July 22 - Who's Your Daddy?
Likewise who's your master? You obey your master because you love it. I am not talking about the master you have to obey because of fear, like obeying authorities and bosses because of the fear of losing your job or being put into jail.
But the thing you spend the most time on, who or what is that?
Mine is pleasure. It takes the form of food and spending money on things that I love like art supplies. I obey it faithfully.
True obedience comes from giving yourself to the thing you love. I obey pleasure – I keep its commandments- because I love it with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. Sick right?
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15 (ESV)
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 2 John 1:6 (ESV)
Obedience and time spent proves what we have given our heart to.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Matthew 6:24 (ESV)
You cannot serve God and _______(fill in the blank)
Interesting that the above verse is followed by the "don't be anxious about your life" verses. How is gluttony and over spending money related to being anxious about your life? I will look at that further. I thinks it bears some thought and study.
So back to the question, Who's your Daddy?
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15 (ESV)
yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 1 Corinthians 8:6 (ESV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 2 Corinthians 1:3 (ESV)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Galatians 1:3 (ESV)
who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, Galatians 1:4 (ESV)
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” Galatians 4:6 (ESV)
For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:18 (ESV)
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Colossians 1:12 (ESV)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 (ESV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV)
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1 (ESV)
This is the goal, to transfer our love from idols to our Father. Then obedience will come from that. No more listening to the refrigerator calling my name and blindly obeying it to “EAT SANTA, EAT.”
New Necklace made with a beautiful cross that my co-workers brought back from New Mexico:
