Tag Archives: obedience

March 13
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“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13, NLT)

God’s expectations of His people are not obscure. They are stated plainly and repeatedly in the scriptures.

God’s expectations of His people are not difficult. It does not require one to be a “super saint” to reverence (fear) our God; to live in a way that pleases Him; to love Him; and to serve Him with all our being.

All that God requires of us is well within our grasp to acquire; and within our power to perform.  – Luther

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March 11
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“Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.” (Deuteronomy 5:33, NIV)

The benefits of obedience to God are clearly set-forth by Moses in today’s scripture.

Writing to the Children of Israel, the benefits noted are: Life, prosperity, and longevity in a good place.  Most people find these benefits desirable, but one cannot truly apprehend them by following a “trial and error” method to living based on our own limited experience and point of view. The scriptures provide the blueprint for life, prosperity, and longevity in a good place.

Obedience to God’s word delivers these benefits — and a personal relationship with our heavenly Father.  – Luther

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March 5
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“If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38, NLT)

In today’s reading, Jesus illustrates for us the following principle: The relationships and values that we esteem in this life are the relationships and values that we shall inherit in eternity. In other words: If we are ashamed of Jesus and all that He stands for here in “time”; we shall forfeit Him for all of eternity because He will be ashamed of us in heaven’s eternity for us having been ashamed of Him during our time on earth.

The Christian disciple’s challenge in these “adulterous and sinful days” is to be faithful to Jesus and to His message in all that we say, and in all that we do.

This means that with joy, we love our enemies — all of them — as He did.  This means that with boldness, we seek reconciliation — always — as He did.  This means that with confidence, we pray for those who abuse us — as He did.

May we be as Paul declared to the Christians in Rome: “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God to bring salvation to everyone that believes.” (Romans 1:16a)  – Luther

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