strengthens the conviction

"Obedience to Christ's commands strengthens the conviction that his words are true and from God."

*LORD willing, December's posts will be centered around themes of humility and meekness

who is your master?

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" {Romans 6:16}

the basis for the reward

"In Jesus' words, this need for sacrifice of self and obedience to God as the basis for the reward of everlasting life, is expressed as follows, 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it' (Matt. 16:24-25)."

if ye will obey

"Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine" {Exodus 19:5}.

the thought of obedience is unpopular

"The word 'obedience' is not popular today because it suggests the unpalatable thought of disobedience, and of sin and of some authority higher than man, such as God. If there is a God and Creator Who made man, and Who has given him laws to obey, then this runs up against man's desire for freedom and self-determination."

part of true discipleship

"There are things which please God--doing things secretly for men, giving, praying, self-denying. ...given the right safeguards and the true motive, it is definitely a part of true discipleship to engage in works of mercy towards those in need. Not grudgingly but cheerfully; not in theory but actually; not for self-esteem but for love's sake."

works are not the goal

"Works are not the goal. If you have only works then you will have only the phoney fruit... It has all the appearance of the real fruit (good works that spring from humanism or selfish or legalistic motives look convincingly like the real thing), and it may convince others or fool even ourselves what fine people we are, but it doesn't fool the One who looks directly into our hearts, not for one moment. God looks at our being, not at our doing. The two need to be in harmony. ... To spend your time putting on a show may have short-term benefits, like making people think you are good, or it might save you the aggravation of having to deal with criticism or rejection from those you live alongside, but in the long term it will breed anger and resentment and emptiness. That's what going for works without faith will bring--a bitter harvest, and not the fruit of the Spirit."

there is always more to do

"We are not told that our debt is paid and there is nothing more to do. We are urged to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, to follow Christ, to obtain spirit-help from the Word of God, and play our part to make it possible that God can be just and yet our justifier."

will this please God?

"Check every thought and word, and ask, 'Will this please God? Could I at this moment be pleasing Him better?' This wonderfully pacifies and harmonizes and unifies life, and gives it purpose. Set the goal of your life to bring everything into harmony with this, and to eliminate everything out of harmony with it. This is success."

obey in love

"Do everything in love: love of God and love of man. Forget yourself. Forget all your own desires: they will never give you any real satisfaction--only frustration and disappointment. There is nothing there: so quit looking for it there. Get independent of personal pleasure and desire. That is the greatest emancipation possible. It frees you to get into the real joys and satisfactions--which are all in love of, and work for, God. This beautifies the character and purifies the flesh."

opposite of the world's conceptions

"To find our life, we must lose it. To exalt ourselves, we must abase ourselves. To rule, we must serve. To conquer, we must yield. To attain our own welfare, we must seek that of others. Everything is the reverse of the flesh's way and the world's conceptions. ...Forget yourself in outgoing service and love, and you'll be happy."

eagerly fill every moment

"True brethren and sisters of Christ will be perpetually thankful for every precious moment of time that God gives them, and will eagerly fill every moment with joyful usefulness in His glorious service."

God demands obedience

"Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you." {Jer. 7:23}

hear and do

"Hearing is good but the Truth is realized most by hearing made incarnate by obedience. Indeed a man who only hears and never acts is really half false. Everything we do--good or bad--tends to permanence. Every choice taken leads more in the direction of that choice. The man who hears and never does, has no permanent realization of what he ought to be like."

unwavering

"Unwavering obedience to the true principles we learn will assure us spiritual survival."

sin is opposite of obedience

"Think what sin is--it is the satisfying of the natural appetite outside the realm of God's law."

discovering truth

"The secret of discovering real spiritual truth is by spiritual obedience."

must live the Truth

"Our religion cannot become a collection of formalities and empty tradition. The Truth is not something to be speculated upon and not to be done."

obey in thought

"Our thought is in bondage to truth, our words to the laws of language, and our deeds to the rights of others."

inwardly obeying

"Obedience is more than outwardly obeying with a resentful, grudging attitude. Obedience means inwardly obeying, from the heart, with eagerness and cheerfulness. True obedience means obeying even when it's hard."

do for God

"Nothing is unimportant when it is done for God."

to higher levels rise

"When'er a noble deed is wrought,
When'er is spoken a noble thought,
Our hearts, in glad surprise,
To higher levels rise."

channel our strength

God willing, November's posts will center around obedience.

"We may pray to God that we may conquer some weakness, but if we do not channel our strength of will into that which Yahweh requires of us, we will fail."