There are scores of examples of obedience to the voice of God in Scripture, but one that I have always loved is about a man named Ananias.  What I love about this example is that we really do not know anything at all about Ananias.  We find Ananias first mentioned in Acts 9 and then Paul refers to him again in Acts 22.  This is the only time he is mentioned, but his impact is so important.

We are introduced to Ananias by Luke mentioning in Acts 9 that there was a certain man, a disciple, in Damascus.  Somehow Ananias became part of the larger sect of believers in Jesus in these early years of the church.  Damascus was approximately 150 miles from Jerusalem, so it wasn’t just a day’s walk.  We do not know who he was or what he did as a way of living.  All we know is what really matters; he was a believer, he was a man of prayer full of the Holy Spirit. 

The Lord told Ananias to go to Saul, who Ananias only knew to be a persecutor and enemy of the cross.  In obedience, Ananias goes at once to Saul to heal him and fill him with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17).  You can’t give away what you don’t already have!  Not just that, but we also read that Ananias spoke these words to Saul, “The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.  For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard” (Acts 22:14-15, NASB).

We don’t know about Ananias’ life before this instruction to prepare Saul to become Paul, and we know nothing about Ananias life after this moment.  What we do know is that it was Ananias’s obedience to the voice of God that opened up the ministry of the one who would be responsible for writing a great portion of what we call the New Testament and preparing the way for gentiles (us) to receive salvation for sins; for us gentiles to be grafted into Christ to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

My prayer is that you and I be ready and available for that one moment of impact like Ananias.  Be men and women of prayer, seeking to hear the voice of God and then be obedient to what you hear!  I desire to live a faith-full life in obedience to His voice, His word!

Another passage has caught my attention a few times over the past couple weeks.  This passage happens to come from Luke 11:27-28.  This passage takes place while Jesus is instructing a particular crowd about the Kingdom of God being in their midst.

“While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.’ But He said, ‘On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it’” (Luke 11:27-28, NASB).

Often we want to acknowledge and bless individuals based on association.  Typically this is also united to an agenda as we desire also to be blessed by some sort of association.  As we know that Mary was blessed richly for her obedience to God, Jesus’ response to the statement must’ve been as a result of an unspoken agenda.  Jesus didn’t agree that His mother was blessed and then offer correction, but He said, “on the contrary” in response.  It was the direct statement of the most important part of our lives, our obedience to God and His word.  Mary wasn’t blessed because she bore Jesus or because she nursed him.  Mary was blessed because she heard the voice of God and was obedient to what she heard.

This wasn’t the first time Jesus shared these words about obedience when it came to His mother.  Word was reported to Jesus that his mother and brothers were waiting to see Him.  Jesus responded to them by saying, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21, NASB).  It is not about who we know or who we are associated with.  Who your family is doesn’t matter.  What church you attend or what small group you are a part of doesn’t matter.  These all have their place in building us up, but it is not most important.  What is most important is that you hear the voice of God and are obedient to what you hear!  I desire to live a faith-full life in obedience to His voice, His word!

The topic of obedience continues to remain at the front of my mind.  No matter what passage I open to in Scripture I see obedience or lack there of.  Everything returns to the question of our obedience to the will of God.  Jesus came and lived the example of obedience to the will of God.  Have you ever counted how many times in just the gospel of John Jesus stated that He is only here to do the Father’s will?  In a really fast look through the red print I counted ten times.  This is not to mention the reality of every one of His teachings revolved around that same topic of Him just doing the Father’s will.

There was a question from the followers of Jesus in the gospel of John that caught my attention.  These followers asked, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God” (John 6:28, NASB)? As obedience is a word of action, I see this question as meaning, how are we to do the will of God?  The answer Jesus gave in verse 29 can be summarized to say, “believe in me.”

These followers continued to ask Jesus, what is your work?  Jesus’s rather lengthy response can also be summarized to say, “to do the will of Him who sent me, which happens to be for you to feed on me.”  This is where the teaching got hard.  This is where many followers fell away.  This is also where we find ourselves slipping away.  Believing in Jesus leads to loving Him, which in action is obedience to everything that came from His mouth (5 passages between John 14 to 16).  Jesus is the Word (John 1:1) and we must eat of Him (John 6:53).  We must be students of the Word!  Therefore, we must believe in Him, which results in our obedience to Him, of doing the Father’s will.

The truth is, in order to be obedient to the will of God, His word must be in you!  You must be able to hear His voice, which will always be found to be in alignment to the written Word.  In essence, it is the uniting of the Word and the Spirit.  Therefore, I will close this blog by recommending you to read a book called, “Bridging the Great Divide” by Dr. Rob McCorkle.  When you say you believe in Jesus, I ask, what do you then believe?  Let this book guide you in continuing to live a Faith-Full life of obedience to His will.

I have a great burden for the state of our churches in the age we are living.  It is easy to have that distant look at many different churches and denominations to form the perception of great things happening.  While you can see the number in attendance climbing, I have to ask about the overall health of the body.  And the same is true about that small and steady church, what is the health of the body?

As I was preparing to speak an end of the year message at my local church, I was led to the simple topic of obedience.  We are called to live a life of obedience.  This is for both the individual as well as the entire body as a whole.  On this occasion, I was led to look at the difference between obedience to the way of God and the will of God.

The passage of the rich young ruler came to mind as I was just beginning to write this blog.  In Matthew 19:16-26 we see this young man approach Jesus asking a question that many of us are still asking today, “what must I do to enter heaven?” To summarize Jesus’s words into my own, he states, “be obedient to the ways of God.”  Knowing there was more, the young man had a burning deep within, much like what we feel.  Therefore Jesus continued speaking to the young man by stating something like this, “you are to be obedient to the will of God.”

Like the rich young ruler, we are called to be obedient to the will of God.  The “ways of God” are those things that are elementary.  They are the expected things.  Purity is expected.  Then we are called to be obedient to His will.  This meaning that we are called to listen to the voice of God.  Life is in His voice!  How can we know the will of God for our own life or for our church if we are not taking the time to listen?  Read the rest of the passage in Matthew.  More is expected from the church than just being a good church.  The church must function out of the voice of God!  And, it is possible!

My desire is to only function from that place of listening; to be living a faith-full life by being obedient to the will of God.

Lately I have been reading a book called, The Shepherd of Hermas, primarily because God has led me here. Though this book is not an easy read, the content is quite interesting. The book is assumed to have been composed in the second century by Hermas, the brother of Pius, bishop of Rome. The early church fathers believed this book to not be completely inspired by God, so it was not added to the canon.  Rather they recommended it to be used as a devotional. I first want to say that I support this decision. I also want to add that I have learned over the years of walking with God and listening to Him that sometimes men add their own thoughts to His words. So when any person speaks or writes in Jesus’ name, I always ask God was this from You or not? I then encourage you to do the same, even with this writing or any writing that comes from me. However, do not allow a hard teaching to be neglected as not being from God. Ask earnestly seeking truth and not just what is easy to receive.

I was reading the 5^th Parable of Hermas, which happens to be about fasting. In this, Hermas speaks of a shepherd coming and sitting next to him, while he was in the midst of a fast, which I could best explain to be an angel. Essentially, this angel tells Hermas that his fasting is done in vain. The vainness comes from the shepherd saying that he is lacking purity. Fasting the desires of the world is a life-long fast that we must first partake in. Too often we teach about fasting as a means to achieve something we wish to receive and thus making the fast a selfish request. Here we are seeing from Hermas that we must first loose the selfish want before we even fast, and then when we do fast it is for a deeper receiving of Jesus himself. We fast for the sole purpose of seeking more of Jesus Christ and His purity. We are saying by our actions that we want more of God than we want to please our selfish human nature. It is in this we are fulfilling the direction of Hebrews 12 in “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2a, NASB).  Therefore, first seek a life of purity and then fast seeking the face of our King!

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!

Jesus continues to speak this Sermon on the Mount through the second half of the seventh chapter of Matthew by stating, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12, NASB). This one verse can be separated out from the context of the verses surrounding it and it can be the answer for almost every situation in life. If you want people to think well of you, then think well of them. If you want people to like you, then like them. If you want people to be nice to you, then be nice to them. It can be that one perfect statement that we all needed to hear. But, what if this statement was done in continuation of the topic of giving from the previous verses?

It would simply also be adding to the list mentioned above to state that we should give to others by the same measure we would desire they give to us in our needs. To me, I look at this entire topic of finance and that of this Sermon on the Mount to come back to the topic of self. We all know that we must have finances to survive in this world. The question I ask is; is our focus on making money to have all we believe we need? Is our focus on building enough of a surplus to cover the rainiest of the rainiest days? Or are we focused on God and the furtherance of His Kingdom?

For Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow gate” (Matt. 7:13a, NASB). This is the gate that leads to “life” meaning life eternal, or stated better as being heaven. Jesus continues to say that only a few find it (Matt. 7:14). The number of people who are able to be obedient to these teachings of selflessness is small; therefore Jesus speaks to what is most important to us, our money. However, this is not a teaching on just giving everything away! We are not to give to those dogs and swine. We must hear the voice of God and discern these situations. Life is in His voice!

Now realize who Jesus is speaking to in this sermon. He is speaking to those who are already convinced of who He is as being from God. He is speaking to the church. When Jesus says that few will enter into His kingdom, He is saying that few in the church will be entering His Kingdom because of their selfishness. How can you tell if they, or you, are selfish? What kind of fruit are you bearing? Ask earnestly and be willing to repent if the Spirit shows you a flaw! Build your house on the rock as I desire to see you in heaven!

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!

As the Sermon on the Mount continues into chapter 7, the question remains of if Jesus is still talking about finances? The first 5 verses do not seem to imply that He is, but why did Jesus state what He did in the sixth verse? Matthew 7:6 states, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (NASB). What does this statement have to do with judging another or removing specks from eyes?

Looking closer to the wording of this verse, we are commanded not to give what is holy to dogs. We see here that Jesus is speaking figuratively. The Greek word used for dogs is “kuon” which is generally translated as a dog, but is also generally translated in figurative understanding of a “spiritual predator who feeds off others” (Strong’s 2965, http://biblehub.com/greek/2965.htm ). The reality is that there are those out there who are seeking to take what you have received in faith for their own personal gain.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon goes on to make this statement about throwing your pearls before the swine, “to thrust the most sacred and precious teachings of the gospel upon the most wicked and abandoned men (incompetent as they are, through their hostility to the gospel, to receive them), and thus profane them” (Strong’s 3135, http://biblehub.com/greek/3135.htm ).

This 6^th verse of chapter 7 cannot be separated from the following 6 verses, especially verse 11. God gives good gifts to those who ask Him. He gives Spiritual gifts to those who ask Him in faith. As much as we have been taught to give in such a way that the left hand does not know what the right hand is giving, there are some gifts that are not meant to be given away. Jesus is now sharing a teaching of the spirit that is intended to be heard by those who are spiritual. Let those who have ears hear what the Spirit is saying. It is all about hearing the voice of God.

When we receive from God, some things we are to consume and some things we are to give. However, sometimes God gives even more special things to us because we have found favor with Him. Look how God blessed Solomon with great splendor, and then look how it was all lost by revealing it to the “dogs” and “swine” of that day. So let us revert back to the focus of Jesus’ righteousness and His kingdom (Matt. 6:33). We do not condemn others for an error in their focus. We gently restore when we are instructed to do so, knowing that with our focus on His righteousness there will not be a plank blocking our focus. So as we hear Him properly, we give what we are instructed to give to whom we are instructed to give it to. We consume what we have been given for our own needs. We keep what we are instructed to keep for God to receive the glory in how He blesses us. It is all about hearing His voice.

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!

What if Jesus is concentrating the primary focus of the second half of the Sermon on the Mount to finances? If He is, then what is He trying to convey? If you may give me the liberty, allow me to put forth my twist to Matthew chapter 6.

The difference noted is between receiving a reward and receiving payment. When a person gives out of the goodness of their heart, they receive a reward. The one who gives not to be noticed by men also receives a repayment of the gift from the Father as Jesus’s words say, “…and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matt. 6:4b, NASB). And not just what we give, but when we pray the same applies as, “…and your Father who sees in secret will repay you” (Matt. 6:6b, NASB). So I ask a question, how many people spend a great portion of their prayer time asking for their needs and/or wants to be met? Whether the prayer is for material items or not, it is financially based focus on the prayer. I add the want section to need because we often stretch our need in today’s society. We need a house for our family to live in. Does this house need to be 2500 square feet on an acre of land and filled with the latest technology? We find a way to stretch our needs into wants and justify it as a need.

Here in this opportunity of our focus on prayer Jesus emphasizes the importance of focusing our time of prayer on our Father and His Kingdom. The most important part of praying is worshiping our Lord and our God. When we are focused on Him, He will provide for our need, so simply asking for what we need today is all we need to do. Though we really don’t need to even ask as Jesus says our Father already knows we need these things. This is living by faith. God will provide today what I need today when my focus is on Him. We request to be delivered from evil and kept from temptation. This is the temptation to return to how our society acts in seeking to provide for ourselves; seeking to put tomorrow’s bread in the cabinet. We forget that the manna was to be consumed that day and not stored for the next day, except on the Lord’s day (Exodus 16:4-5). We must look at how God ended verse 4 by saying, “…that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction” (Ex. 16:4b). It is all about obedience to hearing His voice. It is about where our focus is. Is our focus on the Father, or ourselves?

Jesus says, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, NASB). This is the entire focus of the sixth chapter of Matthew in this Sermon on the Mount. When we seek to meet our own needs; we give incorrectly, we pray incorrectly, we fast incorrectly, we worry about the fullness of our cabinets and closets, and then we fall entrapped by life’s needs. So when we give, we give to the Lord alone. When we pray, we pray to the Lord alone. When we fast, we fast for the face of God alone. When we focus on God alone, the needs we have today will be met today. Our need of finance changes when our entire focus is on God. It is then that our faith continues to increase as we are obedient to the words of our Lord and Savior.

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!

On September 30, 2015, I was led to Matthew 6:33. Like many of you, I already had that particular verse memorized as being, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33, NASB). However, I went ahead and opened my Bible to this passage as I really felt led that I had to open the Word. As I continued in prayer seeking revelation as to why I was led to this particular passage, some of the words on the pages of my Bible started to move.

In my Bible the specific verse listed was in the bottom right corner. As we have segregated the Sermon on the Mount into different topics with headings and titles, I was seeing the titles disappear from the writing. We have the understanding that this was one sermon that Jesus shared on the side of a mountain. In our scholarliness, we have shaped this sermon of Jesus to be that of many different topics that needed to be reshaped in the church. As much as I believe that this is true, I also must look at the possibility that Jesus was sharing one message of one topic that has several facets in fulfilling the one topic.

Essentially, we could place the topic of the sermon to be Kingdom Living, or narrow it to say Living by Faith. To be even more specific, I was seeing the topic of handling our finances by faith. Yes, there is that portion of not storing up treasures on earth (Matt. 6:19), but when does the topic of finances start and when does the topic of finances end? What I was seeing was that the topic of finances was actually starting before we enter chapter 6. Even before the topic of prayer and fasting, the topic of finances has already been introduced. So what if the topic of prayer and fasting is inclusive with our finances? What if the topic of finances doesn’t end in Matt. 6:24? What if it continues through the end of the sermon? Chapter 7 talks about judging others. Do we judge how they spend their money? How they give to the poor, or not, like is mentioned in the beginning of chapter 6? The ravenous wolves are typically wearing three-piece suits! The battle between flesh and spirit is great, you cannot have two masters (Matt. 6:24). We must live by faith in order to be led by the Spirit. Does looking at this sermon from the topic of finances alter your understanding of the sermon?

I desire to live by faith, and faith alone!