Listening to the Holy Spirit:
I give law not to weigh down, but that you may know the way of blessing. He who knows not wrong, finds grief regardless. He who follows what is laid out before him, that growth and blessing occur, he is the fortunate, not the repressed. I have given you life and abundance, but also law that you would not be lost in it. Forgiveness now also, that you would not be held down by failure. My sacrifice for you is that you may have life, in blessing of earth and eternally. Do not shun what has been given for good. Do not ignore decrees made, that you would be fruitful in your endeavors. The cross lifts again what has fallen, fallen to sin and self. Raise again your head, turn from those things that displease and harm. May fruitfulness be your crown, that you would follow My ways. Without My law, you would not know My ways for you. Without My love, you would not have the way back. Accept both, that you would walk in the light, turning from the dark way. Follow Me.
John 1:12 (ESV) – But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
Prv 28:13 (ESV) – Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Rom 13:10 (ESV) – Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
1 John 5:3 (ESV) – For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
Taking It to Work:
Rules. As a kid, we didn’t like them. As we grow, we see the true utility of rules. The fact the everyone knows what side of the road to drive on, that red light always means stop, and green means go. These are good rules, or laws, that keep order, and also often keep us safe.
God has chosen many titles for Himself, but when Jesus told us how to pray, our great, all-powerful, all-knowing, omni-present God chose for us to call Him “Father”. Couple that with His perfection and goodness, and I believe there is a powerful and overarching message here. Just as a good father wants the best for his children, God the Father wants us to know that He wants the same. To prove it, His adoption of us, His patient fathering, and our description as children, is a constant theme in the Scriptures.
So what that have to do with rules, and the title, “Remove what Hinders”? Well, even as adults, we can find ourselves in disobedience of the many rules for living our loving Father has supplied us in His word, and when we do, we suffer for it. It hinders.
We teach are kids when and how to cross the road, to eat their vegetables, and to not hang around with the wrong people. We say no to cigarettes, and commend them for reading and being responsible. We do this because we want them to continue down a path that will bless them with a great life. Our Father wants the same for us, and His training, and His rules, even the ones we don’t want to do, bless us and protect us, and are there to bring about a life, and an eternal life, that the Bible calls “truly life” (1Tim 6:19).
We know this already. Think of what is hindering you now. I’ll bet there is something in His Word that warns, a rule or a law, that if you were to obey it, your life would be that much more powerful and blessed.
Now, challenges arise in everyone’s life, regardless of how we try to avoid them, but personal sin, going against God’s best for us, can bring very unnecessary difficulty and calamity; an unyielding hindrance to what He wants for us, and frankly, what we want for ourselves. At the office, in our homes, and in our private walk with Him, let His rules, His laws, and His Word work to unhinder you, today.
