Intimacy, dependency, obedience (3)

“For I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” John 5:30 NIV

The third thing that defines Jesus’ relationship with His Father is obedience. Jesus said, “I judge only as I hear…for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” Note the words “as I hear.” When you know you have heard from God, you have confidence to handle whatever life throws at you and to take on any assignment He gives you. Christ’s first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. In it you will find a statement that’s crucial to experiencing God’s miraculous power in your life: “Whatever He says to you, do it” (John 2:5 NKJV). That means you must be willing to obey God when what He tells you to do doesn’t seem rational and when it’s not popular and when it’s inconvenient and when it’s costly and when it requires you to walk an unfamiliar pathway. And you will only reach this level of obedience when you’re committed to a life of intimacy with God and dependency on God. And here is something you need to know: intimacy, dependency, and obedience are not cultivated by you trying to love God more but on having a revelation of God’s amazing, undeserved, unfailing love for you: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:9-10 NLT). So pray for a revelation of God’s great love for you.

The Word for You Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from Celebration Enterprises, Inc. Copyright © 2024