God Expects Obedience

God Expects Obedience

“Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” Jonah 1:1-2

            We all know the story of Jonah and his disobedience when God told him to go to Nineveh and warn the people what God was going to do if they didn’t listen.  Jonah actually ran the other way and he ended up in a big fish.  The people listened to him, repented and over 120,000 people were saved that day.  That was a long time ago.

            In spite of what you may think, God still speaks to us today and he expects you to answer by saying,   “Yes, Lord.”  However that is not usually what happens. I can see you now saying, “Well he never speaks to me.”  I can tell you right now that is not true.  

            If you are a born again Christian, you have responded to the call of the Holy Spirit through Gods voice.  You were obedient to that call then and many more times throughout your life directing you in so many ways. How many times has your life been saved by urges to go this way or that?  How many times have you felt a nudge to change direction in a situation that led to a better outcome?  Yet, we brag about what we did and how we did it, not even thinking about thanking God for his help.

            I think how many years of my life, I never gave God credit for anything. Now, after serving him for the past forty years, I can’t even image what my life would have turned out without the guidance of God.  I find that I need him more and more every day. That’s because I have learned to listen to him through the Bible, teachings, prayer and listening when he speaks into my heart.

            But that is only the beginning; next comes being obedient.  When God speaks to you to do something, don’t wait too long to answer his call.  Recently the Holy Spirit had been tugging at my heart to send a note to someone, but I had been so busy I didn’t do it. Then one day I knew I had to do it that day.  I asked the Lord to give me the words to say as I began to write. It turned out to be what the person needed to hear, and why not, it came from God himself.

            You may not realize the importance of obedience to God.  This scripture in I Samuel 15:22 may help you to look at this more clearly.  “But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”  We know by the word of God that we should honor the Sabbath.  It may be a sacrifice for you to go to church on Sunday when you would rather do something else.

In Exodus 20:8-10 it says, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates.”  This seems like a pretty strong command and yet God lets us know Obedience is still more important than Sacrifice.

            Each day, ask God what he wants you to do.  He may give you a direction or it may be to call someone or send a note to someone who needs encouragement. It can be to read the Bible and there you may find answers. “Holy Spirit, let me hear from God today and use me in any way you choose. Help me to be obedient and may someone be blessed.” Amen! 

The Goolaba Tree

The Goolaba Tree

“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.”  Psalm 1:3

When I was a child my mother bought me a book and it was called ‘The Goolaba Tree’.  I have never forgotten that story.  As the years passed I tried finding the story, but have never saw it or heard of it again, so I will try to relate the story as I remember it.

There were two farmers, Farmer Brown and Farmer Smith, whose land met the other at the far end of the fields.  One day the farmers met at the end of their fields and neither knew who owned the land on the other side of a fence.  So they decided to walk into the woods a little ways.  They came to a small cleared area and in the middle of it grew a big tree.  As they both looked at the tree, they tried to figure out what kind of a tree it was.  The tree was covered with big round, red fruit which was not quite ripe enough to pick.  They agreed to meet at the tree in one week and in the meanwhile they would try to find out what king of a tree it was.

The next week the farmers met at the tree again.  Both were very excited because they had learned the tree was a Goolaba tree.  They also learned that the Goolaba tree was one of the rarest trees in the world and the fruit was most wonderful to eat.  However, it was only good for an hour on the day it was ripe.  They agreed that on that day the fruit was ripe, they would both meet at a certain time and share the fruit together.

That day, Farmer Brown rose up early and set out across the fields to meet Farmer Smith.  When Farmer Brown got to the tree, he could see that someone had already been there.  Then he looked a short distance away and there on the ground lay Farmer Smith with bright red juice running down his chin.  Farmer Brown ran to Farmer Smith and said to him, “How could you be so dishonest? We agreed to meet and pick the fruit at the same time.”

“I came at the time we agreed on and you came early; why did you do that”, Farmer Brown inquired?

Farmer Smith was moaning and groaning. “You told me today the fruit would be ripe and it wasn’t, so I ate it any way and I am so sick because the fruit was spoiled.”

Farmer Brown was so mad because Farmer Smith had told Farmer Brown the wrong time and so they never got to eat the wonderful fruit.  Just about then the fruit all died and the tree dried up and turned to dust never to bloom again.  The end.

The truth of that simple little story is that when people become dishonest, they will not gain anything, but when we honor God and do all things honestly, God will prosper us.  Just like it says in Psalm 1:3 whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.”  God wants us to prosper, but he will not tolerate man’s dishonesty.

There are six things the Lord hates: “Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil”, Proverbs 6:16-18   The Lord will also not tolerate deceit.  We think we can be deceitful in business dealings and we don’t call it deceit.  Some will say, “Well it’s just part of business, but the truth is that we are not being honest and just use another name for it.

There is nothing gained when we sin.  When you are tempted to do something that’s not right, remember “The Goolaba Tree”.

Hiding from God

Hiding from God

“And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.” Genesis 3:8 (NKJV)

Have you ever watched children playing hide and seek?  They cover their eyes and believe that others can’t see them.  It’s quite the same thing people do to hide their sins from God.  We’ve all done it; if no one else can see us, we think we are safe.

I remember as a teen, I wanted to try smoking because it seemed so glamourous in movies and magazines.  My friends and I would find places to hide so no one would catch us.  However, God saw you doing it and knew the results in years to come.  Numbers 32:23 tells us, “Our sins will find us out.”

I remember feeling ashamed of what I was doing. I read this statement one day and it really says it like it is, “Sin leads to shame. Shame leads to hiding.”  When we feel shame about what we did, we try to hide.  Did you know you can’t hide from God?  Psalm 69:5 tells us what God thinks about it, “O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You.”  It appears that we cannot hide anything we do or say.

I read this little story that was written by a pastor many years ago. “I was driving down the street one night and saw one of our young girls from church with a boy in a car and they were sitting so close together that they could have put several others in the seat with them.  Brother, it would have taken them a long time to get loosed from that clinch.  It is not right, neither is it Holy to set her body in those positions until she is married and has a license to do it. She looked around and saw my car (which had our church name on it) and she ducked down in the seat.  You know why? She was afraid for the preacher to see her. But long before I drove down that street, God was watching what she was doing and she could not hide it from God.”

In the book of Jeremiah, 16:17, God’s Words tell us, “For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.” We don’t always think about what we say about someone. When we say something about another’s character and pass it on, we may not realize we are downgrading or damaging one of God’s beloved children.  When I think of it that way, I want to hide, but God already heard what I said. God forgive me!

There are those who seem to be angry and anti-social and we wonder why.  They are probably not angry with you, but maybe they are angry with themselves.  “Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 23:2)   I have found myself over the years being grouchy and short with others when they haven’t done anything to me, but it’s me who is upset with myself.

There will come a day when everything is so evil on this earth that those who have refused to accept the Son of God as their Savior are facing a horrid death.  They cry out in Revelation 6:15-17, “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"