December 9

“Blessings come as a result of obedience.  When you walk closely with the Lord, blessings will come, regardless of whether you seek them.  Blessings from your obedience will also come to those around you--to your children and to your grandchildren.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 11/20

I’ve been thinking more about this idea that life here on earth is just the rehearsal for the real thing--Heaven.  My youngest son is part of the Tech Crew for the upcoming high school play and has been at a lot of rehearsals.  This is the week of the play so they’ve been there every night.  He was supposed to be done at 10:00, but it was 11:00 by the time he came out to the car.  Fortunately, he’d called to say they were running late and not to come until 10:20, so I didn’t have to wait outside in the cold car the whole hour.  I asked why they ran so late.  He said they got started late because the actors were dallying beforehand.  This is what happens in our “life rehearsal” as well.  We will often have to pay the consequences of others’ behavior because not everyone plays their part according to God’s plan.  But God will bless us for our obedience no matter what.  While I waited patiently, I turned on the Christian radio station and was blessed by the music and the message I heard.  I saw another parent go in and “drag out” his daughter before they were done.  I was glad I didn’t feel I needed to do the same.  The young girl, I’m sure, was not happy about leaving the rest of the cast in the lurch.

“Blessed are the humble [poor in spirit], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 5:3

November 25

“[God’s] commands are not grievous, we are told, but surely they would be grievous if we were utterly unable to obey them.... He tells us that we need have no fear in doing what he has commanded us to do, for he is in every command he gives and will always bestow the necessary power to obey it.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 11/3

How many times have I told God “I just can’t do it”?  It always seems to occur when putting myself in a vulnerable position--especially in relationships where I fear I’ll be taken advantage of.  In fact, any area of insecurity is a potential area of disobedience for me.  There will be times, though, that I step out in faith but then bail out along the way.  I realize I need to be more aware of what I am thinking in those times.  I know that God hasn’t taken back the power He’s given me to obey, so I must be telling myself something that makes me think He has.  Is it that I’ve become focused on myself instead of Him?  This is part of that pride issue we’ve been warned about--pride comes before the fall.  I can see in my own life how the process begins: I’m afraid, then trust God, receive the power to move forward, begin to feel confident, start taking credit, and before I know it, I’m feeling less confident, more vulnerable, and everything grinds to a halt.  The only way this cycle can be broken is to finally settle the Self issue.  Do I or do I not want to totally identify with Christ?  It is then, and only then, that I am freed for God to empower me to obey Him.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.  We love, because he first loved us.”  1 John 4:18, 19

November 21

“There is no slavery like the slavery of love, but its chains are sweet.  It knows nothing of ‘sacrifice,’ no matter what may be given up.  It ‘desires to do the will’ of the beloved one.  Our Lord can never be satisfied until this is the attitude of our souls toward him.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 10/30

Besides repopulation of the earth, I think the whole point of becoming parents is to teach us this one thing about God.  Unfortunately, though, we need someone like Hannah to point this out to us.  I’ve felt this way toward my children.  I love them so much and so unconditionally that no matter what they do or don’t do I am willing to sacrifice anything for them, including my life.  It is my desire to give them everything they want.   This is the only time I become frustrated because they don’t always want what’s best for themselves and I have to say “no”.  When I stop to think about it I get a better understanding of God’s love for me and how He must feel when I do not desire to do His will.  If God can get frustrated, I must be a real source of it for Him!  It is very encouraging to know that He will never be satisfied until I have this “desires-to-do-the-will-of” attitude because I know He will never let me go.  This is unconditional love.

“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.’”  John 4:34

November 20

“We are made for union with [God], and the only pathway to this must, of course, be a perfect harmony between our will and his.  For ‘how can two walk together except they be agreed?’  Therefore God’s commands to us to be holy are all based upon the fact that he to whom we belong is holy.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 10/27

People complain that God takes all the fun out of life with all His “dos” and “don’ts”.  I don’t understand this attitude. What they really are saying is they want to satisfy their carnal urges.  Telling themselves “no” is the ultimate insult.  What they don’t understand is God gives our regenerated selves the desires of our hearts.  In Christ my union with God is complete, but if I continue to resist the new life in me, I’m going to feel deprived.  It’s this walking in two worlds that defeats the Christian life.  It’s what divides churches, splits families, and destroys our witness to the lost world.  The only times we struggle are the times we are straddling this fence.  This is why non-Christians often seem happier.  They’re on their side of the fence--often succeeding in making a pretty good-looking life.  However, the fact is one day they will come to the end of their lives and have nothing that will carry over into the next life.  Christians who straddle the fence will be called to give an accounting for their lack of obedience.  Those who let Christ lift them up and over that fence will be rewarded not only in the rest they find here on earth, but in the kingdom yet to come.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”  1 Peter 1:14-16 

November 19

“Learn to take the yoke upon you.  Do not wait for it to be forced on you; but bow your neck to it willingly and take it.  Say ‘Yes, Lord’ to each expression of his will in all the circumstances of your life....Take each yoke as it comes, and in the taking you will find rest.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 10/25

I realize I’ve not done the added step of “bow your neck” when it comes to taking Christ’s yoke.  It’s only after He’s placed it on me because He knows what’s best for me that I finally accept it--usually after much chafing.  It only makes sense that, if that is the only time I accept it, I would equate the pain resulting from the struggle with the yoke itself.  But by bowing my neck and gladly accepting His yoke immediately, I will experience His rest instead.  It reminds me of the childbirth classes I took.  The instructor told us if we were tense during labor we would cause pain.  In addition, muscles need oxygen to work properly.  By teaching us how to breathe we were shown how to work with our muscles as they contracted rather than against them.  This is the same principle for taking Christ’s yoke.  The more we “breathe” the Holy Spirit’s life-giving force and trust His will for us, the more we will relax and find rest.  Just as our bodies do the work of pushing out the baby, the Holy Spirit in us carries the burden of whatever circumstance we are in.  Our job is to “go with the flow”!

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

November 18

“Be still and wait, God will show you clearly and simply, if you are willing to follow His instructions.  He knows whether or not you and I are willing..... So, if He knows us to be unwilling in some perplexing matter, what would be the point in giving directions until He has brought us by a means of His own, to the point of willingness?  He will never add to your confusion.”  Eugenia Price, S.P.S., 10/28

This is a wonderful point!  Often, when I am confused, I ask God to pick one of the explanations I’ve provided Him in my multiple-choice quiz.  Sometimes I will have no choices to offer and simply ramble off my confusing thoughts hoping God will make some sense out of them and set me straight.  Now I understand why I sometimes do not get a clear-cut answer from Him.  If I’m not willing to obey the answer, then why bother telling me!  In fact, I think my confusion is caused by the fact that I’ve left the path of obedience looking for my own answers.  It’s on that side road that I become disoriented and confused.  But rather than turn around and head back to the point where I left the path, I try to find my way back through the woods.  No wonder I get lost in the dense underbrush.  Eugenia is reminding me that my job isn’t to figure things out, but instead to be willing to obey.  Once God knows I am willing, He is able to set me straight and lead me through whatever darkness may have clouded my vision. 

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”  Proverbs 3:5, 6 

July 28

“The command of our Lord to us as Christians is that we should drive out every enemy from our hearts and lives.  If we refuse to do this and seek merely to make them tribute to us, we will find ourselves continually enslaved and oppressed by those very enemies whom we have allowed to remain.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 7/28

I had a dream last night that didn’t make very much sense until I began to interpret it.  The fact that I was being driven around in a cab was pretty obvious--I was expressing how I felt about my life.  It was easy from there, then, based on the other people in the cab, to come to the conclusion that God was showing me I had an attitude problem.  With Hannah’s words I began to understand how my negative attitude was like an enemy and as long as I kept it, it would continue to wreak havoc in my life.  Once I saw all this I began to see how God had been bringing this to my attention for some time.  I recalled a verse in the Song of Solomon (2:15) that a preacher had used in a sermon more that 15 years ago:  “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”  Then I remembered the little fox that had run through my back yard on two different occasions and how I haven’t seen it since I saw a dead fox in the road near our house.  I feel God is showing me that I can act loving all I want to, but if my attitude toward that person is wrong, it’s like having little foxes running through my vineyard devouring my grapes before I can pick them.  The strain of battling this enemy will cause me to falter in my love which in turn leads me into defensiveness and pride.  That’s why I must drive out this enemy altogether!

“Catch us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”  Song of Solomon 2:15

June 28

“Most Christians are quick to claim that God is their first priority.  Yet often their actions reveal that their treasure is not God but things of this world....Ask your friends....your children...to tell you what they think is most important to you.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 6/28

I took Blackaby’s advice and asked one of my sons that question.  His first answer was “us”.  As I pressed him with “Is that all?” he added, “God” and “morals”.  I feel good that I passed the test with my son, but would I pass it with friends?  The real test, I think, would be how an acquaintance would answer--the people I see on a regular basis where I shop and do business.  I’m not feeling so confident about how I am perceived there.  In another book I just read the author makes the point that God has given each of us a mission in life and it is the reason we don’t just go to heaven immediately when we are born again.  That mission is to bear witness to Him so that others might be born again.  Every person I come upon who has a need or with whom I have an ongoing relationship is my mission field.  I must be willing and able to be a witness with my life, my words, and my deeds of God’s redeeming love.

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.’”  Matthew 28:19, 20

May 14

“As God’s servant you should have no other agenda than to be obedient to whatever He tells you.  God does not need you to dream great dreams for your life, your family, your business, or your church.”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 5/14

I use to think that God often gave us the “great dreams” for our lives in order for us to have something to aim at.  But I’m beginning to see that He doesn’t work this way.  Any “dream” that we might start out with in our youth can’t be of God.   A dream is not the same thing as the “desires of our heart” that scripture says that God gives us.  To dream, according to the dictionary, is to invent, devise, or concoct.  The desires of our heart are the natural outcome of giving our hearts to God.  Hannah W. Smith says that our hearts, as referred to in the Bible, are our wills.  So when God says He will give us the desires of our hearts, He is saying that if we’ve surrendered our wills to Him, He will fulfill His desires through us.  Everything belongs to Him--even those things we think are our desires.  Even when we go against God’s will and do our own thing, even those things belong to Him in the sense that He controls their eventual results.  They will be labeled as refuse in His Kingdom, and we enter Heaven with nothing to show for our time here on earth.

“Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw--each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done....If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”  1 Corinthians 3:12-13, 15

May 2

‘“Hope springs eternal’ from the heart that is one with God.  But if there is one single point on which we are not obeying His slightest whisper, we cannot ‘commune with our own hearts... and be still.’ (Psalm 4:4)” Eugenia Price, S.P.S. 5/2

This week I’ve been scraping, scrubbing, and scouring the old tile in the basement so that there won’t be “one single point” at which the new tile won’t “commune” with the old tile.  If I didn’t do this, all my hard labor and expense of putting down the new tile would soon be lost because over time the new tile would begin to lift or crack.  In order to make sure it adheres properly I must do the unseen work of preparation.  Our Christian life needs the same sort of preparation.  Eugenia points out that we cannot experience this hope in our hearts if our hearts cannot commune with God because of disobedience.  God is a holy and just God and expects obedience.  We have no excuse because He has given us His Holy Spirit to enable us to obey.  Therefore, all disobedience is pure willfulness--definitely not an expression of love to God.  As children of a loving God we must learn obedience and have a Godly sorrow when we do fail.  He is able to restore us, but we must be still and commune with our own hearts so that our hearts will be one with God.

“I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt.  Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.”  Psalm 18:23, 24

April 21

“Obedience may be said to be simply a matter of self-interest.  It is not a demand made of us, but a privilege offered.  Like yielding and trusting, it is simply a way of bringing divine wisdom and power to bear upon our affairs.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 4/21

A privilege?  Why is it we never think of obedience in this light?  Why is it thought to be something against what we want?  I’m far more obedient than I realize, though.  I just don’t label the things I do as “obedience”.  To me they are things I want to do.  Some things I’ve learned to “want” to do because of the unpleasant consequences if I don’t, but others are because I like the sense of security they bring.  I think this reveals why we often have a hard time “delighting to do God’s will”.  We haven’t come to realize that God is our security.  We’ve relied too much on the world’s definition of security and when our reality doesn’t match the world’s definition we question God’s provision for us.  If we do not fully trust Him we are not going to obey Him.  As a parent I learned this early on.  If my children didn’t trust that my request was for their own good they would not comply.  They had radar about anything that smacked of self-interest on my part.  Of course, sometimes they could not understand why a nap was in their best interest and would resist.  Likewise, we do not always trust God because we are ignorant of the consequences of getting our way.  But as we mature as children of God, like children do who are held responsible for their behavior, we begin to trust our Father’s judgment because He’s shown Himself to be trustworthy.

“I delight to do they will, O my God; thy law is within my heart.”  Psalm 40:8

March 19

“We were obliged to hold a ‘Convention for the Promotion of Holiness.’.....There was no enthusiasm on my part.  Our own words were, to me, a bore....God’s power and His blessings came, despite our feelings.  There was every sign of the continual presence of the Spirit.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Safe Within Your Love, p. 68

Obedience is a struggle for us from the get-go.  As children we definitely do not like someone getting in the way of our getting what we want.  One of the things I learned in parenting three boys was that it would go much easier for me if I could get them to want to do what I wanted.  You do this by giving them a choice within the choices that are acceptable to you.  It gives them the freedom to be responsible because it is no longer a contest of wills and they receive an immediate reward for being obedient by getting what they think they want.  In the same vein we must first become one of God’s children by being born as a new creature.  We receive this new identity by asking for His Holy Spirit.  In doing so, we will want what God wants and obedience will not be a struggle for us.  When Christ lives in us we have no other choice but to do His Holy Will because to do anything else would not be true to ourselves--our new selves.  This is why throughout her writings Hannah exhorts the absolute necessity of ignoring the old self.  The old self has been crucified with Christ, but the power of sin makes us think self is still alive and in need of attention.  It isn’t and it doesn’t, it only seems like it is and does.

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,....chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ...” 1 Peter 1:1a, 2a

February 20

“Will you think it hard that He reveals to you more of His mind than He does to others, and that He will not allow you to be happy in anything that separates you from Himself?  Do you want to go where He cannot go with you, or to have pursuits which He cannot share?”  Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, p. 214

Well, Hannah, if you put it THAT way!  She is making her case for the joy of obedience.  So why doesn’t it feel joyful sometimes when I’m faced with choosing what I know God would have me do and what I feel like I want to do?  Hannah is right in pointing out that I really don’t want to go where He cannot go with me.  So why do I?  There can be no answer other than I’m not thinking very clearly for if I was I’d gladly do God’s bidding.  I’m no fool!  Lord, is that why I’m so hard on people who don’t use common sense and end up in some sort of quandary?!  The old adage, “it takes one to know one,” is ringing in my ears right now.  I need to take the log out of my own eye.  The common sense thing to do is choose God’s way over what my feelings may be desiring for me.  With that log out now maybe I CAN think more clearly.

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5

February 9

“Our Lord does not come to us to discover what we would like to accomplish for Him.  He encounters us in order to reveal His activity and invite us to become involved in His work........Are you prepared to meet God today?  Don’t seek to hear from God unless you are ready to ask, as Paul did, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’”  H. Blackaby, Experiencing God Day-by-Day, 2/9

Wouldn’t the world change if every professing Christian were to ask each day, “What shall I do, Lord?”  When I first read Blackaby’s thoughts on this subject last summer--that God invites us to join Him in the work He is already doing--it radically changed the way I viewed all my activities.  No longer would I decide there was a need for something, and I should be the one to fill it like I’d always done in the past.  Invariably, it never seemed to make much of a difference in the long run. If it was some program started at church for instance, attendance was never that good, or I burnt out after a while.  I can see now how my own effort to start and maintain something that God wasn’t in would not succeed for long.  But to join God in something He’s already doing...and to ask “What shall I do, Lord?” guarantees results.  In addition, I wouldn’t feel the burden of the responsibility like I would if I’d thought it up.  

To join God in His work is something anybody can do no matter their position or material resources.  Some days it may not extend outside your own home for He might be working to bring someone close to you to Him.  Other days it may be across the world by sending a check to meet the needs of a missionary whom God has called to bear witness to Him in a foreign land.  It doesn’t matter what it is, only that we make ourselves available.

“Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias.  The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”  And he said, “Here I am, Lord,”  And the Lord said to him “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul; for behold, he is praying, and he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”  Acts 9:10-12

January 10

“The comfortable reflection, that a watchful Providence regulates every event, and that nothing happens to us but for wise and good ends, greatly tends to alleviate every earthly care, and prevent that anxiety which would otherwise be the portion of mortals.”  Margaret Woods, 1774 , D.Q. 1/10

It occurred to me that I wouldn’t WANT to be a Christian if I couldn’t believe that God was in control of everything that happens.  The demands on me would be far more than I could bear.  Not only would I have to expend huge amounts of energy to ensure that my environment was as perfect as possible, I’d have to make sure the rest of the world was doing everything right as well.  On top of all that I’d have to act like Christ--to love everybody no matter what.  Whew!  I envisioned a horse pushing a wagon---not at all what it’s designed to do.  What it means to be a Christian, then, if I believe that a watchful God regulates every event, is this:  I am the horse, God is the driver holding the reins, and the wagon is my life. God holds the reins as He calls out commands, giving the horse it’s directions to turn left, turn right, move forward at a certain pace, or stop.  I, the horse, provide the energy (the muscle) to pull the wagon, my life, along the path that God has laid out for me.   But how well I traverse that path depends on my responsiveness to the holder of the reins.  Will I go the way in which He directs, or will I resist?  He knows every obstacle that lies ahead in my path, every challenge, the condition of the path’s surface, what’s around that next bend.  I gladly listen and obey.

“But this command I gave them, ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’” Jeremiah 7:23