Steps of Obedience
Are you a believer or a follower of Christ and is there a difference?

Jesus is Lord over our infinite universe, and He is also Lord over our heart.

What does it mean when we say that Jesus is Lord? We hear the word Lord so frequently that it sometimes loses its power and magnitude, but this is far more than a mere title Scripture gives to Jesus.
Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that God bestowed on His Son “the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow” and “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This means the name given to Jesus is none other than Lord. You see, Lord is not something Jesus does; it’s who Jesus is: Our Savior is, and will always be, the sovereign ruler of everything in heaven and on earth.

Therefore, when we express that Jesus is Lord, our life should reflect His authority over us. Is there anything you attempt to hide from Christ? Have you refused to do something that He has called you to do? Scripture says that someday everyone will recognize Christ as Lord (Phil. 2:11). So we should invite Him into the dark areas of our life and allow Him to conform us to His image. A good place to begin is with the simple yet profound confession “Jesus is Lord.”


Philippians 2:5-11
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Thinking that certain facts about Jesus are true is not the same as trusting Him.


Which term describes your Christian life: believer or Christ-follower? A believer can be certain of things without necessarily putting them into practice. But a follower chooses the path of action. What does it look like to follow Jesus?

1.First, we must trust Him (John 14:1) because we will not follow someone we don’t trust. Trust develops as we abide in Him and discover the beauty of His character, His love, and His plan.


2. Secondly, we must obey Him (John 14:15). A true follower of Jesus will combine trust with obedience, endeavoring to say “Yes, I will” when it’s difficult, “Yes, I will” when it’s unpopular, and “Yes, I will” even when it may cause us heartache.

3. Lastly, we must serve Him. God doesn’t want His children to be mere observers but to be active participants in His work. We are called to use our spiritual gifts and do our part as the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:27-28).

Jesus provided the perfect example: He trusted His Father completely, obeyed Him sacrificially (Phil. 2:8), and lived a life of service (Matt. 20:28). We are called to emulate our Lord and Savior. In what area do you need help? Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a trusting, obedient spirit.

1 Peter 2:9-12
But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

God offers three invitations to every person He created. We are invited …

1. To receive Jesus and become a child of God (John 1:12-13). The Lord calls us to receive Him as our Savior and to have a personal relationship with Him through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. This invitation includes laying down the burden of trying to work out salvation ourselves (Matthew 11:28-29). Instead, Christ invites us to trust Him to do the transforming work in us.
2. To abide in Jesus. Abiding means listening to God speak through Scripture, living in growing dependence on Him, knowing Him more intimately, and drawing upon His power in order to live a godly life.
3. To follow Jesus. In order to follow the Lord, we must be familiar with His character and His plans. The evidence that we are following Him will appear in our attitude, conduct, character, conversation, and relationships.

God loves every individual He created and wants each one to know Him personally. Through the gift of salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit, who enables us to abide in Jesus and follow Him. This is the path to the joy and contentment God has planned for us.

Childish thinking can block our ability to fully enjoy love.

What keeps you from loving others? Paul penned a beautiful description of biblical love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) and then concluded, “When I became a man, I did away with childish things” (v. 11). I believe childish thinking is a hidden enemy of loving relationships. When we are young, a mental grid forms in the mind, and we interpret life through it. Over time, that grid changes as some ideas are dropped and others are incorporated.

The same is true for us spiritually: As we mature, our mental framework should increasingly be shaped by Scripture—and that includes our understanding of love. Childish, self-seeking ideas of love must be replaced with truths about mature love that wants what’s best for others.

Our relationship with God can also be affected by childish thinking. We may believe that His love is dependent on our performance. Or we could mistakenly assume God is withholding love if He doesn’t fulfill our desires.

What faulty thinking is hindering your ability to love and be loved? By putting away your immature beliefs, you’ll be freed to experience God’s unconditional love and express Christlike love to others.

1 Corinthians 13:8-11
Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part;
but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.

Healing for our heart comes when we let go of an offense and trust God.

Forgiving people who’ve wronged us is a tough command to follow. We naturally want to lash out at those who hurt us. Instead of releasing the offense, we replay the mistreatment, relive the pain, and stoke the anger. Aren’t you glad God doesn’t do that with us? We’re never more like Christ than when we forgive.

First Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter, but did you know that the descriptions of love in verse 5 also relate to forgiveness?

Love does not seek its own benefit. When we’ve been wronged, we want our rights, but God’s love seeks what’s best for the other person.

Love is not provoked. It’s to our glory if we overlook wrongdoing rather than respond with irritation or anger (Proverbs 19:11). “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8), but rage and resentment add to the problem.

Love does not keep an account of a wrong suffered. Keeping a list of grudges kills relationships, but forgiveness brings healing and possible restoration.
People at times will wrong us. But if we’re yielded to the Holy Spirit, we can have a peaceful, loving heart that’s not preoccupied with our rights, easily provoked, or burdened with grudges.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Our loving heavenly Father delights in meeting the needs of His children.

Matthew 7:7-11
Yesterday we discussed how our prayers are a kind of worship that brings God glory. But that’s not the only reason we are to pray. Bringing our concerns to God helps us grow in dependence on Him and in gratitude for His faithfulness and provisions. As a loving Father, He delights in giving good gifts that assist us in our walk with Him. And in that way, His thoughts, desires, and strength become ours as well.

Prayer also enables us to participate in God’s work in the world. At any given moment, you can pray for anyone anywhere on earth and have confidence that the Lord of the entire universe will hear you and respond in the most effective way possible. What a wonderful privilege it is to be used by God to expand His church and to help fellow believers.
Another reason the Lord bids us to pray is so that our faith in Him will grow. He promises to answer when we ask, seek, and knock. The result may not be in the form we expected, but our heavenly Father always gives us what is right according to His will. If you set aside time daily to talk to Him, you’ll learn firsthand just how faithful He is to His children.

Because God knows best, our goal in prayer should be to align our heart with His.

Prayer is a crucial discipline for believers’ spiritual growth. In fact, it’s difficult to mature in Christ without it, because prayer is how we communicate with God and thereby develop a relationship with Him. Furthermore, praying is an act of spiritual worship that brings Him honor.

When we pray to our heavenly Father, we’re acknowledging Him as “the high and exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy” (Isaiah 57:15). He alone deserves glory, and we ascribe honor to Him when we “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Think of this as maintaining a God-ward attitude throughout the day while seeking His wise governance over every detail of our life.

When we approach God, our motives and the condition of our heart are important. The Lord dwells both in “a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit” (Isaiah 57:15). Approaching prayer as a means to get our way doesn’t honor God, nor does it produce petitions that He will answer. Instead, come to the Lord in prayer with a humble, repentant attitude of worship.

Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ``I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite

Abraham’s Sacrifice

Our faith is strengthened when we obey God in challenging situations.

Yesterday we learned about the importance of trusting God’s plan. But sometimes obeying Him isn’t easy. Whenever you face a difficult call, remember Abraham. In today’s passage, he was given one of the greatest tests recorded in the Bible, yet he obeyed willingly and promptly. His response teaches important lessons about yielding to God.
Sometimes obedience collides with human reason. The covenant God set up with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:7) would pass down to Isaac, the child of promise (Gal. 4:28). Yet now the Lord was telling Abraham to sacrifice the boy.
Obedience always requires trust in God. Abraham obeyed because he trusted the Lord to fulfill the promise even if that meant his child would be raised from the dead (Heb. 11:17-19). He told his servants, “I and the boy will go over there; and we will worship and return to you,” indicating they’d both return (Gen. 22:5).
Obedience leaves the outcome to God. Abraham fully expected the Lord to preserve Isaac in order to keep His promise. But it was unexpected that God would provide a ram as a substitute sacrifice (vv. 12-14).
The Lord tests us in order to increase our obedience and faith in Him. Will you count God as trustworthy and yield to Him, or will you rely on your own imperfect human reasoning?

Genesis 22:1-24
Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, ``Abraham!" And he said, ``Here I am."
He said, ``Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."
So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.
Abraham said to his young men, ``Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you."
Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.
Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, ``My father!" And he said, ``Here I am, my son." And he said, ``Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"
Abraham said, ``God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.
Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ``Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, ``Here I am."
He said, ``Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.
Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, ``In the mount of the LORD it will be provided."
Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven,
and said, ``By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,
indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.
``In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."
So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham lived at Beersheba.
Now it came about after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, ``Behold, Milcah also has borne children to your brother Nahor:
Uz his firstborn and Buz his brother and Kemuel the father of Aram
and Chesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph and Bethuel."
Bethuel became the father of Rebekah; these eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham's brother.
His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.

Seasons of waiting produce spiritual fruit.

Abraham is someone from whom we can learn valuable lessons. Over the course of his life, his faith grew. He came to understand how important trusting God is—and how costly impatience can be.
Abraham learned the hard way that manipulating circumstances can bring heartache. When he and his wife tried to help God out, the immediate result was jealousy, anger, and family strife. There was also a long-term consequence: a bloody conflict that still rages today between the descendants of Hagar’s son Ishmael and Sarah’s son Isaac.
The Lord promised Abraham and Sarah a baby, but they ended up waiting for the fulfillment until childbearing was humanly impossible. When Isaac was finally conceived and born, all the glory went to God.
Have you considered that delays in your life can also glorify God? Or are you trying to help Him out in an attempt to get what you want more quickly? Waiting is difficult, but it’s the only way we learn patience, which is precious to the Lord. When you experience a delay, use it as an opportunity to build your trust in God and your confidence in His wisdom and perfect plan.

Genesis 16:1-16
Now Sarai, Abram's wife had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid whose name was Hagar.
So Sarai said to Abram, ``Now behold, the LORD has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my maid; perhaps I will obtain children through her." And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.
After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram's wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife.
He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.
And Sarai said to Abram, ``May the wrong done me be upon you. I gave my maid into your arms, but when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her sight. May the LORD judge between you and me."
But Abram said to Sarai, ``Behold, your maid is in your power; do to her what is good in your sight." So Sarai treated her harshly, and she fled from her presence.
Now the angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur.
He said, ``Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from and where are you going?" And she said, ``I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai."
Then the angel of the LORD said to her, ``Return to your mistress, and submit yourself to her authority."
Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her, ``I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count."
The angel of the LORD said to her further, ``Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction.
``He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers."
Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, ``You are a God who sees"; for she said, ``Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?"
Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael.
Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.