If you Love me, obey me

The Lord has been speaking to me about being obedient. This has been on my heart for some time now. I know when some of us think of obedience, we think about the Ten Commandments or other scriptures in the Bible that instruct us on how to live our lives for God. The type of obedience I am talking about is when God personally instructs you to do something.

The Lord spoke to me about certain things he wanted me to do and not to do. Some of those things were hard for me to grasp. For example, to stop going to the movies, this was a hard one for me to understand. I was talking with the Lord to make sure it was Him! Like why would he want for me to stop going to the movies? But later I understood that He was keeping me from being idle and actually spending more time on Him and His Word. Now, I am not saying that everyone should stop going to the movies but this is just the conviction that God put on my heart.

I want you to know how God revealed to me that disobedience will hurt your relationship with the Lord. Now because you are born again you have a personal relationship with Christ but it will not grow if you are walking in disobedience.

There was a time when I was in a state of confusion and depression about why I was not where I wanted to be in Christ. I knew that I was called to serve the Lord and to be used as an empty vessel. But I felt like God was not using me at my job, ministering to friends, family members or people on the street. I did not have that boldness I had been praying about. I felt useless. I was constantly comparing myself to the great patriarchs, prophets and apostles in the Bible, friends and people in my church. I would ask God “Why can’t you use me like you use them?”

Then at a prayer meeting at my church, one of the pastors said that we must walk in love and obedience in order to fulfill our call and to have a deeper understanding of who God is. Then I remembered that my friend told me once that in order to love Christ you must obey Him. In John 14:15 Christ said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” And in John 14:23-24 He says, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. ²⁴ He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.”

That is when I realized that I was walking in complete disobedience. I was not doing what the Lord told me to do and that is why I was stagnant. I was not showing my love for God because I was not obeying Him. How can God use me as an empty vessel if I still had stuff inside of me that had to be dumped out. All the great holy men and women in the Bible became who they were by obeying God! They had a deep personal relationship with God and it was based on the fact that they trusted and obeyed Him. Obedience is the only way and the key to having a abundant relationship with God. We obey God because we love Him and not out of fear. We do it because He knows best and He tells us what to do or not to do out of love.

I encourage you stromriders to trust and obey God when He commands you to do something. You will be shocked and amazed to see what God can do in you and through you. Praise the Lord!!!!

*Image from reflections of a mirror website

The Revelations of Matthew 14:22-33: Becoming a Water Walker

Continuing with the revelations of Matt. 14:22-33, which I started with last month, I wanted to look at the passage when Peter walked on water. Verse 29 reads, And he (Jesus) said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. Right here Peter showed his faith, in his master, by doing the impossible, walking on water. He leaned not unto his own understanding but trusted in Jesus that he could do this incredible miracle.
When my sister and I moved out here to New York, people could not understand why we would do such a thing without having a job or security. Family members were concerned and praying for us. Some friends had faith in us and were saying, “You guys are going to make it.” Some were like “Ok….so do you have money saved up?” Others were like “Why are you moving now? New York is so expensive and there is a recession going on?” But my sister and I knew that God had called for us to move even tough we did not know why.
One of my close friend’s father said, “Wow, you guys are operating by faith. Let me be the first one to get your book!” Another friend of mine said that my sister and I are water walkers. When she said that, it amazed me. I thought to myself, “We are really walking on water.” We were not doing the natural thing like making sure we had something up here before we left. We were operating in the supernatural and knowing that God had made provisions for us. We have been living here for 7 months without a stable job and God has been providing for us every step of the way. We have experience a revelation from the Holy Spirit of what God is doing in our lives that it is unbelievable! We have been blessed to find a church home that is nurturing our faith and meeting people that God has placed in our lives to bless and to be blessed by. This whole move was to prepare us for the plan that He has for our lives.
Many of us do not that have the foresight to see what God is going to do in our lives. We only look at what is happening around us. That is fine but then you just get use to your situation and surroundings. There was a storm going on when Jesus was on the water. The boat was tossing and turning and all hope was lost. People on the boat might have been screaming, “We are going to die and there is no one to save us.” But Peter, who Jesus had given the foresight to trust in Him and obey His word, came down out the boat and walked towards Him. Could you have done that? Could you have gotten off a boat, even though, you thought that you were going to die and walk on the very thing that could take you down?
You see Peter was operating in the supernatural, while the others on the boat were doing what was natural to them, being afraid and operating in fear. 2Timothy 1:7 it reads, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (NKJV) So when God tells you to step out by faith and walk on water (the impossible) towards him, know that there is power, love and a sound mind operating. Do not listen to the noise (the storm) or the confusion (the doubters) around you. Just start walking towards the Master and believe Him for a miracle. That is what true stormriders do!!!!
Let’s pray. Lord I pray that you will make us all water walkers. I pray that we continue to trust in you and not our own understanding. That we operate in supernatural faith and that you will give us the foresight of the plan you have for us, through the Holy Spirit. Lord I pray that we will be obedient to your will and trust that you will always deliver us from the storm. Heavenly Father please block out the noise and distractions that would cause us to operate in fear instead of operating in love, power and a sound mind. Remove confusion and give us understanding of what you are doing in our lives. We ask you for all of these things, in Jesus’ name Amen.