What’s Keeping Me from Obeying my Father Wk 3

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Earlier this week my wife told me that our oldest daughter called her and asked her what she thought about going to a particular event in the city in a particular area of town.

My wife said, not in this town, not on this day, and not in that particular area.

My daughter was obedient.

My daughter called my wife the next day to say that in that area on that day in that part of town, there was a murder and five others injured.

And this particular day ended up being a hot day for violence altogether. (I think there were 6 people killed.)

In case you didn’t already know, disobedience can be costly.

And obedience has rewards.

We are continuing with The Message Title:

What’s Keeping Me from Obeying My Father

Week 3

We’ve been talking about this theme of obedience that runs throughout the scriptures.

We saw it in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.

And as followers of Christ, we should be obedient in all things to our heavenly father.

Last week I stressed that our obedience doesn’t earn our way to eternity with the father.

None of us have been perfect or sinless which is the only way to earn righteousness.

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

We get to enjoy eternal life with the father by putting our faith in Jesus.

And NEWS FLASH!!!

My faith is not in him if I don’t obey him.

So, the question is, “What’s keeping me from obeying God my Father?”

Disobedience to God is sin.

The first humans to sin where Adam and Eve.

Watch this: What Eve and eventually Adam wanted or did didn’t seem that bad.

They wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil.

Eve was tricked by the Satan, that God was holding back something good from her.

And her flesh wanted it, so she disobeyed God.

Anything we do that disobeys God is sin. (Even if you think it’s not that bad.)

Her sin didn’t seem that bad, but what did it lead to?

Her son Cain killed her other son Abel. (Murder in the first degree.)

Now you can see why Jesus made this statement about sin.

Matthew 5:29 ESV

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

We have to pay attention to whatever it is in our lives that leads us to disobey God.

And whatever it is, even if it doesn’t seem that bad, we must to get rid of it.

In this series we’re talking about seven ways we should obey Him.

So far, we’ve covered four areas.

(1)-Obey His Commandments

James 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

We discovered that with God, loving Him is connected to obeying him.

The second was;

(2)-Listen to His Voice

Scripture often describes obedience as listening to God’s voice with the intent to do what He says.

John 10:27 ESV

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

I know them and “They follow me” connects hearing to active obedience.

Obeying His voice is not a burden but the natural response of those who belong to Him and trust Him.

(3)-Walk in His Ways

Obedience to Him is not just about following commands.

It is about a new way of life.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESV

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

Walking in his ways is equivalent to walking in love.

Walking in the ways of God shapes our character and conduct.

But it’s also true to say that walking in the ways of the culture around us has shaped our character and conduct.

Today we are on the 4th way we should obey our heavenly father. And these are in no particular order.

(4)-Submit to His Discipline

Deuteronomy 8:5 ESV

Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.

As a part of our walk with God, discipline plays a vital role.

Discipline is not punishment in anger.

It is necessary as a child of God that we also submit to that part of his love.

Hebrews 12:5-6 ESV

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

Here we see the writer of Hebrews was reminding them of Provers 3.

Proverbs 3:11-12 ESV

My son do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Discipline from the Lord is correction born out of love.

We should never look at God’s discipline as rejection.

It is relational correction.

When my children were growing up I disciplined them because I love them, and I wanted what was best for them.

I also wanted our relationship to be the best it could be, so I didn’t discipline them out of anger.

Discipline is not pleasant, but it is purposeful. (It’s not pleasant for either.)

The end goal of discipline is not pain but change.

Through discipline God is shaping us to reflect his holy character.

What is his discipline?

Discipline in the scriptures refers to training, instruction, and correction that is intended to lead us to spiritual growth.

When you feel punished and guilty, that’s condemnation, and that is not what our heavenly father is into.

Part of his discipline is simply guiding us to follow the behaviors he wants us to observe.

Another part of his discipline is the reproof or correction for disobedience to those behaviors.

(If a Pastor disobeys the behaviors of having one wife, he could be exposed in the public and lose his credibility.)

That is discipline that is intended to train towards righteousness.

• God disciplines His children because He loves them. • God disciplines His children to make them more mature. • God disciplines His children to increase their capacity for virtue. • God disciplines His children to keep them on the right path. • God disciplines His children to grow their faith. • God disciplines His children to purify them from sin.

James 1:2-4 ESV

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

(5)-Obey from the Heart

God doesn’t just want us to robotically obey Him.

He wants us to surrender our hearts to Him and become willing participants.

Isaiah 1:19 ESV

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;

The Hebrew implication here is that we delight in obeying our heavenly father.

And to do this we must delight in who he is and his love that he has shown us.

This is not possible if we don’t crucify the desires of the flesh.

If you go back and look at Isaiah chapter 1 in context, you’ll discover that the people had gone through religious motions, but their hearts were far from God.

God rejected his people when their hearts were not in the relationship.

But God won’t reject those whose hearts are all in.

Romans 6:17 ESV

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,

God desires a level of loyalty and obedience to Him that is not just surface level but from the heart.

*I used to tithe because I thought it was the way to keep God on my side and protecting me. Now I tithe because I love him and I’m grateful for all he has done by adopting me.

*I used to go to church because I thought if I didn’t, I might not go to heaven. Now I go because I want to know him more and more. I want to experience him in community.

There is this notion that God desiring a heart level obedience is a New Testament thing.

But God has always desired heart-level obedience and not just rule-keeping.

It’s just that through Christ, God made it more accessible by giving us a new heart and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

In closing!

Check your heart, and make sure you are obeying him willingly from the heart.

What is Holy Spirit saying to you?

Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next week.