Trust and Obey...There is No Other Way

Trust and Obey, There is No Other Way 

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. 

Lord, I should be holy and without blame before You in love. You, my God, from the beginning, chose me for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which You called me for the obtaining of the glory of my Lord Jesus Christ. Whom You foreknew, You also predestined to be conformed to the image of Your Son, that You might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom You predestined, these You also called; whom You called, these You also justified; and whom You justified, these You also glorified. I am elect according to Your foreknowledge, Father God, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. You will give me a new heart and put a new spirit within me; You will take the heart of stone out of my flesh and give me a heart of flesh. You did not call me to uncleanness, but to holiness. 

By Your Spirit, Lord, may I live a life that reflects my status as one of Your chosen children. And keep my heart tender toward You, I pray. 

EPHESIANS 1:4; 2 THESSALONIANS 2:13–14; ROMANS 8:29–30; 1 PETER 1:2; EZEKIEL 36:26; 1 THESSALONIANS 4:7 - Dr. David Jeremiah Life-Changing Moments with God 

When you truly choose to really pray, to really seek, to really knock, you learn much about you and how far away you once were from the standard that is the Holiness of Jesus Christ.  But in doing the Christian life the way Jesus intended you see hope and assurance in the reality that He IS truth, not merely some perception. 

It is all too appropriate that today's prayer devotional includes sanctification. 

The title for today came time around 2 in the morning.  We are leaving Columbus, Ohio today to live a new life, taking the leap of faith towards sanctification.  But to get there, in these nearly 60 days of life, I have found a deeper meaning in the hymn "Trust and Obey".

When we walk with the Lord

  In the light of His Word,

What a glory He sheds on our way;

  While we do His good will,

  He abides with us still,

And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey,

For there’s no other way

To be happy in Jesus,

  But to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise,

  Not a cloud in the skies,

But His smile quickly drives it away;

  Not a doubt or a fear,

  Not a sigh or a tear,

Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear,

  Not a sorrow we share,

But our toil He doth richly repay;

  Not a grief or a loss,

  Not a frown or a cross,

But is blest if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove

  The delights of His love,

Until all on the altar we lay;

  For the favor He shows,

  And the joy He bestows,

Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet

  We will sit at His feet,

Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;

  What He says we will do;

  Where He sends, we will go,

Never fear, only trust and obey.

You can't go into the work of Jesus without knowing that it's not always going to be sunshine and rainbows. 

But when you turn your eyes upon Jesus, yes another great hymn. When you do you can find probably the realization of Peter when his first step outside the boat felt like.  Because yet another hymn rings true. On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. 

You can't come to Christ thinking that life is going to be the same.  You can't come to Christ without finding, as your Great Physician, that He doesn't have Spiritual medical procedures to go through to make you more like Christ. You will go through things that won't be comfortable. To walk on the water for Peter meant disregarding the possibility of sinking and it meant keeping his eyes on Jesus. 

Trusting and Obeying are breathing in and out.  Satan will tempt you to stay where you are, living as you are, Jesus loves us too much to leave us where and what we are. In much of the last 20 years, we could have moved, but in looking back, quite a few times we were persuaded to stay because of a false sense of security. Satan relented and we misread the circumstances. So we didn't go anywhere. We continued to struggle to find a Church that fit. To decide to take the leap of faith wasn't what Satan wanted us to do. We have had probably a hundred things that he tried to use to stop us but My God wouldn't allow him because He is faithful. Because our reasons for moving certainly was and is in the will of God. Once you are there, nothing, not all the powers of Satan can stop what God has ordained. 

We will be in our new home today or tomorrow, depending on how things go at the Title Company.  Tomorrow's post will certainly be from our new hometown.

Trust and Obey there's no other way to be happy in Jesus. No other way to live as a worker in the fields that are ripe for harvest.  No other way to be at the center of God's will than through obedience and trust in the one who gave His all to save us all.