Tag Archives: obedience

MOLLY AND ME – WALKING OR BALKING?

April 13, 2025Christian Lifeobedience, trust, walkLuella Campbell

Walkies” can sometimes be a test of willpower between Molly and me. When we started our daily walking routine, Molly hated the harness. I tried one that went over her torso. It didn’t work because she easily pulled out of it.

Problem!

Next, we tried the neck/body harness. It worked better except for the time when she got out of it while we were walking on the pavement down the main road! Freedom!!! Off she went in a flurry of excitement. She was free to run…anywhere! And ran she did, across the street and back, several times, especially when she wanted to face, at close quarters but on the other side of the gate, of course, that BIG dog that irritated her the most!

Fortunately, we were close to the side street that took us back home. I nonchalantly walked down the road and, true to habit, she followed me until we reached our own gate.

The next time she escaped her harness, now a few yours older, she stood dead still, looked up at me and asked, with her eyes, “Now what must I do?” I quickly secured her in her harness, grateful that she had come of age!

These days, my mature older dog has another way of enforcing her reluctance to walk…she puts on brakes on all four legs, as efficiently as the ABS braking system in my car! I know that part of her problem is the lesion in her spine that sometimes makes walking painful. However, it’s that look of defiance when she puts on brakes that makes me think it’s also a power struggle.

So, I ask her, “Molly, are you walking or balking?”

How like us when we don’t want to do God’s will! We put on our inner brakes with that attitude of defiance that says, “No, I don’t want to do it!”

I find this attitude rising up in me when I need to put right something I have done wrong. My pride, my ego, my perceived reputation is at stake. I must defend myself at all costs!

What about those times when the Lord requires me to do something that will cost me? Someone needs help. My involvement may cost me time, effort, money or whatever the Lord asks of me. My first response may be…brakes on all four paws! It may take a little time for me to release the brakes and do as I am told!

It’s a long, hard lesson for me to learn to walk with God, not to balk at God. Sometimes my old, emotional pain gets in the way of my willingness to obey. I take time to deal with the “what ifs” of reluctance or fear, my “no” of unbelief, my hesitance to cast myself on the Lord and step into the unknown.

God’s ministry in our hearts is, probably, 90% focused on teaching us faith, trust, reliance on Him because He is faithful, what He says is true, and what He wants of us is obedience without fear. He is always working, in all things, for our good and His glory.

Although Molly can’t understand that walking is for our good, I CAN understand that my Father is always working what is good for me. Why, then, am I balking instead of walking with the Lord? It’s that old nature again, the self-will with which I was born. It takes a lifetime of learning to accept the “leash” of obedience and walk where the Master leads me.

BY FAITH, ABRAHAM…

January 6, 2023Christian LifeAbraham chose Canaan, journey into faith, obedienceLuella Campbell

BY FAITH, ABRAHAM…

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:8-10

Abraham’s story is a fascinating account of one man’s journey into faith and obedience. Since he is the father of faith and the man God chose to be the recipient of the New Covenant in embryo, there are many lessons from his life that can help us understand our journey of faith in Jesus.

In the past few days, as I have journeyed with Abraham in the book of Genesis, two aspects of his life have emerged.

Abraham made many decisions which did not come from any interaction with God but they impacted directly on fulfilling God’s plan for his life. He left Ur of the Chaldees with his father, went to Haran and stayed there until his father died. This was his first step towards Canaan but he was not aware of God’s purpose for him at this point.

Then God told him to leave Haran but left Abraham to find the way under His silent direction. Abraham chose Canaan, not knowing that Canaan was to be his destination.

Abraham moved from place to place in Canaan, setting up altars and worshipping God as he went. His godly influence impacted the Canaanites and especially the Canaanite kings of the city states so that he became well known all over the country. By setting up altars, he was claiming the territory by faith for God.

Although Abraham made the choices to do as he did, apparently without clear instruction from God, his developing God-awareness allowed him to be open to divine guidance without being aware that he was being led by God.

How often we, too, make choices which, on hindsight, are exactly what God wanted us to do or where He planned for us to go without being told.

If we allow God-awareness to guide our thinking, we need never be afraid of making decisions without specific direction from the Holy Spirit. As God’s children, we are led by the Spirit if we are more concerned about God’s kingdom than about pandering to our flesh.

A mature son will not pester daddy about every tiny detail of his life because he knows that daddy trusts him to make wise decisions. Likewise, our Father trusts His mature children with everyday decisions and guides him along His chosen path as His children acknowledge Him in all their ways.

Abraham also has much to teach us about prayer. The Bible does not explain how God came to him on the many occasions interaction with Him are recorded. There is one record of the Lord appearing to him as “the angel of the Lord”. This phrase occurs often in the Old Testament. This “angel” speaks and acts as God and so, we assume that He is the second person of the Trinity, the pre-incarnate Jesus.

However, on this occasion, when the angel prophesied of Isaac’s birth and the imminent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham took the cue and “prayed” for his nephew, Lot’s deliverance by entering into a discussion with the Lord.

Why did God even want to share His decision to destroy the wicked cities of the plain with Abraham? It was all about relationship.

This was no “dear Lord Jesus, here’s my prayer list” kind of prayer. This was Abraham’s opportunity, through humble but bold negotiation with God for the protection of the righteous, to share in what God was about to do. Abraham’s real concern was for Lot and his family but his plea for the Lord to change his mind encompassed any other God-fearing people who we in danger of being destroyed.

I learn from this incident, and many other times when God held a conversation with Abraham, that prayer is so much more than a one-way string of “gives” and “do’s” that we daily present to Him.

I am also becoming wary of the daily “quiet time” that is so ingrained in us from the time of our new birth that we feel guilty if we miss out even one day. How often I have begun my day feeling bad because I have not had a quiet time because of circumstances. Does that mean that God feels so short-changed that, for spite He messes up the rest of my day?

What a tragically low view of our Father whose love for us is beyond measure and deeper than our wildest imagination or understanding. He is so entwined in the fabric of our lives that He wants much more than a hurried “quiet time” in the morning, only to be forgotten for the rest of the day.

Paul said, “Pray continually.” That means, stay in contact with God all day. Abraham shows us that we can converse, even negotiate with God in every detail of everyday life, from the most significant to the most mundane and unimportant details of being human.

In the end, it’s about cultivating a God-awareness that keeps us in God’s presence instead of our trying to bring Him to us when things go wrong or needs arise. It is surprising how much He talks to us of which we are unaware because we are so preoccupied with getting on with the business of living.

So, let’s meander through the Bible, stopping a moment here or there to ponder on the stories of people’s lives. Let’s tarry to smell the fragrance of a holy moment or to shrink from the words or actions that grate on our sensitive souls. Let’s slow down and learn from God’s great saints how to be in every way, God’s beloved sons and daughters.

GENEROSITY – THE MEASURE OF ETERNAL REWARDS

May 27, 2022Christian Lifeconfession, generosity, obedienceLuella Campbell

GENEROSITY – THE MEASURE OF ETERNAL REWARDS

Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. (2 Cor. 9: 13-14)

It’s not only important that we give. It’s also about why we give.

God condemns giving to be honoured for our sake but giving to honour God brings glory to Him and gives others encouragement to follow suit.

Our generosity should be based squarely on who God is. We give because He has freely given to us.

Freely you have received; freely give. (Matt. 10: 8b)

When we give out of the motivation of mercy, God promises to meet all our needs and the light of our good works will reflect on Him.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise you Father in heaven. (Matt. 5: 14)

Jesus took the issue of generosity to an even deeper level than giving simply because we are obliged to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. Everything we do for others reflects how much we value God’s mercy towards us. Generosity is not about giving to others because we are being benevolent towards them, or even because of their need. Generosity is our duty because God is generous towards us. Withholding our money and possessions when we can meet the needs of others, from God’s perspective, is the same as stealing.

Jesus told a parable to illustrate what our duty is all about.

Suppose one of you has a servant ploughing or looking after the sheep. Would you say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would you rather not say ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Would you thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’ (Luke 17: 7-10)

Why is it that we want accolades from people and rewards from God when we do what is expected of us? We treat God as though He owes us something because we have obeyed Him! Generosity is not about earning Brownie points. It’s about showing how deeply we value God’s mercy to us that He has rescued us from our self-destructive greed and changed our hearts towards Him and towards the people around us. We show it by the way we treat people who have wronged us or who are less fortunate than we are.

Jesus taught something about stewardship which we either tend not to notice or to ignore because it seems to out of keeping with who He is.

Jesus told the story about a manager who was about to be fired for mismanaging his master’s finances (Luke 16: 1-9). The man quickly bought favour from the master’s debtors by reducing their debts. When the master found out what he had done, instead of condemning him, he commended him for his shrewdness. Jesus ended His story with a very puzzling comment. What do you make of this Scripture?

I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16: 9)

First, we need to be careful about spiritualising this parable. The story is about a dishonest man who was generous with his master’s money to win friends so that, when he no longer had a job, they would be generous to him. Jesus did not commend his dishonesty but the principle – generosity gains you favour with people.

His next few comments open the meaning even more.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with little will also be dishonest with much. So, if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (Luke 16:10-12)

The point of the parable is that the manager was the steward of his master’s property. He had a greater obligation to be trustworthy with what was not his than with what was his own, because he was accountable to his master for what he did with it.

In the same way, we are stewards of what God has given to us and we are accountable to Him for the way we use it. He has instructed us how to apportion it so that we care for those in our circle of responsibility before we take care of our own needs. When we are faithful to carry out our Master’s instructions and use what He has given us in obedience to Him, only then can He give us greater responsibility in the life to come.

Does it shock or surprise you to realise that the level of authority you will have in God’s eternal kingdom will depend on the way you handle your money and possessions in this life? This is how seriously Jesus took the issue of money and why He had so much to say about it.

This leads me to the final point about the way a disciple uses his resources. There are serious consequences for greed, selfishness and disregard for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the alien.

(To be continued…)

THE PROMISE OF REST

December 14, 2021Bible Studyfaith, obedience, restLuella Campbell

THE PROMISE OF REST

Therefore, since the promise of rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.

Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God said, ‘So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’

For somewhere He has spoken about the seventh day in these words, ‘On the seventh day God rested from all His works.’

And again in the passage above He says, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ (Heb. 4: 1-5)

What exactly is this writer on about?

He seems to be using the words ‘faith’, ‘obedience’ and ‘rest’ interchangeably. The Israelites who disobeyed Him never reached the Promised Land. They perished on the journey because they did not believe that there was ‘rest’ for them in the land of Canaan. They refused to ‘rest;’ in God’s word which would have taken them to their destination had they done what He instructed them to do.

God’s rest was a cessation of His creative work on the seventh day, not because He was tired but because His work was complete. He had done everything He had to do, and it was up to what He had created to continue by carrying out His instructions.

Israel’s journey through the wilderness is a picture, a visual aid, of our journey through life. They had left the land of slavery through the miraculous intervention of God. He destroyed the enemy and set them free from their old lives of bondage to their slave drivers to follow God’s ‘way’ to the land He had prepared for them. All they were to do was to trust Him, do what He said, and stay on His ‘way’. If they left the ‘path’ they would get lost and perish in the desert.

His word was their road map, and obedience to His instructions guaranteed that they would keep going in the right direction. He gave them ‘landmarks’ to keep them on track, teaching them how to relate to Him as their God, and to one another as members of His ‘family’, His people, who were to resemble Him in the way they lived together.

The Israelites didn’t get it. When God tested them to check on their trust, they turned on Moses and they turned on Him, accusing Him of bringing them into the desert to destroy them because He hated them. What a terrible accusation in the face of God’s evident love for them! He had proposed to them at Mount Sinai, calling them into a relationship with Him as intimate as marriage and giving them the promise that He had a place for them where they could rest in His love.

Had they believed His word and trusted His motives and His power, their journey to Canaan, as tough as it was, would have been over in a matter of weeks. They would have taken possession of their very own country and settled down to live in the houses and on the bounty that was already there, prepared for them by the inhabitants they were to drive out. It would have all happened smoothly and without stress because God was with them and for them.

What an amazing picture of our journey through life! God has already done everything to rescue us from our enemy, the devil, through the intervention of His Son. He has given us His instructions for navigating the journey of life. He has revealed His love and faithfulness to us by the miracle of new life in Jesus. He has forgiven our sin, reinstated us as His sons and daughters, promised us everything we need for the journey and, best of all, given us His presence in us by His Holy Spirit.

All we have to do now is to rest in what He has done and what He has said, do what He tells us and trust In His love and power to take us home. Every test is not, as the Israelites accused Him, His way of destroying us. It is His intention to reveal His glory by showing us His love through His power. He calls for trust, not complaint, and obedience, not resistance.

Faith, obedience, rest! This is the way home. The alternative is unthinkable – get lost and die in the wilderness, never entering His rest and never seeing the Promised Land.

THE GOD OF PEACE

May 31, 2021Bible Studyinnocent, obedience, the God of peaceLuella Campbell

THE GOD OF PEACE

“Everyone has heard about your obedience. So I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

“Timothy, my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Lucius, Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.

“I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.

“Gaius, whose hospitality I and the whole church here enjoy, sends you his greetings. Erastus, who is the city’s director of public works, and our brother Quartus, send you their greetings. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” Romans 16:19-24.

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” That doesn’t sound very peaceful, does it? It sounds rather ruthless but let’s look at the statement from God’s perspective.

Satan was first of all a traitor. He took what God gave him, beauty, perfection, power and the highest office in heaven and turned it against Him. Then he stole the allegiance of one third of God’s angelic creation. Then, not satisfied with that, he deceived Eve and turned Adam, and through him, the whole human race, against Him because he deceived them into believing that he was Lord. The whole of creation was corrupted because of him, became chaotic and the very image of God was distorted in man and the universe.

As if that were not enough, Satan turned God’s own people,Israel, against Him. They rejected Him and nailed Him to a cross, causing Him the most horrendous suffering any human being could ever endure. They mocked, insulted, humiliated and killed Him and then turned on His followers in the name of God! At the very time that Paul wrote this letter, the followers of Jesus were being persecuted by Jews and at the hands of the madman, Nero. Soon enough, Paul himself would be one of his victims.

And yet Paul could confidently write, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”

What made him so confident? The resurrection! Satan had dished up the worst he could offer; Jesus took it on the chin and walked away, the victor. The enemy, vanquished by the Son of God, was counted out. Finished! Defeated! Overthrown! All that was left to do was the mopping up – collect the spoils of war – the sons and daughters of God who were waiting to be released from prison.

Satan is still around, though, waiting for his final judgment and going around with his lies, deceiving those who still believe he is in charge, masquerading as Lord when God has declared Jesus to be Lord and given Him the name above every other name.

However, for those who believe it, the truth is out. The devil has been unmasked, defeated and stripped of his weapons – the lies he has been propagating all over the world. Contrary to what he wants people to believe, he is not in charge. God is – and Jesus made that very clear to him in the wilderness.

“It is written…”How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!'” Isaiah 52:7.

There will only ever be true peace when Satan has been crushed and dispatched forever but, in the meantime, it’s our job to live out and proclaim God’s rule because it is our confidence that God reigns, despite our circumstances, that “crushes” Satan under our feet. As long as we have niggling doubt about who is in charge, the devil will continue to have a field day with us and the world will not be convinced that Jesus is Lord.

“Our God reigns!”

Acknowledgement

Ebenezer Family Church

HE IS RISEN!