Obedience, Part 2
Postponed Obedience
I believe that our motivation to obey God depends on our trust in Him. We are not going to be very motivated to do anything that will cost us what we think is important to make us happy … unless we trust them. It doesn’t matter if a person or God asks us.
My trust is anchored in the deep-rooted belief that He loves me and what He asks of me is for my highest good. Most of us who are serious about our relationship and walk with Jesus won’t argue over what we know God may ask us. Our struggle is not found in a desire to be disobedient but in our “postponed obedience.”
Postponed obedience is when we say, “I agree with what God says. I want to do that. But not right now.” We decide we will do it, but that we’ll get all of the important tasks done first.
• Let me get the business built first.
• I need to get the kids out of school.
• I should look after my health first.
• I need to save more for my retirement fund then I can do what God said.
You see, these are not bad or evil things. They are all good, reasonable, logical motives to follow. The only problem is that they follow the Jesus of Culture more than the Jesus of Scripture.
When we postpone our obedience, several things can happen.
First and foremost, we don’t get to experience God’s presence as deeply if we don’t take the “risk of faith.” God never asks us to do something that He doesn’t intend to get involved in. He is inviting us to experience Him in a real way—for a specific agenda that He intends to accomplish through us.
Secondly, if we don’t obey His leading, He will simply get someone else to do it. We will “miss it.” Remember Esther when she was asked to risk her life in going to the king? Her uncle, said, “Esther, you’ve got to go in to the king. But if you don’t, God will raise up someone else.”
But it was Esther’s time. She was asked to risk her life … or risk missing out on God’s agenda for her. What if she had said: “I don’t feel like going to the king. Today is my spa day”? There would be no book of Esther!
Just like Esther could have, we can always find good and reasonable alternatives to God’s call. But we need to listen to the writer of Hebrews …
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. —Hebrews 4:7b
Do not postpone what needs to be done today.
Obedience, Part 1
The Fight of the Heart
Usually those who read these meditations are Christians—engaged in the “fight of their hearts” to be the people God has called them to be. How do I know, as a Christian, if I am growing and maturing in my walk with Christ Jesus?
We should all know that the Christian’s life should always be moving forward—always growing, never static. Our Father is constantly revealing truth to us. We should be trying to download it into our lives. Our Father does not bless knowledge … only obedience.
I believe the lack of the personal experience of Christ in Christians today can only be explained because of our lack of obedience. When God gives us His truth, if we don’t intentionally act upon it daily, He takes it away. This is what Jesus calls “dead faith.”
Our disobedience limits us from receiving all that God wants for us and from experiencing Him. When our Father gives us light, He asks us to step into His light where He meets us with His presence.
Jesus asks us to trust Him with our lives daily … not for us to think it through and see if we have a better option than Him.
I passionately believe that the world is filled with followers of Jesus who not only walk but run to “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” on a daily basis. Quite frankly, those are the people I want to “run” with because they provoke me with their non-negotiable love for Christ. They delight in obeying Him … no matter what.
I tell my friends: “My biggest fight on a daily basis is with my own heart.” All Christians are called to engage in this “fight of the heart.” During this fight we are pulled in many directions and sent messages contrary to God’s ways.
There is no state of perfection for any Christian. Nobody ever arrives. Our depravity is too real, and we’ll only be free of it in heaven. But this fight of faith, men and women, is worth fighting.
When we choose Jesus’ ways, the Holy Spirit is free to get involved with our experience of Christ’s abiding presence. His power is always there. His presence is to be experienced. His commands are to be acted upon.
Obedience is never to be feared. When God commands us to move forward in His ways, His joy meets us when we say, “Yes, Lord.”
I challenge all of us to write down one thing that we will do in Jesus’ name that we have never done before. If we make our lives about His glory, it will be filled with His blessings.
The Christian’s biggest enemy is for the good we do to keep us focused on ourselves. This keeps us from the ultimate blessing—the heart that says, “Yes, Lord, have Your pleasure with me.”
Next week, we’ll look at another of our greatest enemies: postponed obedience.
The Faith of a Child
During a short-term mission trip, a group of women visited a remote Indian village to minister to children. As they sang songs, danced the “chicken dance,” and told stories from the Bible, many children gathered to participate
For most of the children, this would be the first time they visited a church or even heard about Jesus. And some of the children’s lives would be changed forever by the love of God.
A child from the village later told our national partner how her life was changed by their visit …
I have a Hindu family. My father and mother are strong idol worshippers. They don’t like Jesus.
When some sisters from America visited a church in my village, I went to see them. The used the colored beads to tell me about how God loves me. They told me about Jesus. That day I accepted Jesus.
The words told by the American sisters are still ringing in my mind. I am attending the church for Sunday school regularly. My parents don’t like it. Please pray for me.
What started as a fun day at kids club resulted in lives forever being changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
An Obedient Prayer Answered
Joe, an East-West missionary, took time to pray that the Lord would connect him with a “person of peace” before challenging eager, new church planters to do the same.
As he sent the church planters out into the community to find their own person of peace, the Americans stayed behind to minimize problems for the nationals. Reluctantly, Joe stayed at the training center and wondered how God would answer his prayer that day.
Not long after, a man at the training center brought his old friend, Michael, and asked Joe to share the gospel with him. Michael was fearful of his neighbor’s magic. He was struggling with the decision to trust Christ as His Lord, but after an hour of discussion Michael knelt down and prayed to receive Christ.
Michael stood up and immediately asked to be baptized. Because of the frigid conditions, Joe had to find an indoor setting for this act of obedience. After searching, they found a bathtub, and there Michael was baptized.
Joe praised the Lord for answering his prayer and for an obedient, new brother in the faith.
God Works Through the Willing
Maly sat in a church planting training, soaking in every moment. She listened intently to every word. Not able to read or write, she had to take in everything as she heard it.
The second day of training, the East-West trainer told the story of Jesus and the woman at the well. Maly was moved because she realized that God could use anyone … even someone like her.
Knowing that God wanted to use her, Maly enthusiastically participated in that afternoon’s exercise—sharing the gospel in the nearby villages. The groundwork had been laid through prayer time in the villages the previous day. She prayed that God would work through her that day.
With her husband by her side, Maly went out to the village to share. She was invited into a house where many family members and relatives were present. She began telling them about Jesus and how he changed her life.
After telling her story, she began to tell His story … the story of how Jesus sacrificed for us all. When she finished, nine people trusted Christ.
Every time Maly follows up with those she met that day, she is reminded how God can use her—or anyone–to multiply His Kingdom!
Teaching Truth Without Fault
A respected monk in East Asia invited an East-West national partner to share the gospel in his monastery. Although hesitant at first, this national partner agreed … because any chance to share the gospel is worthwhile.
As he walked in, he realized that the night would be different than he originally thought. In the room before him sat fifty government officials—military insurgents, army officers, and the chairman of the International Buddhist Association among others.
The national partner’s wife approached him and said, “Take care every word you are going to speak.”
They knew that the officials were planning to take him to jail after he preached, but he did not fear the hostile conditions because God was with them. In that moment, he committed that night to the Lord. His wife also prayed for him, “Lord, we are like Daniel who was in the Lion’s Den. Save us.”
This national partner stood up and began to preach the gospel clearly for over an hour. When he finished, the officials began to argue with him and attack him verbally—attempting to find fault with him. He asked for another chance to speak, and he spoke again about heaven and Christ clearly. Their conversation lasted for five hours.
Despite their dissatisfaction, the officials could not find fault with him. They let our national partner and his wife leave freely.
As he left, he praised God for being able to share the gospel with his nation’s leaders and to return home safely having planted seeds in their hearts.
From Hopeless to Hope-filled
At a film festival in a Middle Eastern city, a 40-minute documentary sympathetically portrayed the “working” life of a young man named Patrick … addicted to heroin, living under a bridge.
He was filmed gathering bottles from the city’s streets, alleyways and garbage cans in order to support his habit. At one point, he looked into the camera—drug-dazed and shame-faced—and said that he believes only God can save him.
The audience is unconvinced, and the haunting film ends on a hopeless note. What the audience did not get to see, however, was the rest of the story:
Patrick, 43, came to the Middle East with his non-religious Jewish family from Holland when he was ten years old. He was kicked out of the house at age fourteen and soon began experimenting with drugs.
Remarkably, he graduated from a top culinary arts school and worked as a cook in prestigious restaurants. But he became increasingly addicted to drugs. His career and relationships eventually unraveled. He’d been living on the streets for seven years when an East-West missionary met him.
Patrick’s “home” was an old mattress in an abandoned storage building and his “backyard” was a litter-filled parking lot. His “neighbors” were fellow addicts, pushers, pimps and prostitutes.
One day Patrick reached a point of desperation and asked our missionary to help him. The missionary communicated with the director of a Messianic rehab center who agreed to take Patrick … conditionally. That was seven months ago.
In the early days, East-West’s missionary visited him daily, praying for him as he detoxed and reading to him from the Scriptures. In time, Patrick found the True source of strength: Jesus the Messiah. And our missionary found his first co-laborer in the gospel for his ministry.
Patrick’s film was recently shown at an international film contest event, and Patrick and our missionary attended the event together. At the end of the film, Patrick was invited up on stage to “share a few words.”
The audience was captivated by Patrick’s apparent physical transformation since the making of the film. And for the next few minutes Patrick stood before a rapt audience.
He began, “Let me tell you about the person that changed my life. He’s a Jewish man from Galilee …”
Hearing Comes By Faith
An East-West missionary and his group arrived at a small village for a medical clinic and a kids club.
During their clinic, a man named Daniel came. His hard heart was softened by the gospel, and he came to believe, as the missionary said, that God loved him. Now knowing Jesus as his Savior, he was hoping for a miracle for his son, Alex, who was deaf.
Alex’s face showed only despair. The East-West missionary and some members of his team prayed over Alex before the doctor came to see him. Once the doctor began testing him and asking him questions, a smile spread across the boy’s face … he was able to hear!
Alex and Daniel spent the rest of the day laughing and rejoicing in this life-changing miracle. Now, this village has a living reminder of the joy and hope found in God’s grace!
Gospel Sets Prisoners Free
After earning his degree from Al-Ándalus Seminary in Sevilla, Pedro prayed for direction in his ministry. He was answered by a yearning in his heart for the prisoners of his hometown in the Cadiz province of Spain.
Pedro responded to the Lord’s call by visiting the prison weekly to share the gospel.
He began by bringing several of his Bible training students with him to these meetings to help evangelize through entertainment. Using guitars, a sound box and the clapping of their hands, the students made Christian flamenco music.
The music was only the beginning. After a year, these weekly visits have sparked a movement in the prisons. There are now over 500 new believers and almost 50 new cellblock churches in the prison. As the gospel has spread, the prisoners desire to learn more about Jesus and to take His Word to their fellow prisoners and their families.
What started as a burning in Pedro’s heart has ignited a movement—setting prisoners free with the gospel!
Go Further
A small group of believers gathered in a Central Asian home for a teaching session on hearing God’s voice. During the teaching, Lila heard the call of the Holy Spirit to go to one of her sisters.
Determined to follow His voice, Lila got up. Not sure what to do or who to see, she ventured to one sister’s home when the Holy Spirit said to her, “No, not this one. Go further.”
Still determined to follow the call of the Spirit, she made her way to another sister’s house.
Upon arrival, Lila went into the house and her sister, Nazreen, immediately began to share her troubles. While Lila listened and offered advice from God’s Word, a neighbor, Mina, came into the house. She heard some of the conversation and was intrigued.
Mina immediately opened up and began to ask questions. Soon Lila and Mina were engaged in a lively conversation about the gospel. As the conversation continued, the truth of the gospel message became evident to Mina and she repented and accepted Christ as her Savior.
Lila praised the Lord for His leading and rejoiced because she now has a new “sister” in her eternal family.
