Tag: Obedience

Digging in Deeper: Judges 2:4

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“As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Do you remember a time as a kid when you were misbehaving, knew it, but weren’t doing anything about it? You just kept right on down that path figuring that you’d deal with the consequences when that time came. And eventually, the time did indeed come. Your parent or teacher or some other authority finally caught you and sat you down and basically said, “You’ve had your fun, but what were you thinking? Now it’s time to pay the Piper.” Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Judges 1:19

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“And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Starting here and six more times in this chapter we see this phrase, “And he did not drive out…”  The command was to drive out completely or else you are going to pay for it, but they did not obey.  They did not obey, and as the rest of the story of Judges makes clear, they did indeed pay for it.  They stopped doing what the Lord had commanded, so He stopped helping them do it, so the peoples of Canaan remained in the land.  The Lord had told them that if the peoples of Canaan were allowed to remain in the land, they would trip them up and lead them astray.  If the people went astray, they were going to lose the blessings of obedience and gain the Lord Himself as their chief opponent.  And it all happened. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 19:5

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“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my reassured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine…”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of the things we are called to (and by “we,” I mean “everybody”) over and over again in the Scriptures is obedience.  We live in a day, though, when obedience is not a popular idea.  We want to be free to do as we please.  We want to loosen the restrictions on ourselves so we can pursue our hearts’ desires without any limitations.  Nobody likes the idea of obedience…except for when they do. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 3:8

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“And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

This has always struck me as one of the more remarkable stories in the Exodus narrative.  Here were Joshua and the people of Israel ready once again to cross the Jordan and enter the Promised Land.  The bounty of God’s provision and promise lay ahead of them.  The only thing that stands in their way is the Jordan River.  But, this should present no real trouble to them.  After all, God had already parted a whole sea for them.  What threat does a river pose? Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Acts 26:19

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“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Do you have a vision from God?  Have you received one?  How are you doing with this?  God gives us a vision of the work He has for us to do as we seek Him in the routine, day-to-day of our lives.  This vision will likely be a function of our passions, interests, abilities, and experiences.  It will involve God placing us at the intersection of the world’s need and our passion.  He will call us through this vision to the advancement of His kingdom. Read the rest…