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We have all seen it.  A child throws a temper tantrum when a parent refuses their request for a toy, candy or to ride their trike in the street.  How does an adult respond to that type of display of manipulation?  We normally attribute it to their age.  So how do we respond when an adult expresses an adult version of manipulation because they do not get what they want at work, home, on the basketball court or from God? 

When our request is rejected, do we withdraw, become passive resistant, pout, get angry and say things we regret, or pick up our tools (toys) and go home in a huff?  I have not been too extreme, but I have felt the sting of tears and/or withdrawn for a time when God chose not to answer what I thought to be a fair and righteous request.  At other times I imagined an excuse for God not answering and asked again a few days later.     

Having made numerous personal sacrifices and done many miracles with God’s empowerment, in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, the infamous apostle Paul asked that God to remove a “thorn in [his] flesh”, a relatively small matter.    What do you suspect Paul’s response was when God’s Spirit told him “No”?  We do know he asked two more times receiving the same answer.  God told him, …”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Instead of being offended he took the lemon and made lemonade.  His words, Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  Have you tried that response when God said “No” to you? 

Before Jesus was to be crucified, He offered prayers and pleading, with a loud cry and tears … and he was heard because of his reverent submission (Hebrew 5:7).  Yet God did not give His very own Son what he wanted.  How did Jesus respond?  He continued His prayer saying yet not my will, but yours be done.  Have you had the courage to pray that?   

Some have said we should never pray that way after Jesus paid for our healing on the cross.  We only need to pray in faith believing.  Well, if that is true, Paul was out of line. 

Our response to God’s answer of “No” reveals the level of faith we have in the God we say we love and trust.   Real faith trusts in the love and wisdom of our Sovereign God who sees into the future which we cannot.  He also knows all the desirable benefits for denying our request.  For example, if He had answered Jesus’ request you and I would not have eternal life today! 

Yes, we are told to persist in making our petitions known to God.  However, that doesn’t imply we should arrogantly try to manipulate God into giving us what He knows is not best for His plan for others or ourselves.  We cannot allow our circumstances, no matter how painful or seeming unrighteous they may appear, to affect our faith and trust in our God who created the stars and gave each of them a name.  He has a much larger view of life and knows what is best for all concerned, including us.  Our responses to God reveal to our world what authentic faith in God looks like.  The faith of the three Hebrew young men still inspire us today because they proclaimed to the king, if our God does not deliver us [from the fiery furnace] it will not make the slightest difference, we will not worship another god—not even the desires or rationale of our flesh. [my translation]  What are your responses to God telling others about your faith in God.

All of us live at the mercy of our notions about God.  Those who embrace misleading information about Him are not likely to hear His whispers when making decisions that shape their life.  What is worse is they will miss out on a delightful, intimate relationship with the Almighty God and the complemented regular communication with Him. 

Too often we think we are not holy enough to hear His voice or the other extreme that He is like a heavenly vending machine just waiting to satisfy our desire for comfort, pleasure, health or wealth.  Or we want to hear God’s voice just to know what He wants us to do so we can placate Him.  All such thinking is about us rather than it is about being close friends with Him.  God has created us for intimate friendship with Himself.  A relationship that allows us to regularly hear His whisper is not focused on one’s self but on simply enjoying each other’s presence.  Hearing God regularly is possible only when one seeks to know His heart, values or ways. 

The Bible is not just collection of literary pieces for us to ritually read.  Peter compared it to an incorruptible seed (1 Peter 1:23-25).  Like a seed it is packed with God’s life-giving truth and principles.  When it is read, digested and obeyed it blossoms out into a living reproduction of Christ.  When a person exposes his/her hungry heart to know God in a more personal way, miraculous transformations appear in that person’s way of thinking and thereby way of life. 

The fact is God created us for a relationship with Him just as He created Adam and Eve before their fateful fall.  He longs for us to know Him more fully because we will then discover our deepest joy and peace and significance in life.  Isaiah described this divine desire this way.  Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God  (Exodus 29:45-46 (NIV).   Jesus’ name was Immanuel which means God with us.   John described the natural results of a close relationship by writing You are my friends if you do what I command (John 15:14 (NLT2).  Instead of stressing about doing and being what we imagine His will is for us, in close relationship we do it as naturally as we love our spouse or children. 

God’s Word is often pictured as food or bread that we hungrily eat.  It is like the chemical continuation of life.  This assimilation happens as we reflect on His Word, or otherwise absorb it.  As the Spirit whispers to us, just hearing it brings fresh life, energy, confidence, joy and peace that the world can never give.  There are enough rich resources in His Word and the Spirit’s enlightenment to take care of all our spirit, soul and body for today and forever.

How close of a friend are you to God?  Have you found a way to know God through His Word, a way that results in commonly hearing His voice in your intuition?  Do you read His Word as one searching to know another facet of God and His ways, who you are in relationship with Him and what you need to do to honor and glorify Him in practical ways—in contrast to just marking something off your duty list?  Have you made the Bible a rendezvous experience with God and His life?  If not, when you decide to invest your time and passion into exploring the depths of the Bible God, you will discover a deep thirst springing up leaving you longing to know even more.  I know this is true because those very feelings are what have energized my passion to pursue knowing more of Him for decades.

I grew up hearing my dad pray but prayer still confused me for decades!  I practiced praying, read books (including the Bible) on it, participated in discussions about it and even later preached on it yet always had the sense there was more to it than I understood.   In recent decades I discovered meaningful prayer is a lot like communicating with your best friend.  It has two major components: words and intuitive connection.  

While words are important, prayer does not rise or fall on just words.  Jesus made that point in Matthew 6:7 where He debunked praying empty words.  Isaiah told the Jews When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen … (Isaiah 1:15b, NLT2).  When one’s heart is not in their prayer it irritates God.  That kind of praying reminds me of the proverbial conversation between a husband and wife.  The wife is talking, and the husband is reading the paper or watching TV and either grunts out an uh hu or speaks a few words if he hears her ask a question.  The wife is certainly aware that type of interaction can hardly be classified as communication.     

When you are communicating with your best friend you are engaged in what is being said—or in whatever you are experiencing together.  Guys particularly can sit in a car, on a rock or be working on a project together rarely looking at each other yet feeling like they are communicating with each other.  As important as words are, they alone don’t make a prayer. 

The second and most vital element of prayer is your intuition or inner being.  When you reach out with that part of your being, there is an indescribable connection with God that is far deeper than words.  At this level of engagement, you are so aware of God it is as though He is present with you whether driving a car, walking on the treadmill, working on a computer or kneeling. 

When you sense within you that God is present, whether pouring out your emotions, asking Him questions, expressing gratitude or making a request, you are best positioned to feel His heart and hear whispers.   It is then that your inner being will experience a sense of relief and well-being as well as an assurance you have met with God.  

While I have such delightful times with God when He whispers to my inner being, they occur in any variety of settings.  The most common time I sense I am communicating with Him is when I am sitting at a computer reflecting on a Bible word or passage.  Perhaps I can best liken it to having an ah ha moment.  At times the revelation brings such excitement while typing words pouring out of that conversation that I have to find my wife and share it with her.  Normally it was something He whispered to me about Himself, His values or His word.    For me there are times it seems God doesn’t show up and I feel like David who asked O LORD, why do you stand so far away? Why do you hide when I am in trouble? (Psalm 10:1, (NLT2).   However, by continuing to practice prayer, I’ve found I come to agree with David’s encouraging report, You will listen, O LORD, to the prayers of the lowly; you will give them courage (Psalm 10:17, GNB).  The same will be true for everyone.  I so want each person to find a way to pray so each will experience the indescribable satisfaction of engaging with our Heavenly Father who desires to connect with each of His children.

Louie Giglio’s Sermon/video “Indescribable”, stamped an indelible mark in my aging memory.  His stunning pictures of the stars, galaxies and descriptions of space overwhelmed me and still does to this day.   The earth, where we live, is a small planet revolving around a star called the sun which has a volume 1.3 million times that of the earth. There are stars a million times brighter than the sun. There are about a hundred billion stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way, which is one hundred thousand light years across. (A light year is six million, million miles.) The sun travels about 155 miles per second, and so it would take two hundred million years to make a single revolution on its orbit in the Milky Way. There are millions of other galaxies besides ours.

Just to think He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! (Psalms 147: 4-5, NLT2)  Imagine looking over the unique distinctives and then assigning a corresponding name to each puppy, sheep, rabbit or a rancher’s cattle.  God’s Omniscience, Omnipotence and Omnipresence evident in all this makes me feel like one molecule on this planet earth.  No wonder David wrote what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him ((Psalm 8:4, ESV)?  Psalm 139:6 reads Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand (NLT2)!  I have asked that very question MANY times.  It seems like foolish arrogance to imagine we can impress this God with our perfect church attendance or daily devotions, the large donations we give, or the hours we work to serve others.   

Now take time to ponder this.  In Psalm 147, notice the words before and after the Psalmist wrote the words of God’s unfathomable work in the universe. 

Psalm 147:3-6 (NLT2) 3 He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. 4 He counts the stars and calls them all by name. 5 How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! 6 The LORD supports the humble, but he brings the wicked down into the dust.

What might it say to you when you consider how the most powerful, knowledgeable, and everywhere present God–King of all Kings—would do that kind of thing; care enough about healing a brokenhearted and wounded individual or lovingly support a humble common man or woman?  President Biden could care less about a person like you or me who has vastly different core values or worldview but my God, who created and named every star, not only knows my name but cares about me, my wife and family as well as you and your family.  He cared even while we were still breaking His Holy laws!   

These reflections on the greatness, grace and mercy of our God inspire much needed hope today in the midst of the disheartening news on the political, economic and international scenes.   I urge you to take a chunk of quiet time to let these thoughts soak into your mind and inner being.  This morning, before writing this as I pondered this concept in my heart His presence so filled my inner being that I wept as I worshipped and felt so filled with hope for tomorrow.  I pray you too will encounter His powerful presence as you mediate on His greatness as well as His love for you.  It is our Almighty God’s desire for each of us to rest in who He is and His amazing love for each of us.  

The Christmas lights have been turned off, the excitement of gift exchanges has faded, and all the decor of Christmas has now been put away and moved into the shadows of the common.  What has happened to the Christ of Christmas?  While in that season, the warm complimentary words and songs we heard at least gendered some sentimental thoughts of Jesus’ birth stimulating the world’s thoughts and emotions at least several times a day.  But how often does our world think of Him now that the season has passed?  How might our thoughts have changed?

Even though chief priests and Jewish leaders were fully aware from Scripture the Messiah was coming and their spies reported a strange rumor of a baby’s birth, they dismissed it as a silly fantasy and carried on with their weekly routines.  King Herod may have heard in his daily briefings of this unusual event, but he was far too busy with governing issues to give it a second thought—that is until later when the wisemen showed up.  

In contrast, Jesus’ birth left Mary and Joseph and the shepherds in a continued state of awe, wonder and maybe confusion because they were invited to take part in the most dynamic event in history.  Twelve days after this event, because Simeon and Anna had been eagerly anticipating the coming Messiah, when they saw Him and the Holy Spirit revealed His identity, they experienced what would be the most ecstatic, life-changing  moment of their life.  They rejoiced that they were privileged to actually see the Son God had sent to this earth.    

Which of those Bible characters represents how you have responded since Christmas?  Was Christmas just another annual commercial event altered by our pandemic that upstaged His birthday?  Has COVID-19 and the uncertain political and economic status continued to dominate the talking points among your acquaintances?  Has it affected your planning for 2021 more than the Christ of Christmas?  Might you be a bit more like the Jewish leaders who knew all about the event but categorized it as another commercially high-jacked religious holiday?

I remind you, when things do not go as you had hoped, to pause and reflect on the fact the Christ of Christmas is still the sovereign King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He is still in absolute control of all things.  Remember that also when the time comes when He offends you—yes, offends you!  How do suppose Mary felt when Simeon told her a sword will pierce your own soul too?   Too often we get caught up in fantasizing our blessed future and forget that Jesus said Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34, ESV).   He also said “…A slave is not greater than the master.  Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you…” (John 15:20, NLT2).  Those words offend but also bring hope knowing we will be His hand when those painful times come.  The Spirit also offends us when we cannot have what we think should be our right to have or do. 

Please keep the wide-angle view of the future in the forefront of your mind.  The Bible clearly teaches Christ is the King and we are not His peer, we are His devoted servants.  If we are serious about being a Christ-follower, we must also learn to live as He lived, a disciplined life obedient to His Father even to the point of the cross AND the glorious resurrection.  It is living that kind of life that results in the most abundant life possible.   Continue to remind yourself in these days following Christmas.

2020 is finally history!  It was a painful year in many ways.  The COVID-19 pandemic shook people’s trees around our world.  It is highly likely that from security, health, finances, to relationships whatever loose leaves or fruit that were going to fall did so last year.  Gratefully, the door to that year has now closed and we stand on the threshold of brand new and untouched opportunities.  Of course, only God knows what those God-given prospects will look like, yet it will be our response to them that can make or break our tomorrow.  Only by pushing our reset button will our perspective next year be rewarding.  But what might that look like?

Especially because of last year’s pain, our mental and emotional system can become a bit anxious, even a bit fussy about our relationship with God.  We are not sure we can trust Him with our tomorrow in our current frame of mind.  David offered us a remarkable word picture to consider when he wrote Lord, I have given up my pride and turned away from my arrogance. I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects too difficult for me. Instead, I am content and at peace. As a child lies quietly in its mother’s arms, so my heart is quiet within me. (Psalm 131:1-2, GNB).  Wow!  What a perspective that is in stark contrast with all too many of us! 

Have you fretted as I have because you did not have your daily devotions instead of being content with being devoted?  Have you  worried because you have not prayed enough instead of making my life itself a prayer?  Too often my deep inward relationship with God is disturbed because I subconsciously feel I must constantly prove myself to Him.  Instead of having such contentment and peace, I think I must control my tomorrow instead of resting in God’s arms.  I suspect all of us may be more like the ancient Jews to whom God spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.” But they would not listen. (Isaiah 28:12, NLT2)  

My wife was diagnosed with a blood disease at the same time my dad went to his eternal reward.  In such a time I could say to God, this is not the rest You promised!  I am sure some of you readers are experiencing a far greater dark cloud than I.  Yet will it ever be that kind of rest if I fail to learn that a child does not need to earn its mother’s love or live in the constant fear of losing it.  My God has today and tomorrow well under control even though it does not always feel like it at the moment.  The child finds contentment in the simple relationship itself.  That is what I must emulate.

God is concerned with my being, not my doing. He is not as impressed with my regular church attendance as He is with my heart being a continual altar unto Him. He longs for me to be a light instead of striving to shine; to be a disciple instead of acting like one.  Jesus modeled this kind of relationship with Our Father and had deep internal peace no matter what adversary or adversity He faced.  He rested as a child lies quietly in its mother’s arms. 

When we are fussy about our relationship with our God, we will also be prickly in our relationship with others.  Even our efforts at trying to be holy will be thorny and others will avoid us instead of being drawn to us. 

Lord, help my attitude to be more like Moses whose face glowed after being with You but he was not even aware of it (Ex. 34:29).  May I be so captivated in my relationship with You that I only focus loving You and serving others in Your name and not myself.  Is that your desire as you face this new year?  What might be your next step that would move you in that direction?

How is it that each person naturally thinks differently than others?  My wife, Connie, has a different perspective on life than I.  We have found when we put our different perspectives together, we both have broader and a more complete view of life.  Alone it might be said that each of us would be blind in some area of our life.  Only because of Connie does our house look so warm and attractive.  If I were decorating the house it would look very stark.  We need each other for that to happen.  I am sure the source of these differences relate to a variety of factors, the strongest being our personalities and set of natural talents we have been given by our God. 

This does not work exactly the same in spiritual perception.  Many are more like spiritual zombies; they are alive but virtually dead when it comes to spiritual things.  The apostle Paul explained The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14, NIV).   Sadly, instead of understanding this unique difference, each tends to become angry with the other, some more so than others.  This is especially clear when one tries to convince the other of how wrong, or foolish, they are in the decisions they make.

 A remarkably similar phenomenon is clear within the group of those who have experienced a spiritual regeneration.  In this case the analogy of visual blindness might be a better illustration.  Most of us have different degrees of blindness.  Some see a spiritual truth while it does not even cross another person’s mind.  Again, because they see things differently, they can end up becoming judgmental of each other.  The Bible refers to this as blindness as well as variations of belief.  A person who has a closer or more intimate relationship with God has a stronger belief or faith and therefore is more willing to take risky steps to obey God. 

These variations of blindness or belief are influenced by past unresolved wounds, unforgiveness or bitterness, preferences or habits the Bible forbids, false teachings they have received, pride (vs humility), strong need to control, neglect to nurture the faith they do have because they neglect spiritual disciplines like Bible study and prayer, or other such distractions of life.  Jesus compared the variations of spiritual life with several types of soil in Mark 4:14-20.

The reality is every single believer has multiple spiritual blind spots.  Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely (1 Corinthians 13:12, NLT2)   As a person matures spiritually (not chronologically), the Holy Spirit continues to reveal more truth and thereby remove those blind spots.  This is the goal of every authentic believer. 

Do you desire to have the Holy Spirit open your eyes in your areas of blindness?  The minimal acceptability level of belief/faith is without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must (1) believe that he exists and (2) that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6, NIV).  The second qualifier is the most challenging therefore sobering because it is about relentlessly seeking to know God’s fullness in a more personal way.  The more you seek of Him the more you will have revealed to you.  I have found indescribable and energizing joy as He continues to whisper insights of who He is and His ways.  I have already experienced that pleasure at least two times this week!  The joy of the Lord truly can be our strength.

It is recorded in Wikipedia that Clairvius Narcisse, a Haitian man (1/2/1922-1994) said a Haitian vodou priest had given him a combination of psychoactive drugs.  As documented and verified by two American doctors, these drugs rendered him seemingly dead.  He was buried May 2, 1962 but that night the priest who administered the drugs to him, dug his body up and forced him to work as a zombie in a sugar plantation.  This priest died 16 years later so as the regular doses of the hallucinogen drugs worked out of his system, he regained sanity and returned to his home.  There he proved his identity to his sister and several other villagers by using a childhood nickname and sharing intimate family information.  Wade Davis, a graduate student in ethnobotany at Harvard University, was the strongest advocate of this case.

Regardless of the veracity of this story, it does illustrate what Paul references in Ephesians 2:1 where he states, you were dead [the unregenerate are also referred to as blind] in trespasses and sins in which you walked.  Ezekiel the prophet wrote Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house (Ezekiel 12:2, ESV).   Jesus saidYou blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. (Matthew 23:26, ESV).

Paul describes the origins of spiritual zombies and what you can expect from them.

They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools (Romans 1:19-22, NLT2)

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else (Ephesians, 2:1-3 (NLT2).

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (Ephesians 4:18-19, NIV).   You see, without experiencing a spiritual regeneration that creates a deep desire to love and serve God, a person is a spiritual zombie.

Consider this: Can we honestly expect a naturally blind person to behave like one with 20/20 vision?  Of course not.  Relax!  Understand that a person can only receive spiritual sight by humbly admitting their need to see and ask God’s Spirit to give them a portion of His sight.  Becoming angry at a spouse or anyone because they make wrong and hurtful choices is as foolish as getting mad at a blind person.  Remember, Jesus said No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. (John 6:44a, ESV)  Therefore calm down, if possible take proactive steps to stop enabling them, pray on behalf of and have compassion on the zombie instead of being angry.  Then refocus on endeavoring to help whomever you do intuitively sense the Spirit is drawing to Christ. Working in cooperation with the Spirit of God in bringing spiritual light to that zombie will be most rewarding.

Very candidly, I am going to share what I am being challenged within my spirit today.  For me, this is as fresh as my blog can get. 

I have reflected on the Adam and Eve’s condition before and after their fatal decision to choose to no longer be dependent on God for knowledge of good and evil.  Their condition before this fall was living the ultimate good life on earth as well as relationship with God—what we all dream of experiencing—heaven on earth.  After their fall everything radically changed.  Immediately they began to experience self-consciousness, shame, fear, guilt; the very defects that plague us today.  What brought about these painful changes?  I believe it was their choice to be independent from God instead of being dependent upon Him.  The question I have been asking myself is, in what ways am I not being dependent upon Him?

The ghost of my independence appears when I do not wait on God to whisper His guidance or answer.  In those times I do not wait for Him to bring His holy presence and nearness in my prayer time.  If I do not sense His presence or whisper as quickly as I want, my mind starts making petitions or becoming distracted with other thoughts.  Finally, I act on whatever notions come to mind.  That inadvertent response reflects my dependence on myself and a lack of a sense of absolute poverty and helplessness without Him.  That grieves me as it does my God. 

The Psalmist wrote As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy (Psalm 123:2, NIV)   Isaiah wrote O LORD, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble (Isaiah 33:2, ESV).  This was the dependency level Mary was expressing in Luke 10:42 that Jesus defined as the good or better part.  This concept is repeated in various forms many times in Scripture.   

Most of us wait only upon God for what we can get from Him, the answer or provision we hope to receive from Him.  Our prayers are more about us than about waiting for Him to take His place as God in that special worship time.  When He does make His presence known there is such a calm, silent joy and nearness that dissolves our anxiety, frustration and self-centeredness.  It is His presence that changes our requests or how we continue to pray.  This is what Jesus was referring to when He said, If you live in me and what I say lives in you, then ask for anything you want, and it will be yours (John 15:7, GW).     

It can be enlightening if we seriously ask ourselves “for what am I waiting?” or “on whom am I waiting?”  “Is my God like a vending machine idol of some sort?”  No!  He is the living God in all His great glory, infinite holiness, power, wisdom, love and goodness.  If it is true that God alone is goodness and joy and love; if it be true that our highest blessedness is having as much of Him as we can, nothing less than dependent waiting on Him can satisfy the cry of our heart. 

Holy Spirit, please remind me to deliberately take time to wait dependently upon you as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master.   I have known the most magnificent pleasure of being in Your presence and want to sacrifice whatever to enjoy it more often.  I pray that those who read this will also want You, not for Your gifts, but Your incredible presence.  

Can authentic faith in God be reduced down to obedience?  Jesus did say, If you love me, you will keep my commandments (John 14:15, ESV), … Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments (Matthew 19:17, ESV) and If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love (John 15:10, ESV).  It seems simple obedience to God’s commands is the essential key to unlocking God’s blessings.  But is that the full truth? 

Isaiah 1 describes the worship of the Jewish tribe of Judah as offering a “multitude of sacrifices” [how much is sacrificed today?] (v 11),  regular worship attendance (v 12), offering of incense [today this may look like very generous giving to God] and sacred celebrations of holy days, participating in special public assemblies to honor God (v 13), stretching out hands in worship and offered many prayers (v 15).  If we knew someone who practiced these things today, it is likely we would consider them very spiritual.  However, God severely rebuked these people, not for obedience to His precepts but for allowing their hearts to become distracted from Him while they obeyed His laws.  Their schizophrenic spiritual life was not acceptable to Him.  In Revelation 2,  again after Christ applauded their noble behavior, He warned the church at Ephesus that their heart was not invested in the right deeds they practiced and that unless they humbly turned their hearts totally around (repented) He would remove His presence from them.        

If you agonize over whether you are walking in God’s will for your life, it might be encouraging to know that unless you have chosen to blow off or rationalize what God’s word says about a matter or ignore His whispers, you are most likely already walking in God’s will.   So, relax.  To be clear, what God wants from you is NOT just your perfect outward words or deeds, but rather your deep, inner conviction and passion to follow what He whispers to you to say or do.  Living with that kind of heart results in right words and obedient behavior.  However, if you have chosen to do what you or others want instead of what God has already asked you to do; anxiety, confusion, frustration, independence and anger will constantly haunt you.  If that describes what you frequently experience, all you have to do is humble yourself and consciously and deliberately repent (let His Spirit turn your heart totally around) and start walking as you already know He wants you to walk.  Bottom line: He is looking at what prompts our initiative—the focus of our heart, not just sheer obedience to a set of rules even if they are in His Word.  When the heart is right with God, obedience and happiness follows like a shadow wherever you go.

Note this, the person who genuinely seeks for God’s guidance must never forget that even if he/she were to do all the things God commands, that person may still NOT be the person God longs for her/him to be. Paul explained it this way, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Co 3:6b , ESV). An obsession merely to do all God commands may be the very thing that separates that person from what He calls him/her to be.  The Pharisees were examples of this.

Dallas Willard wrote, what God wants us to do is very important, of course, and we must be careful to learn how to know it and do it, but it is never enough by itself to allow us to understand and enter the radiant life before the shining face of God that is offered to us in the grace of the gospel — a life pleasing to him, in view of which He can say, “This is my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.