27 August 2019

OBEDIENCE & SURRENDER

By John Ollis

As parents we know from frustrating experience how our children develop an enquiring mind, and can ask incessant questions. Sadly the enquiring “WHY” of a child can become the rebellious ‘WHY” of a teenager. In our sinful nature we develop an attitude against authority, and want to do OUR OWN THING, often to our detriment.

OBEDIENCE & SURRENDER are essential key truths in the Believer’s life. Paul reminds in Rom. 12:1NLT And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God (continually) because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. We must learn to continually surrender our lives to the Lord, we need a constant revelation that the Christian life will only work if we let Jesus live His life out through us.

I am reminded of Mary (the mother of Jesus) telling the servants at the wedding at Cana in John 2:5 PASSION Bible Mary then went to the servants and told them, “Whatever Jesus tells you, MAKE SURE YOU DO IT”. There will be times like a child we won’t understand why, or like a teenager we don’t want to do it, but like the NIKE slogan, we should “JUST DO IT.”

What will help us to obey even when we don’t understand?/ WE MUST FALL IN LOVE WITH JESUS (MORE & MORE) in John 14:23 AMP N.T. we read Jesus answered, If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.

The PASSION Bible says Jesus replied, “Loving me EMPOWERS YOU TO OBEY MY WORD. And my Father will love you so deeply that we will come to you and make you our dwelling place. May we experience this empowering more and more.

Our inheritance (available to us now) as a N.T. Believer is overwhelmingly awesome, we are not capable of loving God in our own strength so He puts His love in us when we are born again Rom. 5:5 NLT He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

REMEMBER: We have not because we ask not James 4:2 NKJV. so let us ask and let God more and more pour His love into our hearts.

I want to share a verse with you, and I would encourage you to read it and read it, (let it consume you) and meditate upon it, until it becomes a personal Rhema word to you, and daily make these words the expression of your heart before the Lord. Joshua 5:14 NLT At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR SERVANT TO DO?”

As we grow older, there is the temptation to just settle down and even become STINKINGLY RELIGIOUS, and appear outwardly that we are walking in obedience and surrender to the Lord, but the reality is far from the truth. God speaking through the Prophet Samuel rebuked His people, they were sacrificing animals to God, but doing it in the wrong way, God said in 1 Sam. 15:22 NKJV Behold, to OBEY is better than sacrifice,

I am still painfully learning this truth, (after almost 68 years as a Christian) so as I write this blog today, I am speaking to my own heart as well. May I be so filled with the LOVE OF GOD so I can love Him and obey Him, may I have the attitude of Joshua and simply ask, “What do you want your servant to do, and the moment I feel like “settling down” get on my face and repent and reaffirm HE IS THE PRESIDENT OF MY LIFE Amen.