Obeyed: By Faith: Prayers and Poetry

Obeyed

Who has the strength

to release a dream

held life-long.

Worked steadily towards

through grief, joy, expectations,

hope. Obedience daily.

Wondering why this change

to plans and promises

honored in faith.

Withheld nothing

to walk in worship on

hallowed ground.

Psalm 104: 19, “He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting.”

Reflection: Command: By Faith: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1. What is your reflex attitude towards any command?

2. Does it change according to the speaker? Why or why not?

3. Are there areas in your life where you need to become more obedient or less obedient to people authority?

4. When is heartfelt obedience easy for you, or is it ever?

Share: How do you determine when it is God leading you through human messengers?

Command: By Faith: Prayers and Poetry

Hebrews 11:18, “of whom he had been told, ‘It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you.’”

Command

How willing are you to be obedient? Does it depend on who is asking? Will your attitude match your actions?

If a parent, we usually have no difficulties establishing our ‘authority’. And our children can tell if a command is open for discussion or not by our voice. Through their growing years they often test those boundaries to see when they achieve more responsibility. They know our tone so well that sometimes they recognize they may have pushed too far before we do. We have the power to send young children to bed early and withhold car keys from teen-agers.

Sometimes can our attitude towards others exercising their authority over us influences our attitude towards God, either in ensuing obedience or outright rebellion. Will we run away like the prodigal son and end up in mire, or stick close like the elder son and nurse a grudge for years?

Abraham faced the most heart-rending choice imaginable. Yet he made it based on his understanding of God’s character, and so entrusted to Him his most precious gift.

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” John 4:34

Lord, please give us courage to follow and obey with complete trust, knowing that your promises and Your commands overflow with Your redeeming love.

Your thoughts,

Reflection: Complete: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     How do you prepare for overwhelming responsibilities?

2.     Have you ever stepped into a position that you had been trained for but still felt inadequate? What immediate decisions faced you?

3.     Have you been given a task with no training? What skills did it require that you had not used before?

4.     How did you cope with each?

Share: Has God commanded a task in your life recently? How did you react?

Be Strong: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Be Strong

First came words of counsel

direct details, ordinary expectations

proceed.

Follow footsteps as taught,

push forward.

Second came words of courage

obey your laws,

firm steps.

Take care to remember

fail not promise.

Final came words of command

be strong, be courageous

no fear.

Resist trap of dismay

now enter land.

So he listened to God’s words

stepped out in faith

secure.

submissive to God’s will

strength supplied.

Reflection Command: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reflection Questions

1.     Are you waiting to step into a ‘new land’? What is holding you back?

2.     Do you tend to rush into new opportunities without counsel, or do you need to have all the steps mapped out before you trust. Or somewhere in between?

3.     How has your style affected your trust in the Lord’s presence?

4.     What is the most recent command He has given you? Are you ready to obey?

Share: What words of promise sustain you when dismay paralyzes your obedience?

Command: Word Ambassadors: Prayers and Poetry

Reading: Joshua 1

“I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous, do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

For forty years the new nation of Israel had waited to enter the territory that the Lord God had promised them. Not because God had stripped His promise of power but because the people had listened to the fear from the original scouts so many years earlier and relinquished the opportunity to enter the land before them. Only Caleb and Joshua had pleaded with the people to trust the Lord.

But fear had paralyzed them even though God had already released them from slavery. And they would not step into God’s words. And they did not trust His message.

Now Moses had died, the generation from Egypt had passed and God told Joshua, “Now proceed to cross the Jordan.” “I will not fail you or forsake you.”

Once again the promises were given. And with them came commands to step out in confidence and courage and trust.

God acknowledged their dismay, their fear, their uncertainty, their weakness, their limited resources and their inexperience. However He commanded them to trust Him instead. He reminded them to follow the laws He had given them. He directed their focus. “Do not turn to the right or to the left that you may be successful wherever you go.”

Repeatedly He told them to be strong and courageous, to be strong and very courageous.  Again the decision lay before them. Not only the land itself but also the choice to believe in God’s words, accept His promises, and obey His directions.

He understood their quaking hearts. Yet the only way they could rise above their fear and step into a new beginning and a new life was to choose to fix their eyes on Him and follow.

Lord, You still call us to move into new life, to follow where You lead, and still we let fear paralyze us. Thank you for reminding us that by Your help and Your presence we can choose to trust Your words. Thank you for supplying courage to obey Your truth and in turn share with others Your words of hope.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 121: 8

“The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.”

Faith Seeds: Prayers and Poetry

Genesis 7:5, “And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.”

There’s a quote from Lewis Carroll’s Queen, in Alice in Wonderland, where she states, “Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” I often think this idea must apply even more so to Noah as he built that ark.

Scripture tells us he built it in faith, in trust, and in confidence because he believed God. But I can’t help but wonder if his first reaction was confusion over what God said, doubt over his personal ability, and awkwardness as he tried to ask God to explain words and concepts totally foreign to his world.

It almost reads like an ancient fantasy or science fiction novel, a work of imagination. How do you build something you’ve never heard of before? How do you grasp the impossible?

Yet Noah did—all of it—in faith—for years and years.

Each morning, before breakfast, he prepared for a day of surprise and challenge. Did he rise quickly with excitement to the day’s new demands, or quietly savor a few moments of awe in expectation? Did he ever balk, just a little, when his muscles ached, or his family complained, or the people around him ridiculed?

Lord, only by Your Spirit can we be faithful in confusion, persevere through doubt and take steps of faith despite our weaknesses. Please teach us to trust in Your commands no matter how hard or complicated they may be. Help us to meet each day with anticipation—listening for Your nudges—ready to walk in Your will.

Psalm of Worship: Psalm 50:23

“‘He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;

And to him who orders his way aright

I shall show the salvation of God.’”