Start Focused Obedience

 

    Obedience is something you learn over time.  How can you be obedient if you don't know what is expected?  You need to understand boundaries, rules, and consequences.  God's Word takes obedience to a deeper level.  

    It is important to make time to spend in God's Word.  It is great to have a desire, but unless you prioritize it it will never happen on a regular basis.  You need to spend time in God's Word to understand what is required of you and why.  The world will always try to pull you away from accomplishing that, but it is the most rewarding thing you can do for yourself.

    Obedience requires focus.  You have to train your mind to be present for the amount of time you have to be one on one with God.  You will train your eye to see life-changing truths in scriptures.  Start with 15 minutes in a quiet place to give God your undivided attention.  In time, like at the gym, you can extend the time and keep it beneficial. 

    If you are a true believer, then your passion for God's Word will grow and change over the years.  You will use it to look at yourself and make changes.  You will learn how to focus, pray, meditate, and wait.  God's truth will transform your heart over time.  Next, your relationship with change and grow so that you can know God in a more meaningful way.  

    The most important thing about who you are is what you believe about God.  Use your prayer life to understand His truth better.  Study His love letter to know Him better.  He has given you boundaries, rules, and laid out consequences because He loves you.  This relationship will forever change you in the best way possible.  

    If you want to see your growth or how you are changing, then a journal the best way.  If you have a prayer journal, then you can go back and see how God answers your prayers over the year.  If you don't have a physical Bible, then do not let that stop you.  There are several different Bible apps you can get on your phone and most are free.  You can also go to a local church.  They typically are happy to give you a free Bible, but it may be the King James version (old English).  A Bible app can offer different versions for you to find one that is easiest for you to read the Bible and understand God is saying.

    When studying the Bible you can use reference, Bible dictionary, and online commentaries.  You probably don't need it, but as you grow it can help you get more meaning.  Just remember God's Word tells you all you need to know.  Other people's perspectives and ideas can challenge you, but you should always go back to the source.  People can help you grow, but be careful on who you listen to.  If a person does not point back to the Bible, then it is best not to allow them to be your mentor.

1 Samuel 15:20-23, John 14:15-21, & James 1:22-25

Focused Obedience

 

    Focus is hard.  That is why so many people struggle with reading books.  We live in an instant world, so things that take time seem inconvenient when in reality it could be building something life changing in you.  Focused obedience is about taking the time to focus on your relationship with God.  It is pushing aside the distractions of life for a set amount of time, so you can learn, seek, or grow.  Investing a little bit of your time with God everyday will transform your entire world.

    Focus is a still set that you can use in every aspect of your life.  It helps your make decisions.  It makes certain things clear.  It helps you not waste time or energy.  It is like a muscle that has to be worked.  Your first time trying to do a daily devotional will probably not go too well.  You have to learn and be patient as you grow.  The point is that you don't stop trying.

    When you start focused study on God's Word it may feel like a waste of time.  True change takes time.  The transformation is unlikely to be immediate.  You are not going to know how to be a true Christian over night.  It is a life long journey.  The more you practice focus in reading God's Word the quicker you will be able to find what you are looking for.  

    Focus will help you develop a trained eye through memorization, fasting, prayer, and wisdom.  It will help you identify your temptations.  It will help you fill that void that only God can fill.  Obedience is not a check list.  It is not something you can just go to and declare right and wrong.  It is developed in your heart through reading scripture and figuring out how to obey God's commandments on a personal level.

    As you learn how to focus on God you will have ups and downs.  You will not do it perfectly, but as long as you submit your heart to God to develop then He will be pleased.  Never allow yourself to get tired of pursuing Him and doing His good works.  

1 Samuel 15:20-23, Mark 12:32-33, Luke 11:28, & John 14:15-21

Obedience

 

    Obedience is love in action.  It is when you voluntarily submit to God's authority and commands.  It is an act of faith and trust.  It comes from the heart rather than duty.  You hear and respond to God's Word.  Obedience is proof of your love for God.  It is the result of faith that becomes the foundation for your life.  It is not about the rules.  It is about your relationship with God empowered by the Holy Spirit.

    You will never be able to overcome sin or remove it from your life on your own.  It takes having faith in Jesus to have it removed.  Then you start to live your life like him to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to change your heart desires.  It is not about the rules.  It is about wanting to be closer to God.

    Jesus is perfection.  He has already been the sacrifice for your imperfection.  The Holy Spirit enables your heart to change, but you have to choose obedience to able to change.  You will never be perfect in life, but you do change and know more often when you are not obedient.

    Jesus is righteousness.  If you choose to follow him in faith, then you become righteous.  He is truth that feeds life into your life.  You are never without hope.  Don't give up.  Keep pursuing God because He never stops seeking a close relationship with you.  The more you pursue Jesus the more you will become like him.  

    The more you try to be perfect the more disappointed you will be in life.  You will burnout and want to give up.  You will experience frustration and independence that isolates you from God.  Do not try to do it on your own.  It is not worth it.  Don't focus on the dos and don'ts.  Instead focus on where you are with Jesus today.  He is calling to you.  All you have to do is respond and follow.  

    In reality obedience is choosing Jesus everyday.  It is real moments in life, not just one or two choices that make you better than who you were or other people.  It is personal and doesn't involve anyone other than you and God.  Understanding the truth will transform you from the inside out.  The love that drives obedience sets you free.

Deuteronomy 5:32-33, 1 Samuel 15:22-23, Luke 11:28, John 14:15-21, Acts 5:29-32, Colossians 3:1-17, & James 1:22-25

Eternal Restoration

 

    If you are a Christian, then you are going to have a happy ending.  You will spend eternity in grandeur, love, peace, and perfection.  All the issues of this world will disappear.  The Holy Spirit sealed your soul to guarantee that you will not end up with Satan in eternal torment.  Your death in this world is the doorway you go through to enter eternity.  Once it closes behind you there is no turning back.  

    When Jesus returns the world will be destroyed so that eternity can be restored to the way it was always meant to be.  You will never have to think about sin or death again.  The original curses will be broken.  You will have peace unlike anything you have experienced before.  All that is broke and sick will be healed.  The eternal body can never be injured, broken, or destroyed.  

    Eternal restoration comes with beauty and God's presence everywhere you are.  It is beyond your imagination because God is the original artist.  Nothing will ever be dirty again.  You will never need to clean again.  You will never labor again.  You will be the best version of yourself.  You will know love without hate, manipulation, or perversion.  

    Heaven is the place of worship.  It will not be forced.  It will not be boring.  It will be wonderful, so worship will naturally spill out of you.  You will never experience temptation, difficulties, mental issues, or frustration again.  Work will not be hard, exhausting in any way, or corrupted.  

    Heaven is beautiful.  God's light will illuminate all of it, so there will be no need for a sun, moon, or stars.  There will be no street lights or lights in homes.  You will not need sleep because your new body doesn't need daily care or restoration.  It will be a one time thing when you become one with your new body.  Try to imagine the joy that it will bring to have no more troubles or concerns.  You will never be afraid again.

    This will be a reality for those that chose to follow Jesus.  Repent now and reap the rewards later.  Live for yourself now and have nothing but pain and suffering for eternity.  God is patient, but He will only be patient for so long.  Do not test Him.  He always does what He says He will do.  Now is the time to decide what you believe and what path you are going to take.  

Ephesians 2:8-10 & Revelations 21-22

Final Judgment

 

    No one knows or understands everything about the end.  What is known is that there will be a day that God's family will be sifted.  His people will permanently be separated from those who are not His.  There will be a day that each person stands before Him to account for the time He gave in life.  

    One day you will face God sitting on His throne and give an account for your faith, all hidden secrets, and opportunities.  If you are not a Christians, then your fate has already been decided.  You will face your second death to spend eternity in torment with Satan.  If you are a Christian, then you will be judged according to your works.  

    Christians judgment may be uncomfortable, but you are a part of God's family.  You will still enter Heaven to live in eternal peace.  Your judgment is based on faith.  You will not face God's judgment like unbelievers.  It will reveal your good works and the trails and tribulations you endured to follow Jesus.  If you endure the fires of purifying faith now, then you will never see them in judgment.  

    Your judgment day will go according to how you live your life.  You are making that decision today.  It doesn't have to go badly, but you do have to choose a little discomfort now to avoid a lot in the future.  You have to have an eternal mindset to see beyond your today.  Don't be motivated by fear, but instead love.  Final judgment judges the heart and mind and faith, not actual deeds.  Your works are a biproduct of your faith.

    Sin matters.  Sin will not be entering Heaven.  Sin is the root of everything that divides you from God.  It empowers Satan giving him small victories that will not give him any real foot hold but makes him believe he has more power than he does.  Do not give him power in your life.  Repent for any sin and turn away from your habitual sin to honor God while you are alive.  God doesn't need you for power.  

    God chooses you.  He is not using you.  Satan is the one that uses people.  God give s you purpose and allows you to have a part in the bigger picture.  Satan wants to destroy you and relish in your pain.  Eternity is a long time.  Try not to get distracted.  Focus on what really matters.

Matthew 25:31-46, Luke 16:19-31, Acts 17:30-31, Romans 8:1-4, 1 Corinthians 3:12-17, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, Hebrews 9:27-28, & Revelations 20:11-15

Your Resurrection

 

    You know that one day you will die.  Did you know that right now you get to choose where you spend eternity?  Do not fear your physical death.  It is short in the grand scheme of eternity.  Fear your eternal death because that is where you will be forever more.  You can choose to follow Jesus now and spend eternity glorifying God in peace and beauty or you can reject Jesus and spend eternity in torment forever separated from God with no hope to change things.

    If you follow Jesus now, then one day you will be resurrected like Jesus.  Jesus will come for his people. When he calls you will resurrect if you know his voice, but you have to follow him while alive for that to happen.  Your resurrection means you will be restored eternally.  No more scars, pain, or bad days.  There will be no more sin.

    Your resurrection is guaranteed because Jesus resurrected and made the promise through him if you follow him in faith.  The resurrection is essential for faith.  It is what broke deaths power over you.  It is what broke the chains of sin that controlled all your movements.  Jesus breaks the chains, but you have to remove them or the world will not see the difference between you and itself.  They will not see the Holy Spirit's power in your life.  If you are forgiven by God, then why would you not live like it?

    Jesus may have resurrected people before himself, but it was through his power that he resurrected himself.  No one else can ever claim that.  He rose to never die again unlike Lazarus and the widows son.  If you are a Christian, then one day your soul will resurrect into your eternal body to spend eternity with him.  

    Being a Christian comes with accountability.  You can't claim to believe something and not live it.  It is time to live with integrity.  You may have to sacrifice some personal desires, comfort, or habits to live like Jesus reigns over you, but it is worth it.  Don't forget what you will be getting one day.  Don't rob your eternity for what you want in the moment.  Don't expect to understand everything now.  That is why it is called faith.  

John 11:1-44 & 1 Corinthians 15

Jesus Promised to Return

 

    One day Jesus will return because he promised that he would,  When he returns magnificent miracles and scary events will return with him.  His glory and power will not be held back this time.  He will come for his people and to unleash God's wrath on the world.  It will be the end of the world.

    Not every event predicted will wait until Jesus' actual return.  The first nine events happened before AD70.  It was promised to be like birthing pains.  It will ebb and flow.  The events will happen more often and become more painful the closer it gets to time, but no one will know the day or time until it happens.  Jesus promised that his return would be unexpected, but his people are to be ready and alert.

    Christians were never promised to have it easy.  It was actually promised that the church would be persecuted until Jesus returns, but the church is called to remain faithful.  Salvation is not a get out of hell free card.  It is meant to be lived in honor of God.  God is in charge.  The world is not spinning out of control, so you can maintain self-control to honor Him.  

    The world may feel unbearably evil sometimes, but the Holy Spirit is with you to help you endure.  Remember Jesus' promises.  Your eternity is secure even if your right now is not.  Jesus has victory over death and Satan.  It will be seen by all soon enough.  God is being kind and patient, so the whole world has an opportunity to chose to have a real relationship with Him.  Until that time Jesus will work out the details.  

Matthew 24:1-31, Luke 12:39-40, Acts 1:9-11, 2 Peter 3:8-9, & Revelations 22:20-21