Saturday, August 31, 2013

September 1, 2013

“…for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13
 
Paul is teaching us how we can make sure our salvation works for all our days on planet Earth. His key thought is "obedience IS the work of salvation because it allows God to work out the completion of your salvation"!
 
If you want your salvation to work:
 
Obey faithfully!
 
Obey fearfully!
 
AND obey fruitfully!
 
You know salvation is working out when His will and His purpose happens through your life!
 
You know your salvation is working out when God is pleased by your obedience.

Salvation works when you are committed to obeying His will and purposes. It doesn't work when you disobey. It is that simple!
 
When you are committed to obeying His will and purpose your life will bear spiritual fruit. When disobey his will and purpose there will be not fruit.

Charles Finney noted this about obedience and sacrifice, “Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God!”      
 
“Joy is the byproduct of obedience”  - (Unknown)
 
D. L. Moody has expressed it so well: “. . .Joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can’t see and doesn’t know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him”
 
Patrick Morley’s book “Walking with Christ in the Details of Life.” It is a book of meditations that includes one called “Revival: The Gospel of Addition.” In it, he said the following, “The American gospel has evolved into a gospel of addition without subtraction. It is the belief that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior… A changed life is one that has added Christ and subtracted sin, that attracts a world weary of worn-out words. Obedience is the proof.”
 
"Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of late - and how little revival has resulted? I believe the problem is that we have been TRYING TO SUBSTITUTE PRAYING FOR OBEYING, and it simply will not work. To pray for revival while ignoring the plain precept laid down in Scripture is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. Prayer will become effective when we stop using it as a substitute for obedience."
A.W. Tozer
 
You are more likely to OBEY YOURSELF INTO PRAYING than you are to pray yourself into obeying!
 
HOW’S YOUR OBEDIENCE? ARE YOU SEEING FRUIT IN YOUR LIFE?
 
HOW IS YOUR SALVATION WORKING OUT?
 
I AM GOING TO GUESS IT IS WORKING OUT IN DIRECT PROPORTION TO YOUR OBEDIENCE.