If You Don't Believe, You Can't Obey

Do you truly believe in God? For what reason?


For most cases, it's very easy to say we believe in God but if asked for the reason why, we nod our heads and smile. Because the truth is that we don't really know. This is danger of just believing, and not having faith.

In my whole christian life, I've been in traumatic ups and downs in my faith and I realized that we should not just stop on believing. I still remember the times when I'm attending a church near our campus and every time the pastor speak, I always agree but I seldom obey what I learned. Later on I realized that I personally is confused about God's existence. Yes I attend church but time comes that I questioned if God truly exist. Just like how other people think, it seems impossible.

The point here is, unless you believe in God and start developing your faith in him, that's the only time you can start obeying. Believe me, you can't obey God if you personally question his existence.

According to Rom 10:17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."


Always Remember:
Unless you believe and have faith in God, in will be harder for you to obey Him. It says, to have faith, we need to go back to His word because that's the only thing that will give us faith. That is the living proof that God truly exists.

When we start believing, obedience follows.


By: Edwin Joseph

Dressed for Battle

READ | Ephesians 6:10-18


When you wake up in the morning and get dressed for the day, you’re probably not thinking about stepping onto a battlefield. But the enemy is all around us, constantly assaulting our hearts and minds with temptations, adversities, emotional attacks, and more. And some days, it feels as though we are standing on the front lines of combat with no protection whatsoever.

Therein lies our misunderstanding. You see, we do have protection. The Lord made a provision for our nakedness in battle. He hasn’t sent us to war unprotected; instead, He’s given us a suit of armor that the enemy can’t penetrate—the armor of God.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, the apostle Paul tells us step by step how to prepare for our daily warfare, and yet most Christians don’t pay much attention to the instruction. We may say, “Well, that’s a nice metaphor, but we shouldn’t take it literally. After all, the armor isn’t real.” Yes, it is. It is as real as the clothes on our backs.

Do you want to see a dramatic change in your life? Do you want to stand strong in the face of adversity? Do you want to overcome temptation? Then you need to dress for battle.

I challenge you to intentionally put on your spiritual armor every day for the next seven days. Put it on one piece at a time—the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the sandals of peace, the shield of faith, and the sword of God. Just try it as you meditate daily on Ephesians 6:10-18, and watch what God will do.



From: InTouch - Early Light Devotionals

An Act of Grace

“I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:15 NIV


Our Master lived a three-dimensional life. He had as clear a view of the future as he did of the present and the past.

This is why the ropes used to tie his hands and the soldiers used to lead him to the cross were unnecessary. They were incidental. Had they not been there, had there been no trial, no Pilate and no crowd, the very same crucifixion would have occurred. Had Jesus been forced to nail himself to the cross, he would have done it. For it was not the soldiers who killed him, not the screams of the mob: It was his devotion to us.

So call it what you wish: an act of grace; a plan of redemption; a martyr’s sacrifice. But whatever you call it, don’t call it an accident. It was anything but that.


From: Max Lucado

Bitter Fruit

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. - James 1:23 (NRSV)


A wild persimmon tree grew on the farm where I lived as a child. One summer, my mother pointed it out to me and said we would return in the fall to pick fruit for a pudding. I begged her to let me taste a persimmon.

"The fruit isn't good until after the first frost," she warned. "You won't like it." But she finally gave in to my pleading and handed me an unripe persimmon. I touched its smooth orange skin with excitement, then quickly bit down on its firm flesh. As my teeth pierced the skin, the bitter juice washed over my tongue. I spat out the bitter fruit, trying to get rid of the acrid taste that puckered my mouth.

When we returned that fall to pick ripe persimmons, my mother offered to let me taste one. I shook my head. Only when she had prepared the fruit for the pudding did I taste it. It had mellowed to a luscious flavor.

Whenever I am faced with a bitter test today, I remember the taste of that unripe persimmon. I seldom feel joy when I am tested, but my faith is a great comfort. If I can look beyond trials to see how I will grow from them, I can see how even bitter fruit may eventually become the source of something sweet.


Prayer
Dear Lord, give us patience to await the full measure of your blessings. Amen.



From: UpperRoom Devotionals - Mary Ann Clifft

LOVE ALWAYS HOPES ... LOVE ALWAYS PESEVERES

"Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:7


When we cannot see His Hand, we can trust His heart! The hope that God gives unto His Own is faultless under all circumstances. Oswald Chambers made a striking comment on the Believer's hope. He said, "We should believe where we cannot see; and hope, where we cannot believe; and cherish desire where we scarcely entertain hope."

When we lose hope, we succumb to the inevitable, give way to despair, and open the door of our heart to the invasion of being overcome, discouraged, and defeated. This should never be true of the child of God. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is our "assurance" of walking triumphantly in all circumstances. Paul said, "But thanks be to God, who ?always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ" [2 Cor. 2:14]

Our hope is in ONE who is our SUFFICIENCY in All Things. Our downfall comes when we strike out "on our own," saying in so many words, "Lord I really don't need you in this situation. I think "I" am quite capable to handle this." How many times have we experienced the dreadful downfall from that assumption? Our hope must be COMPLETELY IN CHRIST ... nothing more, nothing less!

"Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." [Rom. 5;5] When we walk in obedience exercising child-like faith in our Almighty God ... there is "Certain Victory," because HE is in Command and HE has already Won the Battle!

Psalms 18, expresses the joy that "overflowed" from David's heart, having seen God manifest His Power on his behalf, in circumstances completely beyond anything he could do. Listen to the beginning ... "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower...." Throughout this Psalm David rejoices not only in all God did for him, but David rejoices in a "greater revelation" of ... WHO GOD IS !

He finds himself encompassed by the MAJESTY OF GOD! "He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to stand on the heights." WOW! Regardless of the scheming enemy, the overwhelming foes, or the dreadful circumstances ... David's HOPE WAS STEADFASTLY IN GOD!

We have the same opportunity as David. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! When we indulge in a hope from our own endeavors, we quickly see the folly in it all. Every day would bring us new occasions for despair. But when "Our Hope Is In GOD," there is nothing wanting, we will never be disappointed; He has the Power and the Will "to do exceeding abundantly above all we an ask or even think." [Eph. 3:20]. Let us not limit either the mercy or the power of God. Let us "Dare to Believe" with unwavering confidence in our faithful and mighty God.

If we profess that nothing ?shall' separate from the love of God, be sure nothing ?does' separate us from it. May the hope within our hearts be our "anchor in God," and direct our walk in a "fixed path of Duty and Obedience." Let not the temptations of Satan, the persecutions of men, or the comforts of life, be detrimental to following the Lord fully.

"Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." [Rom. 8:39] Hallelujah!


From: Literature International Ministry - Ed Powell

Individual Discouragement and Personal Growth

. . . when Moses was grown . . . he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens — Exodus 2:11


Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After he launched his first strike for God and for what was right, God allowed Moses to be driven into empty discouragement, sending him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared to Moses and said to him, " ’. . . bring My people . . . out of Egypt.’ But Moses said to God, ’Who am I that I should go . . . ?’ " ( Exodus 3:10-11 ). In the beginning Moses had realized that he was the one to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in his individual perspective, but he was not the person for the work until he had learned true fellowship and oneness with God.

We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and yet when we start to do it, there comes to us something equivalent to Moses’ forty years in the wilderness. It’s as if God had ignored the entire thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged, God comes back and revives His call to us. And then we begin to tremble and say, "Who am I that I should go . . . ?" We must learn that God’s great stride is summed up in these words— "I AM WHO I AM . . . has sent me to you" ( Exodus 3:14 ). We must also learn that our individual effort for God shows nothing but disrespect for Him— our individuality is to be rendered radiant through a personal relationship with God, so that He may be "well pleased" ( Matthew 3:17 ). We are focused on the right individual perspective of things; we have the vision and can say, "I know this is what God wants me to do." But we have not yet learned to get into God’s stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.



From: RBC - Utmost For His Highest