SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1148

“Obedience”

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. – John 14:23

Obedience to God in our daily walk in this life is not always easy. Every time I go my own way, say something I should not say, or do something I should not do – never mind the thoughts I entertain that I know are wrong – I fail to love my Lord and my God.

Our obedience to God is caught up in a circle of Love that begins with and ends with God.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

The circle begins with God loving us when we were as yet unlovable, steeped in sin and disobedience. He loved us enough to die for us in the Person of Jesus Christ that through faith in Him our sins can be forgiven and we can have eternal life with Him. Even the faith we need to believe in Jesus originates as a gift of God and not by our own doing.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

The circle continues through our repenting and accepting the free gift of salvation through Jesus. It is then that we receive the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit giving us a new heart of love and obedience to God.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. – Ezekiel 36:26-27

The circle is completed with our love for God because of His love for us.

We love because he first loved us…By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. – – 1 John 4:19, 5:2-3

Yet we struggle. The war remains as long as we are in this fallen fleshly body.

The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak…For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members  Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! – Matthew 26:41 – Romans 7:15, 21-25

Lord, give me a heart of obedient stewardship: stewardship of my spirit, my mind, my body, my resources, finances and material goods, my family, my work and my relationships. May my love for You be greater than the desires and lusts of my flesh. May I hear and obey the leading of Your Holy Spirit directing my path to the path of love and obedience to You.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. – Isaiah 30:21