Tag Archives: Obedience

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Just Enough

Receiving what we need

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“The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through Elijah.”  1 Kings 17:16

The passage above is from the story of Elijah and the widow in Zarephath.  God sent Elijah to this particular widow for provision during a drought.  When he asked for bread, she replied that she only had enough oil and flour to make bread for her and her son one last time and then they expected to die.  Elijah asked her to feed him first promising that her provisions would not be exhausted.  She obeyed and her meager provisions lasted until the rain returned.  (You can read the whole story here. (www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+17%3A7-16&version=NASB)

I think of this story often as it has been associated in my mind with anything that is running out.  About the time I’m tempted to throw out the shampoo bottle or tube of tooth paste that has very little left, I think of this story.  More times than not when I’ve resisted that urge, the bottle, tube or whatever has lasted much longer than I expected.  Case in point, the hair gel that I am currently using has lasted three weeks longer than anticipated.   I trust that the Holy Spirit has made this connection in my mind to remind me that I am dependent on God for all things and that He will supply my needs.  It is subtle but effective.  At times God provides in great way, but most often He provides just enough at just the right time in a subtle fashion.

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Problematic Assumptions

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“But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.   When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, ‘Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.’ However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.   But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.”  Acts 28:3-6

My wife and I were recently on vacation and decided to stop for dessert after while walking back to our hotel from a craft fair.  The dinner rush had passed, but there were still a few stragglers entering the restaurant for a meal.   After being seated, we waited an unusually long time without being acknowledged by a server…long enough that the couple in the next booth who had been seated after us had already received their drinks.  Slightly irritated at the lack of service, I suggested that if we weren’t acknowledged in the next five minutes, we should just go back to the hotel.  Our waitress finally showed up just before we were ready to leave and seemed less than enthusiastic about serving us.  However, she apologized and explained that a tourist had come out of the ladies’ room and hit our server’s nose with her elbow causing intense pain.  What we had assumed to be poor service was in actuality something entirely different.  Having heard the explanation, our demeanor quickly changed from frustration to concern.  That’s the problem with assumptions, just because we have a little information, doesn’t mean that we know the truth of the matter.

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Forty Year Stretch

Marriage, Commitment, Love and God

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“Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the marriage bed is to be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge.  Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What will man do to me?’  Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”    Hebrews 13:4-7 

This past weekend Marie and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary.  While I would like to say that it was an entirely blissful 40 years, that would not be a true statement for two reasons.  We are both fallible humans still in the process of sanctification and there have been trials that have tested our faith in each other and our God.  However, what I am able to declare as true is that those 40 years have been blessed and I would, therefore, like to share a bit of our walk with you.

If you read from the beginning of Hebrews 13, you will see that Paul is asserting a list of essential behaviors for the body of Christ; they are in essence keys to living well.  Honoring marriage is just one of them.  However, if you look beyond the issues themselves, you see a few common denominators that allow for success in these areas. 

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Animal Instincts and Obedience School

Learning Submission

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“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Philippians 2:5-8

Two years ago we put down what we thought would be our last pet.  We had decided that we couldn’t take having to say goodbye to another beloved dog; further, the freedom the lack of pets would afford seemed beneficial.  That plan began to erode when our younger daughter’s family rescued a shih tzu last fall.  I liked the dog so much that our grandsons regularly reminded me that Leo was their dog and he had to go home with them.  As a result we adopted Tiffany in December.  She is mostly a sweet and somewhat timid dog, but as she is part terrier, she has an aggressive side as well.  In fact, her outbursts of aggression are the primary reason that she ended up back at the humane society after roughly seven months with another couple.  While she has historically been fine with all others, she has a tendency to snarl at her owners when she doesn’t want to be disturbed.  This is her greatest weakness and the ultimate manifestation of her animal instincts.  The difference in her owners is that the first family quickly gave up, but we have enrolled her in obedience school and are working with her to make her a good companion.  The goal is to teach her to submit to us in all ways for her safety and well-being as well as to provide more peaceful lifestyle for us all.   While none of us likes to be compared to an animal, the fact remains that as Christians we are all like Tiffany in varying degrees.  We have this sinful nature that urges us to follow our “animal instincts” rather than to humbly submit to God.  Left unchecked, it separates us from God.  Consequently, the process of sanctification is in reality obedience school in which we learn to give up control and submit to our Savior, our Master, our Lord and our God.

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Enduring Love

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We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.  1 John 4:16-17

We all like to be reminded that we are loved…especially by those who are dear to us.  My wife was out of town this weekend and I wasn’t feeling the greatest on several levels.  At one point, I considered staying home from church on Sunday morning.  However, realizing that it was not a wise choice in that moment and that there are others who would love to attend a worship service, but are unable, I rose to the occasion and went.  During the praise time, the worship team led us in “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”.  For various reasons, I desperately needed to hear those words.

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Pure Delight

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“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  Psalm 40:8

Sunday morning I was reading Psalm 40 and verse eight jumped out at me.  It says:  “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  I had to ask myself if doing God’s will was truly my delight or if I have allowed distractions to keep me from true joy.  Not only that, but the word delight has been on my mind since then.  It’s not a word that I hear a lot these days.  When I looked up the definition, the definitions of both the verb and the known had a modifier.  It doesn’t mean to please or pleasure, but it said “to please greatly” or “great pleasure”.  Merriam-Webster adds that an archaic definition is “the power of affording pleasure”.

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Green With Envy

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“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”  James 3:14-16

For the first few years of our marriage, my wife and I lived on Lookout Mountain.  I loved the view that the mountain provided and the drive off of it was always beautiful.  When storms rolled in, they might be above you, below you or surrounding you.  The occasional snow storm added winter beauty, but ice storms made the mountain sparkle.  My absolute favorite was the fog.  I have never figured out the attraction, but I always loved it when the fog rolled in.  Since we “lived in the clouds” it was rather frequent.  However, one of the down sides of living there was the way it hampered contentment. 

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Looking Beyond Our Own Interests

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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:3-4

I love our church body, our pastors and staff.  There is a genuine desire to faithfully teach the word of God and to encourage godly living.   That said, I do find holiday services to be a bit frustrating.  As a Christian, I come to church to meet God through worship and instruction and feel short changed when a significant portion of the service is spent on special numbers by the choir, solos, and dramatic performances.  I prefer to interact with God rather be entertained.  This past Sunday I was really struggling with this as we celebrated Easter.  Thankfully, God did not allow me to wallow long before He started to convict me to look at the broader picture. 

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Savior And Lord

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Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.  It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.  Colossians 3:23-24

Ever since I was a child, I have hated conflict of any kind.  Even though I know that it is not real, conflict in a movie or TV drama can cause me to pace or stress eat.  Even a useful debate causes stress.  That does not mean that I do not engage when I perceive the need, but even when I am firm in my conviction, I do not enjoy the process.  However, there are two conflicts in which I engage on a daily basis.  The first battlefield is my health.  While I do my best to appease my health issues and mitigate my symptoms, there are times when they interfere with my life on some level or severely hamper my ability to function for a period of time.  When I find I can’t win the battle, I am forced to retreat and let the symptoms run their course allowing Christ’s grace to be sufficient.  As godly as that may sound it’s not easily achieved because the other war that I’m fighting is my nature to sin. 

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The Art of Sacrifice

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“But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.  For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,  who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”   1 Peter 2:20-25

This past weekend I served at a Christian event.  I knew that I would need to give up some of the normal comforts of life, that I would need to push my body beyond what I would consider a wise pace for my health concerns and  that my diet would also be compromised.  However, I was not prepared for what I would consider unnecessary risks for myself and others due to disregard and lack of effort.  I’m not talking about malicious acts by evil people, but rather inadvertent decisions and actions by genuine godly people whom I have come to appreciate over the last few days.  The perceived lack of safety put me in a mode of questioning my decision to serve, counting down the hours until I could leave and started a running discussion in my head regarding what is “reasonable sacrifice”.  Thankfully, God quickly took me to the example of Christ which caused my issues to pale in comparison and allowed me to serve to the best of my ability and develop new friendships.

With respect to sacrifice, consider the following elements: preparation, opportunity, people, sacrifice, and reward.

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