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Transcript

Love-Based Obedience · First15 Devotional

• 0:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: God is the perfect parent.
• 0:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's unlike anyone we've ever known, and His love is unlike anything we've experienced before.
• 0:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine knowing your parent loved you perfectly, and that their intentions and motives behind giving you direction was literally perfectly loving.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's how God is with us.
• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: His wisdom and direction is something we can trust implicitly because we can trust His heart toward us.
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that truth makes obedience a joy.
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: As we explore love-based obedience today, may your heart be open to the goodness of your loving father.
• 0:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the first 15 podcast.
• 1:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our Scripture for today comes from John chapter 14 verse 21, Scripture says,
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: For much of my life, I feared the thought of obedience, especially to the Almighty, all knowing an all-powerful creator of the universe.
• 1:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't seem to find a way to consistently choose him over myself,
• 2:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't seem to be able to live for his affections over those of the world.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: As hard as I would try in various seasons, I just couldn't be obedient.
• 2:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: What I didn't realize about God's command to be obedient was the process by which I could grow in obedience.
• 2:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: God will take our obedience however he can get it because he wants us to enjoy the incredible fruits of his perfect will.
• 2:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: But his desire is always to love us to a place that our obedience would be a natural overflow of our love for him.
• 2:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: He lungs for us to live a lifestyle of love-based obedience.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: John 1415 says very simply, if you love me, you will keep my commandments.
• 3:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jesus' words here are a promise.
• 3:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: If we truly love him, we will keep his commandments.
• 3:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: If we truly have love in our hearts, we can't help but be obedient to him.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: I long to grow to the place where I am so in love with Jesus, that I long to choose Him in every situation.
• 3:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I long to be a servant so in love with my king, that I would die for Him or anyone else he asked me to.
• 3:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: the love of God is so real, so powerful, and so transformational, that it can mold and shape us into people who no longer live for this temporal world, but seek first and everlasting invisible kingdom.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: If we will simply be people who let God love us in every moment, we will naturally be people who are obedient to God's perfect will for us.
• 4:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Romans chapter 6 verses 17 through 18 says,
• 4:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: but thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed and having been set free from sin have become slaves of righteousness.
• 4:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: Through the powerful sacrifice of Jesus, you have been transformed into a person
• 4:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: You are now enslaved to a lifestyle of right-living, whereby you obey your king out of devotion to him.
• 4:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: Take time and guided prayer today to receive the transformational love of your heavenly Father.
• 5:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: Allow his love to lay a foundation on which you pursue whole-hearted obedience.
• 5:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: May you be filled with affection for your king today, as you receive the wealth of unconditional love he has for you.
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: As we begin, open your heart to God and allow him to come in and love you.
• 5:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ask him to guide you into a powerful encounter with his love today.
• 5:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ask him to make you aware of his nearness and heart for you.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ephesians 3, verse 19 says, and to know the love of Christ, that surpasses knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
• 6:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And next, meditate on verses about obedience.
• 7:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ask the Holy Spirit to transform you into a person who obeys God's commands out of love for Him.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: In John 1421, Jesus says, whoever has my commandments and keeps them, He it is who loves me.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: And He who loves me will be loved by my father, and I will love Him and manifest myself to Him.
• 8:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: and last, commit yourself to obey God's commands out of trust and affection for him.
• 8:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Choose to serve him and those he's placed in your life.
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Ask him to fill you with a desire to do his well, that your obedience wouldn't take debate, but rather be a seamless action flowing from the love he's placed within you.
• 8:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, be imitators of God as beloved children.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us.
• 8:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: A fragrant offering in sacrifice to God.
• 9:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine how blessed our lives would be if we lived in total obedience to the will of God.
• 9:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine the impact we would leave on this world.
• 9:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Imagine the wealth of heavenly reward we would have for all eternity.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: how wonderful is the heart of our Heavenly Father that He would love us into a place of obedience to Him and then reward us and others for it.
• 10:09
  [SPEAKER_00]: Our obedience is solely based on accepting His grace and yet He loves to bless us through it.
• 10:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Praise be to our loving Heavenly Father for the incredible life he's given us at such a great cost May we love him in all we do
• 10:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to today's podcast.
• 10:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Josh Miller with First 15.
• 11:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Tomorrow we wrap up our week by looking at how God's love invites us into a lifestyle of greater simplicity.
• 11:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: When life can so easily feel like just keeping all the plates spinning every day, God has a simpler, more abundant way for us to live, if we'll discover it and say yes to it.
• 11:23
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have a wonderful rest of your day today, and may God bless you as you see Kim.