Feb 11

Psalms 119:60
60 I will hurry, without delay, to obey your commands.

1 John 5:3
3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

There is a refreshing immediacy to Joseph's relationship with God. When God said it, Joseph did it.

If you believe God loves you, and you want to live a life of obedience in response to his love, then this is how you should respond: When God says it, then do it.

I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of great men and women of faith from around the world. They're all different from each other, but they all have one thing in common. When they sense God saying to do something, they don't hesitate. They step out and do it.

First John 5:3 says, "This is love for God, to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome." (NIV) I was talking recently with Tom Holladay, my brother-in-law, about why, when God asks you to do something, it sometimes feels like a burden. What's wrong?

We decided it's often because of procrastination. When we don't act right away, it becomes harder to do the longer we wait. But when we do what God says, freedom comes into our lives.

What is God calling you to do? Is it a phone call you need to make? An action you need to take? Whatever it is, write it down right now, tell God you're willing to do it, and ask him to give you the strength you need to make it happen

Sometimes, we find it hard to respond back to God. It's hard to take action but easy to back down. The longer we wait, the more discouraging thoughts enter our minds. Doubt comes so easily to us....
In my daily life, there have been times where i obediently obey God and follow his commands. But there are many times where i've doubted and prevented myself from going forward. Sometimes you will get into that situation where something in your heart tells you to do something about it. It does take a bit more courage sometimes but know God will not let you fall if you are obeying him.
Even the tiniest things make a big difference. So whatever God is telling you to do, big or small, just follow and trust that God has everything planned out so there's nothing to be worried about.
You will never go wrong if you are following God's commands.

~Audrey~

I read the devotional at around 4. I just reread it, and to keep it simple and frank, it's about "doing your chores".

We all have our individual jobs and duties we have to perform and successfully complete. For example, Kevin, as the leader of the praise team has to make sure that everything stays in line and everybody is always prepared for Sunday, when we have to lead the congregation in worshiping God. Or it could be any one of us, and a good example could have been the report cards. I got mine today, and it wasn't the best. Nevertheless, still had to get it to my parents.

Don't postpone your duties. It doesn't seem very heavy at the moment, but when time comes for us to make big decisions we have to complete the job quickly, immediately, efficiently, and excellently. Imagine if Jesus was procrastinating on his way to being crucified. Like, if he had to come to the court, and on his way he was throwing a temper tantrum. "I don't want to go. Why should I go and die for millions of people who refuse to praise their creator?" See how wrong that is? Everything would have been blown out of proportion, the job would be messy, millions of people would have died, and maybe Jesus wouldn't even have sacrificed himself. Maybe he would've just went back to the "regular" life and lived doing small things, and ignore the big responsibilities that count.

Ultimately it's specifically that, which seems key to take from this chapter. When you procrastinate as a Christian, you end up only taking care of small matters and completely ignore the big pressing matters. This is probably an odd reference to use, since I didn't get her permission, but if we take a look at Yeni, we know that she is a leading role model in the congregation as a good Christian. Small matters like smoking doesn't really matter, because in the end, she does what God needed her to get done. When we only care about what we're wearing in church, or our selection of words, we don't get anything done. We have to learn to be ourselves, and carry out the big missions. Helping the poor discover God. Praising God every second of the day. Living by God's way.

I'm pretty sure if God told the world to fix something, it wouldn't be anything like "Don't swear." but rather "Help one another and build each other up."

You guys kinda get my drift?

Pretty easy to understand.
The main idea of this devo was really to be up for any challenges God puts your way.
Be ready for whatever he throws at you.

As a praise team, we're looked up to (literally) and we have a lot of responsibilities including leading others into worship with the best of our ability.
So we do have a lot of challenges that I assume not many others, in our ministry, have to deal with.
But if you're really 100% all in for God, you always have to be ready for his calling and for the responsibilities that will pile up.

And even then, you can't overcome these obstacles with mediocrity, you have to put in your 110% because honestly speaking, God deserves at least that.

3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

I guess what stuck out to me was that God never gives us more than what we can handle nor will it impact us in a negative manner
Although it may not seem gratifying at the time, we must trust God and in what he has in store for us.
Yeah thats all i really got haha