Even Further

Philippians 2:8-9 "And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminals’ death on a cross. Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name"

The process of being obedient is not always easy. There are many obstacles and barriers that can get us sidetracked along the way. We have fears. We have temptations. We face things every day that keep us from doing what God wants us to do. Sometimes it is the self talk when we tell ourselves that we are really not able or we don’t really want to.

We want to run away sometimes. Sometimes we even want to hide. We may feel that it is just too much to handle. We think that by obeying we have to do something that no one else has to do. That may or may not be true but running away from the issue will not solve anything. It will just create more issues and more guilt.

If we obey allowing God to work through us when we have issues, when we have fears or temptations, then we can allow Him to give us the strength we need. When we obey Him fully, rewards will come to those He wants them to. Honor will come as well as respect. We can become better leaders for Christ when we obey.

The rewards and honor outweigh the reasons we hold back; however, we hold back because of what we really don’t know and what we really can’t see. We can only see what is in front of us today. We can decide if we want to stay where we are and not obey or if we want to move forward in faith to do God’s will and see what rewards and honor He has in store for us and others.

Our duty to obey is not just for rewards and honor; it is to help others; however, God will reward those who obey Him just as He rewarded His only son, Jesus. Living in obedience to God’s command is not going to be easy but, when we move through the issues, we will see God’s plan and how He can make a difference through us.

When we humble ourselves before God and give even further than what we are supposed to do, God will use us to be a blessing to others. He will lead us to the people He wants to communicate with. He will show us what His will is to help another person. We need to step out above and beyond of what we feel like doing and make a difference. We need to put ourselves out in situations where we are not so comfortable and go even further than we think we could go on our own knowing that with God, all things are possible.

We need to “obediently humble” ourselves “even further” today. We know what we need to do today, but we need to seek out things to do that are over and beyond what we planned to do. We need to remove those obstacles and excuses and look for ways to make a difference. God is waiting. Let’s not disappoint Him.