In Touch 06-15-04

In Touch Daily Devotional
by Dr. Charles Stanley

Tuesday June 15, 2004
InTouch Early Light Devotional

Obeying God: The Measure of Our Love
John 15:9-11

God measures our love by our obedience to His commands. It is not enough that we know what His instructions are, that we agree with them, or even that we teach them to others. Obedience - an act of the will to align our lives with His commands - is required. God knows how hard we find it to obey. He hears us claim ignorance of His commands or a lack of understanding. Perhaps we tell Him we did not have the courage or the strength to obey. None of our excuses are acceptable to God because He has given us the Holy Spirit to help us obey.

The Holy Spirit is our teacher who will remind us of the commands we already know and pierce our conscience when we disregard them. He also guides us into the truth of Scripture so we cannot claim we have no way to understand it. He will strengthen us and comfort us when we encounter difficulties in trying to obey.

People ask if we are responsible to obey all the laws of both Old and New Testament. The answer is no. The ceremonial laws of Israel, including the sacrificial system, were fulfilled in Christ. In addition, God gave certain specific commands to the Hebrew nation that applied only to them. But the moral laws of the Old Testament apply to us, as do the New Testament commands.

If we ignore God's Word, we are being disobedient, and that communicates a lack of love. Say "I love You" to the Lord by opening Scripture and obeying what you find.

For free online one-to-one mentoring with Dr. Charles Stanley, visit www.charlesstanleyinstitute.com.

To delve deeper into this subject and more, visit the In Touch Web site: www.intouch.org.