Love-based Obedience.. Craig Denison Ministries

 

Love-based Obedience

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

1 Corinthians 13:13 says, “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” The greatest of all aspects of the Christian life is love. Love is to be at the foundation of all we do, all we are, and all we hold on to. If we focus on love and allow the Holy Spirit to strip everything else away, what will be left is a life of blessed simplicity rooted in face-to-face relationship with our heavenly Father. As we spend time this week looking at the simplicity of love, I pray that all the weighty, frivolous things of the world that rob you of an abundant life fall away in light of the glorious goodness of God’s unconditional and wholly available love for you.

Scripture:“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 14:21

Devotional:           

For much of my life I feared the thought of obedience, especially to the almighty, all-knowing, and all-powerful Creator of the universe. I couldn’t seem to find a way to consistently choose him over myself. I couldn’t seem to be able to live for his affections over those of the world. As hard as I would try in various seasons, I just couldn’t be obedient.

What I didn’t realize about God’s command to be obedient was the process by which I could grow in obedience. God will take our obedience however he can get it because he wants us to enjoy the incredible fruits of his perfect will, but his desire is always to love us to a place that our obedience would be a natural overflow of our love for him. He longs for us to live a lifestyle of love-based obedience.

John 14:15 says very simply, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus’ words here are a promise. If we truly love him, we will keep his commandments. If we truly have love in our hearts, we can’t help but be obedient to him. I long to grow to the place where I am so in love with Jesus that I long to choose him in every situation. I long to be a servant so in love with my King that I would die for him or anyone else he asked me to.

The love of God is so real, so powerful, and so transformational that it can mold and shape us into people who no longer live for this temporal world but seek first an everlasting, invisible kingdom. If we will simply be people who let God love us in every moment, we will naturally be people who are obedient to God’s perfect will for us.

Romans 6:17-18 says, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” Through the powerful sacrifice of Jesus, you have been transformed into a person who has gained freedom from the law of sin. You are now enslaved to a lifestyle of right living whereby you obey your King out of devotion to him.

Take time in guided prayer today to receive the transformational love of your heavenly Father. Allow his love to lay a foundation on which you pursue wholehearted obedience. May you be filled with affection for your King today as you receive the wealth of unconditional love he has for you.

Guided Prayer:

1. Open your heart to God to allow him to come in and love you. Ask him to guide you into a powerful encounter with his love today. Ask him to make you aware of his nearness and heart for you.

“And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19

2. Meditate on verses about obedience. Ask the Holy Spirit to transform you into a person who obeys God’s commands out of love for him.

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 14:21

“Jesus answered him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” John 14:23

3. Commit yourself to obey God’s commands out of trust and affection for him. Choose to serve him and those he’s placed in your life. Ask him to fill you with a desire to do his will that your obedience wouldn’t take debate but rather be a seamless action flowing from the love he’s placed within you.

“But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” Deuteronomy 30:14

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

Imagine how blessed our lives would be if we lived in total obedience to the will of God. Imagine the impact we would leave on this world. Imagine the wealth of heavenly reward we would have for all eternity. How wonderful is the heart of our heavenly Father that he would love us into a place of obedience to him, and then reward us and others for it! Our obedience is solely based on accepting his grace, and yet he loves to bless us through it. Praise be to our loving heavenly Father for the incredible life he’s given us at such a great cost. May we love him in all we do.

Extended Reading: John 14-15

Our Heart's Desires..Dr. Charles Stanley

 Our Heart's Desires

Dr. Charles Stanley

Psalms 145:17-21

If you could have anything in the world, what would it be? Your answer reveals a lot about who you are. The psalmist writes, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4). There is nothing wrong with desires--they motivate us to achieve great things. But not all of our yearnings come from God.

Consider your aspirations and what they say about who you are:

Do you hope for a position of authority in order to be in control? Longing for personal advancement in order to manipulate others reveals a lack of integrity, whereas a godly person craves righteousness.

Do you dream about wealth and fame? Perhaps there's a void in your spirit that you're trying to fill. But only God can meet the insatiable needs of the human heart.

Are you afraid to ask the Lord for what you want? Maybe you think He won't listen, but God tells us to approach His throne with boldness and confidence (Heb. 4:16).

If the Lord doesn't respond affirmatively to your prayers, ask Him to make your desires conform to His will. Whatever you do, don't take matters into your own hands and go after what you want. There is always a high price to pay for rebelling against God.

God cares for us bountifully, but that doesn't mean we can expect Him to deliver whatever we want, whenever we want it. Only when our dreams align with His plan for our lives does He fulfill them. The thoughts that preoccupy us are an accurate barometer of the state of our relationship with Christ.

Are Copy Cats Bad?..Meg Bucher

 Are Copy Cats Bad?

By Meg Bucher

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” - Romans 12:2 NLT

“Stop copying me!” 

It’s the age-old scene playing out in my daughters’ lives just as it did for my sister and I when we were kids. I was the older sister, and my younger sister loved to copy me. She would wait until I left for school and then raid my room. I remember vividly her sitting on her bed as I looked all over her room for something I knew she had borrowed. When we were grown adults, she admitted to hiding it under the mattress she had been sitting on that day as I roamed her room like a crazy person. 

Copy-cat isn’t usually a kind term, but the reality of a copy-cat is complimentary. In this world, we have leaders and followers. We are all called to lead others to Christ Jesus as part of the Great Commission, but to do so, we follow in the footsteps of the Lord. We are literally called to be Christ Jesus copy-cats.

“Paul warned Christians about following the selfish and corrupt patterns of this fallen world,” the Life Application Study Bible explains, “Many Christians wisely decide that a large portion of the world’s behavior is off-limits for them. Our refusal to conform to this world, however, must go even deeper than just behavior and customs- it must be firmly planted in the values rooted in our minds.”

Paul was writing to the Romans to warn them about their behavior. It’s our personal responsibility as Christ followers to make sure the way we live our lives reflects the One we are copying! “It is possible, however, to avoid most worldly customs and still be proud, covetous, selfish, stubborn, and arrogant, the Life Application Bible explains, “Only when the Holy Spirit renews, reeducates, and redirects our minds are we try transformed.” Following Christ Jesus isn’t just a once-and-done outfit …or even wardrobe change. It’s a lifetime of walking out the principles He walked the earth to demonstrate for us. 

God did not place us on this earth to live in a robotic manner. We have free will and our choices matter. We cannot control every thought which pops into our minds, but we do have a say in what stays and what gets kicked out. Paul wrote: 

“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.” Romans 8:5 NLT

If my youngest daughter keeps copying her older sister’s style, she may start to be mistaken for her. In fact, this is exactly what is happening, and my oldest feels her identity is under attack. Why? Because we default to the “mine” mentality. Defensiveness is the way of the world. Let’s review what Paul wrote: 

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2 NLT

Intersecting Faith and Life:

We can copy someone all the way to Christ. Yes, we can. We can also copy the world right into its empty promises. “Let God …” These two words are so crucial. Listen, and let God do what He knows is best …His will! God’s plan for us is good and pleasing and perfect. Copy that! When we let go of our way, we “learn to know God’s will for us.” Learn to let go and let God. Copy that, too! 

God Bless, and Glory up!

For Further Reading:

• Romans 12
• Romans 8

A Time for Everything..Greg Laurie

 A Time for Everything

By Greg Laurie

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Has it ever seemed as though God has let you down? Perhaps it appeared that He didn’t come through for you in your hour of need or that He somehow forgot about you. Maybe you asked Him to do a certain thing, and He didn’t do it as quickly as you wanted Him to. He just seemed to be too late.

One reason we sometimes we feel that way is because we live on a human schedule. There is a time when we wake up. There is a time when we eat lunch. There is a time when we go to sleep. Our lives are governed by schedules.

We can waste a lot of time, however. In an average lifetime, Americans will spend six months sitting at traffic lights waiting for them to change, spend one year searching through desk clutter looking for misplaced objects, spend eight months opening junk mail, spend two years trying to call people who aren’t in, spend five years waiting in lines, and spend three years in meetings. (I guarantee that I’ve spent more than that.) And in one year, the average American will spend 1,700 hours watching television.

Somehow God doesn’t seem to be bound by the same schedules we live by, because He lives in the eternal realm. We live in the physical and temporal realm. Therefore, it’s hard for us to understand how God can work outside of our schedules. He keeps a different schedule than we do. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in His time.”

God is above time. And when it seems as though He is late, this is what we need to remember: God is never late. He is always on time. We may lose sight of God, but He never loses sight of us.

Heavenly Father, help us to trust in your timing. You promise that you will never abandon us, and that all things will work for your promise. Amen.

A Prayer When You Need Freedom from Fear and Worry ..Betsy de Cruz

 A Prayer When You Need Freedom from Fear and Worry

By Betsy de Cruz

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” - Hebrews 2:14-15 

I claim to trust God, but fear grips my mind at random moments. Like the other night when my husband was 10 minutes late, I started imagining He’d had a terrible accident. I knew a hundred reasons could cause his delay, but I kept picturing his wrecked blue car on Highway 75.

Does it happen to you as well? Your child has a headache, and you wonder about brain tumors. Your boss calls you to a meeting, and you envision yourself in an unemployment line. Fear can be irrational, yet sometimes bad things actually do happen, which is why we experience fearful thoughts in the first place.

Hard circumstances may come our way in this world, but God’s children don’t have to fear them beforehand because we can trust our Father will show us His faithfulness in all situations.

Jesus shared our humanity, yet He never worried because He knew His Father was in control. Even when Jesus faced death, He turned His thoughts to His Father and prayed. Jesus died to break the power of Satan over us, and by His resurrection, He defeated death, setting us free from slavery to fear of death.

Think about it. Isn’t death the worst thing we fear? When someone gets cancer or has a car accident, we fear they will die. Yet Jesus conquered death when He rose from the grave, and His promise of eternal life to all who believe in Him means we need not fear death. In a strange turnaround, for those who place their faith in Jesus, death becomes not our worst day, but our best, because it is the doorway to beautiful, forever life with Jesus.

If we don’t have to fear death, maybe we don’t have to fear smaller things either. If Jesus has power over death, he also has control over the financial problem that keeps us up at night. He knows the end of the story, and He works all things for our good.

What is worrying you today, my friend?

How about turning your attention to Jesus, the Savior who is able to deliver you from every trial? What if you surrender your fears to Him and consider them in the light of biblical truth? One day your death will be the entrance into eternal abundant life, and the problem you face now is a doorway to see more of God’s power and experience a closer relationship with Him.

Let’s draw near to Jesus in prayer. 

Let’s pray:

Jesus, I praise you today because you have won the victory over sin and death. I praise you for the power of the resurrection, which demonstrates your power over all things. Lord, thank you for the gift of everlasting life. No matter what happens today, Lord, I need not fear because I have the hope of eternity with you.

Jesus, forgive me for doubting instead of trusting you. Thank you for having mercy and compassion on my weakness. Lord, I surrender the situations that worry me into your loving hands. Put my fears to rest as I see them in the light of my Heavenly Father’s great power and love. Help me fully believe you are working out your good purposes. You have the last say over my circumstances today. Give me the grace I need to rest in your arms and trust your care over me and my loved ones.

In Jesus’ name, amen.