Day 15

”Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will follow My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.” John 14:23-24

In 2017, I took a huge step of faith and started my own business. Being conservative by nature, this was an absolutely terrifying endeavor, but I felt like God was leading in the pursuit of this business. Over 4 years, the business grew and was successful. I loved what I was doing. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had blessed me with this business to support my family.

While journaling, I felt like God asked me a question one evening. That question was: “Will you give up the business if I ask you to?” I put my pen down, totally taken aback. My heart sank. I sat there momentarily, went back to the keyboard, and wrote: “Lord, don’t ask me that question right now.”

We both know I really said: “No.”

This was disobedience in the moment. But the Lord’s question stuck in my head. And after a short time, I went back to the journal and told Him: “Lord, you gave me the business. I have to hold it loosely. So yes, I will give it back to you. I love you and trust you with this.” That led to me selling the business and working in a role that helped a ministry for a time. Are you ready for this? God allowed me to be hired by the company that bought my business and put me back in a role serving my former clients and territory that I had worked hard to build up.” I had the JOY of doing what I loved before, but now, without the pressure of ownership. God blesses obedience. That obedience comes out of our love for Him. We don’t obey to earn His love because as it says in Romans 3:27-28 (NLT)

”Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.“

Our faith is by His grace. We love Him because He first loved us. So don’t feel like you have to obey to earn anything from God. Our obedience comes out of our love for Him.

Let’s meditate on this promise Jesus gives us in this passage from John: ”We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him.” Let’s not take this for granted. The all-powerful, all knowing, ever-present Creator of the Cosmos…the one that breathed life into our lungs, will literally dwell WITH us, IN us, as we love and obey Him! Think about that! You love Him, He loves you, and He dwells in you!

As we walk in obedience to Him out of our love for Him, we carry the presence and authority of God with us everywhere we go. We can then share Him with others in overwhelming love and power!

Reflection:

Am I trying to earn God’s love by obeying Him with my own strength, or does my obedience flow out of an overwhelming love FOR Him?