Trust part 2
If you trust someone, you'll do what they say. Obedience is as simple as that. We don't do it because we're trying to get something, or earn something. We do it because we know and believe our heavenly Father has our best interests at heart. That while we may THINK we know what to do... most of the time we confuse what we WANT for what we NEED. I want to connect two memory verses here. "Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him" (Matthew 6:8). Your heavenly Father, like any good father, knows what you need. And, like any good father, He has provided those things. We have everything we need. We have, past tense, been blessed with all Spiritual blessings. We have, past tense, been given all things that pertain to life and godliness. In reality, we don't need anything at all. We should probably just stop trying to earn what can't be earned (what we already have) and start enjoying the gift we've been given. By sharing it. By giving it away. And here's the other verse, which I think goes right along with Jesus' declartion of Papa God knowing what we need: "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10). The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. The end was declared from the beginning. Not only does God know what you need... He knows everything else too. Nothing surprises God. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He IS the beginning and the end. The only thing in the world that God has CHOSEN to forget is your sin. Because He's not interested in that. We are so much more interested in "sin" than God is. He dealt with sin, or unbelief, on the cross by giving us something (someONE, Himself, Love) to believe in. He TOOK AWAY the sin of the world. And those who are born of God CANNOT sin. So we don't have to be afraid of God getting us when we mess up. On the cross, 2,000 years ago (and really before anything else ever happened), God got us. Jesus was lifted up from the earth and He drew us all into Himself. He said, "...I will do all my pleasure." And what pleased God was bringing humanity out of death--dead in our trespasses and sins before the cross--and into life. HIS life. His abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of Love! That's why Jesus is (and we are) God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. Because let Himself be loved by God. He didn't try to earn it. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word (which is Jesus, which is love) of God. Jesus knew His Father loved Him, and He acted accordingly. Even in the garden of Gethsemane Jesus said, "Not my will but yours be done" (see Matthew chapter 26). Because He trusted His Father. He had faith in God. He had faith in love. Love will make you do some seemingly crazy stuff. Like laying your life down for your friends. Giving everything you have and everything you are without any thought of getting anything from anyone. Because you trust that love will lead the way. Because you trust your gut. Because you follow your heart. That's what it means to be obedient. Because that's what God wants you to do. He wants you to let Him love you, and He wants you to love Him back by loving others with that love! Trust me. Trust love...!