I can't hear You...

I can’t hear You

My dog, Samantha, is an Irish Setter.  Her breed, I am told, is a stubborn one,  a trait borne out by her occasion refusal to respond to my call.  I know she hears me, but the scents in the yard are just so interesting, she  ignores me until she sees me walking toward her. Then, she decides to trot quickly to the door!  During one of her stubborn moments a few days ago, the Holy Spirit whispered to me, “Jerry, you’re sometimes like this with Me.  I call, you hear, but you are so taken up with things that interest you, you choose to ignore Me.”

There are consequences- good and bad – involved in our choices about  obedience. “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God: Your towns and your fields will be blessed." (Deuteronomy 28:1-3, NLT) "The Lord your God will delight in you if you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul." (Deuteronomy 30:10, NLT) Don’t cheapen that promise by turning it into a kind of ‘let’s make a deal’ proposition. God is inviting us into a holy covenant, where we will experience the blessing of daily grace.

Do you believe that because Christians live in the era of grace, the principles of obedience and blessings no longer are in effect?  I beg to differ! God, as a good and loving Father, has always been gracious as well as just and holy.  We are His children and as such, we are to live in a way that is responsive to His will, not just when it’s to our liking, but all the time.  In that ready obedience, we discover His provision of peace.   Those who love the Lord, their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength find the "path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter ‘till the full light of day." (Proverbs 4:18, NIV)  Even obedient Christians will  go through earthquakes and hurricanes, deal with temptation, and have bodies that break with age.  But, as children of God we can experience even those difficulties differently. We do not fall into despair and bitterness. We wait for the mercy of our Savior and are comforted by His sweet Presence! 
 
Take care not to fall into an entitled mindset. “I’ve been good, Lord, so You owe me.”  That is an expression of religious duty. It produces the kind of hypocrisy that infuriated Jesus when he saw it in the Pharisees. Those who obey only to gain the favor of the Lord will look for a minimal compliance to God’s demands that will keep the blessings coming. Go deeper! We receive His grace and give ourselves to love Him, both passionately and intentionally. When we enter the Divine Romance, He leads us and even the dark days are made, by His hand, a source of blessing and grace. This I believe with all my heart!
 
 Are you listening to the Spirit, obedient to the Word?
Are you delighting in His way, dying to Self, discovering grace on grace?
 
Here’s a word from the Word. Will you receive and live in the promise?
"You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.
But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? 

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray, for we are all your people." (Isaiah 64:5-11, NIV)
_________________
Refiner's Fire

Purify my heart,

Let me be as gold

And precious silver.

Purify my heart,

Let me be as gold,

Pure gold.

Refiner's fire!

My heart's one desire

Is to be holy;

Set apart for You, Lord.

I choose to be holy,

Set apart for You, my Master,

Ready to do Your will.

Brian Doerksen

© 1990 Vineyard Songs Canada (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)

CCLI License # 810055