Obedience

Obedience seems so easy in theory, but in real life application it is a different story. John 15 continues with the "IF you love me, you WILL obey my commands" theme.

"Remain in me and I will remain in you." (Jn 15:4)

"If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do NOTHING." (Jn15:5)

"As the Father has loved me, so have I have loved you. Now remain in my love. IF you OBEY my commands you will
REMAIN in my LOVE, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love." (Jn15:9)

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." (Jn15:12)

Sounds easy enough. I do want to remain in Him, I want to rely on His love, His joy, His peace, His patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Apart from Him I can do nothing, I am like a branch that is thrown away and withers. If I remain in Him, He will remain in me and then I do not have to rely on my own fruits I can rely on His. If I remain in Christ the rest (bearing fruit, loving others, and testifying in the face of hatred and persecution) will follow. His power in me will accomplish all of this. To remain in Him I must CHOOSE to worship, meditate on His Word, Pray, Sacrifice with a right heart, and Serve Him in the ways the Holy Spirit prompts and leads.

At BSF on Wednesday, the substitute teaching leader, Tonya, gave an illustration that has stuck in my mind. It was a story about wet peanut butter. Her family likes peanut butter. When they are finished with the spoon or knife they use to get the peanut butter, her family puts it in the sink (with a bit of water) and leaves. Tonya is usually the one who gets to clean up the now wet peanut butter. Wet peanut butter is gross and not fun to clean, especially when it was not yours. Cleaning up the wet peanut butter has become a gage as to how she is doing with the commandment "Love one another." Does she clean the wet peanut butter with joy or with bitter comments made in her mind or under her breath. Sure she could teach her family how to take care of the wet peanut butter herself and she will, when God allows her to. Such a good lesson for me, especially this week.

This week, more than this week, I have seen God working in me. I can see that His will is becoming my desire more often. He is changing me to be more like Him. That is exciting, encouraging. The new me is doing things the old me would have never dreamed of doing. I do feel His joy, His peace, a completeness. But "Wet Peanut Butter" moments pop up to help me gage how I am really doing with obeying His commandments. One came up today. This time around I at least was able to acknowledge it for what it was, Wet Peanut Butter. But I still struggled with those feelings of anger, bitterness and irritation. I kept hearing in my head over and over, "Love one another as I have loved you." Easy in theory but not in real life application.

God is good, He kindly teaches me, again and again and again. Today He used my children. They were playing so well together, then the tides turned. Little one took something from her sister. Sister was immediately enraged and the struggle to take it back was on. The sight reminded me of myself just a few minutes earlier. My expectations of the older one are greater. She is older, more mature, must be the model. The little one does not know, must be taught and the way she is going to be taught is not by words or tongue, but with actions and in truth. The older ones first response was anger. Was she wronged? Yes. By the world's standards, was she justified in her anger? Yes. But we do not live by the world's standards, we live by The Word of God. God's Word commands us to love one another. It was a teaching moment for me and the older one. Not the first and it won't be the last, but one of many. Just as God lovingly teaches me over and over and over, Love one another because He first loved us.

So what was my bible study about today, I John 3 - 5.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" I Jn 3:1

"This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another." I Jn3:11

"And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us; We know it by the
Spirit he gave us." I Jn 3:23-24

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for loves comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and know
God." I Jn 4:7

"...But if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." I Jn 4:12

"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on
the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him. In this way, love is made
complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement, because in this world we are like him."
I Jn 4:16-17

"We love because he first loved us." I Jn 4:19

"This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God:
to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world."
I Jn 5:2-3

God is a God of repetition. That is a good thing because I obviously need it. What is encouraging to me is that this particular "Wet Peanut Butter" (W.P.M.) moment will not always be a W.P.M. moment for me. I know that I will continue to have W.P.M.'s but it will not always be this. Eventually, hopefully soon, my first reaction will be love. I know with the power of Christ that lives in me that will happen!

IF you love me...

"If you love me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:21

"If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching." John 14:23-24

So if Jesus were to rate my love for Him by how well I am obeying His commandments, how would I fare? Ouch. There is obeying or not obeying. No partial obedience is mentioned. All or none. I know that the Holy Spirit lives inside me. I know the Holy Spirit teaches me and reminds me of Jesus' commands. I know that I obey most of the time. But where is the Lord calling me from partial obedience to full submission? Loaded question I know. The answer is probably a list so overwhelming that it would send me reeling. I will just pray for the Spirit to kindly, lovingly reveal them to me one at a time and the courage and desire to fully yield in obedience.

abundantly blessed

I just returned from the annual scrapbook weekend with my college girlfriends. I was trying to think about how long we have been doing this particular get away and I came up with at least 8 years. What wonderful husbands we have that graciously allow us to be away the entire weekend. Each and every year it is wonderful, but this year it was particularly wonderful. I have known these girls longer than I haven't. I met these girls when I was 18 years old. We are now 38, 39, 40 and a few 40 plus years old. Some in our group will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary soon. Some of our group will soon be elders wives. Some children of our group will soon have licensed drivers. Soon some in our group will begin to see children leave their home. It is hard to believe we are this old. But time has been good to all of us. These women were godly women when we met so many years ago and have continued to be great examples of what it means to be godly through the years. I have been abundantly blessed to be able to call them friend all these years.

A few catch phrases typically make their way into our vernacular as a result of these weekends. B.S.F, Carp, Route 44, hedge of protection, and Daisy's are all words that spark certain memories from the times we have spent together. There is little sleep, little scrapbooking, lots of talking, lots of laughter, lots of eating and this year an atypical amount of tears. Some were tears of immense grief as one of our members received news that a dear friend of hers just lost her 10 year old son in a four wheeler accident early Saturday morning. Other tears were shed as one member confessed due to some very poor decisions on her part her marriage had been going through some difficult times. She had been unable to share her struggles with many people, yet as difficult as it was to share them with us, she did share knowing that she would be met with love and support and encouragement, not judgement and condemnation. I hope and pray that her courage to share her deep, personal struggles will free her from the bondage of guilt she has felt for so long. Satan so desperately wants us to be in bondage to our sins, our bad decisions, our guilt. He wants us to keep it inside, hidden in the dark. We do not want to confess it to others, we are too ashamed. But keeping it in the dark keeps us from having the type of relationship God wants to have with us. Confessing and bringing it into the light, nothing hidden, no secrets gives us freedom, forgiveness, a closer, deeper relationship with our Father. It allows us to draw near to God so that He will draw near to us. Hallelujah!

There were many conversations, many confessions, much sharing, many tears, much healing, much encouraging. The sharing was rich, God-centered, and glorifying to Him. My cup was filled to overflowing. I was abundantly blessed by the time I spent with these women. I am a better person because of these women.