This week's promise: Obeying God brings great joy
Have you experienced the joy of obedience?
No good thing will the Lord withhold from those who do what it right. O Lord Almighty, happy are those who trust in you.
About this week's promise
We all live in a web of relationships dependent upon obedience to authority. Like a loving parent, God sets standards for our good and to protect us from evil and harm. God desires obedience motivated not by fear buy by love and trust. Ironically, obedience actually frees us up to enjoy life as God intended, because it keeps us from becoming entangled or enslaved to those things that distract us and cause us heartache. Even though God's command is sometimes difficult, or doesn't make sense from our human perspective, obedience will always bring blessing, joy, and peace.
adapted from TouchPoint Bible with devotional commentary by Ron Beers and Gilbert Beers, Tyndale House Publishers (1996), p 1238
Get Your Own TouchPoint Bible here: http://tinyurl. com/35z3kv
Digging Deeper
For more on obedience, see End of the Spear by Steve Saint. The movie based on the book premiers this week. http://tinyurl. com/2zalp4
Steve Saint was five years old when his father, missionary pilot Nate Saint, was speared to death by a primitive Ecuadorian tribe. In adulthood, Steve, having left Ecuador for a successful business career in the United States, never imagined making the jungle his home again. But when that same tribe asks him to help them, Steve, his wife, and their teenage children move back to the jungle. There, Steve learns long-buried secrets about his father's murder, confronts difficult choices, and finds himself caught between two worlds.
Content is derived from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation and other publications of Tyndale Publishing House


Comments: 18
True Christian Believers (Recited every Friday)
10 4 u
I just wanted to stop by since I am finally going through what is now listed as under 5,100 pieces of gather new mail that is sitting in my inbox on here.
With that mentioned I just came across either a mailing from you yourself, or someone else brought this piece to my attention. You or they felt that your creation should be shared with the gather community, which I am very glad that it was passed on to me to view. So I wanted to say Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to publish it here on gather for us to all view. :o)
As well before I leave you I wanted to wish you a Happy New Year... in 2009 :o)