Obedience

If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).

Obedience is how we show our love for the Lord. It's what He requires of us - not to earn a special standing, rewards, favor, or blessings but from a willing heart because we love and want to honor Him. It comes from a trust in His goodness and knowing that He wants only the best for us. It comes from a close, personal relationship that supports and sustains us in joy and peace. The better we know Him, the more we will want to obey. As Andrew Murray says of prayer in The School of Obedience, "It is there that the presence and fellowship can be secured that make obedience possible."

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous (1 John 5:3).

Some of the lies Satan tells believers are that God's standards are too high, and they are too frail and human to be obedient. He causes us to equate obedience with sinlessness. But we can make the choice to be obedient and follow through with the help of our Savior and the Holy Spirit. I know this because the Bible says it. Jesus would not have told us to obey if it couldn't be done. As Murray tells us, "We must have faith that obedience is possible."

And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us  (1 John 3:24).

We must know that, with the Lord's help, anything is possible. Surrendering ourselves to Him helps. By making him truly the Lord of our lives, we can become truly obedient. Grace steps in for what we cannot do. The closer we become in intimate fellowship, the more we'll want to please Him, and that means obeying. A good place to begin is by loving God and others the way Jesus commanded. This will right our world, clear our vision, and cause obedience.

And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?  (Luke 6:46).

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