Skip to main content

Love Brings Obedience!!

Being able to obey what God asks of you comes from your heart. When you begin struggling to obey God, that is a clear indication that your heart has shifted away from Him. Some people claim: "I love God, but I'm having difficulty obeying Him in certain areas of my life." That is a spiritual impossibility. Let's read what Jesus said:

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he 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

You might be thinking that this is a pretty harsh statement to make. Is Jesus telling us that if we don't keep His commandments that He won't love us or come to us? Again, let's read what Jesus says:

"He who does not love Me does not keep My Words, and the Word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me."

God will not reward rebellious people. If I were to ask you, "Do you love God?" you might easily respond, "Yes!" However, if I were to ask you, "Are you obeying God?" would you answer yes just as quickly? I want you to know, I would be asking you the same question! Genuine love for God leads to wholehearted obedience. Let's use an example, if you told your spouse that you loved them at certain times but struggled to love them at other times, your relationship would probably be in jeopardy. That's the way many of us assume our relationship with God is. We assume that God is satisfied with occasional love or partial obedience. He is not.

Obedience without love is legalism. Obedience for its own sake can be nothing more than perfectionism, and that leads to pride! Many conscientious Christians seek to cultivate discipline in their lives to be more obedient to Jesus. As helpful as spiritual disciplines can be, they can never replace your love for God! Love is the discipline! God looks beyond your moral lifestyle, and beyond your church involvement and focuses His penetrating gaze upon your heart.

Has your worship to God become empty and routine? Maybe you've lost your motivation to read God's Word? Are you experiencing spiritual lethargy? Is your prayer life reduced to a ritual? Friends, these are symptoms of a heart that has shifted away from loving God. Return to your first love. Love is the greatest motivation for a relationship with God and for serving Him.

"Jesus answered and said to him, 'If a man loves Me, he will keep My Word. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.'" John 14:23

May God richly bless you today!!! H Trent.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thinking About Calling Down Fire!?!

James and John were refered to as "the Sons of Thunder" in the Bible. When they discovered a Samaritan village that would not receive Jesus, they were fully prepared to call down fire to consume the entire community. "And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" Luke 9:54. Maybe they felt that through such a show of power, the gospel message might be enhanced. The two brothers were willing to sacrifice the lives of the village in order to further the cause of the gospel. However, Jesus rebuked them! Later, the apostles heard that Samaria had responded to the gospel. Guess who was commissioned to go and help them receive the Holy Spirit? None other but Peter and John! It was God's purpose that the people not be destroyed but saved! God chose not to rain down fire on the village, but to shower it with His Holy Spirit! I wonder what w...
6 comments
Read more

It Is Our Life!!!

One of the things that I find puzzling and troubling today is that so many of us Christians try to live the Christian life in this world today, without reading our Bibles! Many of us will occasionally give it a sporadic look, seeking a pithy thought to help us get through our day. This is sad. The Word of God is not merely a source of helpful suggestions, preventative warnings, or even inspirational thoughts . The Word of God is life itself! But, oh how foolish that many of us are, having the words of life right at our fingertips, and still not bothering to make time to sit down and go through it's pages. "For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess." Deuteronomy 32:47. God gathered the nation of Israel at the edge of the Promised Land to review their pilgrimage with Him. They had just spent 40 years wandering the desert, on a journey that should have...
2 comments
Read more

Into A Storm!!!

There are many believers today that think that because they are in Christ, they are free from trials and tribulations. Life will always be good. However, there are going to be times when storms will come to us. Some of those storms will be the result of the choices we have made, some of them will come as a result of attacks by others, some will come for reasons we don't understand, but some storms will come because Jesus has sent us into them. Consider our passage today: "Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd. After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it." Matthew 14:22-24 The disciples were commanded to get into a boat and go across the lake without the physical presence of Christ. They coul...
Post a Comment
Read more