Saturday, January 2, 2016

Trusting and Obeying God's Plans


"Jesus replied, "You don't understand now what I am doing, but someday you will." John 13:7 NLT

This verse of scripture is about serving others as Jesus Christ did by the washing of the disciples feet (John 13:1-20.) In addition to humility, this verse reminds me of God's plan for our life. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." We will never be able to fully understand God because our minds are finite and His is infinite. When we are told by God to do something, our choice is to obey or disobey. Of course, if we disobey there will be consequences: we miss out on our blessings and we may end up on a path of destruction. But, when we obey God, we do the greatest thing that we could ever do for Him: act in faith. When we "walk by faith and not by sight" we hope for God's best though, we can't physically see, we can spiritually see and imagine some of the good plans God has for us! Though we don't really understand, we walk out on faith and show God that we trust Him. We have to learn to listen and obey God's plans because he knows BEST! When God speaks to us, it's always BEST to quickly follow Him, so that we can avoid destruction. Plus, we can always use a blessing or even a miracle! We can't expect to receive special blessings from the Lord if we aren't wiling to obey. 


Acts 12: 1-5 James is Killed and Peter is Imprisoned. King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. He had the apostle James (John's brother) killed with a sword. When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.)

"The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered. So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him. Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” 
Acts 12:6-10 NLT

Peter didn't hesitate, ask any questions, doubt or refuse to obey God's command sent through an angel of the Lord. He quickly obeyed and followed. As a result, Peter was freed from prison by the power of God and received a miracle! If Peter would have disobeyed, he would have received terrible Christian persecution from King Herod.


Not only does obedience lead to blessings, but obedience can also save us from death. It's so important that we choose God's plans over our own because He will ALWAYS go above & beyond our plans, doubts, and expectations. 



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