OBEDIENCE = LOVE

When it comes to God, obedience is NOT about feelings or the forcing of our will. It's not about fear and punishment or do-this-get-that. It not about a when-all-else-fails-obey mentality or an attitude of "Well, I better do this or else..."

Obeying God is about something so profound, so beyond what one perceives and how they react that once fully embraced, it changes us, our now and our future forever. It becomes the forethought that guides all action and the reactions that arise out of the deepest love one can know. To obey Yahweh is to love Him with absolute abandonment. Abandonment of self, abandonment of the me, myself and I. It is not normal to the ways of this world or human thought. On the contrary, we all relish in rebellion to varying degrees which ultimately makes life all about us, not realizing it leads us away from God, not towards Him.

Everything inside of us rebels against the simplicity of this basic truth. "Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things]–these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself]. And the world passes away and disappears, and with it the forbidden cravings (the passionate desires, the lust) of it; but he who does the will of God and carries out His purposes in his life abides (remains) forever." 1 John 2:15-17 

So then, love is action... it is by no means passive. "God so LOVED the world that He SENT..." Love compelled God to act. Therefore to obey God is love and to love is to obey. They are synonymous. They are inseparable. 

Obedience to God is BETTER THAN sacrifice; though sacrifice was a required response to a command; it was not definitively from the well of the heart but rather an act of the will. Religion sacrifices and says, "you see?" Love obeys out of love and says, "I know"! 

To God, obedience equals love... its just that simple. But as someone told me long ago... simple is the hardest thing to do.

© 2017 Steven Bliss

THE CONTENDING

This thought ran through my head this morning. I feel strongly that, like a baton, I'm to pass it on to you...

Every day is about contending... Whether it's over your physical body, whether it's over your mind, whether it's over your occupation or your personal needs or whether it's over just surviving this day; it is all about contending.

The faces may change, the circumstances may change but the fight is the fight. You are the boxer in the ring. It's you and whatever opponent you face. Every day is about contending. 

The war never ends. 

Therefore train. Know this, the one you face knows you, has studied you; has been in the war room strategizing and mapping out your defeat. Therefore train, learn and prepare. The best offense is a powerful defense. It is your fight, your battle to win. 

Never stop, never give up, never give in. You are greater than your opponent because God is greater in you! 

Whatever you do, no matter where you go, no matter how you feel at any given moment... YOU ARE NOT ALONE! 

Therefore, FIGHT the good fight of the faith. TAKE HOLD of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

Everything you will ever need is there. You are the conquering warrior whose hands are trained for war! 

If you read that right, everything in it is about contending. Contending means you're fighting. Contending means sometimes you get punched hard and you don't know if you'll recover. Contending means you go to the corner and sit down, get your wind back, patch up the wound, regroup, have those who understand and stand over you and encourage you (pray over you and with you) to get back in the ring and fight. You strategize as you learn your opponents weaknesses... and then you wait for the bell to reenter the fight. 

to CONTEND - kənˈtend

struggle to surmount (a difficulty or danger).

synonyms: cope with, face, grapple with, deal with, take on, pit oneself against

to engage in a competition or campaign in order to win or achieve (something).

synonyms: compete, vie, contest, fight, battle, tussle, go head to head; strive, struggle

It's never-ending. You're breathing… alive... you may be weak, down, overwhelmed and afraid... but one thing you are not is... ALONE! You may lose today, but today is not tomorrow. You may bleed now, but the wound will heal. Why? Because you are MORE THAN A CONQUEROR...and not JUST a conqueror... YOU ARE BEYOND A CONQUEROR! Why?

Because HE LIVES! HE IS ALIVE IN YOU!

© 2017 Steven Bliss

THE OPENING

In the early morning of September 14, 2017 at 2:30 AM I had a vision… it was a vision though I was wide-awake… I want to preface it by saying I've had this same vision over the last two years at least four or five times. So I'll tell you about the previous ones which sets up the one I had last night.

The reason I know I'm awake and not sleeping and that this experience was not a dream is because I have, in each instance, just gotten up to go to the bathroom and then laid back down for maybe 10 or 15 minutes in an attempt to go back to sleep. 

As I'm lying there with my eyes closed I see light flashing in my eyes like somebody is flashing a bright flashlight only with colors from a distance towards my eyes. I open my eyes ever so slightly to see what it is I am seeing. In each instance I'm looking squinty eyed at a pinpoint of light the begins to almost burn open like a flame burning through paper is the best way to describe it. My room has dark curtains and is absolutely pitch black. As the point of light opens clouds surround its edges as bright color surround the outside of it. I'm so mesmerized each time I see it that I stare intently at it knowing I'm awake because I'm thinking consciously and I can see it consciously as well as things in my room like my bookcase. 

I am only able to look at it for a few seconds when it's fully opened and then it begins to close and go away until I no longer see it.

So the first two times this happened there were just these beams of light that would expand into this beautiful openness behind the opening itself; an open sky with billowing clouds of this pure blue with colors flashing around its edges. 

The third and fourth time I experienced it a figure began to approach the opening. I could see what looked like a person moving towards the opening but I could not make out features. By the third and fourth time I was emotionally overwhelmed and so mesmerized by what I was seeing that my eyes would tear up and I’d begin to cry and feel overwhelmed, but I stayed with it till it closed each time.

Last night's was different. It's been close to a year since I've seen it last. Once again I had gotten up and gone to the bathroom then came back to bed and lay back down. As I got comfortable, suddenly the light began dancing on my eyelids, so I slowly opened my eyes and looked. I could see my bookcase in the background so I knew I was fully conscious. As the point of light began to open it looked more like flaming bright colors. I could see the sky as it opened behind it that looked like a liquid blue. This time the form began to take shape was not that of a human but that of a large head. As it came from a blur into vivid focus I could see its face... that of the likeness of a large male lion looking piercingly through the now emblazoned opening. As I stared intently my eyes began to tear up... He who was, and is and is to come rushed through my mind as I wept out loud… then suddenly, without warning the opening closed and everything disappeared.

© 2017 Steven Bliss