{"id":2066,"date":"2014-10-03T05:11:43","date_gmt":"2014-10-03T11:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=2066"},"modified":"2014-10-03T05:11:43","modified_gmt":"2014-10-03T11:11:43","slug":"obey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/?p=2066","title":{"rendered":"obey"},"content":{"rendered":"

These are the invitations of Jesus we have examined so far: come to Me<\/em><\/a>, listen to Me<\/em><\/a>, believe in Me<\/em><\/a>, follow Me<\/em><\/a>, fish with Me<\/em><\/a>, and abide in Me<\/em><\/a>. Now we hear: obey Me<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This sounds more like a commandment than an invitation. Of course it is a command, but when we grasp Jesus\u2019 understanding of obedience, we see that everything centers in relationship\u2026 and relationship always involves choice.<\/p>\n

Jesus explains that the way to abide in relationship is to love\u2026 and loving God requires obedience. \u201cAs the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Now remain in My love. If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father\u2019s commands and remain in His love.\u201d John 15:9-10<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t picture Jesus disobeying his Father\u2026 because the Son loved the Father and the Father loved the Son. We know that Jesus did pour out His heart in difficult times. He asked that the cup of death pass from Him in the Garden, but His humble conclusion to the prayer was: \u201cNot My will, but Yours be done.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his book Crazy Love<\/em>, Francis Chan wrote:<\/p>\n

I have so many people ask me questions like, Can I divorce my wife and still go to heaven? Do I have to be baptized to be saved? Am I a Christian even though I\u2019m having sex with my girlfiend? If I commit suicide, can I still go to heaven? If I\u2019m ashamed to talk about Christ, is He really going to deny knowing me?<\/p>\n

To me, these questions are tragic because they reveal much about the state of our hearts. They demonstrate that our concern is more about going to heaven than loving the King. Jesus said, \u2018If you love me, you will obey what I command.\u2019 (John 14:15)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And look at the promise that follows!<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever \u2013 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me. He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him.\u201d John 14:16-21<\/p>\n

Quote from Crazy Love<\/em> by Francis Chan, \u00a92008 by D C Jacobson & Associates LLC, p. 86<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These are the invitations of Jesus we have examined so far: come to Me, listen to Me, believe in Me, follow Me, fish with Me, and abide in Me. Now we hear: obey Me. This sounds more like a commandment than an invitation. Of course it is a command, but when we grasp Jesus\u2019 understanding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-love"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2066"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2070,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2066\/revisions\/2070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airwoof.org\/journey\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}