WHAT IS THE TEMPERATURE OF YOUR OBEDIENCE?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord
is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who
are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may
have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from
them all; he protects all his bones, not one of them
will be broken.
(Psalm 34:17-20)

MEDITATION:
When you have problems, what do you do? Do you try to resolve
them by yourself…alone? Do you seek the help of a family member
or friend? Do you consult with a clergyman? Do discuss them with
others and hope they will soon go away? Or, do you seek help from
the Lord?

The Lord cares for the righteous more than we may ever know on this
side of heaven. When the righteous have troubles, the Lord hears their
cries. We may ask, “How do we cry out to Him?” We cry out to Him
through prayer; it is our way of connecting with our Creator!

Whenever the righteous are brokenhearted, the Lord is always close by.
When we are living righteously, we can sense His presence (and it calms
and comforts us to know He is nearby). The Lord can provide for us what
no one else is capable of providing.

When our spirits have been crushed, the Lord is there to save us from
the things, or people, who crush our spirits. How does He save us? He
comforts and assures us that our spirit will not be permanently crushed.
When we know our crushed spirit will come to an end, it gives us hope.

Our spirit can be crushed by:
    – Disappointments in others.
    – Pressures of the responsibilities of life
        (jobs, raising a family, etc.)
    – Feelings that our best efforts are not good enough.
    – Exclusion by others.
    – Gossip or untruths about us from our circle of acquaintances.
    – Financial debts.
    – Health concerns for others, or ourselves.
    – Loss of jobs with no current prospects of a new one.
    – A child who has been making bad choices.
    – Overwhelming guilt over the sin in our lives.
    – Loss of a loved one.
    – Feelings that God is very far away from us.

This is a short list and there are many other things that can also
crush our spirit. When we look at the scriptures above, we can
see that the righteous are not immune to troubles in the broken
world we live in. In fact, we are told that the righteous might
have many problems.
    The righteous person may have many troubles,
    but the Lord delivers him from them all.
    (Psalm 34:19)

    Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who
    comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those
    in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
    (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

    Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are
    wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by
    day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving
    for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we
    fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since
    what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
    (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

When we are in the middle of our problems we need to remember
that it can be a time of renewing our spirit. It can be a time when
we realize we simply cannot have our spirits restored through our
own strength. It is a time when we acknowledge our need for the
presence of the Lord in our lives every day.

Since these promises are directed toward the righteous, who are
the righteous? The righteous are believers who have surrendered
their lives to the Lord. When we totally submit to Him, we can
realize our full potential. However, when we hold on to certain
areas of our life, it is evidence of our selfishness (and selfishness
will prevent us from maximizing our potential).

As an analogy, think about hot water.
    When the temperature reaches 211 degrees, it is very hot, but it
    still hasn’t reached the point of being productive. However, when
    the temperature reaches 212 (the boiling point) it produces steam
    that can be used to power a steam engine and move the weight of
    a huge locomotive. It creates a power that can not only move the
    locomotive, but it also moves the many cars attached to it.

    Now, imagine that ‘being righteous’ is the equivalent of ‘water at
    212 degrees’. Let’s assume that 212 is the point at which we are
    fully committed to the Lord and are usable in His ministry. Less
    than 212 may be moving in the right direction but still falls short
    of the point at which we achieve our full potential.

    Less than 212 (full surrender) can be an indication that we have
    not totally surrendered to the Lord. We may know His commands
    but we have created our own list of the ones we will obey, and the
    ones we will ignore. It could mean we are clinging tightly to some
    things we don’t want to surrender. Failure to obey all of the Lord’s
    commands will cause us to fall short of reaching our full potential.

    If we have not reached the point of total surrender, does it mean that
    we are not righteous? Maybe, or maybe not; only the Lord can answer
    that question. He reads the heart of people, so He knows the sincerity
    of our commitment to Him. We can mislead a lot of folks when we quote
    scriptures, talk ‘righteous’, and hide our sins from their view, but we
    cannot fool the Lord.

    Others may perceive us as being faithful in ALL things, but the most
    important thing is, how does God see us? He knows when we choose
    to disobey Him and how we try to justify our disobedience in an effort
    to minimize our feelings of guilt. Partial obedience is still disobedience,
    whether we like it or not!

    If we are at 212 or above, does that mean we no longer have failures in
    our efforts to obey God? No, but it does mean that we have a heart that
    wants to obey Him and His commands. We know His commands and we
    have a desire in our heart to obey all of them, and not just a select group
    of the ones we like. Submitting to the Lord means we will make genuine
    efforts to obey all His commands, including the difficult ones for us.

We know that God has many “don’t” commands
    (don’t steal, don’t murder, don’t worship other idols,
      don’t disrespect parents, etc.).
We know that He also has many “do” commands
    (do love each other, do treat others the way you want
      to be treated, do meet with other believers to worship
      Him, do tithe, etc.).

Some of His commands may be more difficult than others, and if
we expect to obey them too, more than likely it can mean we will
have to leave our comfort zone. But, the good news is, when we
make a conscious effort to obey all of His commands, we will
discover new blessings from God.

As an example, consider God’s command (not suggestion) to tithe.
    Some believers struggle with this command. Although others
    can observe our ‘faith in action’ in some ways, tithing is a
    private expression of faith between the Lord and us. When
    we obey His command to tithe, we are expressing our trust
    in the Lord…to Him. We have accepted His command and
    committed to returning what already belongs to Him. We
    are content with the 90% we have after obeying Him.

    His Word tells us that when we don’t tithe, we are robbing
    from Him, and that means we are guilty of disobeying one
    of His ten commandments, ‘do not steal’. God says,
        “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob
          me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
          In tithes and offerings.”
          (Malachi 3:8)

    Since God does not ‘need’ our tithes, then it tithing must be for
    our benefit, right? How could tithing be beneficial to us? It is
    one of the opportunities God has given us to prove that we not
    only love Him, but we also trust His promises to provide for our
    needs.

    Satan tries to convince us that we cannot return to the Lord what
    belongs to Him. He knows that if he can keep us from obeying one
    command, then he can convince us to justify our disobedience of
    other commands as well. When we allow Satan to control us, we
    will find ourselves redirecting a portion of our love of God and
    others, to a love of money, possessions, and other things.

ACTION:
Imagine the blessing of knowing that God is there to provide for
us no matter how bleak our situation may seem. We are told that
He hears our cries for help, He delivers us from our troubles, He
stays close to us when we are brokenhearted, He saves us from
our crushed spirits, and He protects us.

What is the temperature of your spiritual commitment?
Do you have a list of God’s commands you have chosen
to obey, or do you have a heart for obeying all of them?
Are you achieving your full potential of being part of His
ministry?

Do you have a sincere desire to serve God using the gifts and
talents He has given you? Have you shown the Lord through
your obedience that….
    (1) You love Him,
    (2) You trust Him to provide for you, and
    (3) You want to enjoy the blessings He has for the righteous.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You know what is in my heart.
You know the sincerity of my faith and trust in You.
You know if I have chosen to obey all Your commands
or just the ones I like, and the ones that are easy. Forgive
me if I have failed to consider the importance of obeying
all Your commands. I know I can’t deal with the problems
of life in my own strength. I need Your strength, help and
blessings to cope with the issues I encounter. Help me as
I try to achieve the level of righteousness that You expect
and desire of those who claim to love You. Give me a heart
for obedience, and forgive me for the times when I succumb
to temptations. You are my foundation and my rock while I
am living, the One I look forward to meeting and spending
eternity with, and the One I love as my heavenly Father.”

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