Feb 12

Psalms 119:33
33 Teach me your decrees, O Lord; I will keep them to the end.

Psalms 100:2
2 Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.

James 2:24
24 So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

John 14:15
15“If you love me, obey my commandments.

God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly. That means doing whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation. You don't procrastinate and say, "I'll pray about it." You do it without delay. Every parent knows that delayed obedience is really disobedience.

God doesn't owe you an explanation or reason for everything he asks you to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can't. Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussions. In fact, you will never understand some commands until you obey them first. Obedience unlocks understanding.

Often we try to offer God partial obedience. We want to pick and choose the commands we obey. "I'll attend church but I won't tithe.' "I'll read my Bible but won't forgive the person who hurt me.'

Wholehearted obedience is done joyfully, with enthusiasm. The Bible says, "Obey him gladly." (Psalm 100:2 LB)

This is the attitude of David: "Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I'll wholeheartedly obey." (Psalm 119:33 LB)

James, speaking to Christians, said, "We please God by what we do and not only by what we believe." (James 2:24 CEV)

God's Word is clear that you can't earn your salvation. It comes only by grace, not your effort. But as a child of God you can bring pleasure to your heavenly Father through obedience. Any act of obedience is also an act of worship.

Why is obedience so pleasing to God? Because it proves you really love him. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." (John 14:15 TEV)

I found that this devo expanded from yesterday's devo so I might end up repeating some things.

Mainly, this part of the devo stood out to me a lot:
"Obedience unlocks understanding."

It's hard to do something without even knowing what its exact purpose is. That's when I start questioning God's plan. But I think that where our faith in the Lord comes in. God knows exactly what he's doing and he is doing everything for the better. We must be able to be obedient and do what he wants without any question. When we obediantly follow commands, we will be able to understand more. We may not get all of the answers though.....

Also, do not hesitate when God wants you to do something. That's when we start to delay things. Actions we said that we would do are now pushed back.

When you delay things, you are also delaying your growth in faith.

Personally, i've been struggling to keeping up with my school life, marks, and my growth with God. Some things get pushed back and things start to pile up. In anything, that becomes an unhealthy lifestyle. I been thinking about this topic the past few days and I think that this devo kind of helped me come back on track with my faith.

Anyways, I hope everyone's week have been doing well so far!
~Audrey~

I really don't know how to feel from this devo.

I think the best way to analyze it is if I compared it to a human-like comparison.
For me, the last line, which was really the most concise point that sort of sums up the rest, easily translates to "Doing your job because you love it."

A lot of teachers constantly tell you throughout school to pick a career path you'll enjoy. Being Christian should be something we enjoy, as we grow to nurture our relationship with Christ.

So love what you do. Take some pride and don't take it as a chore.
(But don't take it lightly either)

God doesn't owe you an explanation or reason for everything he asks you to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can't.

Loved this line. We'll feel lost, because we are simply one of many sheep, being led by our shepherd. God.
We won't understand why we God asks us to go this way, or that way, or backwards, but like the passage says

Understanding can wait, but obedience can't.

Who are we to question the almighty when we are commanded?
There are just so many things, that our brains cannot even begin to comprehend, in terms of God and the way he works.
Which is all the more reason to let go. We won't understand the mysterious ways our God works.
But what we can understand is, that it is the right path to go.

God's way is the highway yee