Tag Archives: Obedience

Location, Location, Location

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“Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them … is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock … But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation” Luke 6:47-49 ESV1

Read Matthew 7:21-27 & Luke 6:46-49

Have you heard it said that the three most important things to consider in real estate are location, location, and location? As it turns out, location is pretty important in the spiritual realm as well. As Jesus concluded one of His training seminars for a group of committed followers who had climbed a mountain to hear what He had to say, He chose a powerful cohering illustration that involved real estate to cement His teaching in the minds of His students. The real estate, a house, to which Jesus is referring in His illustration is a metaphor for one’s life.

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So Much Confusion

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Taking her by the hand He called, saying, “Child, arise.” And her spirit returned, and she got up at once … And her parents were amazed, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened. Luke 8:54-56 ESV1

Read Matthew 9:18-19, 23-26; Mark 5:21-24, 35-43; & Luke 8:40-42, 49-56

Have you ever been part of an exciting, amazing, or traumatic event, one replete with commotion, lively activity, or frenzy, and one so memorable, you felt you would never forget a moment? Only to find, when it was all over, and as you and others, who were also there, discussed what happened and what was said, you realized you each perceived the happening very differently, so different, in fact, that you wondered if some of the others were even at the same event? I have a feeling that those who hung out with Jesus as He walked the Earth often felt that way. The miracle we will consider now is such an example.

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Obey When it Makes No Sense

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Jesus sternly charged him and sent him away at once, and said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone,” … But he went out and began to talk freely about it.    Mark 1:43-45 ESV1

Read Matthew 8:1-4, Mark 1:40-45 & Luke 5:12-16

 Are you a questioner? Do you have to be fully convinced before you take action? Do you have to know the reason why a command is given before you obey? Do you have to know all the facts before you proceed? Or, are you unconditionally obedient? When one in charge gives you a command, do you obey completely even when you don’t understand the why behind the request? Do you trust the integrity of authority figures; therefore, you obey without question? Do you act in faith without justification? Or, are you somewhere in the middle, evaluating each situation separately, obeying fully sometimes, choosing to disobey at other times? The recipient of Jesus’ next healing had to decide as to whether he would fully obey the command given to him.

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Sharing Secrets with God

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Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  Luke 2:23-26 ESV1

Read Luke 2:21-35

There were undoubtedly many reasons why God chose Mary and Joseph to raise His Son. One of those reasons was that they were obedient to His commandments. When Jesus was eight days old, “they brought Him up to Jerusalem [to the temple] to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) [see Exodus 13:2 & 12]  and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons’ [see Leviticus 12:8]” (Luke 22b-24). At that time, Jesus was also circumcised and officially named. But more waited at the temple for the young family than tradition.

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The Really Wise Men

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Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.   Matthew 2:2 ESV1

Read Matthew 2:1-12

Who were these or Wise Men, or Magi (as they are called in the NIV2 and the NASB3)? From where did they come? Why were they looking for a star? And how did the Magi know the unusual star they saw was a sign for the birth of the King of the Jews?

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Noble Joseph

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Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.   Matthew 1:20b NLT1

Read Matthew 1:1-25

As he worked in his carpenter’s shop, did Joseph ever ponder the fact that he was a descendant of the great King David? His ancestors, for fourteen generations, had been kings of Israel, the leaders of God’s chosen people. Did he ever wonder how his life would have been different had Israel faithfully served God and still had a king on the throne? He could have been raised as a prince, not a pauper. He could have been preparing for the throne instead of building a blue-collar business.

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