Obedience to God

Have you ever wondered what the number one thing that God wants from his children? You parents out there what is the one thing that you desire from your children? Well I will bet that obedience is at the number one spot or at least number two. This is what God desires from all of his children. God is looking for obedience from us. The life of King Saul can be an example of what God does not desire and that is partial obedience. In 1 Samuel 15 God gives very clear instruction to king Saul that he is to utterly destroy the Amalekites. He was to wipe them off of the Earth all human and animal life of these people was to be destroyed. Now I am not going to explain here the idea of wiping out a whole race of people and what constitutes a holy war because that is not the point of this post. The point is Saul only half obeyed God. He spared their king and the animals and what was the reason? So he could offer sacrifice. Samuel makes it clear that God desires obedience more than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22-23). God wants our obedience. Now before we go and pass judgment upon Saul are there areas in your life that are not 100% yielded to God? How often do we offer up our sacrifices of time, money, and praise on Sunday, when we have not been obedient throughout the week? The point is that obedience is the only way to please God. He would rather have us obey him than attend church. I am not saying that church is not important but obedience is more important than our worship. God wants us to obey him and not make excuses for our actions. This week try focus on obedience more than worship.

Lessons from King Saul - Following God

In 1 Samuel 13:1-12 Saul is faced with the dilemma to either follow God's instructions or to give into the people's wishes. As Samuel tarried  waiting on Saul, he was left to wonder if God was with him. Saul had the problem that many of us do from time to time. When God does not answer right away we often get anxious and act at times without making sure that it is God's plan. God often acts outside of our time frame and we need to remember that God is with us no matter what happens. I have come to realize that God answers our prayers with yes, no, wait, and my personal favorite I am not going to tell you. Saul teaches us that it is more important to wait on God than step out without him.

It has been a long time since I have made a post to this blog but I am going to try and blog more of my thoughts and studies.

Book Review

A great representation of Jesus and his Old Testament connection. Enjoy.

Review

Book Review

Here was an interesting book on the Anabaptist Movement. Hope you enjoy.

Review

God's Grace in Genesis 1-11

Today I was reminded that God showed grace in each of the episodes where mankind sinned. After the fall in chapter 3 God showed grace by holding off the punishment of death. Adam and Eve were told that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die that day (Genesis 2:17). That is not what happened though they were spared for a time. The second came after Cain killed Able God showed grace by marking Cain so that everyone would know that he was protected and was not to be killed (Genesis 4:15). God also showed grace to the human race in the flood first in not wiping out the whole race because of the sins but also in the promise that he gave Noah that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood or water (Genesis 9:11). At the tower of Babel God had grace in not destroying the nations but here we see something that has not been in the other accounts. God scatters them by confusing the language and then leaves them in that condition. The question begs is God now through with the nations? Well the answer is no he simply shifts focus to creating a people through Abraham so that they will be the blessing to the nations. Gods grace did not start in the New Testament, it began at the fall. Gods grace is all around us and he just asks that we seek him and let him transform us into the image of Jesus. Gods grace comes at the highest price of all the death of his Son Jesus Christ. Thank you Jesus for allowing grace to flow. Your grace still amazes me.

Salvation

In preparing my work for teaching the theological concept of salvation I was reminded that the concept of sanctification is an event and process. There was a time in every believers life that they were sanctified in God's sight and then started the process of becoming more like Jesus. I would like to say that it has been easy or is easy to be sanctified but the truth is because God is holy and we are not it makes it difficult for us to become holy. The fact is though that is exactly what must happen. Thank God he has made a way for us to accomplish this and it is not left to our own devices to become holy. The fact is God helps us to become more like Jesus every day. We merely need to look to Him for guidance and help.

The concept of sin and the affect on our lives

Today I walked through the Biblical teaching on sin. For me it is the least favorite topic in theology for me because it is here that all my failures come out. The enemy reminds me of all the times that I fail and have failed but the great thing is that my failures are covered by Jesus' blood. It is amazing to me that the fall recorded in Genesis is not seen by many in the church as more than a simple fall to the ground. This "fall" was catastrophic in the fact that it separated us from God. This separation was a death blow to our soul. It makes me appreciate exactly what Jesus did on the cross for us that much more. I can only imagine what it was like to walk with God in the cool of the day. To feel God's presence at all times. One day the sin that is in the world will be eradicated and we will once again have the relationship with our creator that we were meant to have. Praise God for this marvelous gift.