Today's Devotional Thought
May 15, 2012 by Wendy Foreman
Following in Obedience
Drinking from a fire hydrant, that is what I feel like I am doing sometimes.
Recently it feels as though the Lord is speaking in so many areas of my life. From how I handle myself as a wife and mother to how I live my life daily for Christ. As I read his word and other Bible study books and as I listen to my husband's sermons and other Christian speakers, I feel this urgency in my spirit to strive to be all that God is calling me to be.
What does that look like?
That is the question I keep asking.
What does it look like for you?
Friends, as I have spent time in prayer I hear him say to me this word...OBEDIENCE!!!
Walk in obedience, follow my Word and listen to my instruction and you will bring me honor and glory and you will fulfill how I want you to live.
When we get up in the morning and prepare for our day by spending time with Him through reading his Word, devotionals, through prayer and praising him, it is in these moments we need to ask the Lord to strengthen us and enable us to follow Him in obedience in our day.
Let's be honest. It feels impossible to walk in obedience to the Lord in our flesh. Our flesh wants to defend, it wants to complain, it wants to take care of itself, it wants to thrive in this world. But I believe our spirit desires and even craves to follow in obedience. And, only through listening to the Holy Spirit and following his leading are we going to be able to follow in obedience.
I heard someone say recently that this life is a battle of flesh and spirit and that we must feed the spirit and starve the flesh. I have already mentioned ways we can feed our spirit by Bible reading, prayer, Bible study and praise, to name a few. Starving the flesh quite honestly is avoiding those things that satisfy the flesh in a way that is NOT godly. When we are starving the flesh and daily feeding our spirit we will walk in obedience because our focus has been centered on Him through our time with Him.
Feed your spirit today and allow God to speak into your life. There are many things I have learned on this journey and one of them is that God is my strength and that when I feel overwhelmed, discouraged, and like I cannot go on, all I have to do is call on Him and He is there to pick me back up, kiss me on the cheek, then He gives me a hug and tells me that everything is going to be okay and he extends me grace. Oh how I love his grace and then friends, I strive to follow him in obedience again.
We were never promised a perfect and easy life this side of heaven and God knows our hearts (that is what a friend of mine has to remind me almost daily it seems) and He knows that our desire is to follow him in obedience. So today, I say focus on today and the ways you can follow him in obedience.
December