Joyful Obedience? Really?

For the last three weeks I've given this issue of obedience much thought. And, I am going to do something a bit different, I am going to start this blog with my conclusion this week. One other disclaimer, this post may seem a bit negative, but hold on, because there is a happy ending. 

First, I have concluded that we as Christians today really, really suck at following Christ. We say the right words, we do some of the right things. We read some of the right material. But we are not following Christ! We don't spend time with Him, yet we expect Him to bless us daily. We expect Christ to come to us, yet we are unwilling to go to Him.

Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. (Psalm 86:3)

Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed [is] the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. (Proverbs 8:33,34)

We think sin is just some sort of fairytale. We don't take seriously what it does to those around us. We have become so hard in our hearts on this very thought...I am forgiven, so what difference does it make for me to do this or think that! Our Relationship experience with God doesn't stop at the alter, it begins there. We are to continue in the walk with Jesus.  To continue in wanton sin as if we are fireproof...well it is denying any chance for God to work in us. TRAGIC!

We recognize that sin is a tough thing to kill and get rid of, so we don't try. This "defeatist" attitude is not of God. The biggest tragedy is we set a very poor example to those who don't know Christ. This very point may kill any chance for others to come to a saving knowledge of Christ!

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1,2)

And he said to [them] all, If any [man] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.(Luke 9:23)

We tend to use our faith to control others or the situation we find ourselves in. We use scripture to prove others wrong, to argue religion. We abuse the scripture to form our intended message instead of God's message. This can harm so many in so many ways. Where is the love? We are not to use the beloved Word of God as a stick, but as a sword...to discern, defend and protect!

For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 

Husbands are not to "rule" over their wives, they are to love them as Christ loves the church! And, how did He love the church? to the point of sacrifice! We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that we should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1Peter 2:9).

We need to stop "playing church" and start living out the kingdom of Heaven that God is building in us. We are commanded to love each other, to be patient with one another, to be kind to one another. We are commanded to know the Word of God, and to live the life each moment as He has described in His book.

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and [in] all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ ( Philippians 1:9-10)
 
For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile (1Peter 3:10)

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; (Ephesians 6:17-18)

Many years ago a pastor named Charles Sheldon wrote a book and shared it with his members. His entire premise was simple. He wrote these words...

"The greatest question in all of human life is summed up when we ask, 'What would Jesus do?', if as we ask it, we also try to answer it  from a growth in knowledge of Jesus Himself.  We must know Jesus before we can imitate Him."   
In His Steps Page 146-147

This book was mandatory reading for me in College, and I'm glad I read it. I just read it through again this week. It reminded me that obedience to Christ is more than a feeling during an invitation to accept Christ as my savior. Obedience is more than grudgingly cleaning our house, or doing the dishes, or giving a family member a ride, or picking up groceries from the store on the way home. It is more than accepting to be a greeter at church, or work in the nursery, or teach a bible study. Obedience is more than doing what you need to at work to punch the clock, or to vote on election day, or throwing money at a social need.

Obedience is more than just doing what you know you need to do. Obedience is an active word, to hear, and to act with heart and conviction. To be the warrior following your Captain, trusting Him to lead you into the battle and back out with victory. We need knowledge to properly obey (2Corintheans 10:5). We need faith to properly obey (Romans 16:26). We need love to properly obey (Deuteronomy 30:20)(Hebrews 6:10). We need conviction to properly obey. And, when we have these things, obedience is in fact a joyful thing. As we practice obedience, we realize that Christ is Lord, the Beginning and the End. He is the one that is worthy of our honor and praise and all the glory we can muster!

To be obedient means we love Christ so much for all He has done for us that we are afraid of letting Him down, that we reverence Him to the point of sacrifice of comfort, momentary pleasures and we don't act out of some form of duty as much as we act out of a thankful heart and a joyful spirit. If we truly meant it when we prayed "Jesus, come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior" then why do we act as we do...or a better question, why don't we act as our Lord would expect us to?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Romans 12:1-3

Is this just a suggestion? Are we to believe that this is just some sort of "pie in the sky" idealism that really can't be obtained? While discussing Matthew 5:48 with one of my students a couple of weeks ago, he raised this question. I told him that if we think of the verse "Be ye holy as your Father which is in Heaven is holy" as just a suggestion, then we have failed as Christians. 

This type of mentality of considering this commandment of Jesus to be a "suggestion" isn't what God expects of us. He expects us to act as one of His children, to be faithful to Him, to trust Him to complete the work He has started in us.

There will be times when we just go through the motions due to a lack of interest, or motivation. But those are the times that Christ carries us through the battle. Even in those times, which is done simply out of discipline, and maybe nothing else, we can experience victory, which will strengthen our faith, our resolve. 

These are the valleys we experience during our travels. But, if you find yourself in this valley for a long time, maybe it's time to re-evaluate your walk with Christ, seek guidance, start afresh your daily devotions, get involved with Church. And join a Bible study group outside of Sunday morning.

The Practical Application of Obedience:

We must seek Christ's leading in the Scriptures and prayer. This can no longer be a suggestion! This has to happen daily if not constantly. We cannot expect God to continue to bless and protect us when we are not willing to get to know how He would have us defend ourselves with His word and Spirit. We no longer have the luxury of "everyone else does it this way" mentality. God has given us specific marching orders. We either obey them or we don't.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God. Romans 6:12,13

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.   Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (Romans 8:14,15,37)

I'm going to make an open invitation. If any of you that read this blog don't know where to turn to get involved in a weekly Bible study, and you are interested in being a part of one, I can either help direct you to a Bible study, or we will start one ourselves.  There is no reason to not start to get to know our Lord and Savior right away.
 
There is so much more to this topic that I desire to share, but I must end it here for now. My prayer for you this week is to be full of God's loving Spirit. May God richly bless you this week. May you endure with joy, be obedient to Christ for He is very much faithful towards you.

Let's get Angry and get the Hell out!

The congregation parted like the Red Sea
When that old drunk stumbled in down the aisle 

And took a seat
Right in the middle of Amazing Grace
He could feel the judgment they were passing
Thought to himself "Ain't that just how some folks acting”
He'd rather be on the street than in this place
And with tears on his face
Well, he's got problems nobody wants a part of
When he got up and slipped out nobody stood up
They don't wanna make a scene
So they let him walk outta there without a prayer
You'd think somebody would put their arm around him
You'd think somebody would hit a knee
Pull him in, say a prayer
That's what I'm talking ‘bout right there
You'd think somebody would practice what they're preachin'
Well, I wonder who that somebody could be
Prob'ly somebody like me

 Somebody like me

 by Jason Crabb 

I was inspired by a Facebook post by a friend of mine today.  It brought to mind a lesson I don't think we hear enough.  We, as a society, have a tendency to judge an individual for the actions they do, and sometimes...many times...what we think they do.  But let's think about this for a minute.  If God responded to us whenever we did something wrong the way we do to each other, well, there would be no grace...no love...no forgiveness.  We need to point our anger towards the right target.  That target is Satan, and the sin he encourages us to commit, not the person or ourselves.  Let's break it down.

The Importance of Holy Anger:

As with anything spiritual, there are two types of anger; unholy anger  and God's holy anger.  Unholy anger is what we feel when we judge ourselves or another with condemnation.  I have extensive experience with this type of anger.  I get angry with stupidity, with politics, with idiots on the highway, with myself when I make mistakes...over and over again.  This type of anger has no mercy, no love, no forgiveness.  It is this type of anger that sets a judgement line that cannot be erased, that is without the grace of God.  Let's face it, each individual determines their course of action, and many times it includes thoughtless, careless and meaningless results.  Right?

Take the song above by Jason Crabb.  This is a story about a drunk that stumbles into a church while Amazing Grace is being sung, but instead of accepting him as a child of God, the congregation shuns him, causing even more hurt, resentment, and finally judgement.  We all do this in one way or another.  We see things we don't agree with and immediately judge it with the wrong spirit.

But holy anger comes at the problem from a different angle.  Holy anger sees the root of the problem and deals with it right there(John 3:36).  Now, don't miss this!  The Holy Spirit Characteristic of Anger fixes it's sights on the sin, not the person.  He has done everything to help us see Him and believe (Romans 1:20).  God hates the sin within us, not us.  You see, God's Holy Spirit, or that inner man that we've been learning about, sets a hedge of protection around our hearts like layers of an onion (1Thessalonians 4:8)(Romans 8:26-28).   

God's righteousness shows us what is sin and Anger gives us a healthy hatred of sin.  Faith gives us the opportunity to experience grace (Ephesians 2:8).  Love is the impetus for grace (Romans 5:8).  Love is the motivation for all God's actions towards us, which in turn gives us the ability to be experience joy.    Joy gives us the ability to experience patience and peace (James 1:3,4), which in turn gives us hope.  Hope gives us a future to look forward to sealed by promise.

But all of this has the potential to trip us up if we use our anger with the wrong spirit driving it.  That's when we get sideways (Matthew 5:21,22).  Holy anger recognizes that the soul is precious, that God is to judge, and God alone (Matthew 7:1-5).  But, we can be angry at the sin, and the evil spirit that encouraged it.  James tells us that sin begins with the thought.  Christ says the same thing, using adultery as an example (Matthew 5:27,28).  Christ goes on to explain that our minds are a temple of God, that Satan tries to sit in that temple to nudge God out.  

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  1Corintheans 3:16

Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.  2Thessalonians 2:3,4

It is an old battle that Satan has been waging with God since before time began for us on earth.  Satan wants to be God so bad that he was cast out of Heaven for it.  Now, he is the ruler of this world.  His only move at this point is to be the god of our minds, to rule over our lives here.  But, God has devised a way for Satan to be cast out of this world as well, by sending His Son, Jesus, to be the propitiation for our sins (1John 4:10), and cast Satan out once and for all!  

That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.  

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.   Romans 5:21-6:7  

The Practical application of Anger

We should be angry at sin as Christ is angry at sin, because it is sin that separates us from God.  But, once we accept Jesus into our hearts, sin holds no sway on us any longer.  This is why we should be angry when sin is able to work in us.  We may be the reason why another soul doesn't follow Christ.  We must hate sin enough to want to truly get rid of it, to keep it from working out of us, especially towards others.  

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with [his] hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  

And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:26-32

When we see sin working in others, our immediate response should be to pray for them (Matthew 5:44), and to pray for ourselves as well (Matthew 26:41)!  We should pray that we will not act out in contradiction to God's Holy Spirit and His Word.  We have to be the light on that hill.  As joint heirs with Christ, we are responsible for being an example of Christ and His word and Spirit...all of it.  Love, Mercy, Longsuffering, Grace, Peace, Patience, Faith, Joy, Wisdom, Counsel, Might, Kindness, and so on.  To practice all this, we must recognize sin for what it is, and stop it from working! 

This is the crux of being a Spiritual Warrior!  I hate judging, selfish, lazy, non-caring and abusive spirits.  They are all killers and need to be dealt with in a Godly way...and with persistence!  But, this is a key point, because God's love corrects a believer in Christ, it never condemns the believer (Hebrews 12:5-11).  But, God's holy anger will condemn sin, and without Christ's protective covering of righteousness, a person will certainly be condemned to death (John 3:23).  Since we are not God we must not condemn either.  

We do not know the spiritual condition of another person as God does.  It is His job, and His alone, to judge another person.  Having said that, we must then treat all persons as a child of God, with loving correction, not condemnation!  We can certainly hate the sin, and the spirit behind the sin, but we are called to love the soul.  

Here's our homework for the week.  Let's practice being loving towards others by using kind, non-judgmental words when speaking to others.  Also, if necessary, be firm in corrections with our children, but lovingly firm.  This is not a license to beat them over the head, but to lovingly correct them.  Correction is a way we can express what is important to God, without condemnation.

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Hebrews 12:11

Remember, God loves us, and will do whatever it takes to get our attention back on Him.  May you be angry with the sin in your life this week, and filled with wisdom, understanding and mercy, always acting in love when dealing with that ugly barrier called sin.  Here are a few scripture to consider for our personal quiet time this week.

Psalms 30:5                       Joel 2:13
Mark 3:1-6                        Ephesians 4:31
Colossians 3:8                   Colossians 3:16-21
1Thessalonians 3:12