STUDIES FROM BRETHREN IN CHRIST

9/22/2019 ~ Obedience

⛗   ObedienceAM1.mp3 (30m 40s)   Obedience.pptx Darkness has no power over God. Loyalty is allegiance to a belief be it good or bad. "... In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice." ~ Genesis 22:16-18 It is the God’s word He wants us to know. His quest is to listen to see if we hear what He says, and then act upon it. "... be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; ..." ~ Deuteronomy 5:32-33 Repeated in both the new and old testaments, ensuring no misunderstandings, God instructs us to be careful to observe His commands so that it may be well with our souls. Key is to do as He says. "Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children ..." ~ Deuteronomy 12:28 A repeated main message of the Bible is to be good, and do what is right, as God is the witness. ... acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments. They refused to obey, ... ~ Nehemiah 9:16-17 One of the stumbling blocks all face is pride void of humble acceptance that God is. Too often people follow people, and not the word of God. God is always ready and waiting for all, no matter how sinful, if the soul is hoping to become better in His sight. He never turns a repenting heart away, if genuine. We all must remember to ask for His help in both good and bad times. ... 'Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, ...' ~ Jeremiah 7:23-24 Each of us has to ask what is at the bottom of our hearts. What our heart aches for is our greatest desire. If evil thoughts consume one, the course is that of destruction, for both personal and public health. Considering His word improves anyone for the better. The greatest battlefield is control of one’s own emotions and character of goodness, over that of bitterness and loss of composure. "... for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice." ~ 1st Samuel 15:24 The counter to fear is trust. Mistakes and regrets will happen. Trusting we climb rather than fall defines the direction a soul travels. Forgiveness is a quality that heals all who live by it. To be forgiven, and to have peace of heart, one must be forgiving; it involves that higher quality of patience. All sanity hinges off of the truth as it is. "No one can serve two masters; ... You cannot serve God and mammon." ~ Matthew 6:24 Hypocrites are double hearted loving and hating the focus of their desires. Stability only comes to those sure of their pursuit, be it either good or bad. As in making a milk-shake, evenly mixed and balanced ingredients create a smooth product. Adding inappropriate ingredients, as rocks or sand, make the whole unusable. So too with the soul, water and vinegar do not mix, goodness and evil can not co-exist. "If you love Me, keep My commandments." ~ John 14:15 One word that many have a hard time embracing is the word “keep.” Keep involves the definite issues of promise and commitment. Selfish hearts do have problems enduring. and or remaining loyal. with desires sifting as the sands blow with no certain direction. Love has the quality of piercing the deepest height, no matter what moonlight wanes. Knowing who one is has no comparable value. Love is the highest pinnacle of life. ... "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ..." ~ John 14:23-24 To be at the top one must see the bottom       Loves Me = Keep My word   Not love Me = Not keep My words   What one does is found by God unhidden in any forest. The doings of a heart declare nobility under God or despicable without Him. ... and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. ~ James 1:25 Doing good works is the essential purpose for living. Adhering to the word of God enhances the wider view unseen by all unbelievers. Skeptics ride the anger waves bound in time without eternities chime. ... rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, ... ~ 1st Peter 1:13-16 To find oneself truth is crucial for awareness   He who called you in your ignorance                   ⮡  "Be holy, for I am holy"                                 ⮡  as obedient children                                             ⮡  not to former lusts     Gird up your mind, be sober             ⮡  Rest your hope fully upon the grace                  ⮡  at the revelation of Jesus Christ Each of us is that canvas ready to be written. How we work the goodness in us declares honest or dishonest hearts. Denial or acceptance colors the depth of a soul. ... "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" ... ~ 1st Peter 4:17-19 In our climb to commit to Him in doing good, obedience to His truths must be observed. ... who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord ... ~ 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9 There is no glory in evil works, and missing the word of God’s own truths is the greatest loss of life. ... if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, ... ~ 2nd Thessalonians 3:13-15 The Bible is a book of promises and warnings; a call to conduct describing consequences and results of various human interactions. It is by no means easy to remain in good company when would be friends choose less than honorable directions. Resisting evil is His call to return. Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. ~ Revelation 14:12 With eternity in sight, disciples pursue faith in the light of His promises through Jesus Christ. God is not an author of confusion, and He has not created the so many faux similarities that man declares in who He is. God has made it plain and clear without conflicting interests. All religious doctrines catering to man hold the darkness He has not lit. "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." ~ John 13:17 Doing what He asks is found in His irreplaceable word. Find truth and cherish it in everything all around  ● By Abraham’s obedience all nations are blessed  ● Instruction is to be careful to walk in His ways  ● God does not want us to dismiss His presence  ● God’s kindness waits for any and all to return  ● Evil hearts do not follow God’s good word  ● Fear of opinions can defeat spiritual courage  ● Those that love God keep His word  ● Blessed are those practicing what God has directed     ● Use all one's intelligence to remain obedient  ● Committing one’s soul to God is an act of faith  ● Damnation awaits all who do not obey God’s word  ● Keeping commandments is a matter of enduring  ● God’s blessings come by following His word In service one finds what cannot be bought.   ObediencePM2.mp3 (33m 03s) ... "We ought to obey God rather than men." ~ Acts 5:29 Without knowledge of God, divergence from His ways occurs, and does become polluted through self-seeking within unrestrained desires. Dismissing His truth embraces the lies of men. By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. ... ~ Hebrews 11:8 Whatever journey we travel we must manitain faith in His will with trusting hearts. ... if they do not obey, They shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge. ~ Job 36:10-12 Believing in forever softens the plight of temporality   He opens their ear to instruction      ⮡  commands turn from iniquity   If they obey and serve Him        ⮡  spend their days in prosperity                ⮡  years in pleasures   But if they do not obey      ⮡  They shall perish by the sword             ⮡  die without knowledge God has sent His word into the world through the Holy Spirit, and the love of His heart has manifested in the flesh. These truths have been plunged into the earth for all to know, of His ways, and His desires for His children in the light. The choice is to live in contentment or be destroyed within turmoil. ... For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous. ~ Romans 5:18-19 One good man took the fall for all the evils in the world. How many times since, and before, has sacrificial lambs, honest souls, been condemned for telling the truth? Injustice across the ages of man is the misery of unobtained justice that each unfairly soul has felt. Evil will forever steal joy from the upright. ... He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. ~ Hebrews 5:7-9 Christ is the crown of truth. Suffering delivers strength to endure past previous comforts. Suffering deepens understanding and increases awareness. No one can know the pains of living without experiencing hardships, that one has had to have overcome, gaining that elevated wisdom. Heights of success come to those who have dug from the bottom. ... according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith -- to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus ... ~ Romans 16:25-27 That which establishes a heart rounds off the sanctuary where relaxing occurs. It is obedience that brings happiness to a soul. It is the hand of God that lifts us into comfort without measure. God rises beyond the bickering's of man. ... you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness ... ~ Romans 6:16-18 Without trust in God eternal sight is impaired   Sin leading to death      ⮡  Slaves of sin   Obedience leading to righteousness             ⮡  Obeyed from the heart                     ⮡  Slaves of righteousness If one desires to break the bondage of life’s despair, eternity and the promise of God must take precedence. ... thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. ~ 2nd Corinthians 10:3-6 Thoughts run as they do in the clouds, but if not controlled, they may damage the conscience of a soul. If comfort of thought is a desire, longing for God satisfies more than any store could supply. ... obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, ... ~ Colossians 3:22-24 Advanced students have literally gone through several Bibles and multiple gluing attempts. Duct tape prolongs use as we ride the temporary, where decay is unavoidable. ... authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. ~ Titus 3:1-2 To be ready one has to know what is asked of in the faith, and actually be a practitioner of these good works. God Himself calls out for us to reflect His image of goodness and truth. Practicing sin disavows one’s preparedness. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. ~ Colossians 3:20 Created for God’s pleasure, building excellence comes from legacies of deep faith. ... Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, ... ~ Galatians 3:1 There are earthly religions down here that do not adhere to the word of God, but rather, cater to their own doctrines created by traditions of men. There is only one holy Father and shame upon those that claim His name. We obey when we follow the word of God and not the false worship man has doctrinally devised. ... as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation ... ~ Philippians 2:12 Relationship with God is purposed in its’ singular creation. ... in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, ... ~ 1st Peter 1:22-23 Honest hearts do leave one vulnerable, to manipulations and abuses by those that would take advantage of this. In a hard world, to be wise is to be desired over those that would exercise deception. Honesty can invoke murderous behaviors in those that deny truth, and who prefer secretiveness within practices of sinfulness. Secret desires hide an open heart. No height can replace where honesty lifts a soul in the satisfaction of living. "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you." ~ John 15:14 There will always be a fence to climb, and woe the day we have none to see over. Valleys will come before each mountain that must be climbed. For clarity of vision, it can not be done alone. We all have His word to lift us to that next plateau. ... those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ~ Revelation 22:14 If it is truly a desire to achieve heaven in the presence of God, one must work to do His commandments, to refresh one's life from the root He alone supplies, it is glory upon all who belong. Deep love leads to obedience under His care ● Obeying God takes priority over man’s lawlessness ● Faith is obeying what can not be proved ● Serving God obediently delivers tranquility ● Jesus’ obedience reveals walks to become righteous ● Refined through suffering deepens dedication ● The gospel establishes obedience to the faith ● Obedience renders a righteous heart; sinners die ● Self-control exalting God’s knowledge is deliverance ● Loyalty to God first delivers immeasurable rewards ● We are called to be respectful of authority ● Charlatans deceive away from the truth of Jesus ● Obey the truth with a sincere pure heart ● Obedience leads to salvation in heaven above Obedience leads to an eternal reward otherwise missed Darkness hides in a heart of pain.