The Results Of Incomplete Obedience

 ‘But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments, if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant (Leviticus 26:14-15

            It has been suggested that in this portion of scripture there is a progression in the sin of Israel.  They did not obey all the commandments, then started to reject them, and then ended up hating them.  Incomplete obedience is always disobedience.  In most cases the major indiscretions in our lives begin with compromise in the details of our walk with God.  One little white lie will always lead to a big black one.  A half-truth is a whole lie.  Why is it that when we ignore our wrongs we proceed to hating the commandment.  If you reject the truth you have to organize yourself against it. You either repent or you justify your actions to feel better about yourself.  In following Christ, there is no middle ground.  You either accept Him (the Truth) or you endeavor to discredit the message and in most cases the messenger. This is why totally following the truth (Christ) will always bring some form of persecution.  The resistance we experience as believers over a period of time can lead to compromise on the small things in our walk with God.  This is the crack in the dike that can open the floodgates to all sorts of things that can lead us to hate the commandments, which we first loved.

Pray with me.  Lord, help me to keep short accounts with You.  Father, help me to discern the little foxes that are there to hinder my relationship with you.  In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blog: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

Obedience Brings The Blessing

 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land.  Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety (Leviticus 25:18-19 NASB).

            It is obedience and not human effort that leads to fruitfulness and blessing in our spiritual journey.  This portion of scripture is couched in a section where the children of Israel are told to rest the land and themselves every seventh year.  Human wisdom tells us that if we do not work, we do not eat.  This is generally true.  But there are times for our own good and to prove Himself to us He supersedes human understanding.   Matthew Henry says that this portion of scripture was given “to be an encouragement to all God’s people in all ages to trust him in their duty and to give their cares to him”.  Faithfulness and persistence are character traits that God wants to build into all believers and they will bring fruitfulness, but only when coupled with obedience.  I tend to be a consistent person, but on occasion I have found myself to be consistently wrong.  King Saul lost his kingdom because self-reliance and self-effort.  This is why the prophet Samuel said to Saul “…to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams” (I Samuel 15:22).  Some of us faithful Christian workers need to learn, as our forefathers in Israel did, to obey is better than sacrifice.  This brings God’s provision.  As our young people would tell us, sometimes we need to learn to chill. 

Pray with me.  Lord, put to death my self-effort and self-reliance.  Help me to persevere in only what You want and not what I want.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blog: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

Christian Service: Not Just Any Good Work

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints (Hebrews 6:10 NASB).

            In this verse Paul affirmed the brethren in their Christian service, but very carefully set a pattern for their service.  He says that God will not forget their work and love, but then adds, “which you have shown toward His name”.  God must be first.  Although we always serve people, our motive must be to please Him.  Any service must be born of God’s will and accomplished in His way.  Otherwise it is just our good works.  If you quit serving because you are not recognized or treated badly by those you serve, it probably shows you are serving man and not God.  It is evidence that our service is out of order, first man and then God.  The commentator Matthew Henry once wrote, “No works are right works, which flow not from love to Christ”.  If our works are not initiated in His will, accomplished in His ways, and motivated first and foremost to please God, they will eventually evolve into a form of Christian humanism, which tries to show that we are good and not Him.

Pray with me. Lord help you me to serve you and you along.  In everything I do for man help me to look past them and see You.

Ken Barnes the author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blog: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

Learning By Doing

 For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel (Ezra 7:10 NASB).

            The scribe Ezra set a pattern for us in ministry.  He studied, and then practiced what he had learned, and then taught.  In many cases we try to short-circuit the process.  We try to teach before we have practiced truth.  Although we are not perfect, we should be a demonstration of the Biblical principles, not just be able to proclaim them.  This happens generally in a lengthy process and usually does not occur only in a classroom. Jesus taught his disciples but then always had them practice what he had taught them.  It was in doing that the truth changed from theory to actual practice.  In essence, if knowledge does not change our behavior, is it really learning?  As Ben Franklin once said, “Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn”.  Does your church have a component that allows learners to practice and apply revealed truth?  If you do not, you are like a carriage without horse.  You are not going anywhere.

Ken Barnes – author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blog: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com

Are You Full Of Grace And Truth?

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14 NASB).

            When we minister to people, what sets them free?  The Bible says, “and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free”(John 8:32 NASB).  Yes, ultimately it is truth that sets us free, but truth without grace does not work.  Most people cannot accept the truth unless grace leads them to it.  Truth without grace leads to a despondent and wounded soul.  Grace without truth enables a personal to continue in their sin.  Neither of these by itself is productive and does not lead to spiritual freedom.  By nature, some of us are truth-sayers and some of us are grace-givers.   Grace nor truth is the total answer in all situations.  If Jesus ministered in the perfect balance between grace and truth, should we not follow this pattern?  So, truth-sayers and grace-givers recognize you need each other.

Pray with me. Lord, help me to minister in a balance between grace and truth.  What I lack in each of these, thank you for the people you supply to help me in these areas.  I pray this in Jesus’ name. 

Ken Barnes – The author of “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/

Blog: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com