Trust and Obey -- The Secret Power of Obedience!

Obedience is key to the Christian life.  If you are to be his diciple, learn to obey Him,

John chapter fourteen ,beginning at verse fifteen, says: Jesus said if ye love me keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may abide with your forever, even the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you, I will not leave you comfortless.


Jesus is speaking of the importance of obedience, of living for Him since He died for you. So many people are looking for the secret of the Christian life where is it found? Well, I believe in the passage is actually one of the most incisive statements to help us to understand how to live victoriously of any passage in all of the Bible.

As the great old hymns says, "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."

So many folks give this idea very little thought at all!  Too many folks are openly disobedient. Too many churches are filled with disobedient people.

Do you know why many  people are not happy in their faith? They're saved bur they're enduring it rather than enjoying it. They're simply not being obedient Now, make no doubt about it -- there is no other way to be happy in Jesus us but to trust and obey.

Now, obedience is something we don't hear much about. We preach so much on salvation by grace through faith and we tell people that salvation is a gift of God, that sometimes if we talk about obedience people think we're legalist but I would have to agree with Martin Luther who said we're not saved by faith and works, but we are saved by a faith that works and James said that faith without works is. dead.;  The Bible states that there are so many things that hinge on our obedience.

Now there are three things I want you to learn tonight in this passage of scripture that we have before us. First of all, I want you to notice the motive for obedience, why do you obey the Lord? Point number one, the love of Christ, a love for Christ is the motive for obedience. Look if you will in John fourteen, verse fifteen, Jesus said if you love me, keep my commandments. Well, do you love Him?  What are you doing to prove it?

Our Lord makes it very clear and very plain that if we love him we will keep his commandments. Look if you will please in verse twenty one, he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father and I will love.

The Burning Heart Habit of Well-Being

The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like and do what you'd rather not. -- Mark Twain

Most know that the Hebrew word shalom is understood around the world to mean "peace." However, "peace" is only one small part of the meaning. "Shalom" is used to both greet people and to bid them farewell, and it means much more than "peace, hello or goodbye"....

Hebrew words go beyond their spoken pronunciation. Each Hebrew word conveys feeling, intent and emotion. Shalom is more then just simply peace; it is a complete peace. It is a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, well being and harmony.

According to Strong's Concordance 7965 Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord. Shalom comes from the root verb shalom meaning to be complete, perfect and full. In modern Hebrew the obviously related word Shelem means to pay for, and Shulam means to be fully paid.

Of course, there is only one way to find TRUE shalom - and that is in the Word of YHWH. Many search for fulfillment, happiness and contentment in material possessions, money, sex, entertainment, etc. But those things do nothing to fill "that little hole in our soul" that only GOD can fill! Those things only serve to distract and prevent us from finding true peace...the shalom that can only come from Him who created and put all things into place.

If you'll recall, Yeshua is called Sar shalom, Prince of Peace, which perfectly describes the ministry and personality of our Messiah (Isaiah 9:6).

In other words, the word shalom is a mighty blessing on several levels!

Proverbs 18:21 tells us there is life or death in the power of the tongue. Therefore, whenever you employ the word "shalom" you are speaking into someone's life all the wonderful things that shalom means!

The Great Aaronic Blessing -- Numbers 6:24-26: YHWH bless you and keep you. YHWH make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. YHWH lift up His face upon you and give you SHALOM. In the name of Yeshua haMashiyach SAR SHALOM - the Prince of Peace.

We grow in four areas of life -- MPSR: Mental, Physical, Social, Religious  -- as Jesus grew.

 

^{Luke 2:52} And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

 

    In REGARDS TO MENTAL WELL BEING – 1. Never stop learning.  Read.  Nourish your mind.  Keep mentally active.

Have conversations with other people – do not just be a couch potato.  Live your own life with a flourish – do not just watch someone else live their life.
Ask God for wisdom.  He granted wisdom to Solomon and he will grant wisdom to you.

IN REGARDS TO PHYSICAL WELL-BEING

1.            Watch what you eat. Get good nutrition, not empty calories.
2.            Exercise physically on a daily basis.
3.            Drink water more than anything else.
4.            Walk whenever you can.

 

IN REGARDS TO SOCIAL WELL BEING...
1. Connect with the people around you

 2. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbors, at home, work or in your local community

 3. Social relationships are critical to our wellbeing

 IN REGARDS TO SPIRITUAL WELL BEING...

1. Our relationships are critical as well

2. I.e., our relationship with God and other Christians

3. Jesus died to reconcile us to God and to one another - cf. 2Co 5:17-20

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin^[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Christ and the local church are the means by which we can connect to God - cf. He 10:19-25

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

[If we focus on establishing connections related to our spiritual well being, connections conducive to our mental well being will follow. 

Indeed, I would contend that if one focuses on applying these steps in regards to spiritual well being, mental well being will naturally follow.  I.e., active participation with the local church is more important than one might think when it comes to our individual and mutual well being...!

Devotion -- The First Habit of the Burning Heart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Written anonymously on the walls of a medieval castle were the following words:

You call me Master and Obey me not. You call me Light and See me not. You call me the Way and Walk me not. You call me Life and Desire me not. You call me Wise and Follow me not. You call me Fair and Love me me not. You call me Rich and Ask me not. You call me Eternal and Seek me not. You call me Gracious and Trust me not. If I condemn you, Blame me not.

These words could not be said about Stephen, for he was truly a deacon who was devoted to Jesus.  He is a great example of the devoted Christian.

A-Stephen was a Spirit-filled man:

Acts6:5-"....and they chose Stephen, a man full....of the Holy Spirit."

1)Because he was spirit-filled, they couldn’t resist him according to verse ten.

2)The secret of D.L. Moody was not in his education, nor his speech, nor his looks, nor his wealth but it was that he was a man full of the Holy Spirit.

B-Stephen was a Stable man:

Acts6:5-"....and they chose Stephen. a man full of faith."

1)He had a faith in that he believed something and and that something was the Lord Jesus Christ. He believed in Him so much that he was willing to die for Him.

2)Michael Faraday, the great scientist, was taken ill. When it became evident that the sickness that had fastened itself upon him would soon result in his death, a group of fellow scientists came to see him--not so much to talk about science as to talk about death. One of them said to him: "Mr. Faraday, what are your speculations about your future?" With evident surprise to them he replied: "Speculations! I have none. I am resting on certainties." Then he quoted II Tim. 1:12: "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."

C--Stephen was a Strong man:

Acts 6:8-"And Stephen, full of faith and powers, did great wonders and miracles among the people."

1)The divine power of God was upon him, not to exalt him but exalt Jesus. And it was to be used in bringing people to Jesus.

After accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, a person begins an amazing adventure with God, a lifelong process of transformation from new believer to fully devoted follower. The transformation is the result of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.  The transformation is also partly our responsibility (see Philippians 2:12-13). We must learn to identify the leading of the Holy Spirit and respond in obedience. It is only as we are filled with the Holy Spirit that we can follow Christ, surrender to His Lordship, be conformed to

His likeness, and become fully devoted followers.  I believe that learning to identify the leading of the Holy Spirit, yielding our will to His, and responding in obedience

requires discipline. Specifically, I  believe that four spiritual disciplines are essential to becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ. Therefore, I encourage and challenge every believer to practice these four disciplines:

• Grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ

• Connect in Biblical community

• Serve in your God-given ministry

• Share the message of Jesus Christ

As we develop and exercise these patterns in our daily lives, we experience both personal

fulfillment as well as fruitfulness for His kingdom! he four patterns of devotion are interconnected components of the growth process, not independent activities. They work together to prepare you to successfully navigate your spiritual journey, make wise decisions, and withstand the hardships along the way.  Let’s examine each The Bible declares without equivocation that Jesus rose from the dead and that He’s alive forevermore. Because Jesus is alive, He can enter into personal relationships with people.  When you accept Christ as your personal Savior, you enter into the most intimate type of relationship two people can have with one another. We become God’s adopted children, and God becomes our personal Heavenly Father.

John 1:12 tells us that to every person who believes in Jesus Christ, to them God gives the

right/authority to become children of God. Galatians 3:26 echoes this, “For you are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.”

Fully devoted followers exhibit healthy, growing and vibrant relationships with Christ. God

desires growth from every living thing He has created, whether it is a mustard seed or a

Christ-follower. The Apostle Peter put it this way, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of

our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” (2 Peter 3:18). And so it is our goal to help every person grow spiritually and move forward on his or her spiritual journey.

In order to have this type of intimate relationship with Christ, we must realize that such a

relationship is possible. There are enormous segments of Christianity where this truth is not

taught, encouraged or believed. But what God wants us to experience is to know Him,

understand His heart, walk with Him and talk with Him like your best friend each and every dayabout everything. We also have to hunger and thirst for such a relationship with God. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

We need to be growing in obedience, not just in knowledge.In I Samuel 15:22, we learn that “to obey is better than sacrifice,” and James 1:22 urges us to be doers of God’s Word and not merely hearers. Jesus adds, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching” (John 14:23).  Devotion is a powerful habit of the heart that burns for Jesus.