The Thanksgiving of Obedience.

Psalms 119:7 NLT

As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should!

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You say you are thankful. You've felt the feelings of appreciation and you've mouthed the words. But genuine thankfulness is coupled with obedience.

One of the times I was visiting my parents in America my dad gave me some boots. I really appreciated the gift. The boots were great and I began to wear the boots nearly every day. I wrote dad and told him how grateful I was for the boots.
But some how their daily use was a constant reminder of my dad's generous love.  I'd think how fortunate I was to have the boots, how good they were for the cold, wet, rainy Sheffield hills.

God's word is meant to be used. Like a pair of good boots we need to be reminded of God's justice, his righteousness and goodness. We need to wear it. When the way is slippery or wet we can feel secure and protected. When the way is steep and rough we can feel supported.

Don't take the gift of truth and store it in the closet.

When  you trust and obey the Word of God you demonstrate your genuine thankfulness.

Serious business

Hebrews 10:26-39 NLT

Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said, “The Lord will judge his own people.” It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

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Sometimes people think of Jesus as a placebo for the conscience. Many view the church as having some social benefits for society now but they don't really believe that God will judge the world. Everyone wants a heaven in the future for their dead loved ones and themselves eventually but nobody seems to want to believe in hell.

But Jesus is real.
God's judgement is sure.
And nothing is worth facing the wrath of God for.

I can honestly say that no other passage in the Bible is more disturbing to me than this one.

When I was young I used to hear a lot about the debate surrounding assurance of salvation. It's one of the oldest concerns in the church.
It really is no more complicated than, 'what must I do to be saved.' And actually Jesus didn't make it easy.

I should rephrase that. Salvation is through grace alone! There are no works that buy your way into the Kingdom. You can't purchase it, or walk on your bloody knees praying to prove your devotion. For by grace are you saved through faith and faith is a gift from God, there are no works of man involved so that man can't boast that he saved himself. Jesus is the only way. 

Acts 4:12 NLT

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”

I've always said that when you are born again and are a child of God then nothing can change that fact. I was born a Bode. No matter what happens in my life the fact that Don and Bunny are my parents will not change. So as  salvation is a gift from God based on God's grace, secured by the work done by Jesus on the cross, nothing I can do will change what God has done freely for me. 

I'm not a universalist. 

But I've also known that to enjoy any real benefits of knowing I'm a Bode, I need to be on speaking terms with mum and dad. To really bask in the joy of their love and acceptance, I need to seek them out, invite them around and ask for all their wisdom and knowledge on so many of the areas of life they know so much more than me.

To feel the assurance of the salvation given freely by God I need to be in relationship with him. Hugs are best in close proximity. Laughs are best shared spontaneously in normal living.

God isn't about you just gold digging without the love relationship. Heaven isn't heaven at all without God. Jesus isn't the genie of the lamp. And you aren't going to pull a fast one over on God.

He isn't going to allow the very very serious death of Jesus on the cross be mocked by those saying they are family when in fact they are not.

You either love the Father and therefore his Son and all they stand for or you are not actually part of the family.

Don't  think you can say you know and love your Father because of what Jesus did for you and then completely ignore what Jesus did for you.

Behind the scenes, His purpose.

Exodus 9 :12
"But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh,"

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(a more complete sampling of these passages is included below my notes.)

Sheffield seen from Heeley

Two things you need to know about how God sometimes works.

• In the short term he may ask you to do something and then he might work 'against you' while you try to do what he said.
• God may be doing something 'odd' in someone else's heart; You have no idea how he works.

God asks Moses to talk to Pharaoh and ask Pharaoh to let his people go.

Then God makes sure Pharaoh says no a lot!

For a while this makes Moses very unpopular with God's people and with Pharaoh. I'm sure the Egyptians weren't very impressed either.

From our perspective God sets Moses up to fail. Sure in the end it works out for the most part but along the way Moses has a lot to deal with. If you were given a job by God how long will you accept what looks and feels like failure.

Many modern day followers of God give up on a lot of things pretty quickly.

Pharaoh's heart was hardened. I find this incredible. And God gives a reason too.

" so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth."
" But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."

God being seeing as God is the highest goal and greatest reason for all that God does. It is all for the glory of God. From my and your limited point of view we can not always see how God could get glory out of the situation. But God can. It's all part of God's plan. We should not be so quick to judge. We don't have all the information.

Moses and Pharaoh are both quite unlikely characters to accomplish God's purposes and bring him glory.

Maybe you are too. But the story of the Exodus is epic in God's plan. This incident is repeated over and over. These events are key to understanding what God is doing through Jesus. Jesus himself retells the story the night before he is crucified as did every faithful Jews at every passover celebration for over a thousand years and a couple thousand since Jesus.

I suppose I just think we need to be reminded that God doesn't always ask us to do things he's going to make easy. I can imagine God's people praying, 'Lord  please soften Pharaoh's heart so he let's us go.' All the while God is hardening his heart.

• Are you sure you know what God is doing? 
• What brings him glory? 
• Do you really know how you'd be best partnering with him?
• Do what you're told!
• Leave the results up to God. 
• Don't give up. 
• Don't think you know what's going on. 
• Have faith that God does.

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Exodus 9:12-21, 27-28, 34-35 ESV

But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, "Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews, "Let my people go, that they may serve me. For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them."" Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses, but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, "This time I have sinned; the Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the Lord , for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the Lord had spoken through Moses.

EXO 10:1-2 ESV

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord ."

Bound Isaac

GEN 22:5-18 ESV

Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, "My father!" And he said, "Here am I, my son." He said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here am I." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, "The Lord will provide"; as it is said to this day, "On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided."  And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord , because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
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You've been blessed by God because of this very difficult episode.

" for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me."

Jesus is the lamb provided as a sacrifice by God instead.

Jesus is God's only son.

Look at what the author of Hebrews says Abraham was thinking as he prepared to sacrifice Isaac.

Hebrews 11:17-19 ESV

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

Now consider God the Father. Think about his offering of Jesus. Think how God planned to raise Jesus from the dead. See how Jesus is the lamb that God provided.

John 1:28-29 ESV

These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Do you fear God?

What are you withholding?

What is God asking you to give?

Who will be blessed by God when you obey God by giving?

Come and learn a lesson

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Jeremiah 35:1-19 NLT

This is the message the Lord gave Jeremiah when Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah: “Go to the settlement where the families of the Recabites live, and invite them to the Lord’s Temple. Take them into one of the inner rooms, and offer them some wine.” So I went to see Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah and grandson of Habazziniah and all his brothers and sons—representing all the Recabite families. I took them to the Temple, and we went into the room assigned to the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. This room was located next to the one used by the Temple officials, directly above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the Temple gatekeeper. I set cups and jugs of wine before them and invited them to have a drink, but they refused. “No,” they said, “we don’t drink wine, because our ancestor Jehonadab son of Recab gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. And do not build houses or plant crops or vineyards, but always live in tents. If you follow these commands, you will live long, good lives in the land.’ So we have obeyed him in all these things. We have never had a drink of wine to this day, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters. We haven’t built houses or owned vineyards or farms or planted crops. We have lived in tents and have fully obeyed all the commands of Jehonadab, our ancestor. But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked this country, we were afraid of the Babylonian and Syrian armies. So we decided to move to Jerusalem. That is why we are here.” Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Go and say to the people in Judah and Jerusalem, ‘Come and learn a lesson about how to obey me. The Recabites do not drink wine to this day because their ancestor Jehonadab told them not to. But I have spoken to you again and again, and you refuse to obey me. Time after time I sent you prophets, who told you, “Turn from your wicked ways, and start doing things right. Stop worshiping other gods so that you might live in peace here in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you would not listen to me or obey me. The descendants of Jehonadab son of Recab have obeyed their ancestor completely, but you have refused to listen to me.’ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you refuse to listen or answer when I call, I will send upon Judah and Jerusalem all the disasters I have threatened.’” Then Jeremiah turned to the Recabites and said, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed your ancestor Jehonadab in every respect, following all his instructions.’ Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jehonadab son of Recab will always have descendants who serve me.’”

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Fiddler on the Roof is one of my favourite films! And in that film is a song entitled, Tradition that just about scratches the surface of this bible passage. 

In summary of the passage above, there was a clan of Jews that was faithful to keep the traditions of their ancestors even when it made them seem completely out of step with the rest of society. The Recabites were the Amish of their day. It wasn't that they thought that they had a special mission from God or any special revelation. It was that they honoured their fathers' teaching. And as a whole group they had taught all their families to follow this teaching.

God had told his people how to live but his people had disregarded him. God wanted his people to be ashamed of their disobedience and their refusal to listen to the prophets he had sent them.

Who do you listen to? Whose advice are you freely disseminating? Are you happy to propagate the latest diet or financial plan? Do you swear by a particular type of technology and feel quite proud that you chose it and stick with it. Do your choices make you superior and a little smug? Whether it is money, holidays, cars, mobiles or computers, people listen to some "authority" and then then make their choices accordingly. When I was in the states, I remember people who were really proud they pretty much only bought American made products. And here in England, there are many people who feel like they are really doing a good thing by supporting faithfully the Fair Trade movement or only buying free range animals and eggs.

 Do you listen to God? Are you proud that you do? Are you willing to tell others that you follow God's Word? 

God wants a following. More to the point only God deserves a following. Far more than your football team, the X-Factor or I'm a Celebrity, God demands you plan your life around his Word! You might record your favourite show so you don't miss it. And you may proudly wear the accessories of your favourite star, fad, company or team. But are you willing to follow God? Are you willing to make it known. Are you willing to plan your life around God?

Why not? Is God not worth it? Do you find God boring? Does God not help you create the image you want to have?

God is asking you to follow him. God is telling you to listen to him. There is nothing greater you can dedicate yourself to. Why are you not proud to say you follow God? Someday you'll get tell God face to face.

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Tell us lies.

Isaiah 30:8-15, 18 NLT

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions. They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel: “Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.” This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.
So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help.

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Could Isaiah be writing about you?

I like a bit of Sci-Fi, and one of my favourite little series is the short-lived but much loved Firefly programme and the film Serenity that followed.
In episode 4, "Jaynestown", River Tam attempts to 'correct' the character Shepherd Book's Bible. River Tam, a genius though mentally disturbed girl due to government experimentation, is caught rewriting the Bible. River had removed pages, cut bits out, reordered parts and rewritten lots of the Bible. She couldn't accept the bits that didn't match her understanding and vision for the world. And neither could God's people in Isaiah's time. Nor can most people today, I dare say.

We can't accept hell, judgment, or God creating everything for himself. We want to ignore the difficult bits. We can't compute the cross being God's plan since before the creation. We don't like being told we have to love our enemies, and we'd rather ignore the implications of loving our neighbour as ourselves.

Truth be told, the majority of God's word little fits with our world view, and we've busily set about to reconstruct it according to our own liking.

2 Timothy 4:3
" For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear."

It seems the time foretold by Paul has been before and will be no stranger to the future.
Apparently Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac) wasn't the first to ask to be told lies.
God's people didn't want to be told the truth either.

Neither God nor Isaiah his spokesman are the puppets of the people's whim. The truth would be told and the people would have to decide. Hiding behind their candy coated world view wouldn't suspend the coming judgment.

So can you handle the truth? Jack Nicholson, as Colonel Nathan R. Jessup in the film A Few Good Men, tries to paint a picture of honor, trust and strength. But under the guise of national security, murder had taken place.

Isaiah and Jesus both were threatened, scoffed at and abused for telling the truth.

But with the terrible truth of our rebellion and its deserved judgment is the invitation to find safety from the judgment by getting close to the judge.

And so grace is the scandal most people are unwilling to accept. How can God condemn the treacherous, lie-propagating people in one verse and offer them protection in the next?

He can because of Jesus. He can because of the cross.

I believe that the most difficult thing for people to hear from God today is not the exacting holiness of a perfect sinless Saviour, but rather the right of judgment and the extravagance of grace.

Quick, escape the coming wrath of God and be safe in his expansive grace.

God will judge.
God does save.

Will you be saved?

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