Monday, May 12, 2008

Obedience - Part 4 (Final)

In closing I must reiterate what I have said before, my writing on obedience is personal. Each one of us needs to review our lives and actions during it to see if we are being obedient to Him and His leading.
I was touched by what Jenny commented on for the last post. She wrote: “Also I'm touched that obedience was worked out in the Godhead first. The Son became obedient to the Father. This obedience is therefore divine - eternal, indestructible and incorruptible, yet we can partake of it.” I say, Amen.
As we come to the last post on obedience I would like to close with a quote from Murray which shows the way to obedience and by it we can become partakers of Jesus’ example.
He wrote, “The secret of true obedience, I believe, is a clear and close personal relationship to God. All our attempts to achieve full obedience will fail until we have access to His abiding fellowship. It is God’s holy presence, consciously abiding with us, that keeps us from disobeying Him. Imperfect obedience is the result of a life that is lacking. To defend our life by arguments and faulty motives will only make us feel the need of a more committed life, one that is entirely under the power of God, iin which place obedience becomes natural. A life of broken and spasmodic fellowship with God must be healed to make way for a full and healthy life of obedience. The secret of true obedience, then is the return to close and continual fellowship with God.” Page 34
And finally he writes, “Our Lord, who learned obedience by waiting every moment to see and hear the Father, has a great lesson to teach us: It is only when, like Him, with Him, in and through Him, we continually walk with God and hear His voice that we can possibly attempt to offer God the obedience He asks." Page 37
Andrew Murray – The Life of Obedience - From the chapter titled The Secret of True Obedience
Amen, my prayer from this sharing on obedience is for each of us to become so ‘in love’ with our Lord, that the only thing we want is to show this love by waiting on Him and obeying His leading.

2 comments:

Jenny said...

I was touched with Murray's comments about the personal relationship producing the obedience. It reminds me of grace - John tells us "grace came with Jesus Christ." Menuro Chen, speaking on grace in the epistles of Peter, said "grace has come, grace is coming and grace will come." To stay in this fellowship, that is, to abide in Christ, is to stay in the sweet visitation of grace - and grace works out obedience in us. Grace is the incarnated God as life and everything-including obedience-to us. Halleluia - Christ is available. Obedience is available! Thank you, Lord, we have to stayl in this intimate relationship with You.

Donna said...

Mike, always good to hear of how the Lord is teaching and guiding you! Totally understand that it is difficult to keep up with the blog. I keep it to read it later and then leave it too long though I totally enjoy reading it when I find the time. Amy and her children have moved in with us after her divorce. she is going to classes for dental assisting. It is a blessing and challenge for Rick and I. We certainly have more enery in our home!! We are all going to OK to Sara's for Dale and Sheena's wedding reception next weekend. Hope to see you there. The Lord is surely good and gracious to us... I say as Devin slams the door upstairs. Oh, well, we live in this imperfect world and have access to our perfect and loving Lord!~ Thank Heavens!! Blessings, Donna