Plain and Simple: What Does God Want From Me?Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NLT)
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. And you must always obey the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good."Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NLT)
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Are your thoughts, motives and actions always pure? Do you always desire to please God? Is your heart ready to obey at all times? Do you love God and others as God desires? If your answer is yes, you’re probably not being honest. My answer to each of these questions is no.
That’s the bad news. On my own I fail the test. In fact I really don’t like the word “only” in the first sentence. That’s one very big “only”.
However, there’s a deeper message in these words from the Lord. It’s a message from the heart of a father. We are hearing the heart of Abba Father who is speaking to wayward children he loves deeply. If you’re a dad, you know this heart because it’s your heart for your children too. “come on guys, just trust me, do what I ask, it’s all for you own good”. It’s the father’s heart that wants to see his kids flourish and be happy and enjoy all the good gifts he gives and, yes, have fun with his children. Hear the heart of a father behind these words, which sound to recalcitrant young ears like a “bunch of rules”.
Notice one more thing. The “fear of the Lord” is spelled out quite nicely in these verses. Read everything after the word “fear” and you’ll have a better understanding of the meaning of the ”fear of the Lord”.
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You know the law was put in place to lead us to Christ in the way that we cannot, will not ever be able to be the children in this life that God requires and desires.
ReplyDeleteChrist gave us the power to be able to say 'no' to sin, but I still sin, on a regular basis, intentionally and unintentionally. Sometimes I feel, as I take every thought 'captive', that all I seem to be doing all day long is either casting out thoughts or confessing when I've let them get to me. If not careful I can get into the frame of mind that is laden with guilt and discouragement.
I think its very, very important that we remember, while studying what would please God to remember He loves us anyway. If I am constantly centering my attention on the negative, I am unable to enjoy the positive. I know, I do it. Why is it so easy to make the struggle the center instead of God's love and acceptance (through His Son) the center?
And in regards to yesterday's blog; The Holy Spirit was given to each of us as our counselor who will "lead us into all truth". Anything we learn from others must always be held under the light of the Holy Spirit and God's Word. For those areas that are not 'spelled out', we should be bringing before God and asking for the Spirit's guidance. Yes, I know our leaders, etc are there to guide us, but they, too, need guidance and because of this fact, are not infallible.
The Bible says in Psalms that "God will speak to us, all we need is a hushed spirit and a listening heart". Amen
It took me until I was an adult, married and 3 grown children to realize my fear of God was not the type of fear He required. In the Old Testatment, I pictured God as a disciplinarian, angry, a big guy with big muscles ready to correct your every bad move with anger. After attending a seminar about The Father's Love, I came to realize I had the wrong picture of who God really was and how He felt about and interacted with us. I became aware, and it is in the Scriptures, that I only needed to look at Jesus and see Abba Daddy. One and the same in their ways. Before I was fearful and was frightened of God, could not approach Him nor His Throne. Now, after this adjustment, I can curl up into His lap and just be there for hours feeling secure in His hands instead of feeling afraid. I am so glad I was given this revelation! It changed me and my commitment to God.
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