A friend recently asked in a response to a Facebook post if “concrete practices” REVEAL God’s Road” or “REINFORCE God’s Road”? Great question. In discipleship training, I think, both.
Too often we think that practicing faith (concrete practices) only reinforces God’s way. I believe they also open our eyes (reveal). In obeying we can see God’s presence in a way that perhaps we never noticed before. This is one of the great truths of The Art of Obedience. We get to see what God is doing, how He is working, AS WE OBEY.
Here’s a few more foundational truths:
Immediate Obedience to the Personal Promptings of God Is a Gift Given to Everyone
Delaying seldom produces anything good. If I talk myself out of following through, it usually leads to heaviness and regret. Obedience releases me. And, this is the way He releases everyone. The Art of Obedience is not just for super believers. There are no such people. The Art of Obedience is for all followers.
Do Something With What You Learn
God never intends for us to simply learn something and have more intellectual knowledge stored up. He wants us to move, to act. Every time we learn something from God, He calls us to respond. And here’s the truth, we don’t reeally learn something until we have actually done it.
Enjoy People and Abandon Outcomes
Much of our delays come because we want to make sure it turns out OK. God rarely paints the picture of how things will turn out in the end. Our need to know, to be assured, to have a guarantee, enslaves us and keeps us from participating in what God has in store for us. It keeps us from enjoying the gift He wants to give. It is always more freeing to simply do what he asks of us and leave the results up to Him.
In the Art of Obedience God Replaces an Anxious Spirit with a Steady Confidence in His Provision
It is only in the following through, in the responding that we can actually access the gift. It is only in the Art of Obedience that we get to see the Master Artist do His thing. He designed the moment, and He is allowing us to participate.
It’s Much Easier to Follow Through When We Have Someone Holding Us Accountable
When we have friends in our lives who care enough to pray for us and check in to see if we’re following through, we have a much higher degree of success in the Art of Obedience.
What is God asking you to do today? And who is supporting you?
I will be launching an online course called Joyful Obedience in January. Here’s an inside look at my expereince in one of the Sessions. Think of this course as a gallery where we get to share our own Art of Obedience stories in the Collective. The gallery is incomplete without YOU. Check it out if you want to experience these truths.
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