Do Not Abandon Obedience to the Lord

During my coffeetime with Jesus this morning I felt impressed to look back at my journal and read the entries I made while on vacation with Debi in Mexico last year. Following is one of those entries:

"Debi was sick for six days last week. I prayed for her many times, in many ways (command, request, plea) but she was not healed. I wondered why not. This morning I read the following in John Wimber’s book, The Way In is the Way On:

'At times I wondered if I was crazy to keep teaching on the subject of healing with no visible benefit to the congregation (no one was getting healed). This was a test. I asked myself, 'Can I continue to believe and practice what the Scriptures teach regardless of the results?' I had to answer, 'Yes.' I had learned that being embarrassed was not sufficient reason for abandoning obedience to the Lord (italics, mine). So we continued to pray for the sick in compliance with the Word. Once again, I felt humbled by obeying the biblical principle to pray for the sick with no particular guarantee that the Lord would ratify it. I had to prepare myself to continue to act on what I believed the Scriptures taught (italics, mine) even if it meant we saw no immediate results. The Lord taught me perseverance during this time. Whether it is prayer for the sick or a devotional Bible study, when we make commitments to the Lord to act on our beliefs, we can expect the enemy to challenge them.'

I just want to be encouraged myself, and would encourage each of you, let us not abandon whatever obedience to the Lord that He is calling us to. Be encouraged brothers and sisters. Stay the course. Do not settle for anything less than full obedience to the thing that the Lord is calling you to as individuals, as families, and as churches. Let us be leaders who prepare ourselves to continue to act on what we believe and know the Scriptures teach even if we see no immediate results.

In God's Unshakable and Extravagant Love,

Mike