Tag Archives: obedience

March 4, 2013 · 7:52 AM

Jehovah Jireh

This week I’m going to do a little something different. I’m going to focus on a few names given to God in the Bible and what they mean to us. Some of them you may have heard of and others you may not have. The first one that I want to look at is the one that is probably the most popular: Jehovah Jireh. Every time I hear that name, my mind starts to play that old song we used to sing in church.

The lyrics say, “Jehovah Jireh. My provider. His grace is sufficient for thee. My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory. He will give His angels charge over thee. Jehovah Jireh careth for thee.” The song may be old, but the truth in it is everlasting. God will supply all your needs when we act in obedience to His voice.

The place in the Bible where this name for God comes from is Genesis 22:14. Abraham had been asked by God to sacrifice his son through whom the promise was to come through. I’m sure Abraham wondered about that. I know I would have. My thoughts would have been, “God, didn’t you promise that my descendants would outnumber the stars? Yet, now you are asking me to sacrifice the only way that is possible.”

If Abraham ever thought like that, you wouldn’t know it. He knew that if God could help he and his wife conceive miraculously in their old age, God could do above and beyond anything he could imagine. God had been true to His word so far, so why not trust Him this time? If you’re like me, your memory with God is short term. I forget all the things He has done for me and start to doubt.

Isaac was a little curious too. He asked his dad, “I see we have the wood and the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham, in faith, answered, “God will provide.” They kept walking all the way to the mountain that God showed him. He then set out the wood, tied Isaac up and placed him on the altar. As he lifted his knife to kill the son of promise, the angel of The Lord called out and stopped him. He then provided a ram for the sacrifice.

I think it’s interesting to note that Abraham kept walking to the mountain trusting God. Many times we sit and wait for God to provide before we are willing to step out in faith. Abraham traveled several days and had to build the altar before God provided what Abraham was trusting Him for. Our faith and trust in God’s ability to provide shouldn’t be passive. It should be proactive. We should continue to do what He called us to do and not sit still until He answers.

God is looking for obedience from us. He wants to provide for our needs, but we have to be in the place of His provision. The ram was caught by his horns at the top of the mountain, not at the base camp. Go where God has told you to go, do what God has told you to do and speak what God has told you to speak. It is in that place of action, that place of sheer faith and trust in God that He will provide for you. Jehovah Jireh, God will provide.

*Author’s note: I’m well aware of the ongoing discussion of Jehovah versus Yahweh. These posts are not intended to be a discussion ground for that debate, but rather to focus on who God is and what He promised to do.

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February 19, 2013 · 8:43 AM

Front Row Seats

Our church class was watching the video from the group study version of “Greater” by Steven Furtick when he said something that has had me thinking for a while now. He referenced Luke 5 where Jesus called Simon (Peter) to follow him. Jesus was walking on the shore of Galilee and the crowds were pressing in to hear Him speak. He looked over, saw a couple of boats and asked to borrow one. Peter rowed a little from land and Jesus spoke to the crowd.

Here’s what Steven asked that got me: “Why did Jesus ask for the boat? He didn’t need it. He later proved He could walk on water. He was looking for obedience.” I hope that sinks in for you like it has for me. Jesus performed many miracles in His ministry. He could have easily walked on water this day as He did later. Instead He chose to ask Peter for his boat.

Isn’t that like God? He doesn’t need our help or resources, but He chooses to give us opportunities to obey and to collaborate with Him. He doesn’t need what you and I have. After all, it’s His anyway. He simply is wanting to know if we recognize that and are willing to give back to Him what He’s given to us. Obedience is more important to Him than anything. The level of obedience we give Him is the level of greatness we can attain through Him.

Many of us wait for a sign or confirmation before we’re obedient. We often think we have to be doing amazing things for God before He uses us or asks something of us. In Luke 5, Peter had just finished fishing. He had emptied his boat and was cleaning his nets. That’s every day mundane stuff he was doing when Jesus approached him. He wasn’t looking for Jesus to come interrupt his day. He wasn’t praying and asking God to give Him something to do. He was cleaning his nets.

To you and me, that’s like sending emails, filing paperwork, submitting reports and things like that. God can enter your workspace, your everyday life, and ask you to be obedient. Letting Jesus use the boat was no big deal. He rowed out a little ways and dropped anchor. Because of his obedience though, he got a front row seat to a sermon from Jesus. He got to see the faces of the people Jesus was ministering to and healing. He got a glimpse of what life would be like if he obeyed what Jesus asked him to do next: come follow me.

You may not be looking for Jesus at work or in your every day life today. You may be doing your regular schedule of things to do on a day like today. If God comes in and asks for something from you, no matter how small, do it. He doesn’t need what you have to accomplish what He wants. He’s simply giving you the opportunity to partner with Him through obedience. Who knows what you’ll have a front row to. I bet it will be amazing!

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December 26, 2012 · 7:57 AM

Lessons From Joseph

I have always been intrigued with Joseph. In the story of Jesus’ birth, Mary is the one who always gets the attention. I’m not saying she shouldn’t. I’m saying that I think Joseph needs some attention too. Just so you know, I’m also the guy who doesn’t stand and look at the bride in a wedding either. When I hear the notes on the organ and all rise and turn to the back of the auditorium, I turn and face the front. I love the look on a guy’s face as his wife comes out of hiding and he sees her for the first time in her dress. I identify with him because I’ve been there. There’s no feeling like it.

Maybe that’s why I’m concerned with Joseph. As a guy, husband and father, I identify with him. Since I can identify with him, it makes me impressed with what he did. We know that Mary was highly favored among women, but I think Joseph must have been highly favored among men. It took someone special to do what he was asked to do which is to be an earthly father to the Messiah. It was on him to raise a baby into a boy, a boy into a teen and teen into a man.

You know what kind of a person Joseph is right away when you first read about him in Matthew 1. The first thing you know is that his genealogy places him in the tribe of Judah and in the royal family line of King David. The Bible lists out the 28 generations from Abraham to Joseph. God couldn’t just use anyone to be the father of Jesus, he had to be from that tribe and in that lineage according to prophecy. He also had to be devout, willing and obedient.

When Mary told Joseph that she was pregnant, he knew that he was not the father. His reaction impresses me. He decided he wouldn’t marry her, that he’d keep it quiet and let her go into hiding since that was a crime punishable by stoning. If it was me and my fiancé told me she was pregnant, I would have been the first one with a stone in my hand. Joseph wasn’t like that though. Even though he must have been hurt and obviously disbelieving in her story, he decided to show kindness.

God had sent an angel to speak to Mary about the baby, now He sent one to Joseph. Once the angel spoke to Joseph, he believed and kept Mary as his fiancé. Not only that, but he married her and then did not have marital relations with her until after Jesus was born. What?!? They were married for months before he consummated their wedding vows. That’s a stronger man than me.

What he does next is even more impressive. God woke him up in the middle of the night and told him to take his family and flee to Egypt. Without hesitation, they packed up and left. He had already been displaced from his home in Nazareth because of the census, now he had to flee his home in Bethlehem. Through two other dreams Joseph was obedient to what God said in order to protect Jesus. He was a true father to Jesus by putting His safety above his own.

I think there is a lot we can learn from Joseph. Although the Bible doesn’t give us much more than this about him, we can see that God chose the right man for the right job. I think He still chooses the right people to fulfill His purposes. Each of us has been called to do something in particular for Him. He’s needing us to be devout, willing and obedient as Joseph was. So what has He asked you to do? Are you being willing and obedient to do it while remaining devout to Him even when it doesn’t make sense?

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July 6, 2012 · 10:59 AM

The miracle of obedience

How often do we look at what we have and say, “I don’t have enough. I can’t give God any because I won’t have anything left over”? It could be your time, money or talents that you say that about. We look at what we have and see what we don’t have. God looks at what we have and sees the potential.

His ways are not our ways and His perspective is a lot different too. He can take what’s broken in your life and fix it. He can take your little bit of talent and magnify it. He can take even what little money you may have and make it stretch. It all depends on your obedience though. Obedience is where miracles begin.

In I Kings 17, God illustrates this principle of obedience yielding miracles.

1. Give what you have to God first

In this story, a widow was gathering sticks to prepare the last bit of food she had for herself and her son. Elijah, the prophet of God, walked up and told her that he was hungry and that she should use what she had to prepare a meal for him first. She could then use what was leftover to prepare food for herself.

If we are honest, most of us wouldn’t have given up our last meal to a stranger. That is where we miss our blessings though. Giving up what little we have to God first opens the windows of blessing on our lives. If God asks for it, trust Him to provide a way. Scripture is full of examples of this principle.

2. Take care of yourself too

God did not leave her hungry. In the very beginning of the conversation, she was told that she would have enough to prepare for herself after. Even though she knew that there wasn’t enough, she trusted any way. She was able to feed herself and her son with that little bit until the drought ended.

We think that God is taking everything when He asks for the little we have, but in reality, He will not leave you without. He leaves enough to take care of yourself too. On the first time I decided to regularly give God 10% of my income, I sat down and did a budget. After paying Him and all my bills, I had $4.30 left over. I gave my tithe anyway. I didn’t go hungry even though I didn’t get paid for 2 weeks. God provided.

3. God will refill your supply

God refilled her oil and flour until the drought ended just as He promised. God cannot fail or go back on what He has promised. He will always refill your supply if you will trust Him with it. It’s the letting go that is hard for us. We live in a world of tangible things and God’s miracles are not always immediately tangible.

I’ve heard it said many times that if God can get it through you, He will get it to you. The reason that most of us don’t see miracles like that is because He can’t get things through us. We forget that what we have (time, money or talent) is not ours. We are just stewards. He wants to do more through you, but it takes you letting go in faith.

What has God asked you to give up? What do you have that you feel is too little to give Him? God doesn’t look at the amount you give Him. He looks at the percentage of what you give Him in comparison to what you have. Remember the widow with the two pennies? Don’t be afraid to let go when He asks. He will perform miracles through your obedience.

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June 26, 2012 · 7:47 AM

Finding Rest

Are you exhausted mentally, physically or spiritually? It’s easy to get that way. We have so much going on in our lives today that exhaustion becomes the norm for our lives. We have work, school, relationships, activities and families that require our attention 24/7. It seems we can never escape the stresses we allow ourselves to acquire.

When we finally break free from everything, our mind continues to try to solve problems, plan what’s coming next or think through our next steps. We never get a break and our bodies, minds, spirit and relationships suffer for it. That is a high price to pay for doing what we do.

God wants you to rest and recharge. He understands the pressures of this life. He set the example Himself for us by resting on the 7th day. There are some things found in scripture to help us find that rest that recharges us.

1. Hear His voice

If you are going to allow Him to lead you, you must first be able to hear His voice. Jesus often referred to himself as a shepherd and to us as sheep. He said that His sheep know His voice. That means that we need to be able to quiet all the voices and thoughts that are fighting for our attention and to listen for Him.

Psalm 95:7 says we are the flock under His care. If only we would listen to His voice. We have that ability to hear him, but we don’t make the availability. That is where we fail. Stop today to listen for his voice. He’s calling out to you to take you to a place of rest.

2. Obey His voice

Once we hear His voice, we must then obey it. It’s a two part process. We often hear God speaking to us, but we choose not to obey it because we either don’t like where He is telling us to go or we don’t think we have time to do what He is asking. We allow our minds to overrule what we heard from Him and that keeps us from the rest He promises.

Hebrews 4 talks about how the disobedience of the Israelites kept them from that rest after they left Egypt. They did not obey and did not find rest. God renews that promise of rest to us, but only if we obey His voice. That promise is contingent on us following through on our part.

3. Let Him lead you to it

In one the most quoted chapters of the Bible we find a scripture we pass over. Psalm 23:2 says that He lets me rest in peaceful meadows and He leads me beside peaceful streams. God wants to lead you to those places. He wants to be the one who takes you there. You cannot find fulfilled rest on your own.

We try to find that place through meditation, exercise or getting away. We often fail though at trying to find that rest, but it eludes us. You can get there if you allow Him to have that control to take you to those peaceful streams and quiet meadows. His desire is for you to find that rest.

If you find yourself in need of rest today, I encourage you to stop and listen to his voice. Once you have heard His voice, obey it and allow Him to lead you to that place of rest in your life. Without that rest, you will burn out and sacrifice things in your life that you hold dear. What will you do today to find that place of rest you desperately need?

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