Category: Obedience

I Don’t Understand; You Don’t Desert

I suppose that is the prime distinction between the Father and the child – the knowledge of the whole.

Meditation Thought: “I give thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart… and give thanks to your name for the your steadfast love and faithfulness. (Psalm 138:1-2)

I am the child, and you are the Father. In my limited experience I cannot understand the full consequences of not obeying Your requests, nor of heeding Your suggestions. So I err – and suffer – and learn; at least hopefully.

You do not desert me in my times of need. I don’t understand Your operating procedures enough to know why sometimes You allow natural consequences of people’s actions to occur, and at other times You miraculously intervene.

I suppose that is the prime distinction between the Father and the child – the knowledge of the whole.

I need to be rescued from the sickness of downheartedness and lack of faith this morning. I trust that I shall be rescued!

I go now, Lord, to seek Your will and do it – please allow me to experience Your steadfast love and faithfulness this day. Amen.

Step-by-Step: Seeking Lord’s Guidance in Decision Making

Do not make complications where none are intended.

Meditation Thought: “Moses answered them, ‘Wait until I find out what the Lord commands concerning you.'” (Numbers 9:8)

Look before you leap. Look to the Lord – where? You have His Word, you have His life – both as a record and His strength within you. Do not make complications where none are intended. Step by step, do what seems right After
1. Prayer
2. Listening
3. Analyzing for
a) priorities
b) the details of the situation
c) likely consequences – both positive and negative.

And, when the deed is done, pray the Lord’s will be done – and trust that it will, and do not speculate any further.

Exchange Your Crown: Finding True Freedom in Faith

You cannot wear two crowns at the same time. Exchange the old for the new. Take care of what thoughts, words and deeds proceed from you, for they shall return, essentially of the same character.

Meditation Thought: “They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
 ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God,
    to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
    and by your will they were created
    and have their being.'” (Revelation 4:10-11)

“Cast your crown before Me. I have given you the crown of your freedom of will. You are not compelled to hold it out as an offering to Me, who first gave it to you. But if you find the courage and the desire to hand it back to Me, you will receive far better than the crown of free will. You will have the crown of My will shining upon you. It brings beauty and grace, love and truth, all that you long for. But you cannot wear two crowns at the same time.

Exchange the old for the new.
Exchange the crown of the world for the crown of the kingdom.
Exchange the focus of your life from yourself to Me.
We are bound together by our relationship.
We are bound together in our purpose.

Take care of what thoughts, words and deeds proceed from you, for they shall return – added to, altered, enlarged – but essentially of the same character.

The Path to Lasting Peace and Joy

Do not anticipate where the Father instructs Me to lead you. Look to Me, follow Me, for with Me you are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing.

Meditation Thought: “My sheep listen to my voice: I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life.” (John 10:27,28)

My voice reveals My love, and guides my sheep to hope. No more are you lost in the briers, but I shall lead you to nourishing pastures – to protected places. You need fear no more, when you follow Me, I am the resurrection and the life – your resurrection and your life. I came – and I come – that you may live within My loving care, that you may be – and feel – secure wherever we are together.

The way is simple, but not considered “easy” for it requires obedience and discipline. The way dictates that you not run off to places other than where I lead you – for I lead you where the Father has first led me. But in your choosing obedience and discipline rather than bearing the consequences of the alternate path, you will gain. You will gain the peace of obedience to the very best hope – the Father’s ultimate will. To suffer in struggle is not as painful as to suffer in conscience for realizing that there was a path which could have been a way to feed the sick, clothe the naked, love the unlovely – and transform the woes of the world into the joys of the kingdom – and you chose another path, a path which left the world in as sad a condition as you found it – perhaps even a worsened condition.

Do not anticipate where the Father instructs Me to lead you. Look to Me, follow Me, for with Me you are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. What is ‘right’? ‘Right’ is the process of the cohesive working of the Father’s will: the process of wooing His children, who have strayed foolishly in their freedom, back into His loving Presence. He does not force them – for that would negate their freedom to, of their own choice, love Him – or reject Him. And love forced is not love at all, but coercion.

The Father sent Me to bring His message: “I love you. All is forgiven. Come home to Me, where I will welcome you with open arms, and prepare celebrations of our reunion. Fear not that you have rebelled against Me, disappointed Me, distrusted Me. All that is in the past. I desire – I have always desired – only that you allow Me to love you, for when you allow Me to love you, it follows as day follows night that you will love Me. Our mutual love and understanding expressed as we once again dwell together is My plan for the ‘fullness’ of time. It happens at the time you understand that My desire to lavish My love upon you is compatible – in fact, is identical with your desire to have Me do so, knowing that My love shall wash you clean, heal your wounds, bring joy to your heart and peace to your soul. And when My child is clean, healed, full of joy and peace, then is My will done. Then am I well pleased.”

Running Together, Achieving Glory

If there were no challenge to overcome, where would be the glory of the victory?

Meditation Thought: “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” (Jude 1:20-21)

In these ways, you will be able to meet the challenge of life – in body and in spirit. Do not despair over the horrors of the times. Through the power and wisdom and knowledge and strength of God flowing in you, subdue that which would destroy you – even make the enemy your friend – one who works for your good, as you have worked for their good.

Life is complicated, and must be met at many levels. But you are capable of meeting the challenge: you have been created to do so. You need only to become convinced of it, and you will act accordingly.

You are weak when you rely only on your own resources. But, as you realize you are spirit and mind – and made in the Father’s image and have have His love, His character, His teaching, and His power all working for your successful meeting of the challenges – then, then you are not only a child of God in HIs eyes, but a child of God in your eyes, and a child of God in all eyes.

If there were no challenge to overcome, where would be the glory of the victory? You would shun the race if you could – but you cannot. Given this fact, the better choice by far is to study, prepare, practice that you may do well. Do well, not with the purpose of outperforming your ‘competitors’ – but that you may enable them to perform well also. You are not running against each other, but running together to do the best possible time on the course.

The manner in which you train and run will influence all who run with you. You can run well. You can inspire well. Will you train with discipline? Will you run with vigor? Follow the One who has demonstrated the way.

The Power of Worship: Finding Your Path to Serve the Lord

The first step is to acknowledge that I am not master of my own destiny. The second step is to realize that I do affect my destiny. The third is to seek how to choose wisely as I am confronted with alternatives.

Meditation Thought: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.” (Luke 4:8)

Who is the Lord that I should worship him? Who is the Lord that I should serve him?

The Lord is more powerful than any other creature of power.
The Lord is everywhere.
The Lord is wise, loving, just, righteous, merciful.

Are these qualities which I should value? Of course – and not only value, but determine the significance of them in relationship to me.

To be ignorant of the structure of life is to lack the knowledge and the wisdom to make decisions which will be in harmony with that structure, and thus bring positive results.

The first step is to acknowledge that I am not master of my own destiny. The second step is to realize that I do affect my destiny. The third is to seek how to choose wisely as I am confronted with alternatives.

The whole eludes me,
The part entraps me.
Or is the entrapment truly a cocoon
Protecting me, nourishing me, preparing me
Until I am ready to soar above
To see beyond the limits of my childhood place?

To venture out into the vastness of creation
Without preparation for the awesomeness, character, and challenges it presents
Is to be a fool, to endanger myself, to be prey to the unknown.

But to choose to follow my nature,
Be patient to learn before I leap,
To seek to know who I am, and what I should become
That I may be true to my best potential
And satisfy my soul:
This is to be a worshiper of the Lord,
And a servant unto Him.
Hallelujah!

Guaranteed Harvest: Faith and Perseverance

Turn to Me to cope with crisis. I will lead you through it, bringing new knowledge and wisdom.

Meditation Thought: “ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

A guaranteed harvest! What farmer would not eagerly plant, till, and gather, despite difficulties and setbacks, knowing that all of the effort would absolutely be rewarded if they don’t give in and give up?

This is what our Father would have us realize: He sent His Son to us with the message that “Your harvest is guaranteed. Your faith is not misplaced. I do not ask you to work in vain but to work to produce a bountiful harvest. A harvest for you, for your family, for your fellow man. Believe it!

Turn to Me to cope with crisis. I will lead you through it, bringing new knowledge and wisdom in overcoming that will increase the harvest beyond even your fondest dreams. I give you the seed, I nourish it – do your part to make it thrive despite all that would destroy it. Study My ways, which I wish you to know, but which I will not force upon you. You will learn a superior method of farming to your joy and others’ amazement. Together, we will turn chaos into productive lands, feeding my people who will praise My name.”

Caring for Our Bodies in Christ’s Image

Meditation Thought: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6:15)

Christ in each cell! With the yielding of my will to His will, my body is transformed into Christ living in the world today! How can I treat His body with anything but care and love?

Bodies come in all shapes and sizes. Genesis 1:27 says that God created people in His own image. That cannot refer to our physical beings – if it did we would all look like each other! Therefore, spiritually we are made in God’s image. Made to seek Him and His way. Made to care for the body He chose to encase our spirit. Not to abuse it, not to bemoan it, but to care for it and love it. And by so doing, we are then able to love others.

Research Optimization

Meditation Thought: “God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:10)

How can we change our life-style? What about our style-of-life? Money must be spent to give us the ability to change our life-style. Which begs the question, what does it take to change our style of life? Only the Holy Spirit activated can change our style of life.

The knowledge to activate the Spirit is easy to find. The difficulty lies in denying our human willfulness. We often dictate what we will think, say, and do. Instead, we should yield to God’s will. It is especially important to accept the manner of His teaching.

We would prefer to learn with little effort having our lessons all laid out before us, without any research and commitment on our part. But this is not the way we learn in depth. To learn in depth takes the lesson learned beyond the ‘head knowledge’ and extends it to ‘heart knowledge’. The lessons become part of our actions as well as our mind.

It is the Spirit that keeps us researching, who leads us to new discoveries and resources. We must ask for His help – and accept it and heed His instructions. Only with His help will we learn the lesson and, having learned it, make it a true change to our style of life.

Trusting the Director of Your Life’s Journey

The wisdom of the ages is set before you. Will you partake?

Meditation Thought: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Romans 15:13)

The wisdom of the ages is set before you. Will you partake? It is the background for the action taking place in your life – its presence affects your performance. Your performance affects your audience.

Come, the time is ripe to be directed into a great performance of the Father’s will. You have been rehearsing and practicing. Now come the years in your life to perform what you have been learning.

The Director is in charge; if you will listen to Him, the performance will be effective for you and your audience. You don’t know the effects of your performance. Therefore, you must believe with all your heart that the instructions of your Director are bringing your performance to exquisite perfection that it may bring enlightenment and appreciation into all who see it, that they might rise up to give glory to the Author, and recognition to the Director.

Will you obey the Director, trusting His judgment is better than yours?