Skip to main content

IBS 61 - Jeremiah 7:23

Jeremiah 7:23
“But I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.”

Obeying is something that will always come up. It’s not one of those things you learn and it goes to the back of your mind, it’s something you learn and continue to learn and have to work on forever. I know plenty of adults/elderly people who are having to work on obeying still. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary.
I always thought I was very obedient and submissive.  Even when I tried to be disobedient and rebellious it never worked out because obeying has always been my life. Recently, though, I’ve realized how false that is. Yes, I’ve obeyed but I haven’t always obeyed in my heart. That’s where it counts. Yes I obey my parents, but I haven’t always wanted too. My parents always told me to obey now and ask questions later. That has been engrained in my mind, and that’s how I grew up. So I always thought I was good because I obeyed authoritative figures in my life. 
These past few months, I’ve seen how disobedient I am. I’ve been very disobedient to the one who created me, the one who shapes me, the one who calls me by my name and loves me unconditionally. Instead of taking the “obey now ask questions later” application to God, I usually end up arguing with God. 
Last year when God was telling me to sign up for Ignite, I said no and questioned God. When I finally decided too I wanted to go in my timing. God was leading me in His timing, and although I ended up obeying Him eventually, I fought Him for a while. In training I argued with God a lot about my spiritual growth. Now, being in Costa Rica, I’ve argued with Him about actually being here. I haven’t been obeying completely. I’m here, but I’m absent in my mind. God has called me here to be fully here. He’s called me here to “thrive, not just survive”. Yet, I’ve argued. I’ve just been surviving. I’ve been holding back. Afraid to be all God’s calling me to be. 
When I read this verse, it hit me pretty hard. I haven’t been fully obedient to Christ, and that has to change. Just because I’m here, I signed up for Ignite, doesn’t mean that I’m done having to obey. I have to obey with being fully present and I have to obey with having conversations that I don’t want to have. 
The only reason why I would not fully obey Christ would be because of fear. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). I said that God created me and loves me unconditionally. If I truly believe that then why do I fear, hindering my obedience? 

“Walk in obedience to all I command you.” 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IBS 77 - Luke 1:37-38

Luke 1:37-38 “‘For no word from God will ever fail’. ‘I am the Lord’s servant’, Mary answered. ‘May your word to me be fulfilled.’” Trust trust trust. God is faithful and true. He keeps his promises. He will not fail. I never have to doubt or wonder if he will come through. He is constantly showing throughout the Bible how he never fails. Daniel and the Lion’s Den. David and Goliath. God giving Noah the rainbow after the great flood. And there are many many more. God is also constantly showing me his faithfulness in my life. Providing the funds for Ignite, providing food and water, a place to rest, protection, and many many more things. Every day there is always something new that God shows me of how his word never fails. He will guide me and provide my essential needs wherever he will lead me.  Mary knew that God’s word never fails. That’s one of the reasons why God chose her to be the mother of Jesus. The angel Gabriel even greets her by saying, “Greetings, you who are...
Post a Comment
Read more

IBS 70 - PSALM 51:8

Psalm 51:8 “Let me hear joy and gladness: let the bones you have crushed rejoice.” For a couple of years, people have talked to me about getting broken by God. About what it means for God to crush me. They’ve shared their stories of God breaking them and it always impacted me. Especially because they were so joyful, bringing praise to God so easily. I craved to have that type of joy and to be able to praise God the way they did. But I never wanted to go through the process of being broken. It’s a painful process that I didn’t want to have to endure. I said I wanted God to change me, but I wasn’t completely willing to change and to let Him break me. I didn’t want to surrender, and it became hard for me to praise God. I realized that my relationship with Christ wasn’t what it needed to be, but I wasn’t willing to let God do His work in me. My spirit craved to be broken and to draw near to God, but my flesh refused and fought God so hard.  Through the years, God put people ...
Post a Comment
Read more

IBS 54 - 2 Timothy 2:2

2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” Entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. I desire to be someone who can be entrusted. I want people to know they can come to me with anything and trust me. There are always those people who you know you can’t trust with anything. I used to be one of those people. It might not have been that people knew they couldn’t trust me. But I knew they couldn’t. Whatever they told me, I’d go and tell my friends. I wasn’t someone who trustworthy or reliable.  I’ve changed though, thankfully. I’ve learned to be trustworthy. I’ve learned it’s better to have people trust you then not. I’ve learned the hurt and experienced the discipline of not being trustworthy. My eyes have been opened to the damage it causes when someone comes to me wanting to trust me and rely on me, and I turn around and gossip ab...
Post a Comment
Read more