Experiencing God's Love Through Obedience and Faith

Devotional

Day 1: Embracing God's Active Presence

God is ceaselessly at work, inviting us to participate in His divine plan. When He speaks, it often leads to a crisis of belief, challenging us to take a leap of faith and expand our spiritual horizons. Adjusting our lives in response to His voice allows us to know Him experientially. [12:45]

Isaiah 55:8-9 - "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Reflection: Reflect on a recent time when you felt God was speaking to you. How did you respond? Did you adjust your life accordingly, or did you resist His call?

Day 2: Obedience as a Testament of Faith

Obedience is the ultimate litmus test for following Jesus. Our actions, not just our words, validate our faith. Obedience opens the door to intimacy with God, while disobedience disconnects us from that intimacy. [24:30]

1 Samuel 15:22 - "But Samuel replied: 'Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.'"
Reflection: Consider an area in your life where you struggle with obedience to God. What steps can you take today to align your actions with your faith?

Day 3: Love as the Foundation for Obedience

Understanding and embracing God's love is the foundation for obedience. Obedience should not be motivated by a desire to earn God's love, but rather by a response of love and gratitude for the love already received. When believers are convinced of God's love for them, they can obey out of love and experience the joy that comes from that obedience. [36:15]

1 John 4:19 - "We love because he first loved us."
Reflection: How does understanding God's love for you influence your obedience to Him? Reflect on a specific way you can express your love for God through obedience today.

Day 4: Obedience as an Expression of Love

Obedience to God should not be seen as mere compliance, but rather as an expression of love. A compliance mentality rooted in man-made religion can lead to a joyless and robotic approach to obedience. Instead, obedience should be viewed as a natural byproduct of love for God and His love for us. [48:00]

John 14:15 - "If you love me, keep my commands."
Reflection: Reflect on your approach to obedience. Is it rooted in love or compliance? How can you shift your perspective to view obedience as an expression of love?

Day 5: The Joy of Obedience

Actively seeking opportunities to obey Christ is a demonstration of our love for Him. Forgiveness is an example of obedience that should be approached with joy and gratitude, rather than as a mere obligation. The joy that comes from obeying God's commands can lead to a life filled with deep and abiding joy. [59:30]

Psalm 119:111 - "Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart."
Reflection: Think of someone you need to forgive. How can you approach this act of obedience with joy and gratitude, rather than as a mere obligation?

Sermon Summary

The sermon begins with the pastor reflecting on the church's series "Experiencing God" and encouraging the congregation to share their experiences. The pastor emphasizes that God is always at work and invites us to join Him in His work. He explains that when God speaks to us, it often leads to a crisis of belief, where we are called to take a step of faith and stretch our faith in new ways. The pastor also highlights the importance of adjusting our lives in response to God's voice, as it is through these adjustments that we come to know God by experience.

The pastor then emphasizes the importance of demonstrating and showing the love of God to others. He envisions a church filled with individuals who are convinced of the Father's love and actively share it with those around them. The pastor acknowledges that some may still struggle with believing in God's love and urges them to seek help in overcoming any hurdles that prevent them from fully embracing it. The sermon then shifts to the question of whether the listeners are experiencing the joy that comes from obedience to God.

The pastor asserts that obedience is the ultimate litmus test for following Jesus and that our actions, not just our words, validate our faith. He highlights that obedience opens the door to intimacy with God, while disobedience disconnects us from that intimacy. However, the pastor acknowledges that obedience is not a word we like to use in connection to God because it feels concrete and requires us to either do what God says or not. Instead, we tend to rely on our feelings when considering our connection with God, which may not always align with the truth.

The pastor emphasizes the importance of understanding and embracing God's love as the foundation for obedience. He encourages those who need to hear their Heavenly Father say, "I love you," to embrace and internalize that love. The pastor highlights that obedience should not be motivated by a desire to earn God's love, but rather by a response of love and gratitude for the love already received. When believers are convinced of God's love for them, they can obey out of love and experience the joy that comes from that obedience.

The pastor concludes by addressing the concept of obedience to God and how it is often misunderstood. He emphasizes that obedience to God should not be seen as mere compliance, but rather as an expression of love. The pastor warns against a compliance mentality rooted in man-made religion, which can lead to a joyless and robotic approach to obedience. Instead, the pastor encourages the congregation to view obedience as a natural byproduct of love for God and His love for us.

Key Takeaways

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Sermon Clips

1. "When we hear God speak, it's to ask us to call us to invite us to do something that we're not currently doing, to take a step that we haven't yet taken, to stretch our faith in ways that we've not been stretched before, right?"

2. "It's only when we adjust that we come to know God by experience. Until we've made some kind of adjustment in our life, we'll never really get to know God."

3. "Experiencing God is impossible apart from obeying God. You won't experience him until and unless you are obeying him. Obedience is the ultimate litmus test for following Jesus."

4. "Obedience opens the door to intimacy with God. If we want to experience God, if we want to have a close, intimate, deep, real relationship with our Heavenly Father, obedience is what opens the door for that to become a reality."

5. "Our obedience for Christ really is, or at least it ought to be, the ultimate expression of our love for Him. I mean, what would it look like to actually look for? I mean, actually look for more and more and more ways to obey Christ simply because you to demonstrate more and more and more ways to show Him that you love Him."

6. "What if we were convinced that that real joy is found in obeying God's commands? I mean, I want us to get to that place in our faith journey, to be able to live a life of obedience born out of love for God that leads to a life filled with deep and abiding joy."

7. "Be mindful of churches and leaders who try and use a compliance mentality rather than love. That's the reason we're going to talk about today, love. There's a big difference between following and obeying out of compliance and out of love."

8. "Some in this room need to hear your Heavenly Father say, I love you. And believe it, embrace it, welcome it, receive it, internalize it. Because that's what's keeping you from obeying when he says, do this, or do this, or do this."

9. "And sometimes we get it twisted, we get it backwards, and when we get it backwards, we think that our obedience is somehow a factor in how much he loves us. That is no way to go about following Jesus."

10. "You have an obedience problem because you have a love problem. None of us will obey perfectly. We're just talking about the default posture of our hearts and lives being. When God says something, I'm going to do it. Not in my own strength, but in the power of the Spirit that lives in me, I'm going to do it."

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