What Do I Do When I Have Been Disobedient? - Day 3

Alright so yesterday was a great day here in G'ville...we had an amazing night of ministry with The Bridge last night under the Jefferson Street bridge where we served dinner, distributed personal items and a few sleeping bags and a bike to over 150 homeless folks in Nashville.  Excited about working with World Relief today!

Yesterday we said that the first thing we have to do when we've been disobedient to God is to realize and admit it....not an easy thing to do.  Once we realize it, what's next?

Repent of your sin. 

Read Revelation 2:1-5 if you haven't already.....

Revelation 2:5 states, "Remember then how far you have fallen; repent..."

What does God want you and me to remember?  What does it mean to repent - how would you define that word for a friend who is not a Christian?

Basically it goes like this....after we acknowledge our sin we need to ask for forgiveness.  When a person repents of their sin that means they turn away from it.  They choose to go in a completely different direction.

The writer of Revelation reminded the church at Ephesus how far they had drifted away from God.  The only way for them to come back to Him was through prayer and repentance.  God would not bless the church until they confessed their sins to Him.

It is one thing for us to admit we have sinned but it is something different for us to ask forgiveness for our sin.  In order for us to repent we must be willing to humble ourselves and commit our lives to Jesus.  We have all fallen away from God and we all need to ask for His forgiveness and grace.  It's impossible to have a healthy relationship with God if we refuse to repent.

When was the last time you were convicted about something you did?  Have you ever asked for God's forgiveness?  How did it feel to know you had been forgiven?

As Christians, when we sin we do not lose our salvation, but we do need to confess our sin and repent.  Each person needs to have their own, personal relationship with Christ.  If we turn away from something but have nowhere to go, we will still end up in trouble.  Jesus provides direction for our lives as well as the forgiveness of sin.

If you haven't repented of your sins because you don't have this personal relationship with Christ, then myself, Coat, or any of your Sunday School teachers would love to talk with you about how you can have a personal, real relationship with Jesus Christ!  Grab us anytime!

Hope to see a lot of you this morning and tonight at IGNITE @ 6 in The Attic!

Heffe

What Do I Do When I Have Been Disobedient? - Day 2

Alright so yesterday I left you to think all day about maybe some of the things that we let take the place of God in our love relationship with Him.  We said that allowing something to replace God in our lives is an act of disobedience.  So let's look at the first step of what we need to do when we have disobeyed

Realize your disobedience.

Read Revelation 2:1-5 again....

Revelation 2:4 warns us, "you have abandoned the love you had at first."

I used to work with disobedient students all the time when I was a coach/teacher back in Knoxville.  It didn't matter what I asked some kids to do, even if it was the simplest thing in the world, it would turn into a circus of disobedience and disrespect!  I remember telling a kid one time that he was gonna have to wait like 10 minutes before he could go to the water fountain because we were right in the middle of a test....simple to understand right?  I mean I didn't even tell him no....I just told him he had to be patient for another 10 minutes.  Well this kid went on a rampage....he shoved all his books in the floor, screamed out some "fun" school words, and made the biggest scene ever!  It ended up with him going to the office and spending the rest of the day in in-school suspension....all for a drink of water!

We are disobedient to God everyday.  Does it sometimes come off looking like the kid I just mentioned?

Ephesus was one of the most important (if not the most important) cities in Asia Minor.  It was located at the mouth of a river and was an important commercial and trade city.  The church at Ephesus was a very important and prosperous church.  Paul planted the church and it grew quickly.  It had been challenged by false prophets and the church had risen up and removed those men from the congregation.  The church had done many great things for the kingdom of God.  But, along the way, their priorities had shifted and their love for God had diminished.

It's really tough for us to admit when we have done something wrong.  We try to blame everybody except ourselves.  It is hard for us to take responsibility for our actions.  Disobedience surfaces in a person's life in a lot of different ways.  For many folks it's through actions, words, or how we behave ourselves.  God has the ability to look into a person's life and see areas of selfishness and rebellion.  It is important for us to realize our disobedience and stop trying to hide it.

What would be some positive things God would say in regard to your obedience to Him?  What about negative comments?

So the first step for us to take is really the toughest....to realize that we're in the wrong.  The challenge today is for you to try to step up and admit where you are in the wrong with God and admit it to him today!

Alright we'll see all our Bridge Ministry folks tonight at the church at 4:45!  Gonna be a blessed time tonight!  Check out Facebook for more info on the rest of the Take Back the City event this week!  Later.

Heffe

What Do I Do When I Have Been Disobedient? - Day 1

Welcome to Monday everybody!  It's gonna be a busy week with Take Back the City this week and our trip to ATL next Monday and Tuesday!  Hope to see you guys there!

Alright so yesterday morning in Family Groups we talked about why we disobey God even when we know we shouldn't.  This week we are going to look at what happens when we have been disobedient.  Let's jump right in!

If I asked you to stand up this morning if you considered yourself as obedient to your parents, then most of you would probably be standing at your computers or with your phones or wherever else you're reading this.  But what if I asked you to stand if you would describe yourself as obedient to God?  Would you still be standing up?

Read Revelation 2:1-5

We all got to ask ourselves if we are guilty of replacing our love for God with our love for something else.  That is disobedience!

So today all I want you to focus on are the possible things that you are replacing God with in your love life.  We'll examine them a little closer tomorrow!

Also, if you're going to go to The Bridge with us tomorrow night we will meet at the church at 4:45 and plan on leaving @ 5:00.  Message me or text me if you have any questions.

Heffe

What Situations Give Me A Pass on Obeying - Day 5

Alright so let's wrap up this week.....so if you've missed anything, just go back and review the past blogs for this week.

Yesterday we camped out on the point that we should obey even when we are afraid.  We talked about how Abram followed God with blind faith and was obedient, but he was definatley a little scared.

Check out this quote...

"Rest in this - it is His business to lead, command, impel, send, call or whatever you want to call it.  It is your business to obey, follow, move, respond, or what have you."  Jim Elliot.

Do you believe God will take care of you if you step out on blind faith?  Why or why not?

What is something that you have done with our youth group that has been out of your comfort zone ( maybe such as MFUGE or Bridge Ministry, or maybe it's coming up at Take Back the City next week)?

What did you learn from that experience?

How has God proven Himself to be faithful to you in the past?  How can those experiences help you trust Him in the future?

What are some things about your future (college, marriage, career) of which you are afraid?  How can God help you in those areas?  Do you trust God in those areas?

Imagine we were at church and all of a sudden we have a fire drill!  I stand up and call for everybody's attention and I tell you guys to get on your hands and knees and to follow me out of the room.  I tell you guys to remain calm and to stay directly behind me and close to me.  So I lead you guys outside the building safely.  Then lets' say I gather you all up outside the building and tell you guys it was only a drill - there wasn't a real fire.  Don't you think it's interesting how you guys would be willing to follow me on your hands and knees without asking too many questions?  You trusted me and you followed me without knowing where we were going or why we were going there.

If you will follow me or Coat with blind faith, why won't you follow God?

The point of this week has been to emphasize that we need to follow God regardless.  What does that mean to you?  What can you do this week to follow God more completely?

See ya on Sunday morning!

Heffe

What Situations Give Me A Pass on Obeying - Day 4

Alright....it was good to see a lot of you guys last night at IGNITE...look forward to seeing more of you Sunday morning at SS.  Ok....quick review....we're talking about situations where a lot of times we might think we can get a free pass on obedience so that we don't have to do what God commands us.  We've already seen that we need to obey even when it doesn't make sense and we've also seen we need to obey even when we don't know all the details....so here's one more situation to talk about...

Obey even when you are afraid.


What kinds of things cause you fear?  What is the one thing of which you are most afraid?  Why?

Ok so let's read Genesis 15:1 today...

What we see is that Abram was willing to uproot his entire family and lifestyle in order to obey God.  However, God knew Abram was concerned and a little afraid about the move.  God appeared to Abram and gave him comfort and reassurance that he would be alright.  God even promised Abram that He would be his shield and his protector.  Abram had God's promise that he and his family would be taken care of by God.  He was even promised a great reward for following God in blind faith!

Change can be a really scary thing.  Most people had rather things stay the same in their lives.  When there is no change then everyone knows what to expect and what to do.  When we are asked to step out of our comfort zone and go in a direction we have never gone before, it makes us very uncomfortable and sometimes even scared.  It is important for us to understand that when God calls us to a task He will equip us for that task.  If God calls, God provides!

What are some of the comfort zones in your life?  How hard is it for you to step out of those comfort zones?

We're gonna camp out on this point and hit it again tomorrow for a little bit!  Have a great day everybody!

Heffe

What Situations Give Me A Pass on Obeying - Day 3

What up youthies.....well it's Wednesday and that means another night together when IGNITE hits @ 6 PM.  Make sure to be there tonight as we tackle some questions about other Gods and we might have a little 4 on a Couch action...gonna be sweet!

Ok, so this week we are trying to determine if there are any situations where we can have a free pass from obeying God.  The first two days this week we spent talking about why we should obey even when it doesn't make any sense.  So that lets us know that we don't get a free pass to disobey if we use the excuse that we don't understand what's going on.

Let's look at another type of situation today, and what we should do if we are found in it.

Obey even when you don't know all the details.


Read Genesis 12:1-4 again today.

God did not tell Abram where he was going or how long it would take him to get there.  God did not promise him a smooth trip.  God did, however, promise Abram that He would be blessed because of his obedience.  Abram never questioned God about any of the details surrounding his new adventure.  He followed God's commands and left the planning up to God.

Why didn't Abram question God's instructions?  Why didn't Abram ask for more details?  I mean that's what we would have done right?

If you could ask God about some specific details of your life or your future, what would you ask?  What difference would that information make in the decisions you make now?

Often, God will call us to do something we are not expecting.  When God calls and gives us a command, we must follow.  We have to understand that we are not in control when God calls us, He is!  We may want to know every little detail about the trip, but we don't have to know.  Rest assured God knows where He is taking you and God has already worked out all the little details in your trip.  God doesn't need your help with directions.

When was the last time you and your family went on vacation?  Did you help them plan the trip?

Do you trust your parents to take you somewhere safely and bring you back?

Do you trust God to take you somewhere - guiding you and providing for you?

What make it hard to follow God when you don't know all the details?  Why would God want us to follow without knowing all the details?

Think on those things today, and we'll see ya at IGNITE tonight @ 6 in The Attic!

Heffe

What Situations Give Me A Pass On Obeying - Day 2

Gooooood Tuesday morning!  This week we are looking at obedience and if there are ever situations that we can get a "free pass" so to speak, from being obedient to God.  Yesterday we talked about the importance of obeying God even when it doesn't make sense.  We camped out in Genesis 12: 1-4 so I encourage you to read it again to refresh your brain a little bit!

So, you read it right?  Ok good.

Ok, so Abram had lived in the same place for a really long time.  His entire world revolved around his family, land, and livestock.  Sounds exciting, huh?  He probably planned on living there the rest of his life. He thought he had his life planned out.  But God had other plans for him.  God told him to pack up everything he owned and leave the land he loved so much - and leave his parents and other extended family members.  This must have been a huge shock to Abram and his family.

Sometimes God will instruct us to do things that don't make sense.  Many times we will plan out every detail of our lives and never consider what God may want us to do.  It's important for us to always be willing to obey God's voice.  Faith is following God when you don't understand what He is doing in your life.

Has your family ever moved from one city to another?  How did it feel to make that move?

Did your family move because God instructed them to move?

How did Abram know it was God telling him what to do?  How do you know when God is leading you to do something?

Think about those things and we'll see ya tomorrow on the blog and tomorrow night at 6 in the Attic for another Ask Anything night!

Heffe

What Situations Give Me a Pass on Obeying - Day 1

What up e'rebody!  It's good to be back in the G'ville after a great week at M-Fuge in Charleston last week.  I hope that we will have new visitiors joining the blog for the first time today so let's jump right in.

All month we've been talking about obedience and more specifically our obedience to God.  The first week we learned that our obedience to God starts by loving God and then loving others.  We learned that are obedience shows itself when we love God, walk in His ways, keep His commands, remain faithful to HJim and serve Him.

The second week we saw that the reason that we should obey God is that by doing so it shows our love for Him.  We saw that our obedience to God provides benefits for us such as getting to experience the love God, getting to enjoy the fellowship of God, and getting to express our relationship with God.

Yesterday morning, Andrew tackled the issue of partial obedience with you guys and we learned that partial obedience is really disobedience...not an easy thing to hear right?

Ok, so this week we are going to spend some time talking about whether or not there are any situations where you can get a free pass on obeying God.  So let's get into the word a little bit!

What we are going to see is that the Bible encourages us to obey God no matter what the situation.  That can be really, really tough, especially when we can't see the end result!  This week is going to help us understand the importance of not questioning God, but rather just following Him!

So here's the first point for the week:

Obey even when it doesn't make sense!


We're going to spend a couple of days on this one so let's just kinda introduce it today.  Have you ever had to follow some directions that you thought were totally ignorant?  Imagine if I pulled you up front Wednesday night at Ignite and told you to follow my directions regardless of how ridiculous they might sound.  What if I asked you to hold your breath for a minute and then to walk backward while barking like a seal; spin around 14 times and then do 8 jumping jacks; jump up and down while singing "Bye, Bye, Bye" and so on.....Would you do it?

Sometimes we are supposed to follow instructions even if they don't make sense!

Read Genesis 12:1-4........

Why didn't God instructions make sense?  What would you have done?

Think about that today and also think about how well you follow directions.....do you question everything you're asked to do?  Leave me some feedback or thoughts if you guys actually have any :)  Hope you have a great  Monday!

Heffe

What Are The Benefits of Obedience - Day 4

Alright.......my eyelids are half closed while typing this today, so if there's any new words created in this blog today, you'll have to forgive me!

Ok so yesterday we posed the question of "What are the benefits of Obedience?" and we found that the first benefit is that you get to experience the love of God.  Let's look at a second benefit today....

You enjoy the fellowship of God.


If I asked one of you guys to tell me something about your best friend.....something like their name, what they look like, where they attend school, or what makes them special enough to be considered a best friend, I'm sure you could do it.

Reread John 14:23-24 today.

God loved us enough to send His only Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  If we choose to accept Him as our Lord then we can enjoy His presence in our lives.  With His presence also comes His fellowship.  We all like hanging out with our best friend.  There is something special about having someone you can talk to and share things with.  But even your best friend will let you down at some point.  One thing we can count on is that Jesus will never let us down or disappoint us.  God's fellowship with His children is very special for sure!

Have you ever had a close friend disappoint you?  Did you feel betrayed and hurt?  Why?  What happened to the fellowship you enjoyed as friends as a result of the incident?

Do you understand that Jesus wants to have fellowship with you?  Why would Jesus want that type of relationship with us?

What does it mean to have fellowship with God?  And what is enjoyable about that fellowship?

Ok I'll check in with you guys one more time tomorrow and we'll look at one more benefit of obedience!

See ya
Heffe

What Are The Benefits of Obedience? - Days 1,2,3

Alright folks....sorry I'm so late this week....camp schedule throws a wrench into blogging that's for sure!  Ok so last Sunday morning we looked at the question of why we should obey God and found that we should obey God because it's the right thing to do, it shows our love for Him, and it brings us joy!

Basically we are emphasizing the importance of loving God and following His commands.  Obedience is an issue that we all struggle with in our daily lives.  This week we are going to challenge ourselves a little bit to live Godly lifestyles.

Start off by reading John 14:23-24.

Jesus made it very clear that if a person loves Him, he or she will listen to Him.  Jesus calls us to be obedient and submissive to His will for our lives....so let's look at 3 benefits of obedience.

First....

You experience the love of God.


Think of 3 things a person must do in order to earn your love and friendship and write those down.

See, Jesus made it very clear the only thing required from us is to love and obey God.  When we love and listen to God's commands, He will remain with us forever.  It is impossible to love God and love the world at the same time.  If we truly love God then we will allow Him to lead our lives.  After we submit to His will and love Him with all our heart, then we will understand His benefits.

What if your requirements to be loved were the standards God used?  Would any of us be worthy to be loved by God?

Read John 14:23-24 again.

What does Jesus mean that we will keep His word if we love Him?  What word is he talking about?

What did Jesus say it means if we don't keep His word?  Why is that?

Jesus wants everyone to come to know Him as his or her personal Savior.  The Bible tells us that God loved us first.  He is waiting for us to love and accept Him.  Jesus promised us when a person loves and obey Him, that He will remain in our hearts forever!  That is experiencing the love of God in a powerful way!

Gotta head to site so come back tomorrow for a second benefit....

Heffe

What Does Obedience to God Look Like? - Friday

Alright youthies, it's our final day of trying to answer the question of "What does obedience to God look like?".  Just to recap, so far we've discovered that our obedience shows up in the following way: loving  God, walking in His ways, keeping His commands, and through remaining faithful to Him.  So let's look at one more way our obedience shows up....

Obedience is serving Him.


Any guesses which verse we're gonna read today???.....that's right it's back to Joshua 22:5 one more time so get it out and read it one last time for the week!

So, Joshua commanded us "to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.".

Serving others is something most people don't want to do.  We would much rather be served than serve.  Joshua told the children of Israel that if they loved God they would serve Him.  That means they would do whatever He commanded them to do.  They would work and serve with all of their heart and soul.


So what does that mean for us?  Well it means that we have to try to start obeying God by serving him in our daily lives.  We can start serving God by digging into His word everyday.....we can serve God by spending a little time in prayer each day thanking Him and praising Him....we can start by looking for opportunities to serve in our church and in our community.


Where do you guys see some specific possibilities for service within our church?

Where do you think you might enjoy serving at FBCG?

I would love to hear back from some of you guys about some ideas and get you started with some new things!

So you remember the 3 questions that we answered earlier in the week on the special piece of paper I told you to keep track of?  Get it back out, and somewhere on it I want you to write down at least 5 ways that you can live your life in a godly way this week....things that you haven't been doing or that you know you need to change.  I want you to bring those papers with you on Sunday morning and place them in a prayer box that I'll have at the front of the room.  I will be praying over the box (not reading the things in there) over the next few weeks with you!

Hope to see you guys at the movie today!  Text me for details 8389755

Heffe

What Does Obedience to God Look Like? - Thursday

Good morning!

It's a busy Thursday today, so let's jump right in.  Just to get you caught up, we've been answering the question, "What Does Obedience to God Look Like?" all this week.  So far we've learned that you show your obedience through loving God, walking in His ways, and keeping His commands.  So let's look at a fourth characteristic of obedience.

Obedience is remaining faithful to Him.


Ok, so I know we've already done this a bunch, but read Joshua 22:5 again today.....

We see that Joshua 22:5 commands us "to remain faithful to Him..."

Have you ever had a boyfriend of girlfriend who was unfaithful to you?  Maybe they were sending notes to somebody else back in the middle school years or actually dating somebody behind your back?  How did that make ya feel?  Upset?  Hurt?  Disappointed?  All of the above?

Joshua encouraged the children of Israel to stop worshipping their false gods.  He warned them that God was the one into whom they should be pouring their heart and soul.  The Israelites had a history of not staying faithful to God.  They were easily drawn away from the one true God.

We need to understand that unfaithfulness hurts God just like it hurts us.  God loves us very much and His desire is that we obey His commands and follow Him.  A lot of folks struggle with remaining faithful to anyone or anything for very long.

Luckily for us God is and will always be faithful to us - even when we are unfaithful to Him.  He never leaves us or disappoints us.  Maybe, you're right in the middle of a really difficult time in your life and you feel like God isn't around.  Maybe you feel like he's not even paying attention to what's going on in your life and because of that you're turning your back on Him.  Think back......who do you think has let the other person down more often....do you think we let God down more often or do you think God disappoints us more often?  If we're honest we'll see that in almost every case God is faithful to us...it may not always look the way we think it should or expected, but He's faithful just the same!

Ok, so we've identified how we feel when someone is not faithful to us, so how do you think God feels when we are unfaithful to Him?

What are some reasons people might give for not remaining faithful to God?  What does the phrase "hold on to Him" mean in relation to remaining faithful?

Think about it and let me know what you guys come up with!  See ya tomorrow for the blog and the movie!

Heffe

What Does Obedience to God Look Like? - Wednesday

Good morning and welcome to Day 3 of our attempt to answer the question, "What Does Obedience to God Look Like?".  So far this week we've looked at Joshua 22:5 and found 2 characteristics to describe "the look" of obedience: loving God and walking in His ways.  Don't worry you can go back and read the last few blogs to catch up if you've missed anything.

Alright so let's the look at the third thing that Joshua points out.....so go ahead and read Joshua 22:5 again. So let's look at the third characteristic of obedience:

Obedience is keeping His commands.


So the third thing that Joshua commands us to do is "to keep His (God's) commands..."  Joshua explained what God expected from the people in the area of obedience.  It was very simple.  They were to love God with all of their heart and soul.  God would make their paths clear if they would just obey and follow Him. Joshua knew the people would struggle with this very simple concept.

We aren't any different from the children of Israel.  God has promised us success if we would just obey, trust, and follow Him.  That sounds simple, right?  But it's not.  We have things that come into our lives everyday that keep us from putting God first in our lives.

I want you to take out a sheet of paper this morning and I want you to write the answers to these 3 questions on that paper, fold it when you're done and put it someplace you'll remember until Friday.  So here are the 3 questions:

1.  What are some of the things in your life that are stopping you from obeying God?
2.  What would you have to change in order to be obedient to God?
3.  Are you willing to make those changes?

Those are some pretty tough questions and it make take you some time to think them through so I want you to ponder on those today and we'll talk more tomorrow.

Don't forget that we have Giant Cranium tonight at Ignite....meet in The Attic @ 6!

Also don't forget that we're having a FBCG @ The Movies this Friday to go see Despicable Me in 3-D! We'll meet at the church at 12:30 head to Blue Coast Burrito for lunch (usually about 10 bucks) and then catch a 2:25 movie ($13 for 3-D).  We'll be back at the church between 4:30-5:00.

Later,
Heffe

What Does Obedience to God Look Like? - Tuesday

Welcome back...alright so we're breaking down what our obedience to God actually looks like and we saw yesterday that the first way our obedience shows itself is through our loving God.  So let's look at another way today

Obedience is walking in His ways.


So read (if you missed yesterday) or re-read Joshua 22:5.  We see that the second thing Joshua commands us to do is to "walk in all His ways"....  It's important here that we see the word "all"in this verse.  How many of God's ways are we supposed to walk in?  All.  This is not the easiest thing to do right?

Why do you think Joshua would challenge the people to obey all of God's commands?  What is wrong with the philosophy that I can just pick and choose what I want to obey?  What if we did that with traffic laws?  Not.....goood.

What if I took two people, blindfolded them, and then spun them around until they were dizzy.  Then let's say I tell Person 1 to try and follow Person 2 out of the room.  It would be pretty funny right?....I mean they'd be running into chairs, falling over things, maybe even running into some walls, but it wouldn't be funny for the person who is blindfolded.

See, when we are blindfolded and dizzy, it is impossible to get where we need to go and do what we need to do.  God will never blindfold us or cause us to stumble around foolishly.  When we walk with God, our eyes are open and our future is bright and clear.  God provides direction for us.  Those who choose not to walk behind God will find their lives are dark and confusing.

How hard is it for you to follow someone?  Maybe you're usually the leader and you like setting the pace....maybe you are usually running somewhere in the middle of the pack...you don't like leading but you don't want to be at the end.....or maybe you're that reluctant follower who drags their feet and kicks the dirt and always falls behind the person at the front.  What does the phrase "to follow someone blindly" mean to you?

Have you ever walked and followed behind someone that led you astray?

Do you think following God and walking with Him is easy?

Does God expect us to follow His commands blindly?

God wants us to let Him lead our paths so that we can walk in His ways....it reminds me of being little and always trying to step in my dad's footprints in the sand on the beach....only problem was my legs were too short so I often missed....I had to continue growing so that I could firmly plant my feet in his footprints.  God wants you and I to continue to grow so that we can make our footprints the same as Jesus did.

Walking in God's ways is not an easy task, but it's one way that we can show our obedience to God!

Leave me some feedback about what "ways of God' you guys have trouble following....we'll see you back at the blog tomorrow and at Giant Cranium this Wednesday night at 6 PM!

Heffe

What Does Obedience to God look like? - Monday

Good morning!  Alright, so let's get started!

Yesterday morning we started to answer the question "Where does obedience to God start?" by discovering that Jesus told us that we have to love God with our whole being.  Jesus also said that along with loving God with all we are, we also have to love others as we do ourselves.  These are the two most important commandments.  It's only once we start doing these two things that we can start being obedient to God.

So this week on the blog we're gonna answer the question "What does obedience to God look like?".  We're gonna look at 5 different ways that our obedience to God can show up.

Let's start off by reading Joshua 22:5....that's right actually grab your Bible this morning, and open it up and read a little bit....just one tiny verse!

In this verse, Joshua gives us several things we can do to show our obedience to God.  So today, let's look at the first one...

Obedience is loving God.


Joshua starts this verse off by reminding the people to follow the commandments and laws that were given to them and the first thing he reminds them to do is "to love the Lord your God..."

What does it mean to love God?  How does your obedience relate to loving God?

Think about this.....several of you have your driver's licenses....several still don't but you can still play along.  Have you guys ever been given a speeding ticket?  If you have ever had a speeding ticket then you know there is a large price to pay for not obeying the speed limit....usually $100 at the least....just for going a little faster than you're supposed to.

There is also a huge price to pay for not obeying God's rules.  God does not give us rules and laws to hold us back from having fun.  He gives us rules to protect us from things that cause us harm, shame, or pain.

See, God wants us to be very careful in our obedience to Him.  God wants what is best for us but we have to be willing to follow and obey his commandments.  God has a perfect plan for our lives and that plan can only be carried out when we love God and obey God.  Loving Him shows true obedience to God!

Think about these things this morning:

Have you ever felt like God wanted you to do something and you didn't?  What was it?

Did it ever bother you to know that you disobeyed God?

Did you know at that very moment that you had disobeyed God or did you figure it out later?

If you could go back and have a "do over," what would you do differently?  Why?

So I know that our first example of loving God is a repeat from yesterday morning, but I just want to emphasize how important it is to love God.  If you don't truly love God, then you're going to find it very hard, if not impossible, to do the next 4 things that we found suggested in this verse.

Spend some time in prayer this morning, even if you haven't done it in a long time, and just ask God to help you love Him, love His Word, love the things He cares about, and to love Him even when things around you aren't the way you think they should be.  Our first way to show obedience to God is to love Him!

Feel free to post any questions or thoughts here on the blog.....or just drop me a note to let me know you're reading it!!  See you back here at the blog tomorrow morning!

Heffe