Welcome to You come to know God by experience as you obey Him, and He accomplishes His work through you. 1
If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. Whoever does not love Me does not keep my Words. And the Word that you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. John 14:15, 21, 23-24 Obedience is the outward expression of your love for God. The reward for obedience and love is that God will reveal Himself to you. If you have an obedience problem, you have a love problem. 2
God is love. His will is always best. God is all-knowing. His directions are always right. God is all-powerful. He can enable you to do His will. If you love God, you will obey Him! 3
If you know God loves you, you should never question a directive from Him. It will always be right and best. When He gives you a command, you are not just to observe it, discuss it, or debate it. You are to obey it. God doesn t give you His commands so you can choose the ones you want to obey and neglect the rest. He wants you to obey all His commands from your love relationship with Him. When He sees you are faithful and obedient in a little, He will trust you with more. The Holy Spirit will guide you daily to the specific commands God wants you to obey. 4
Because God is interested in developing your character, at times He lets you proceed in your wrong direction. But He will never let you go far without disciplining you to bring you back to Him. Obey what you already know to be God s will. Obey His commands. Affirmation comes after obedience. Obedience is the outward expression of your love for God. 5
Disobedience is costly. God does not always give second chances. If you have an obedience problem, you have a love problem. If you love God, you will obey Him. The reward for obedience and love is that God will reveal Himself to you. God reveals Himself to His people by what He does. 6
From your study of this unit, what were the most meaningful statements, ideas, or thoughts for you about the church? Apart from the other members of the church (the body), you will not be able to experience the fullness of life God intends for you. 7
When one member is missing or is not functioning as God designed, the rest of the body will miss the fullness of life God provides for the church. The blending of what God is saying through me and what He is communicating through other members is God s will. When God brings the body to unity, we know the timing is right. 8
God can display Himself anywhere in the church you are willing to let Him place you. As we, as a church body, allow God to teach us how to effectively live as a body, we will see love and unity spring forth that we may not have experienced before. 9
Effective body life begins when each individual is rightly related to God in an intimate love relationship. It continues as all members become rightly related to Jesus Christ as the Head of the church. When God builds the church, He adds members to the body and trains them to match the assignment He has for that body. 10
Next Week As you study Unit 11, pay special attention to what you learn from First John about the way relationships with your Christian brothers and sisters indicate the quality and depth of your relationship with God. See you next week for 11