Which came first? The obeying or the feeling like I want to obey?

I have been struggling lately with the whole idea of obedience.  In an ideal world, I should appreciate what God has done for me so much that I cannot help but want to live a life worthy of my appreciation.  We don't live in an ideal world. I live in a world that pushes me intentionally away from appreciation of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.  Whether this push comes from within me or from outside forces, the constant is always to push away from appreciation and towards created things.  When the prophet Nathan confronted David with the sin of murder and adultery, God said "Why have you despised me?". 

To add to that, we live in a culture that tells us that if we don't feel like doing it, don't.  Instant gratification is the ultimate goal and is celebrated.  In fact if you tell someone that they  cannot be instantly gratified, they feel that their rights are being imposed upon and you are discriminating against them. 

So how does this fit into obedience?  This again is from Rosario Butterfield as she reflected on her experience leaving the LGBT community that she had been part of for many years and submitting to God and her local church.

"I learned that we must obey in faith before we feel better or different.

At this time, though, obeying in faith, to me, felt like throwing myself off a cliff.

Faith that endures is heroic, not sentimental."

 

 

To me the word obedience has a tone of doing something even when we don't feel like it.  I find that in my life if God is pursuing me and drawing me closer to him, He is digging into the deep parts of my heart that will require me to obey..... in faith.

Good Teachers

I have lately been reading the book "The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert" by Rosario Butterfield.  It is a story of her life as she went from a place of unbelief in Jesus Christ and His saving grace to a place of belief.  Her story is an important one to consider because she was a lesbian activist and through the work of the Holy Spirit and the willingness of a 70 year old pastor couple to reach out to her, she became a believer in Jesus Christ as her personal savior.  Over the next few days I will be pulling some quotes from her book that I have found important and useful for living in the culture that we are in. This following quote resonated with me as a teacher and communicator.

 

"Good teachers make it possible for people to change their positions without shame."

 

 

She was talking about Ken who was the pastor who reached out to her.  He talked to her and formed a relationship with her that allowed her to question her own firmly entrenched beliefs without condemning her.  As I prepare for leading my church through the steps of making church membership a real and vital part of our lives, I need to remember that just swinging the two by four of truth without the gentleness of grace, may work with some but will also cause others to outright reject what I am saying.  So the question that I am asking myself today is, how can I communicate in a way that allows people to really look at their lives and question how they are living without them getting their backs up and just rejecting everything that I have to say.

 

I think the word is challenge.  How can I challenge them to see things differently?  When I am challenged, what does that begin with?

 

Scripture challenges.....

Real-ness challenges....

Vision challenges.....

Authenticity challenges....

 

Therefore I am committed to honestly communicate the truth of scripture in a way that shows people what their lives could be like when they fully submit to God in every facet of their lives.

 

What is Your Filter?

Everything we take in through our senses enters through filters. The point of a filter is that it allows some things to go through and keeps some things from going through.

We filter many things in our lives  A good example of this is hearing your name being said in a crowded noisy room.  Your mind is filtering out all of the unnecesecary noise but when you hear your name your brain immediately picks it up.

The filters in our lives come from various origins.  What are the filters that we use to interpret what is going on around us?

Worldview
Traumatic experiences
Significant Events
Desires
Interests
Passions
Survival

The "SNATCH" Factor!

The conversation goes like this:

Sally sure got her back up quick.  All I had said was "I am worried about that Dan.  By the decisions that he is making, it does not seem that he is taking his relationship with God seriously.  I am worried about him."

Sally replied, "Oh?  What is going on?"

"Well," I replied, "He just left his wife and has moved out of the house."

"That doesn't sound good.  Though to tell you the truth, they weren't that compatible anyway."

"That may be, but he made a commitment before God to be committed to her and he seems to be throwing that out the window.  It is almost like he does not understand how Holy God is and how he needs to be striving for holiness.  I wonder sometimes if he understands any of the biblical teaching he has had all these years."

"It's not that serious is it?  I mean it's not like he is not a Christian."
 
"His actions are sure making me wonder..."
 
"Seriously?"  She exclaimed " Who are you to say if a person is going to heaven or not?  What makes you so important that you can say that?!  Isn't there a verse in the Bible that says the devil can not snatch us out of His hand?"

So now what do you say to that?

My first response usually happens in my head because I don't like confrontation.  But if I had an answer, what would it be?

1. Never read a verse.  As in only one verse.  What is the context?
2. What about my heart?  Am I willing to let God decide what the verse means or are my idols and desires getting in the way?

Let's check it out.

John 10:22-30

²² At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴ So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me,^[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

When I look at this I see a theme that jumps out at me.  It seems evident that there is a difference between a person who follows and a person who does not follow.  Verse 27 is the key verse for understanding verse 28.  Some questions come to mind. 

• What does "hear my voice" mean?
• What does it mean for Jesus to "know" them?
• What does "follow" look like?
• Which comes first, following or believing?

Also:

• What about Judas?  From what I can see, he was snatched.  Hmmm......

Just sayin.....

Searching for the Value of Prayer.

Luke 18:1 (NIV)

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.'“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'”  And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

This was in interesting parable.  The last question seems to indicate that faith and prayer are somehow tied together.  Is prayer an indicator of faith?

Now to the problems!

Problem:  I am not praying regularly
Why?  I just decide to do something else.
Why?  I just don't feel like it.
Why?  It is not that important.
Why?  I do not see the value in it.

Problem restated:  I don't place enough value in prayer to want to spend time doing it.
Solution:  Come to an understanding that praying has enough value to compel me to spend more time in prayer with Him.
Steps: 

• Ask God for a changed heart through the process.
• Find out why other people value prayer.
• Read the Bible to find out if prayer is something to be valued.
• Decide if prayer has value enough to spend more time in prayer with Him.

How do I get from HERE to THERE?

When I want to move from where I am (the problem) to where I should be (the solution), I need to decide what the specific steps (goals) will be along the way.
Once I have identified those steps I need to set specific goals to reach those steps.  I prefer to use the SMART Goal method of setting goals.

What is a SMART Goal you ask?