Jesus answered and said,
"I thank You, Father…that You have hidden these things from the wise and
prudent and have revealed them to babes." —Matthew 11:25
{CHAMBERS} We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by
step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to
cleanse us more and more from sin— “But if we walk in the light,” we are
cleansed “from all sin” (1 John 1:7). It is a matter of obedience, and once we
obey, the relationship is instantly perfected. But if we turn away from obedience
for even one second, darkness and death are immediately at work again. All of God’s revealed truths are sealed until
they are opened to us through obedience. […] Let God’s truth work into you by
immersing yourself in it, not by worrying into it. […] If you obey God in the
first thing He shows you, then He instantly opens up the next truth to you. […]
And it is not study that brings understanding to you, but obedience. […] God
will never reveal more truth about Himself to you, until you have obeyed what
you know already.
{ELGIN} “Trust and obey for there is not other way, to be happy in
Jesus, but to Trust and Obey” When James
wrote “Faith by itself, without works,
is dead” (James 2:17) the implication is that we are to do something. Something good. That something good is doing the will of the
Father. Obeying God. We tend to think of us doing something by
ourselves. Not so. If you have faith you will show it by being
obedient to the Father, that may mean but does not necessarily mean giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty man. Even the unsaved can do that … and they
do. There are many who are lost that do “good”
things for others. Think about the story
of the rich young ruler. Faith, the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1), is all about trust in
the Father and in the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection. Listen, God never blesses us before
obedience, it is always after. If you
are living your life with a half-baked heart – one foot in heaven and the other
planted firmly in the world – you ask God for blessings and then call
your new car a blessing which you bought on credit and are indebted to the world? John wrote, “love not the
world or the things of this world” (1
John 2:15) Mark my words, when you
are laying on your death bed, it will not be the car that is on your mind and
heart. You know what God wants you to do
… so do it. You will be blessed beyond measure .. but it won’t be a new car ..
and that, frankly, won’t matter to you because your heart will be fixed on the
Father.
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