By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing…I will bless you… —Genesis 22:16-17

Abraham, at this point, has reached where he is in touch with the very nature of God. He now understands the reality of God……My goal is God Himself… At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

“At any cost…by any road” means submitting to God’s way of bringing us to the goal.

There is no possibility of questioning God when He speaks, if He speaks to His own nature in me. Prompt obedience is the only result. When Jesus says, “Come,” I simply come; when He says, “Let go,” I let go; when He says, “Trust God in this matter,” I trust. This work of obedience is the evidence that the nature of God is in me. God’s revelation of Himself to me is influenced by my character, not by God’s character. ’Tis because I am ordinary,  Thy ways so often look ordinary to me.

It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is. God will never be real to me until I come face to face with Him in Jesus Christ. Then I will know and can boldly proclaim, “In all the world, my God, there is none but Thee, there is none but Thee.”

The promises of God are of no value to us until, through obedience, we come to understand the nature of God. We may read some things in the Bible every day for a year and they may mean nothing to us. Then, because we have been obedient to God in some small detail, we suddenly see what God means and His nature is instantly opened up to us. “All the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen…” (2 Corinthians 1:20). Our “Yes” must be born of obedience; when by obedience we ratify a promise of God by saying, “Amen,” or, “So be it.” That promise becomes ours.

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November 17, 2014

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, this devotional brought to my attention my propensity for shaping my own behavior, discussions, actions and living so that I can, in my own judgment and opinion,  move my agenda or my idea of Your agenda forward. I will guard my words or offer up watered down or watered up status of a circumstance or opinion so that I do not offend anyone, or such that it casts a good light on my idea or initiative. I help shape the discussion so that it benefits me and my agenda. It is especially true when I can also feel as if I have moved Your agenda forward by shaping it in the “right way”.  But You tell me this is not obedience, even when my motivation and the outcome seems to support my efforts to grow Your Kingdom.

And God says…”My ways are not your ways. I often move in ways that you will never understand and your attempts to make it right, or make it better or more spiritual can become acts of disobedience even when it looks more religious or spiritual.  Just because your words are soothing, or your actions support the ABCs of churches (Attendance, Buildings and Cash) does not mean you are being obedient, in fact it may mean the opposite. And when you add your own ways and means of growing the vision I have given you, you dilute the vision and by your actions tell me that you can take “take it from here”.  Surrender, and let Me take it from here, there and everywhere. Be connected to Me and allow Me to act because you have not interceded and given it your own brand of shaping. Trust in Me with all your heart and do not rely on your own ways and means and I will make your paths straight.  And your character will be shaped by the knowledge that it was and is God that manifests the vision.”

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