John 14:15-18 – “If you love Me, keep My commandments.  16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever —   17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.  18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”  NKJV

I have railed against Phariaism and the man-made list of rules and regulations so many legalist proclaim as much as anyone.  However, there often appears to be a truth forgotten in much of Christendom today regarding obedience.  This passage used as our text illustrates this powerfully and I wonder if sometime we miss the message.

Obedience is normally a fruit of either fear or love.  In this passage Jesus emphasized that IF we love Him we will obey Him.  We will not live unrestrained lives but will follow His commandments and directives.  He then revealed the difficulty in that effort and offered the comfort and hope of the truth that He is praying for us.  His prayers have a specific objective that the Father give us another Comforter or Helper, the Holy Spirit, who will be with us always.  He will come as the Spirit of Truth who is unknown by the world but would live in us and be our constant guide, conscience and teacher.  He would provide the help we need to enable us to be obedient.

When love fills the heart desire is there to please and conform to the wishes of the object of our love.  Most of us, who have children, know that although love is present and the desire is in the heart obedience is not always a given.  It could be due to any number of things such as knowledge or will power.  I never questioned whether my children loved me but there were times when they did not obey my commandments or instructions.  There were times when temptation overcame them and they succumbed to peer pressure or selfishness.  There were times when they wanted to obey and carry out my instructions but did not have the knowledge or ability to complete the task.  That is where the Holy Spirit comes in.  He knows the mind of God and can infuse courage and strength in our hearts so that we can resist temptation, know truth and enable us to walk in full obedience.

The Commandments of God are not to punish or deprive us but to protect and enable us to come out from among the world and live in the fullness of the Abundant Life Jesus brings.  God’s prohibitions are not designed to lessen our enjoyment of life but to enable us to truly live.  The Bible tells us that the pleasures of sin are but for a season.  It never said sin could provide no pleasure for the flesh, but it would not last.  In contrast the joy of the Lord is everlasting and not conditioned upon outward stimuli which feed the carnal man.

The statement of Jesus, “If you love me…” is quite revealing.  If one demonstrates a propensity to disobey it would be difficult to make the argument that love is present.  Whereas, if love is present there is a willingness and desire to obey.  Disobedience or failure to obey brings a contriteness to the heart because Love wants to please.  If love is present and willingness is demonstrated then we can be confident that the Holy Spirit will be present to enable and equip us to walk in obedience.  If you want to obey and love is in your heart, God will help you walk in obedience.

           God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Jesus!

Luke 5:1-11 – “So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.

 4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 

5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 

9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”  11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.”   NKJV

I purposefully used a lengthy passage to convey a simple truth.  Jesus was drawing crowds everywhere He went with His message of hope and life which was in stark contrast to that of the Scribes and Pharisees.  On this occasion, He came to the Lake of Gennesaret and Simon (Peter) and Andrew were washing their nets after a long night of fishing.  Jesus asked Simon to launch the boat out a little from the shore and the location of the boat created the effect of an amphitheater where He could easily speak to the multitude.  It would have been impossible for Simon and his brother to miss the message being taught to the crowd.

After Jesus finished teaching He instructed Simon to “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”  This was more than a reward for the kindness demonstrated in accommodating His earlier request, it was an object lesson that would stick with the disciples throughout their lifetime.  Simon offered a reasonable objection.  They had fished all night, the normal time for fishing, and had taken nothing.  Yet, as a result of hearing the words of Jesus, I believe faith was instilled in their hearts (Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God).  Peter’s response should be our response to the directives of the Holy Spirit even when the directive seems illogical.  Simon said, “…nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”

The result is too great a miracle to overlook.  The number of fish they caught were beyond their capacity and ability to handle.  They signaled the other boat and enlisted the help of James and John to handle the harvest.  The catch was so great both boats were in danger of sinking.  Imagine in today’s modern church world if we would be obedient to the voice of the Spirit of God and when we find so great a harvest and revival we enlist the help of other believers rather than trying to defend our domain.

There is always a time, in spiritual things, when we simply need to step out in faith and say, “NEVERTHELESS at Thy word…”  No wonder the Bible declares that obedience is better than sacrifice.  If we will allow our faith to rise to the level of His directives we will see more than we can imagine.

            God bless you as you go through this wonderful day in Him!