ShiningLight: לשמוע בקול-- Obeying God --υπακούω

BEYOND MEASURE

"OUR DEEPEST IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE.
OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS THAT WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE. IT IS OUR LIGHT, NOT OUR DARKNESS, THAT MOST FRIGHTENS US.
WE ASK OURSELVES: WHO AM I TO BE BRILLIANT, GORGEOUS, TALENTED, FABULOUS? ACTUALLY, WHO ARE YOU NOT TO BE?
YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD. YOUR PLAYING SMALL DOES NOT SERVE THE WORLD.
THERE IS NOTHING ENLIGHTENED ABOUT SHRINKING SO THAT OTHER PEOPLE WON'T FEEL INSECURE AROUND YOU. WE ARE ALL MEANT TO SHINE, AS CHILDREN DO.
WE WERE BORN TO MAKE MANIFEST THE GLORY OF GOD IN US. IT'S NOT JUST SOME OF US. IT'S IN EVERYONE.
AND AS WE LET OUR LIGHT SHINE, WE UNCONSCIOUSLY GIVE OTHER PEOPLE PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME. AS WE ARE LIBERATED FROM OUR OWN FEAR, OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY LIBERATES OTHERS"

(Marianne Williamson - and quoted by Nelson Mandela 1994 at his inauguration!

Friday, April 26, 2013

לשמוע בקול-- Obeying God --υπακούω

This morning I am thinking about obedience. Obedience is key and so important in our relationship with our God.
In the Old Testament we find the word SHAMA
as listen, obey and hear. That reminds me of the Shama or Shema Israel, the post important prayer for the Jews. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one," I love Hebrew and how it encompasses more than just the meaning of the word - there is an action involved. To obey is to hear, listen and act upon it.

God needed his people to listen closely to His commands. For the human being, obedience is a difficult concept to grasp. It is easy to listen but then not so easy to act upon. We can see that throughout history. I can see that with everyone of God's people including me. Oh yes.
My heart is set on obeying God because I know He knows me best and He has the best for me. Yet, I find myself doubting or not acting upon it because of fear.
In the New Testament we find the word HUPAKOUO and PEITHO for the verb to obey. I love to look at the root of words and to look at the Greek and Hebrew so as not to miss out on the full meaning. In the Greek there is the connotation of being convinced of what to do when I hear and take heed. God tells us to obey so often...and with our obedience He fulfils His part of the covenant He has with us. With our obedience, there is always His promise attached.

There was a season when I felt God led me to take dance lessons, remember? I did not only do it because it sounded nice. God was teaching me something through it and He encouraged me to do it. I obeyed and enjoyed it so much. But I also learned a lot from the heart of the Father: the way how to dance with HIM and how to dance as man and woman in the right way. This season is over. I felt I needed to stop going to dancing and doing dance lessons. I still love dancing though and I take and cherish those lessons.
This season is a new one. God started to encourage me to go and learn how to play the guitar. I was ok with that but still hesitant. I don't read music and that would be hard to learn. But God's tuck on my heart would not stop. I found a music school a few weeks ago and now I just needed a guitar. God said: Well, you have not even asked me for one and prayed for me. LOL. That was funny. SO I did. Two nights ago one of my dear friends here said she would give me her guitar for as long as I need it. WOOOOOOOW. So this is how I am obeying God right now. I know He has some interesting lessons waiting for me. I am in awe and cannot wait!
I obey and my heart is to obey God, not men.