and lives, that death may die.”

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for May 16.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

A message for all people

Note: This devotional explains some things about Muhammad, and the Islamic religion. I think you’ll find it an interesting read.

A message for all people

With my authority, take this message of repentance to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: “There is forgiveness of sins for all who turn to me.”

Luke 24:47 NLT

A man named Muhammad

In an age of pluralism, most people assume that all religions have equal access to heaven. One getting much attention today is Islam.

Muhammad, the founder of Islam, the world’s youngest major religion, was born in Mecca between 570 and 580.

When he was forty, Muhammad claimed that he received a prophetic call from Alah through the angel Gabriel. He began preaching monotheism, a final judgment, alms, prayer, and surrender to the will of Allah. Persecution in his hometown of Mecca forced him to flee to Medina. Traditionally dated to July 15, 622, that flight, or hegira, marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar.

During his time in Medina, Muhammad’s revelations become more legalistic and more secular and Islam, as the new religion was called, became a community and state with Muhammad as ruler and lawgiver.

By the time he died on June 8, 632, almost all of Arabia embraced Islam. The successors to Muhammad encouraged jihad, or holy war, against non-Muslims and within a century built an empire stretching from Spain all the way across North Africa to India.

In 1900 only 12 percent of the world’s population embraced Islam; by 2000 it had grown to 21 percent, partly due to a higher birth rate. Islam is the majority religion in forty-two countries and territories. Most of these countries prohibit Christian evangelism and exclude Christian missionaries, yet since 1980 more Muslims have turned to Christ than in any earlier period in history. Pray that the doors will open even wider and that many more will come to Christ…while there is still time.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Christian History by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten (Tyndale, 2003), entry for June 8.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

A Heavenly Vision

This week’s promise: Christ will return

A Heavenly Vision

After I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a mighty shout, “Salvation comes from our God on the throne and from the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9-10 NLT

Heavenly praise for the Lamb

Many times our prayers tend to focus on this world and the struggles we encounter in our lives. God understands and accepts these prayers, but we must also direct our thoughts and prayers to the victory we will share with Christ. In Revelation, God gives us a splendid portrayal of that final victory. In a vision, the apostle John sees a magnificent scene: a vast multitude celebrating the triumph of the Lamb of God. Waving palm branches, the traditional symbol of victory, people from all over the world extol God for the salvation he had provided through his Son.

As followers of Christ, today, we are privileged to be part of this multitude — the communion of believers. Because Jesus has overcome death, a new life of wholeness and peace through him has opened up to us. This is worth shouting about — praising God with all that is in us!

A prayer for today…

Dear Lord, I join your praying people through the ages to shout about that salvation that comes from you…

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Bible Prayers edited by Bruce Barton, Tyndale House Publishers (2000), entry for April 3.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

No fear of judgment

This week’s promise: Christ will return

Everyone will see

[Jesus said], “Then everyone will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds with power and great glory. So when all these things begin to happen, stand straight and look up, for your salvation is near!”

Luke 21:27-28 NLT

No fear of judgment

What images come to mind when you think of “end times prophecies”?…Most people, if they were honest, would admit that their view of the end times is a frightening one.…They imagine an angry and vengeful God hovering high above it all, bent on destruction and raining terror on all who have rejected him.

Have we missed something? In many ways I think we have. God didn’t reveal these graphic images of the coming judgment to express his wrath or even to frighten us into believing. He revealed them to show us his wonderful grace and mercy in the midst of our sin and unworthiness. The story isn’t about pending gloom and doom, but it’s about a loving Father who will do anything he can to help people escape the consequences of evil.

Bible prophecy isn’t intended to frighten us, but it’s to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is real and omnipotent and active in our lives; to warn us of the very real danger lying ahead for those who reject his love and mercy; and to encourage us to accept his gracious and free offer of salvation through his Son, Jesus.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul tells us that God “wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth” (2:4).…Time and again in Scripture we are told that God longs for his people to be with him in heaven. The Bible is not a story of wrath and judgment but of unconditional love and redemption. God longs to be with us and wants desperately for us to accept his hand of salvation. What we do is up to us.

Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for January 3.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House

Christ will return

This week’s promise: Christ will return

“I will come back”

[Jesus said], “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know where I am going and how to get there.”

John 14:3-4 NLT

His promise to return

As a child, George Tulloch was fascinated by stories of the Titanic.…In 1996 he put together a team of the best scientists and sailors and set out to the exact spot where the Titanic sank in 1912. He and his crew were able to recover numerous artifacts from the ship—eyeglasses, jewelry, dishware, some coins and the like. But the most exciting thing they found was a large piece of the hull resting several hundred yards away.

The team did its best to raise the twenty-ton piece of iron, but to no avail. At one point the team almost had it.…but a storm blew in and.…the Atlantic reclaimed its treasure. Then Tulloch did something surprising before they were forced to retreat. He descended into the deep once more in a small submarine, and using a robotic arm, he attached a small handmade placard onto the section. It said, “I will come back. George Tulloch.”

For a lot of the same reasons, Jesus left us a similar message. “I am going to prepare a place for you..…When everything is ready, I will come and get you” (John 14:2-3). Some may wonder why he cared in the first place. Why would he even want to reclaim us? What good are we to him? In many ways we’re just as worthless and cumbersome and unyielding as that lazy piece of iron in the Atlantic.

But Jesus doesn’t see us that way. He’s dreamed of this moment since the beginning of creation, and now that the time is near he can’t help but leave this mark on our hearts. “I’m leaving now. But don’t worry, I’ll be back.

Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), entry for January 1.

Digging Deeper: This week (Tuesday) is the release of the The Rapture , the last of three prequel stories to the Left Behind series.

Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House