You will never be able to follow God's will unless you understand obedience and the reasoning behind it. David was a shepherd. Being a shepherd can teach you a lot about obedience. You can see first hand what can happen to a sheep if they do not follow the shepherd. They can get heart, easy prey, or lost and alone. A shepherd may have to break the sheep's leg to save it's life. Then he will carry the sheep back to safety and mend the leg. It would have been easier for both if the sheep had just obeyed.
God saw that David was a good shepherd and had a heart aligned with His. He turned David into a victor because he was obedient. David was a good friend and leader. He was not perfect. He failed as a father and as a faithful husband, but always repented to God and accepted his consequences.
David became susceptible to sin when he was idle. The same is for us. That is why it is good that we work. God will use your idleness as a play ground and reek havoc on your life. Then he will abandon you to the clean up after.
It is good to rest, but bad to be lazy. Think about what you do in life. Pray over your actions, motivation, and seek the truth about the root cause of the things you do. Do you act in love or selfishness. Turn to God and seek to be obedient and you will become stronger. Seek God's perfection, so you can understand Him better.
All it takes to make you fall is one look. That one look can become a lingering thought. The next thing you know you find yourself in a sinful pattern and living outside of God's will. There is another option. See, but do not allow it to capture your mind. Turn it to God and pray over it before it becomes a strong hold. Let it go and seek God's wisdom for your life and discover freedom in your heart.
Jonah literally ran from God because he did not like the job that God assigned him. He hated the people that God wanted him to declare the truth to. He rather see them burn than find salvation. The consequences affected everyone stuck with him when he fled. God had to isolate him in a scary situation to work on his heart. He finally was obedient, but the heart still had work to be done. That is why he was not able to find victory in his obedience. He allowed prejudice to steal his joy.
If you allow hate in your heart, then it will become a part of your lifestyle. It will swallow and destroy your life. Satan uses any thing that is not love and warps your mind in that area to the point of complete discontentment and loss of all joy.
Jesus tries to speak the truth into your heart. The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of all who chooses to follow Jesus' way. Choosing to be obedient and the path of Godly love is the only to find joy and true victory in life.
Avoid the traps that Satan places about money, guilt, regret, self hatred or you leave yourself vulnerable. He will try to convince you that you have no purpose. That one failure means your life as you know it is over. He will try to get you to destroy the gift of life that God gave you. He is behind all the self-sabotaging thoughts and feelings that you have.
You know this because God is life, love, and peace. He fights for you when you don't have anything to fight with. Pray over every negative thought. Work hard to take captive all your thoughts. Allow God to show you who you are in His eyes.
Peter was one of Jesus' best friends. He loved Jesus. He was strong. He was impetuous. All he wanted was to be with Jesus, but after he failed Jesus, was under attack by Satan. Don't you think Satan tried to convince him to to act rashly to the point that it would have maybe taken his life. Satan loves to twist what is great about you into something ugly. We need Jesus to help us keep it pure.
To be obedient to God's will take more than determination and will. It takes faith. It takes prayer. It takes you loving Him enough to seek wisdom and strength to really look at yourself and surrendering over anything in your life that is holding you away from God. You have to trust God. The other option only leads to horrible suffering not only now, but for eternity. If you do disobey, then repent and do what you need to do to follow Jesus.
You need to build your foundation on the truth and prayer. Make it strong by listening and then obeying. You build your relationship by digging deep, gutting out all that is rotten or could lead to rot, then brick by brick. People do not see the foundation, but it is what makes the relationship strong and sturdy. The same goes for the spiritual armor you put on before you leave the safety of your strong home.
Isaiah 1:2-20, Luke 6:46-49, Ephesians 6:10-17, Titus 3:1-2, & 1 John 5:1-5
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