Radical Obedience – What Happens When You Say Yes to God
**Update: I am reading this again in January of 2022, nine years later. WOW. I am so thankful I chose obedience that day. God has blessed me tremendously. He has continued to grow me and stretch me. I went from leading an online Bible study and going to Bible College, to leading an in person Bible study, to starting this blog, to writing Bible studies, to teaching and speaking at women’s ministry events…… He sure did have big plans for me. With radicial obedience, do I dare ask, what else GOD do you have for me? January 2013 God speaks to me every day. Someday I hope to say that I hear Him every day. My desire is to be in constant communication with my Heavenly Father and I know He desires to be in constant communication with me. However, there are times when I am not still long enough to really hear His voice or to notice those people He sends to speak into my life or the circumstances He orchestrates to get my attention. But sometimes I am. And I hear His voice.nd still do listen. Such was a time, years ago. As I was praying, I felt God speak to my heart, calling me closer to Him, to a new level in our relationship. He said that He had something big planned for me, but I must prepare myself and take initiative. My response was a “say what” type of response: “Is that you God? What do you mean big plan? What plan? When is this plan supposed to happen? Be prepared, how? Take initiative, how?” Well, after more prayer, He gave me a little more clarity on the how questions, but not the what and when questions. He wanted me to dive deep into His Word and not to read anything other than His Word and other Christian writings until I read the entire Bible cover to cover. Say what? I argued, “But God I love to read fiction. I really, really was looking forward to reading that new book by my favorite author….and if I only read the Bible and books about God, Jesus and faith, when will I watch tv? God I just paid for a subscription to Amazon Prime so I could have access to even more tv shows and movies and what about that free shipping on all of my books! Really? Is that you God?” I obeyed God, even without knowing the answers to all of my questions before obeying. I trusted God. I call this radical obedience. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5 Eight months later I have only read the Bible and other Christian faith building books and nothing else. As a result of my obedience, my faith has grown, my knowledge has expanded, and I know God better than I ever have before. If I had chosen disobedience instead of obedience, I would have missed so much! As for my unanswered what and when questions, maybe just maybe God has been answering those questions all along. Maybe He asked for my obedience so that I would be ready to say yes to leading a small Facebook group in an online bible study or maybe it was so I would say yes in attending Bible School this fall. I don’t know. What I do know is that I have been blessed beyond measure over the past eight months. Eight months ago, I would have never dreamed of the possibilities that God now has set out before me. Paul wrote in Philippians 3:8, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” (NLT) Paul was radically obedient. He gave up everything, and He gained Christ. God asked me to give up fiction and some tv time: small, small sacrifices, but sacrifices which resulted in a walk with Christ that I never thought possible. So the next time God asks me to give up something, I would like to think that my answer would be yes, God.
4 Reasons God Hates Pride
Growing up, people told me to hold my head high and be proud. Pride to me meant I was strong. It meant I was capable. Pride meant that I would never need anyone or anything. You see, I thought pride was my key to success. Well, I was wrong. Dead wrong. Open your Bible. You don’t have to read far to find stories of pride and the pain it caused. Pride is the reason Lucifer fell and Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Because of pride, Cain killed Abel, and the Israelites wandered around the desert for 40 years. And that was just the beginning. Proverbs 16:5 tells us that God hates pride. But why? Thankfully, God doesn’t keep us in the dark; He lets us know exactly why He hates pride. Here are 4 of those reasons. PRIDE LEADS TO ARGUMENTS “Pride leads to arguments” Proverbs 13:10a Can I say ouch?! I don’t know about you, but I like to argue, and I’m not fond of losing. I used to argue just for the sake of winning even when I knew I was wrong. Have you ever been in an argument with someone, maybe your spouse, and as the debate continues, you realize that what the other person is saying is true? But you know if you admit that it is true, you will lose the argument. Still, you can’t seem to admit you’re wrong. You can’t lose. You have to be strong. So you try another approach. You focus on another point, trying to confuse the enemy. Did I say, enemy? Yes, at this point, your spouse or whoever you are arguing with is the enemy, and the enemy must lose. That is PRIDE. Pride is nasty. Pride chokes relationships like weeds choke a garden until those things we planted no longer have room to grow. Pride leads to arguments and kills relationships. PRIDE KEEPS YOU FROM SAYING YOUR SORRY “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23 Does anyone else have trouble apologizing? What about being the first to apologize? Remember the argument that you had to win? Remember what you did and said to win it? Once the argument is over, you start feeling bad. You know you were wrong. But you don’t want to apologize because apologizing means that you have to ADMIT you were wrong. PRIDE keeps you from apologizing and not apologizing damages and can destroy relationships. PRIDE MAKES YOU STUBBORN “Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward and not forward.” Jeremiah 7:24 Others used to say I was stubborn as if that was a good thing. But you see, stubborn people don’t listen to others’ counsel because they don’t value other people’s opinions. Stubborn people think they know more than others, know best, and don’t need anyone’s advice. They ignore wise counsel. That is PRIDE. Refusing to listen to others because you think you know best can keep you from walking out God’s purpose for your life: it can cause you to go backward and not forward. How would the Israelite’s destiny have changed if they had listened to God’s wise counsel sent to them? What about you? Has there ever been a time when you have ignored wise counsel and wished you hadn’t? Have you ever said, I wished I would have listened? I don’t know about you, but I want to go forward and not backward. I want all that God has for me. I don’t want to miss my promised land. PRIDE KEEPS YOU FROM SEEKING GOD In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. – Psalm 10:4 NIV Yes, that is the big one. Pride keeps us from seeking God. I know that was the case for me. I was strong. I was capable. I didn’t need anyone, and I certainly didn’t need God. I thought that those who sought after God were weak. I thought that they were incapable. I thought God was for those with problems, not for people like me. That is PRIDE. Pride keeps us from seeking God and fulfilling our God-given destinies. GOD DESPISES PRIDE Can you see why God despises pride? Pride destroys our earthly relationships and our relationship with the one and only God, our Father. Every day people’s hearts are hardened to God because of pride. People think they do not need God; therefore, they do not seek Him. When people do not seek God, they do not know God, and when they do not know God, they miss out on all God has to offer. God despises pride! So friends, today, if you hear God’s voice as you are reading this, do not harden your hearts as you have in the past, but instead listen to the wise counsel of the Word of God, turn from your pride, and walk out God’s purpose for your life.
Why Speaking the Truth in Love Matters: Overcoming Fear of Conflict
Sin and pride blind us from seeing the truth. When we can’t recognize the truth, we become bound to wrong beliefs, wrong actions, and false perceptions, which cause us to make decisions that can hold us prisoner. We all need truth tellers in our lives. We all need to speak the truth in love.
Save the World
I use to do interpretive dance when I was growing up. One of the songs that my dance team interpreted has been a favorite song since thenOf course, with interpretive dance, you have to really listen to the words, and this song has always had me thinking. So I thought I would throw it out into the world and let you ponder on the words for yourself. The name of the song is Save the World (Up to Us): Sung by Eric Champion in 1992. I have copied a link for a video to the song. Also, I have added the words to this so you can read them.. This song is true for me; I am tired of reading the newspaper etc. So my question to myself and everyone else, “Are you and I doing our part to help save the world?” “Who is going to act? Are we going to let our neighborhoods burn down?” Jesus did His part. Now let’s do ours. .Save the World (Up to Us) Eric Champion 1992 I am tired of reading the newspaper I’m tired of watching the news I’m sick of all the horror I’m fed up with all the gloom Is this a world where you would want to raise a family of your own? It’s got to change or we may find there’s nothing left to call home. Chorus: Stakes are so high. Do or die. Life, the ultimate prize. Who’s gonna stop this world from goin’ under We’ve got the power, but the hour is comin’ to an end. Here is the call. It’s up to us to save the world. Wake up and smell the blood shed See the sight and remember it well. While you’re napping in your padded churches, there’s a neighborhood going to hell. This is the world you made so you could raise a family of your own. So much of man’s creation. Let’s put trust in God back on the throne Chorus x2: Stakes are so high. Do or die. Life, the ultimate prize. Who’s gonna stop this world from goin’ under We’ve got the power, but the hour is comin’ to an end. Here is the call. It’s up to us to save the world This is mission our generation has been handed down to do We are for such a time as this. The new crusade will follow through Chorus Out
5 Things To Make You Think
I heard a pastor mention these statements; they caught my attention. I have been thinking them out. There is WAY more information that needs to be said about each one, but I’m just going to give you a tidbit about each statement. Church needs to be churchie again, it’s time for church to be church again… We need to go back to the basics. What is going back to the basics mean? Us humans are the church. The church is NOT just a building we have a service at. I believe it means we go back to see what the Bible says the basics are. A few commandments come to mind… John 15:12 “So this is my command: Love each other deeply, as much as I have loved you.” TPT Another Version: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.” NASB Another Verse: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34 NKJV Another commandment is found in Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” So part of the going back to the basics are: We need to love one another as He loves us! We need to go make disciples! They are looking for Supernatural, but when the Supernatural is taken out of the church- they go looking for it somewhere else. What is supernatural in the church? Holy Spirit, signs, and wonders. In John 4:48 it says: “Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”” Romans 15:19: “In mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.” Jesus did miracles during his time on earth. Now, with the Holy Spirit living IN us on earth, we can do miracles too. Holy Spirit is an AMAZING person to learn about. That’s a blog/teaching in itself. If you want to read about Holy Spirit, He is ALL through the Bible, but Jesus talks about Holy Spirit in John 14, 15, 16 before Jesus ascends to the heavens to be with His Father. You may ask how people are looking for the Supernatural. Witchcraft is just ONE of the perverted versions of Holy Spirit. There are so many, many more things that are supernatural on the negative side. There are people looking for something different which is why they come to Church, but if the church isn’t different then why come? They want a change. The Bible talks about not conforming to this world, we are to be set apart. Rom 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2 NKJV Why are our churches (us) conforming? Why are our churches (us) being deceived? To answer the 2 questions above; I personally believe because they are missing the intimacy with Holy Spirit. They aren’t in tune to the truth of the Bible and they don’t have ALL their armor on. We have an assignment- but our assignment has issues. Jesus didn’t let the issues stop him. Jesus did what His Father told him to do Jesus preached, He healed. When God tells us to talk to somebody, minister to somebody, be a mentor to somebody and that person has issues many of us might stop, think, and tell God “I don’t think so”. You may or may not know what’s going on with them but you can’t let THEIR issue stop you. Jesus told YOU to do it and there is a reason. Jesus, I’m sure was tired and sometimes didn’t want to keep doing what his Father told him to do; which was to preach and heal, make disciples and love, but He did it anyway. I’m sure there were days when He didn’t want to go walking through the city because he knew someone would need something from him, BUT He did it anyway, because he had an assignment that He had to walk it out. Final thoughts: We need to go back to the basics, loving others and making disciples. We need Holy Spirit in our churches. We need to stick to the truth and not conform to this world. We need to follow our assignment ALL the way through no matter the issues. I am going to leave you with this statement! In a broken world, are we really surprised the world is acting like the world?
The Tabernacle as a Picture of Christ: Part 1 – The Outer Court
The Tabernacle and all that was in it is a beautiful picture of Christ. Each piece of the Tabernacle represents a truth about our Messiah.