Obedience an Acts 5 kind of faith

    Obedience, a word that I cringe when I think about.  Obedience most of the time means delayed gratification, complete denial of my fleshly desires.  Obedience is something that I have been praying for, thinking about, and implementing since Lynnlee is now crawling and getting into everything.  I must teach her to be obedient to my voice.  I must show her what is good for her as well as what is bad for her.  She does not know, she cannot have the knowledge that she needs to make the best choices for her tiny little self.  She doesn't really appreciate it when I tell her no, in fact she completely despises that word.  She cries, throws herself in the floor, and gives me the most pitiful face.  Sometimes I have to stop myself from thinking "do I really have to tell her no?"  I know the answer to that question is a resounding yes.  She must know her boundaries.  I believe that is the same way the Lord feels for us.  Obedience is of the utmost importance.  We cannot know what is good for us, we do not have the whole picture.  God does know, He sees all, He knows us better than we know ourselves, He knows the chain reaction that is set in motion when we are obedient.  I was listening to a sermon today that was talking about this subject.  The scripture was on Acts 5:15-29.  The disciples had been imprisoned for the Gospel.  This was not the first time, in fact it was the second time the authorities had thrown them in prison and said "STOP! Stop spreading this nonsense around our city."  I know that if I had been imprisoned for something, not once but twice, I would hesitate to do the same thing a third time.  I mean isn't he definition of insanity doing something over and over and expecting a different result?  Well, God works in the crazy, God wants us to be crazy enough to obey.  This almost always is met with opposition, in fact we should expect it! BUT, oh and there is a but, He will accomplish great things with our obedience.  I was thinking about a time when I was obedient to the Lord's voice when it made no sense.  I can say that in that moment I knew that God had set in motion a chain reaction that I will know it's full extent when I get to heaven.  But how many times did I miss out on God's blessing by being disobedient? How many people lives were effected because I was too fearful, logical, and stubborn to follow the voice of the Lord?  God, please give me the opportunities to be obedient to Your call.  I want to know Your blessings, I want to experience Your power in a way that can only seen by crazy, illogical, obsessive obedience to You and You alone!

"Greater things are yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city"    and I long to be part of them!