OBEY

Obedience is the act of obeying. Obedience is what our parents struggle to teach us second only to love. As parents, we all want our children to value us first, and then obey us for their safety. We all know that if a child loves you he will do as you tell them to do. Your child will keep your commandments.
Jesus said:

Jn 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Jesus expects us to be obedient to Him, as a child should obey their father. In my recent topics of Learn, Believe, and Trust, I discussed what faith is, what makes up faith, and how to build your faith. As you read this topic, I will tell you how to prove your faith in Jesus. 

Our Gospel of the Kingdom is an action-oriented gospel. In order to prove your gospel to yourself and to Jesus, you have to put your faith into action. This requires obedience to the Lord’s commandments and surrendering your will to God’s will. 

Our natural inclination is to rebel against the Lord’s commands, just as our children do when they first test our commands, given for their safety. Telling a child "no" for the first time, without any knowledge of the consequences of what the command “no” may bring, the child will continue with his behavior. As a new child of God, we must be learning that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God should be our first priority to building our Faith. When we do not have a foundation of the commands of God, we will continue in our natural fleshly behavior, just as children will continue to act unchecked. We have to learn the “yes and no” commands our Savior has given us, as our children learn to follow our commands, before we can have true faith.

Once we learn the commands, the first step in proving your faith is to believe in the commands of Jesus Christ. We must surrender our thoughts to the thoughts or commandments of God in all things, denying ourselves to His will and not our own. We must take His word into our hearts and believe that the Lord rewards those who seek Him. We must please God!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

You must have faith in what you believe. You must be confident that Jesus will be faithful and true to everything to which He has committed. You must have a firm belief that God tends to your needs as a father tends to his child. You must put your hope and your expectations in the hands of God. You can deny your doubts and fears, expecting without pretense that God will deliver and fulfill everything He promised. Then deny your imagination of defeat and proclaim your victory in Christ Jesus. 

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Obedience proves your love for Christ. Obedience is the measure of your walk with the Lord. Obedience is the bottom line for perfection in Christ. It is only through obedience that you can become exactly like the Lord in your walk with Him. When Jesus prayed for His disciples and for us in the future He prayed that we would be “made perfect” in one with Him and God. God must have a plan for us, then collect the materials, and finally construct us. We must be open to being put together by Him, accepting his ideas for us, and understanding his agenda. This is accomplished through Jesus Christ. God will make us complete. We must obey God’s guidelines or His "commandments" in order to attain the fullness and stature of Christ. God judges us equally with Christ. Christ is our measure. If we do not meet the qualifications of Christ, we have disobeyed God's will. Man’s first sin, where man fell into the grasp of death, was disobedience.

John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

John 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Thank God, we have the ultimate tool to overcome our disobedience.

Written by Charles E. Cohenour Jr.