Obedience: The Pathway to Blessing (March 2023 Article)

“They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common. They sold their property and goods and distributed them to all, according to their need. And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (rf. Acts 2:42-47)

 

            For the past few months, we have been looking into the subject of the True Worship of God. We’ve seen how God wants to be adored by His people, but He wants our worship to be  done according to His directions and not by how we would like to do it. When we follow His instructions, we find that God is pleased with our obedience and blesses our efforts accordingly. 

            The above passage details the results of the obedience of Jesus’ disciples to His last directive. He told them before His Ascension to remain in Jerusalem, to continue in prayer and fellowship with each other until “the Comforter” was sent to them from Him to prepare them to take His Gospel to “the ends of the earth”. Therefore, His disciples diligently obeyed, prayed and waited for His promise.

            So, it is important to note that obedience preceded blessing. In our day, we want the blessing regardless of our obedience. We want things done to please ourselves rather than seeking to please Almighty God by our actions and attitudes. It is no wonder that the blessings He would give to us are often bottled up in heaven because God has seen our own self-centeredness and has chosen not to reveal the best experiences to us.

            This was not the case with Jesus’ disciples. They did as they were told by Him. They stayed put, prayed and waited. Their obedience seen by Him, they experienced the full measure of God’s blessings. They were filled with His power by His Spirit. They saw God work miracles in their midst (i.e. “signs and wonders”). They were moved to provide for the least fortunate among them (i.e. “had all things in common”). They enjoyed special fellowship with one another and enjoyed the fullness of God’s pleasure through the teaching of the “apostles’ doctrine” and Holy Communion (“the breaking of bread”). Don’t miss the last blessing! God added to their number “daily those who were being saved”. Some might call this “a revival”. The better expression would be that God visited His people’s obedience with abundant blessings! 

            If God’s people would experience such again, it is predicated upon their full obedience to His declared Word. If we follow His directions by faith, we will likewise see God pour out His delight upon us so that we grow spiritually, numerically and in our capacity to enjoy and love Him. Let us commit to this path of obedience and watch what only God can accomplish!

The Love of God in Christ (February 2023 Article)

 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (rf. Jn. 13:34–35 NASB) 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (rf. Mt. 5:43–48 NASB)

 

            The favorite word and concept of the Apostle John was “love”. He took his cues directly from Jesus who possessed not only the emotional aspects of love, but, more importantly, executed the actions that most clearly displayed the true meaning of love. Jesus’ example was simply living out the reality and reflection of the love of God in the arena of men. 

            In Matthew’s Gospel we find Jesus sharing with His disciples how the love of God plays out in the midst of a sinful world. He shows without doubt that the true love of God is a proactive measure, seeking to do what is counterintuitive to a culture that expects anger, hatred, retribution and vengeance. In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches a Jewish population that what they had learned previously about loving their neighbor and hating their enemy was not really different from what the sinful world does regularly. Both the “tax collectors” and Gentiles love their own and show hatred and enmity toward those they consider their enemies. 

Jesus says that if you are willing to follow Him and be His disciple, you must go beyond those norms. You must love those that do not love you and those who want to see you hurt, in pain, or dead—“your enemies”. This is the reason that His love is not pure emotion as we assume all love is. The love Jesus speaks of is a conscious, willful decision to extend God’s love to someone who, in our opinion, does not deserve the experience. This kind of love is far beyond our human abilities to accomplish. Thus, the love of Christ in the heart of a believer is love that He has put there by the Holy Spirit. By the same Spirit, He exercises that love out of ourselves toward folks we would never dream to associate with, much less to whom we would show compassion and care. This is why the love of Christ is so different and so needed.

In all of our lives, we have folks in our circle of influence who are seem to be so unlovable and undeserving of any form of grace because they are so negative, hateful, arrogant, etc. These are the ones who desperately need a good dose of Christ’s love. They need to see that His love extends even to them, no matter how bad their lives may have been. And by His grace, He has chosen His disciples to convey that love. 

Let us then be more mindful of this responsibility and show His love to others at every opportunity. Note also that Jesus Himself stated that by doing so, “all men will know that (we) are My disciples”. Amen.