Partial Obedience

Bible reading:  Judges 1:19-36

Focus verse:   Hebrews 13:20-21  "Now may the God of peace—who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—may he equip you with all you need for doing his will.  May he produce in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him.  All glory to him forever and ever! Amen."

Back in Exodus 23: 23-33,  God gave the rules for entering and living in the promised land.  He said clearly that were not to make any agreements with the enemy or even allow them to live in the land or else they would cause them to sin and their worship of other gods would be a snare to them.  Now we read in Judges that they went into the land, but did not complete the command to totally drive out the people.  They lived with them.  They kept some as slaves.  The Danites (Dan line of the Israelites) never entered their land, but lived on the rugged edges of it.  There were consequences for this partial obedience.  They began to weaken and began serving Baal.

The Bible clearly tells us the things that we should do.  We may try to think in our own minds why we should not obey God completely, but only part of it.  You become an enemy of your own self when you talk yourself out of obeying God.   You miss out on His blessings and suffer consequences.  If you have disobeyed, then you should repent and begin obeying Him.

What is God telling you?  Obey it completely.  Even if you feel like you are alone in your obedience to God, continue in your trust in Him and obey.  He promises to equip you with all you need to do His will. 

Quote:  “Satan's cause is never more in danger than when a human being no longer desiring, but still intending to do God's will, looks around upon a world from which every trace of God seems to have vanished and asks why he has been forsaken, yet still obeys.”  ~C. S. Lewis

Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Obeying God and Doing His Purpose

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 7:23-26

Focus Verse: Jeremiah 6:16  "This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls."

God's chosen people, Israel, had a challenge with being obedient.  We also have a hard time with our obedience to God.  We know the good path, but do not always take it. 

I believe that every Christian has been given a purpose and a mission by God.  God has given us talent and gifts to fulfill that purpose.  Through our obedience in all areas of our lives we can fulfill that purpose and mission.  If we are disobedient we run the risk of the mission being given to someone else to fulfill.  If we repent, then God may choose to show mercy and give another chance, but we are not guaranteed a second chance at the mission.  God's work will be done, either by us or by someone else.  There have been people, churches, ministries, and nations that have missed out on a blessing because of disobedience. There are many Christians that will come to the end of life and say "I wonder what God could have done through me had I been obedient to Him?  That is a tragedy. 

When I am standing at the crossroads and given the choice to do right or wrong, God can give me the strength to do what is right and follow the ancient path every time!  I pray that I remain faithful.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Studying the Bible Keeps Us Spiritually Strong

Scripture Reading: Psalm 119:9-24

Focus Verse: Psalm 119:9 "How can young people keep their lives pure?
    By obeying your commands."

God has given us an instruction manual for life.  It is called the Bible.  As Christians in this world we cannot overcome the enemy in our own strength.  "How can a man cleanse his ways?"  Not on his own.  On our own, we would struggle and fail.  We need help, and that help is available to us through the Bible.  Our focus verse ask a question.  How can we stay pure?  Verse 11 gives us the answer, by hiding God's Word in our hearts.  I wish I had memorized more scripture when I was young, because it is harder to do now that I am older.  In verse 24 he calls God's "testimonies" his counselor.  God will always show us and teach us as we read the Bible.

The study and application of God's Word will keep us from sin, even though we live in a sinful world.  When Jesus was tempted by the devil in Luke 4 we see Jesus quoting scripture with every temptation.  If you are a Christian and you don't have peace and joy in your life, you might have unrepentant sin and/or there may be a lack of Bible study and scripture memorization in your life. 

Some people view God's laws as a list of "DON'Ts", but these are really a shelter to protect us.  God gives us plenty of things we should "DO".   Take some time today to evaluate your spiritual strength.  Make a plan to increase the strength through God's Holy Word.


"Either God's Word will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from God's word." ~Unknown

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Where Is Happiness Found?

Scripture Reading:  Matthew 22:34-40

Focus Verses:  Matthew 22:37-39 "Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

The world spends lots of money on advertising products every year.  They try to convince us that we need many things in our lives.  They say that these things will bring happiness into our lives.  Some things are truly needed in our lives like, food, shelter, and clothing.

In our verses today Jesus gives us the two greatest commandments in all the Bible.  Love God, and love others.  That sounds simple, doesn't it?  If you think about it, all of life comes down to those two things, loving God, and loving others.  Everything else in this world will one day pass away.  But God and people will last forever.

The things of this world do bring a kind of happiness.  But it's not a lasting happiness.  You have to keep looking for the next thing to keep your happiness.  God designed us with a void or emptiness in our lives that only He can fill.  He knew the value of our loving Him and loving others.  He also knew how self serving we, as humans, can be, and that we would fill our lives with empty pursuits if He didn't command us to love Him and to love others.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 "there is coming a day when all our works will be tested by fire."  Only what is done for Christ will last.

In true love and obedience to God is where we can find real happiness.  We will experience real joy in giving of ourselves to God and others out of love.  It is in this love that we find purpose in life, and it is from this purpose that we can gain true happiness.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

What is Evil?

Scripture reading: James 4:13-17

Focus verse: "that nation that turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would." Jeremiah 18:10

Mostly, when people think of evil, they think of things like murder, theft and lying. However, in Jeremiah 18:10 God is speaking to the people and says that a nation (or person) does evil by not obeying His voice. Simply put, disobedience is evil in God's sight. This means disobedience to His word, disobedience of parents, disobedience of authorities over us.

Then, James, the brother of Jesus, tells us that if we know the right thing to do, but don't do it, that is also sin. Some examples of knowing the right thing to do but not doing it could be taking care of someone in need, or studying God's Word every day, or praying about something we promised to pray about.

As you go through the day, see things that happen as opportunities to obey God's voice. In order to obey His voice, we have to know His word and what it says.

Spend time studying God's word and find ways to obey what He says. Then, when you know the right thing to do, do it! And in doing so, you will please God.

by Amy Warr
(friend of Mfangano and supporter of Interlocking Ministries)