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| JAMES LESSON #45 �Obedience� becomes something we �desire.� THAT, was an interesting thought for me. �Obedience� and �desire� for some reason did not fit into the same box when I tried to �format it� into my journey. �Obedience� always had �abrasion� attached to it. �Obedience� always had �manipulation, dominance, and control� attached to it. �Desire it?� More than likely, I �fought it.� �Obedience� meant to �comply� to someone else�s control. My own personal journey has taught me to look behind the experience and to find out what drives it. James is not a book about �how to� get saved. It�s a book about how to live after you�re saved. James is a book about how to �walk� the �talk.� Most of my life I had the �talk� down really well. I knew how I was �supposed� to act. I knew when I was �supposed� to show up. I knew what was �middle� to give in the offering. I knew when to �stand� and when to �sit.� I knew how often I could �miss� in church attendance without raising eyebrows and hearing condemnation. I knew how to hold someone who was hurting and pay for someone�s lunch. I knew how to be compliant in order to get along without confrontation. I heard that �God was love.� I knew the hymns. I memorized the scripture verses and won first place in competitions. But internally there was a raging war � a screaming need to fight back. Internally there was a cry to �become me-� but I didn�t know who �me� was. �Obedience� � according to �Webster� is �to be submissive to restraint.� �Restraint� � would you put that in the same box with �desire?� �Restrain� � to limit or restrict- to keep within bounds. Why is it that everything in us creeps right up to the line �and in some cases, crosses it: in some cases dares to touch it: and in some cases, defiantly refuses to even acknowledge it�s there? What�s the picture behind the screen of �obedience� � the raging war � that pushes us to that line and double dares us to cross it? Everything about James urges us, shelters us, instructs us on the �how to�s� of staying behind the line- staying within the boundaries, and living accordingly. Problem is, some of us really battle with �desiring� to do so. Why? Look at Romans 6:17 : �obedient from the heart� � the word �heart� there is �kardia� � meaning from the seat of desires, feelings, affections, passions and impulses. Read Romans 16:25-26 In short, this is saying that the �gospel� � the message that Jesus died and rose for you, leads to the obedience of faith: -indicating that somewhere along the road �obedience� has to move out of being something I�m �supposed to do to avoid confrontation or a battle� to something I �desire� to do because of what? Notice that �obedience and faith� are put in the same basket in this picture. Hang on to that for a minute. A couple of lessons ago I pointed out that �obedience, authority, and power� are all tied together. How you experience their �union� will determine whether or not you �desire� obedience or obey to avoid confrontation. The question I raise is � so what�s the big deal? Obey is obey � either way- you�re obeying right? Wrong. One response evolves out of freedom. The other, out of bondage. Huh? Time to take a look at conditional love and unconditional love and power and authority. The �relationship� or �lack of relationship� with whatever is demanding obedience determines �desire.� Get that. Everything about our society is set up as a �reward system.� We learn from a very young age that if you �do what you�re told,� you�ll be rewarded. If you don�t do what you�re told, you�ll be punished, rejected, abandoned, left in the dust � Some of us learn from a very young age that if we have an opinion, it doesn�t matter. �To question is wrong. �To choose an alternative is not a consideration. And somehow, in the process of �obey vs. disobey� we get issues confused and lose sight of who we are. The issue shifts from �obey vs. disobey� to �I will fight you in order to become me.� THAT, is a �relationship� issue. James addresses all the �do�s and don�ts� � all the harness this and harness that�s � the �how to�s� in terms of life: BUT, if �relationship� is out of position in this picture, the battle will not not not be in the �obey vs. disobey� camp : it will be with the �desire� to obey. I�ve talked to some of you. I know because of what you�ve said to me, and I know because of what I�ve encountered in my own life that �desire to obey� is a BIG DEAL for all of us. Some of you if told �not� to do something would be absolutely compelled to do it � why? What drives that response? Some of you party on the weekends. Some of you swear like drunken sailors. Some of you steal. Some of you cheat on your spouses. I know because I spend time with you. I know because you talk to me about it. You KNOW in your head � I�m not supposed to �go there� � but have no �desire� not to go there. You�re stuck. Question is, where? In what? Power: has a lot to do with dominance, control, manipulation, forced demands. �Power� when misused, is rooted in �self.� Power is a by-product of rebellion and pride. Me first. I will MAKE YOU do what I tell you to do, whether you like it or not. What did that sentence do to the inside of you? Cause you to rear up and say, �Take your best shot?� Smile�THAT, is how many are raised � from childhood up. I will MAKE YOU do what I tell you to do, whether you like it or not. We learn to comply. We learn to resent. We learn to resist. We learn to hate. We learn to fight back. Sometimes internally � because the �power� externally is too great to overcome. Suddenly, on stage right, �James� enters the scene. Don�t yield to temptation. Don�t be enticed by lust. Don�t show partiality. Control your tongue. �We �hear� POWER � dominance and control : we �may� comply � but our obedience bears fruit of resentment, bitterness, anger, defeat, emptiness, unworthiness, and eventually self-hate. Why? Because without �heart desire for obedience� we�re merely �kissing up� to someone else�s demands for our lives � something that experience has taught us, uses us to make someone else appear more powerful � and keeps us in position �under them.� Our inward reaction to the word �obey?� MAKE ME! THAT�is a problem. Authority: is �power� rooted and directed in love. Authority, is a by-product of humility. It does not �dominate� � it protects. It does not �control�- it �teaches and directs.� It does not �manipulate�- it empowers. It does not �force�-it encourages. �Here�s what I want you to do: Let me show you how: Let me tell you why: Let me help you: Let me encourage you along the way:� Ok � what was your response to that line? Where was the fight? Where was the resentment? The �issue� could have been the same one �demanded� through power � the response could have been �obedience� in both cases � the difference? Rests in the heart. Power says, �If you swear I�ll back hand you in the face until you understand that I better never hear those words out of your mouth again! Authority says, �If you swear, it will really disappoint me because it�s a reflection of what�s in your heart � anger. I don�t want that to be a part of your journey � and I�ll remind you every time I hear it because when anger �owns� you, it destroys you. I will confront you every time � not because you�re a �bad person,� but because I love you deeply � we�ll get through this �together�-Whatever has made you angry � wherever the hurt is, we�ll go there until it no longer owns you. Ok � you tell me: Which scenario causes you to �desire� obedience? Power? Or Authority. Authority. Why? Because it�s based on �trust.� It�s rooted in love � love for our well being. Everything about the �James walk,� is based on �relationship� with God. Outside of that relationship, you�ll not survive in the James walk. It just won�t work. You�ll be frustrated � full of resentment- angry- and feel defeat and failure at every corner. When it comes to �obedience of faith,� the �of faith� part is the key to the whole phrase. There will be plenty of times of �doubt.� Especially when you trust the heart of God and walk in obedience and it hurts. The heart of God goes way past pleasure and pain � it holds both. When we accept His �authority,� knowing it�s based in love for our well being and His glory � regardless of whether we fall down or move forward, �resentment, anger, defeat and failure� will not camp on our doorstep. Step �one� in obedience rests in the moment you decide to trust the voice that says, �I love you. I knit you together in your mother�s womb-I saw you before you were formed. I ordered and arranged every moment of every day for you before the first one began. (Psalm 139:13-16)� Step �one� in obedience begins the moment you decide to believe the voice that says, �I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you,� (Isaiah 41:10) � Unconditional love and Authority � if trusted, will empower you to live the kind of life James talks about. If trusted, (Psalm 91) you�ll find security in Him � you won�t have to live in fear. You won�t be �untouched� by the upheavals of this life-you may be wounded deeply by the onslaughts of evil: BUT- God will not leave you to suffer alone. Authority does not abandon. Authority does not neglect. The Lord cares for His own and delivers him even in the midst of the conflicts that plague him. Authority is presence and position � carefully releasing power IN you not ON you- The rest of Psalm 91 reads: If God is truly your God, you do not have to be afraid of the enemy that threatens or the affliction that lays you low. Men all about you may fall, never to rise again, but the Lord is by your side (presence) to do what? -make Himself stronger? Make Himself look good? Make sure you understand that He�s in charge? No- The Lord is by your side to RAISE YOU TO YOUR FEET AND TO LEAD YOU TO ULTIMATE VICTORY. (releasing power in you) Even the ministering spirits of His invisible world are watching over you. They will not allow anything to hurt you except�by God�s �loving� permission and through His eternal �concern.� Our loving God has promise it: �Because My child �loves Me,� (deep relationship is in position here-) I will NEVER let him go. I shall feel the pain of his wounds and bear his hurt And shall transform that which is ugly Into that which enriches and blesses. And when he cries out in agony, I shall hear and answer him. I will be close to him and will deliver him, And I will grant him eternal life. Ok you answer the question: If you really believed all of that, and He asked you to be obedient in an area of your life�would �desire� connect with �obedience� � Take a look at your life. What separates you from everyone else that says they believe in God? Are you obedient because you�re �supposed to be?� Or are you obedient because it hurts when you�re not. Authority: Permission and help to become the �me� God created me to be. Loving you, Robin �copyright 2001 Jim and Robin Hibschman |
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