Obedience.. Craig Denison Ministries

 

Obedience

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

Trust is something we are not created to give away lightly. We value trust like we value our own lives, constantly scrutinizing others to see if they're worthy of our trust. But still we are made to do life with help. We are made to place our trust in that which will provide us with more life, joy, and peace. I pray that this week you and I will discover how trustworthy our heavenly Father is. I pray that we will willingly hand over control of our lives to a capable, loving, and near God. And I pray we will experience the abundant life that can only come through placing our trust in a God who gives up everything for relationship with us.

Scripture:“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19

Devotional:

Throughout our lives we are commanded to obey. Whether it be a parent telling us, “Pick that up,” or, “Don’t do that,” or a government laying down a law, we acknowledge obedience as a necessary part of life. And so often because we grow up with some sense of the purpose of obedience, we apply our worldly notions of obedience to our relationship with God. We see the commands of Scripture or feel a prompting from the Spirit and sense a similar tone of command.

The problem with carrying a worldly notion of obedience into our relationship with God is that no one, no matter how loving, can or will fully care for us the way our heavenly Father does. No matter how good the lawmaker, parent, friend, or teacher, no one truly knows the future like God does.

Isaiah 1:19 promises us, “If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” God asks for us to be obedient to him because his plan is always for our betterment. He sees what lies ahead of us. He knows the potential perils or fruits of our actions. And like a Good Shepherd, he longs to guide us into an incredibly abundant life filled with all the goodness of his kingdom.

If we are ever going to experience the wealth of glorious inheritance God has for us, we must learn to trust him and obey. God cannot lead us to still waters and plentiful pastures if we are unwilling to follow him. He cannot lead us into the depths of his love if we don’t trust in his loving-kindness. He cannot lead us into consistent encounters with him if we don’t trust that he is as near as his word promises. And he cannot satisfy the deep desires of our hearts if we don’t trust that his purposes for us will truly satiate our longings.

1 Samuel 15:22 says,“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” God longs to fashion us into children who are quick to obey him. He earnestly desires our obedience because he earnestly desires abundant life that only comes through acting upon a foundational trust in his goodness.

Take time in guided prayer to think about reasons why you aren’t fully obeying God’s word or the promptings of his Spirit. What doubt do you have in your heart? Why don’t you fully trust that he will completely satisfy your deepest longings? Make space to rest in his presence and trust that he is who he says he is. Trust that he will do what he has promised. May you experience the abundant life that comes through total obedience to your loving heavenly Father. 

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the importance of obedience. Allow Scripture to fill you with a desire to obey God sooner and to greater measures.

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” Luke 6:46

“If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:19

“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22

2. Why do you have a hard time obeying God’s word or his promptings? In what ways do you not trust him?

3. Reflect on his promises in those areas and place your trust in him. Rest in his presence and experience his wonderful character. Ask him to reveal how trustworthy he is that you might place your trust more fully in him today.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” Joshua 1:8

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:9

Placing our trust in someone is always a process. God does not assume that you will fully trust him until you truly get to know him. To know his love and kindness in a way that will result in trust takes time spent daily developing your relationship. If you want to experience the fruit of obedience and trust, you must make time to get to know your heavenly Father. In a moment where you feel like going your own way, you must have a solid foundation built on knowing the goodness of God and his word. Have patience with yourself and center your life around developing a greater relationship with your heavenly Father. May you come to know the heart of God as described in Ephesians 3:17-19:

That you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Extended Reading: 1 Peter 1

Living Plan B: A Lesson from Exodus..Ray Pritchard

 Living Plan B: A Lesson from Exodus

By Ray Pritchard

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. - Exodus 13:17-18

Some time ago I heard the following statement on the radio and thought it was worth passing along: "The key to success in life is how well you adapt to Plan B." There is a world of truth in that simple sentence. So many of us go through life frustrated because we're still working on Plan A. That's the one where everything works out, where your marriage lasts forever, where your children grow up without any problems, where you climb to the top of the career ladder, where everyone loves you, where all your dreams come true and you live happily ever after. Plan A is life the way we all thought it would be. It's life with a happy ending.

Unfortunately, Plan A rarely pans out. Life isn't that simple, or that easy. Check out Exodus 13:17-21. When the children of Israel left Egypt, God did not lead them by the shorter coastal route to the Promised Land. Instead, he led them south into the wilderness. No doubt there was some grumbling and murmuring. Why go the long way? Why not take the road that goes along the seashore? Answer: The Philistines lived along the coast and God wanted to spare the Jews from having to fight them and be tempted to return to Egypt. What seemed like a detour turned out to be for their benefit. In this case, Plan B was better.

What's Plan B? It's the reality that your divorce is final and your marriage is over. It's the reality that your first career choice was a mistake and now it's time to start over. It's the reality that you don't have the money to buy the bigger house you want. It's the truth that you have cancer and your future is uncertain. It's the understanding that some people who seemed to be close friends aren't going to be there for you when you really need them. It's the reality that your dreams aren't going to come true, at least not in the way you expected.

Born in poverty and educated at home, he failed in his first business venture, ran for office the next year and was defeated, failed in yet another business, had a nervous breakdown, and was defeated in five more elections. But he never gave up, and in 1860 he was elected president.

Plan A not working out for you? Don't despair. Plan A rarely works out. Your success in life is largely determined by how well you adapt to Plan B. Just ask Abraham Lincoln, the greatest Plan B president in American history.

A Prayer for When Your Elderly Parents Need You..Molly Law

 A Prayer for When Your Elderly Parents Need You

By Molly Law

“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” - Deuteronomy 5:16

Today’s prayer is a very personal one for me, and I hope it reaches and touches those in similar situations. My mother has Alzheimer’s — early-onset — she’s only 58. Even if she wasn’t so young, Alzheimer’s is still a horrible disease that changes the very core of an individual until, in one long, agonizing process, you can no longer recognize the person sitting in front of you, and neither can they.

As our parents grow older, they are more likely to have more medical issues: diabetes, cancer, dementia, broken hips, etc. When those things happen, life’s natural roles become reversed. We suddenly become our parents’ caregivers. For some of the more severe diseases, like Alzheimer’s, it can feel like we become the parents and our parents, our children. 

In the beginning, my mother had resilience in the face of her diagnosis, which was commendable. She was always in high spirits about life, which I found hard to grasp. She never let Alzheimer’s define her or dictate her quality of life. After three years of her diagnosis, she has deteriorated quite a bit and is hardly the woman I called mom my entire life. 

Her reactions have become childlike, and I have recently had to drive her to certain events. It is hard to comprehend the fairness of it all: how someone so generous and loving could become vehement and easily angered; why my sisters and I have to sacrifice our lives at such young ages. On the other hand, I still love to hear my mom’s laughter and see her having fun because those moments that were once at the very core of her being are becoming a rare commodity. 

As with any disease that takes hold of our parents, we always need to live in the present joys that allow them to still be them — that we still have this time to spend with them. For one day, I might have to say, “Mom, I’m your daughter, remember?” So, today, despite the heartaches and inconveniences, I will be grateful and enjoy the memory my mother still has left.

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord,
I pray for all of the ailing parents out there. I pray for their children who suddenly find themselves on the other end of the natural order. I pray that you will give them comfort and strength as they navigate the diagnosis, treatment, and living arrangements. 

I pray that you give us patience when the disease takes over and changes our parents. Be with us as the role reversals of life throw us off balance. Lord, I pray that even in the midst of this one loss, we remember the time we have to love. Thank you for this time that has grown even more important. I pray that we will focus on the present good and not the future bad.

Father, we all know that anything is possible for you. We know you have the power to heal. I believe in your miracles. We also know that your ways are higher and mysterious. Lord, our parents love you and will one day be with you forever in heaven. I pray that will give all of us peace and solace to rest in that knowledge. 

I pray for the parents who are not saved that they will come to know you and that their children will show them the way. So, I pray that whatever may happen, whether you choose to heal them or not — if there is a cure in their lifetime — I pray that your will be done in all of our circumstances.

Thank you, Lord, for parents — our mothers and our fathers — thank you for their wonderful and unique lives with us and our families. Thank you for this time we have with them. Thank you for being with us through these difficult times.

There are no words to describe this particular grief. Grieving in intervals of layers lost until they are ultimately gone. Please guide us through the toll this takes on our mental, physical, and spiritual health. I pray for every child having to parent a parent. I pray for the parents who are suffering from any disease or pain. I pray for your comfort and healing in all circumstances. 

We love and trust you with all of our hearts, our Healer, our Savior.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Seek the Lord..Jessica Van Roekel

 Seek the Lord

By Jessica Van Roekel

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:12-14, ESV

A favorite game of children is hide-and-seek. One person counts to ten, and the other players scatter to various hiding places. Then begins the search behind doors and curtains, under the bed, and in closets. The winner is the one whose hiding place stays a secret, and the game begins with a new seeker. Does it ever feel like God is the one hiding and we’re the ones seeking him but never finding him? We search and search and search, but he remains elusive. We begin to feel like we are in exile.

Nebuchadnezzar had taken the elders, the officials, the craftsmen, and more to Babylon. The Israelites were in exile and far from home. The prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to encourage them to live their lives and to stay faithful to the Lord. Their old life was over, and they entered a new normal. That’s what it can feel like for us when our world gets turned upside down and inside out. We long for the old normal and resist our new normal. We keep looking back at what we once had and fail to see God in our new present.

What areas of life do we struggle to adopt change? Aging, sickness, and disease bring unwanted change into our lives. Unmet expectations of a new job or relationship can leave us disappointed. Even something as simple as a home renovation project gone wrong can fill us with regrets. We can spend too much time in the land of “If only. . .”

• If only I had made that other decision.
• If only we hadn’t moved.
• If only I had paid attention to that lump.
• If only I responded differently to my child.
• If only God would have shown up when I needed him.

The Israelites must have asked the same question when they went into exile, and we can read between the lines of David’s Psalms as he dealt with similar if-onlys in his own life. If we look at our lives, we can find threads of doubt that God is with us in the middle of a new and sometimes unwanted life change. Unwanted changes can cause us to wonder how God’s plan for our life will unfold. We can wonder how God’s timing fits into the new and unexpected normal.

The changes that we experience can provide us with a fresh opportunity of drawing closer to the Lord. He guides our steps, he makes our way firm, and he holds us close. While we need to take the time to grieve what once was, we also need to seek God in the middle of our new normal. There are times when the change we go through is a place of God’s purpose and plans for our lives. God fulfills his Word and promises when the time is right.

Seeking him while we’re walking through unwanted change can reveal two important spiritual principles. When God desires to do great things in our lives, he inspires and impresses in us the desire to grow our prayer life. Second, the timing of God’s answers to our prayers relates to God’s purposes for his people and plans. When we joyfully and faithfully face the changes that challenge us and bring a different outcome than we expected, we provide a place of testimony of God’s faithfulness to us that other people can see.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
God can use your unwanted changes and make them a holy place. He can meet you right in the middle of the adjustment to a new normal. Take the time today to ask him to reveal himself to you. When you are tempted to look back with longing on the past, ask him to help you be grateful for what was and to help you look ahead with anticipation because he is with you this very moment and will be with you tomorrow. He goes ahead of you to prepare the way. Seek him today and ask him to reveal himself to you.

Further Reading:
Jeremiah 29:1-14