A Short but Often Used Word

A Short But an Important Often Used Word
                                       

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There is a word, 
     a short word so often used.

It begins most questions.

It often is the response to answers.

This word drives us to learn new information.

This word can cause us great pain,

   but it also leads us to great accomplishments.

This word causes us to loose sleep,

   but, it also comes to mind as we wake up.

This word is a great motivator,

   but also, causes us great worry.

This word begins the questioning of our existence,

   but, leads us to the answer.

The word is:  Why

Why do we desire love?

Why do we exist?

Why do we want and desire to live
     in the many Trials and Testing of our daily lives?

Why do we sometimes want more

but often settle and are very happy with less?

Why do we desire relationships?

    

Why do we seek something beyond our existence?

Why do forgive and seek forgiveness?

Is the Self Will to Live and Survive part of our DNA?

   If so, why is it there?

If that Will to Live is not in our DNA,

    Then why do we feel it so strongly?

In our desire to live

   Why does a person choose to die to save someone else,
       even when it is a stranger.

What is stronger-   The Will to live or Love?

John 3:16 NRS

New Revised Standard

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
  so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but
    may have eternal life."

Read John 3 NRS  |  Read John 3:16 NRS in parallel  


In seeking the Kingdom of God,

     in searching for the answers to 
         Why we are on this rock called Earth, 

                God will reveal the answers.
We just need to keep 
    asking and seeking His answer to all our "Why?"s.

We are not here just to survive, God made us to thrive.

In reading the Bible, often we do not understand what we read due to insufficient knowledge.  We just have to keep reading, take in what we understand, re-read, and re-read, pray for understanding, and read again.

Because something is hard to understand, that is no reason to give up.  I read and read scripture, newness and greater understanding of Scripture often comes but, so very often understanding comes when I least expect it.

Be patient, believe and trust, and
     understanding will come.

Why do we desire to love?
    Seek Jesus, Accept Jesus, understanding will come.

Thanks be to God.

Lonnie

Something about me-   My Faith, My Renewal, Understanding Gifts of the Holy Spirit

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Scriptures to consider for your life and future Bible Study discussions.

Ephesians 2:8 NIVNew International Version

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--

Matthew 17:20 NRS   New Revised Standard

Jesus  said to them, "Because of your little faith. For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

Romans 10:17 NIV

Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

Matthew 26:41-42 NKJV

41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done."

© lonnie coggins

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ldcoggins@gmail.com              www.adailythought.NET

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Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie

Publication  0216


intro

There is a very important word in our English language.  There is a word like it in probably every language.  Click the Link to see read about it.  Please share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications.  For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".

http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2014/08/a-short-but-important-often-used-word.html

Why Do We Doubt God?

Why Do We Doubt God?  

                                       

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Jeremiah 29:11

11For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

<< Jeremiah 29:10Jeremiah 29:11Jeremiah 29:12 >>

Read Jeremiah 29:11 in contextRead Jeremiah 29View in parallelCom

It is not amazing that people have doubts about God. Perhaps in doubting God, very likly we are doubting ourselves.  How can we doubt the very God who is so intelligent that He created this universe and did so in a way that demonstrates that from what science can tell us, the universe is very likey created only for us on this rock we call Earth.  

As humans, we are very adept, very good, and do a very excellent job at setting ourselves up for self-inflicted disappointment in our Creator God.  I do not claim to present here the final word on why we doubt God.  But, here are some thoughts on why we doubt God, these thoughts are simply that, thoughts for your consideration:

A-  If we pray, we pray too much expecting our wants to be supplied and disappointed when they never come.  We have to realize that God is not and never has been in the business of supplying our wants.  If He did, He would be busy 24x7x365 just trying to keep up with our us and our wants.  If God supplied our wants, they would be never ending.  Rather, God is in the business of supplying our needs and supplying those needs when He thinks we need them.  In this, we have to learn to be patient.  And that is so very good for us.

B-  But, again, we set ourselves up for disappointment in our praying just for our needs.  When praying for our real needs we are far too impatient in waiting on our needs to be met.  God provides for us, our needs, in His time.  We must remember that His time, His schedule is not on our time table.   We have to keep this in mind and this is important because if he gave in to us upon our demanding our needs on our time table we would begin to feel entitled to what we need and very likely want more.  God is not in the business of supplying our wants but He does provide for our needs and in faith we have to accept our real needs will come at just the right time.  In patiently waiting on God to fill our true needs, we demonstrate our Trust in God, Trust in our Salvation, and our Trust the Guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Most assuredly, our Love, and in our love, our Trust is God's great desire from us.  It is the same relationship good parents have with their children.  Again, all this is good for us and does not harmus.

C-  Another disappointment we set for ourselves leading to disappointment in God is thinking we have to know everything.   We rightly think that God is in control, but we then often insist on knowing why bad things happen to good people while good things happen to bad people.   God shows He is in control by allowing people to have a lot of control in their circumstances.  That is God's Circumstantial will.  Rarely does God step in and change our circumstances, even when bad people do bad things to us or especially when we behave stupidly.  He wants us to live in faith, not in the fear of His judgment; He wants us to live in the Guidance of the Holy Spirit and not in expectation of His control saving us from our behaving not only badly but also stupidly.  God Loves us, Jesus Saved us, and the Holy Spirit leads us in our daily living.  But, we have to properly respond in love and trusting God.  We fail God, we sin, by creating undesirable circumstances when we fail to Love God, fail in accepting Salvation, fail in Trusting Him with our lives or deny the leading of the Holy Spirit.  But, in all of this, God is still in control.  We can deny Him, we can even say that he does not exits.  It is stupid behavior on our part, but God is God, His genius created this universe, and He is in Control.  With God in control, why do we fail to Trust Him with the very live He created, our own.

D-  In our human condition, our most basic problem is not fully trusting the Creator God of the universe.

Maybe the mistrust comes from a prayer that seems never to be answered.  Maybe we prayed hard for a friend to live that was involved in a terrible accident, and died.  There are many bad circumstances that come to us, we pray, and our answers often do not come as we prayed.  We have to understand, that in Faith, God rarely changes our circumstances just to satisfy our prayers; but leads us through our prayers and through our Trust of Him to survive our circumstances.  But again, the reality, is that if we mistakenly think God fails us then it is because of our misplaced selfish expectations in our circumstances.

----------- Comment---------

We have misplaced expectations because we fail to understand His plan for us.  We fail to understand His plan for us because we fail to properly seek His plan for us.  And then, if we seek His plan for us, we often do not like it because it is so in conflict with our own idea of what we think His plan for us should be!  

Because if we think His plan for us is not good or unreliable it is because we do not trust Him.  We just come to the mistaken conclusion that God is unreliable.

Because we think God is unreliable we doubt Him.

We doubt and we do not Trust God primarily because of just one element in our lives- our sin - and especially the sin of  our selfishness.

We all have to get past our selfishness, seemingly for many of us, everyday.  Pray, often everyday for the Holy Spirit to lead you from selfishness and to Trusting God.  In being born with a will to survive, it helps keeps us alive, but out of that will to survive we develop selfishness.  And that selfishness also kills us and can destroy our relationship with God.  Pray daily for the Holy Spirit to continually lead you, lead you in all you think, say, and do; lead you to Trusting God, and Trusting His plan for you.

Do not bargain with God, it is an attitude of arrogance.  Trusting God begins in our daily Prayers, humble prayer, prayer without specific expectations, prayer in seeking what God wants for us to do with our lives, prayers for the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, above all, prayers in humbleness. 

Humble prayers, they will change your life.

"To have the Holy Spirit in your heart you must pray.... and pray...... and pray........everyday... often........ often everyday.

Seek and feel the Guidance of the Holy Spirit by praying.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to Guide you in everything you think, say and do.  This my friend, will change your life.

Thanks be to God.

TB2G

© lonnie coggins

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You can print the message including this sharing message only for your friends and for non-profit.  You will have to copy and paste the message to a word processing document.   After you copy and paste add the following at the end of the message:

© Lonnie Coggins
ldcoggins@gmail.com

If you desire to use any of these messages in a For-Profit manner you must contact me (email) for permission.  Typically, I will most likely give permission.

Please email me if you find any broken links in this message.

lonnie

Publication  0202

intro
God has a plan for us, we must seek it, embrace it, and Trust Him as He unfolds it before us.  Click the link so read why it is so hard to do so.   You can share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications.
http://lonnieadailythought.blogspot.com/2014/01/why-do-we-doubt-god.html

Thoughts on the Danger of What "I" Can Do

Thoughts on the Danger 
   of What "I" Can Do
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For a long time in my life I thought I was a pretty smart guy.  
While in the Air Force "I" did some really neat stuff,  "I" was successful in business and teaching careers.  

"I", at age 24, developed for a Vietnam combat required emergency the navigation techniques to air-drop a 2000 lb bundle from 10,000 feet and consistently hit the leading edge of a soccer field.  

"I", as a young first lieutenant took that airdrop project to Vietnam, trained about 20 other crews how to do it and helped save the lives of 300 soldiers surrounded by 40,000 bad guys.  One of the best job activities I have ever been a part of.

"I" 'saved' my crew one monsoon rainy, stormy night, when almost out of gas and no visibility outside the cockpit of our C-130 plane, and ground control could not 'paint' our airplane because of the storm, "I" used "my" navigation skills, "my" talent, and "my" abilities to talk the pilot to the runway.  The pilot never saw the runway until I told him to flare (pull up) the nose and settle the plane for landing.

"I" started and had a successful business.

"I" was a good middle school teacher.

"I" did a lot of unusual stuff very successfully in my life.

BUT,

     my first night in Vietnam I was so scared of dying that I knew that on the next day I would not be able to function.  It was staggering great responsibilities I felt for what I had ahead of me the next day.  For some reason, that night I prayed, something I had not done in years.  In that prayer God relieved my burden and the next day "I" started implementing the air drop procedures and process described above.

In those next days, "I" also forgot about what God did for me.  It took me 37 years to come full circle to realize and came to understand that "I" had done nothing.  I had also prayed about how to do the process of dropping those bundles on the soccer field and God had shown me the way.  God truly showed me how to do that airdrop procedure, God relieved me of my burdens and then, .. I forgot about Him! Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

If I have learned anything in this life, 

whatever it is that we do, 

we do more if we allow God to direct our lives.  

In my lowest moments in those days now 41 years ago, 

God, 

when requested through prayer, 

lead me to the solutions,
calmed my heart
and helped me save many people.

It often comes to mind that I could have done so much more in those 37 intervening years if I had prayed daily as earnestly as I prayed in those days of the Spring of 1972.  Prayers came to me from time to time, mostly in times of crises and I prayed often when teaching my SS class, praying for Guidance of my words.  But, only on the rare occasion of a crises in my life did I pray.  I do not remember praying about business decisions, family decisions, even if I should teach middle school.

On our own, we may do some good things with our life.  But, I thank God He showed me His power in those prayers in those hard days of 1972 and what He can do through me when I allow Him to guide me.  Again, I regret it took 37 years for me to realize that "I" is dangerous.

It is my testimony that the biggest problem of achieving our greatest accomplishment is one little word, "I".  God gives us our brain and its capabilities, he give us life and the breath to sustain live, He gives us the desire and will to do our best, and everything else we have.  We owe to Him everything we accomplish, for without Him we truly are not much more than dust, at best we are dirt, and maybe not even good dirt.  In giving everything we do to His Glory, He will give us more opportunities to serve Him.

A most simple direct example-- I do not consider myself much of a writer, but, when I allow Him to guide my words, some good words are on this page.  Maybe I am "wordy", maybe I mispell a word, drop a comma, maybe a hanging participle lingers around, maybe sometimes I do not even make a bit of sense, but I try my best, seek His guidance, and it seems to work.  All this, from a me, a guy that required three semesters to complete freshman college English Composition.

I appreciate you, my readers, for your encouragement. I write what I feel moved to write and a good many of you seem to like it, take the time to read, feel moved by it, and then feel encouraged to do more.

My testimony, "Seek ye first His Kingdom...", letting God guide you to where He wants you to be, and you and those around you will be the better for it.  (Matthew 6:33)

Above all, do not let "I", your inborn self-centered selfishness, get in your way of what you should be doing and being what God has planned for you.  Pray and pray and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and God will build your faith as the Holy Spirit guides your life into far greater accomplishment than what only "I" can do.

"I" is perhaps the most dangerous word we use to cloud our lives, hinder our vision, and hold us back in our doubts.  "Seek first the Kingdom", it is, after all, a command of Jesus!  

We truly are strongest and at our greatest potential,
when we humble ourselves to God 

asking for His guidance in all we accomplish for Him.

Thanks be to God,
lonnie

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10 Thoughts on Reducing Worry

Ten Thoughts on Reducing Worry

                                   

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Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
                                        for tomorrow will worry about itself.
                                        Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Have you ever thought about how fruitless the time is that you spend worrying about stuff that you generally have no control over.  Be concerned about what you can control and have an affect on, but seek to put behind you the worry about things you cannot change, correct, or control.

1. You probably will hate this one, too bad, get over it:
   Have no Credit Card debt over 45 days old.  More specifically, charge nothing you cannot pay off within 15 days of the next billing cycle.  Burdensome debt is a great source of worry and becomes a barrier to our relationship with God.  Anything that is a barrier to our relationship with God is sinful.
   ...
2. You must accept the fact that your wants are not your needs and your needs are more important than your wants and you are "...big enough for your wants not to hurt you."
   ...
3. Live within your means (income), buying what you can truly afford and be happy with what you have.   You probably have far more than most people in the world; bigger and faster is not always better.
   ...
4. Living in humility* does not mean you have to be a doormat but just because you think of something does not mean you have to express it.  It is better, more productive, and creates longer lasting friendships to express nice and thoughtful ideas much more often than expressing hurtful personal thoughts to others that are merely opinions and accomplish nothing more than creating bad feelings.   Seek to be on good terms with all people around you but never compromise your faith and Trust in God. (*Living in meekness or boldness)
   ...
5. You may not like this but... Accept the fact that people are generally selfish, including yourself, leading to sinful thoughts, behavior, and verbal expressions (*).  The fact that this selfish sinfulness may be a part of our nature is not excuse for letting it happen.  In that selfish sinfulness we must realize we should apologize daily for that sinfulness in our lives toward others.  Likewise we must be quick to forgive, especially when we receive an apology.  Similarly, forgive others, even without receiving an apology.  Harboring ill feelings toward someone hurts you more than the other person, who most likely will forget about the transgression anyway.  (*Psalm 51:5)
   
   ...
6. Accept and Live without doubt and in great, continuing, earnest faith that God in raising Jesus from the dead verified, sanctified, and made Holy the life and teachings of Jesus.  Because of this, we must accept Him as Lord of our lives living in obedience to God's will as set forth by the example and teachings of Jesus.  Repent (daily) as directed by Jesus in his first command to us for as we are selfish toward others, certainly we are sinful toward God.
   ...
7. Pray and Pray and Pray Everyday to be in the Will of God through the Guidance through the Holy Spirit.  This is the example of Jesus.
   ...
8. Read your Bible daily, participate in a Bible Study and Spiritual Church Fellowship weekly.
   ...
9. Realize that it is through God's grace you are given life everyday, everything you have comes from Him, He blesses your abundantly, and in that it is not too much to give back to Him 1/10th of your earnings, also known as a Tithe.
   ...
10. Above all, "...Seek you first the Kingdom of God."
    I promise- You will be blessed in ways beyond your understanding and your fruitless worry.
    
    For concerns and worries you cannot change, you need to give them up to God praying and relying on His power and His answers to what you cannot change, correct, and/or control!
    Matthew 6:
    

    Do Not Worry

    6:25-33pp -- Lk 12:22-31

    25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
    
    27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ?
    
    28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
    
    31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
    
    33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
    
    34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
    Thanks be to God
    To God be the Glory for anything I have done.
    lonnie
    
    
    
    © lonnie coggins
    
    
    For more on eliminating worry click:
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Publication 137

Jesus: The Master of Obedience

Jesus:                                                                                                     Return to Main Menu
   The Master of Obedience

This writing is a bit longer than most and is written in two parts to provide a break in the reading.  Both parts are in this document rather than two documents as I have done in other of my longer writings.

There is something about the word 'obedience' we do not like, yet, down deep in our innermost soul we know the behavior represented by that word is good for us.  

A Young Man Learns Obedience, the hard way.
A young man in my middle school classroom went to the bathroom everyday for the first five days of class understanding my rule about having only five bathroom visits during my class for the whole semester.  Beginning on the third day I reminded Steven that he better manage his bathroom visits or he would not like the way I would manage them.  On the fifth day I told him there would be no more bathroom visits during my class unless he brought a doctor's note indicating he had a medical problem requiring unlimited visits.  The next day, he brought a note from his mother indicating she had given him permission to leave my room anytime he wanted to for a bathroom visit and could disregard my instructions to the contrary.  Containing my laughter, I smiled and asked him, "Is your mother a medical doctor?" and  "No," was his answer.  "Well you cannot go to the bathroom, and if you do so without my permission, I will send you to the control room."  It was amazing to see the power of my few words; he never again had to go to the bathroom.  But in reality, Steven just decided to be obedient to avoid punishment.


The fullness of being obedient was something I learned at home.  And, it became far more than selfishly following directions to avoid punishment.  Now, in my early years, my daddy or mother on rare occasions took a paddle or a switch to me (a small freshly pulled pliable tree limb devoid of leaves), but I do not think I learned real obedience from that. Of course,  as a young child, I did not like the punishment of a spanking and especially not the switching (mother's favorite).  But, as I grew, I came to realize I disliked my inner feeling of failing my father when he had spanked me more so than the spanking as punishment.  As time passed, the bad feeling I felt was my understanding of failure to love my mother and dad enough to do what they asked.   What I came to understand is what they asked of me was good for my overall good and well being.  As children we have to learn to follow directions for our own good, for as adults, in many cases, we do the same, for our own good; in both cases, to avoid punishment.  But, with mother and dad, the desire to follow their directions (their will) came because of their love for me, not in fear of what they might do to me.   I came to truly understand "Father Knows Best".  It is the same with our love for God!   I really came to more fully understand all of this in becoming a parent.

Our Selfishness in Our Obedience

As a parent, when my son was maturing, I wanted him to follow my will for him because he loved me, not because of any punishment that may come from me (*1).  It is the same with God.

Most people understand the importance of being obedient, at least when they know the ramifications and desiring to avoid the bad consequences.  But, in our maturity we come to realize that being obedient more often brings good consequences for us and we become obedient for the positive rewards we receive.  If we follow a supervisor's directions at our work, usually we advance in our job, that is a positive reward, but the behavior has a selfish component in it.  Further, if we take the initiative, and see what needs to be done and do it, we usually are rewarded and recognized for what we have done.  With that comes not only the good feeling of getting the job done but sometimes many other rewards come such as respect of people around you.  But, some of this still contains selfishness and from that, pride too easily slips into our behavior.  The element of "what's in it for me?" attitude can still reside in our behavior.  

========================================
Part 2: What Jesus teaches us in His Example
================================

Now, do you think selfishness is why Jesus was obedient, even unto death?  I hope not!

Jesus was the Master of Obedience, and it was not for selfish reasons.

Real Godly obedience in following God's will in our behavior and our thinking comes from our maturing love for God, and that comes from our Trusting God.   This is the example of Jesus, the Perfect Leader.  In John 4:24 (see below in context) Jesus says, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work."  This means that for Jesus, His very essence, His very basis for living, His fundamental reason to exist was to do the Will of God!   Because God loves us and He know what is best for us, we should want the same!  This is what Jesus desired for his life and doing the Will of God is what Jesus desires for our life!  He is our Perfect Example.  However, for Jesus, Obedience came at an extreme cost, and He understood His cost long before the payment was made, yet He remained and persevered in being obedient!

Obedience 
      Without the Threat of Punishment

Perhaps the most amazing behavior of Jesus is His Obedience and in His obedience He persevered in His Self-Control (*2).  Imagine the Self-Control as He had to live with the human limitations of choice and at the same time limit His use of His power to affect, change, and directly control anything earthly He desired.  In His Self-Control, He chose to be Obedient to what God sent Him to earth to do- Set the Example to us on how to live, and be the Perfect Sacrifice for us to live in Grace, despite our sin!  In that Obedience He chose to never once, not one time to ever use His power to selfishly affect himself.  He never used his power to get Himself out of situations dangerous to Himself.  Jesus never used His power for any self gratification or self advancement.  Imagine the power to change anything He wanted and never used it for Himself.  He was always sacrificially living in God's will for His life void of any and all selfishness, even when others presented Him great temptations.  It is no wonder He prayed often.  

To achieve His Father's goals for His life He depended on His relationship with God and the gained strength He found therein.  To keep and develop the obedient relationship with His Father, He prayed often and without distractions in being alone.  In His desires came the Loving Obedience to do God's Will, He wanted to complete the mission God had for Him, and to do this, in His love of and for God He continued His prayers through His close personal relationship with His Father.

Learning to Love God

We live daily but survive eternally because of God.  God gives us the air to breathe, grows our food, causes the rain to replenish our water supply, the earth to revolve and rotate giving us seasons; all this supplying our needs and then adds to our basic needs His Saving Grace through Jesus Christ.   My parents saw to my needs in my early years, taught me how to live, and taught me how to have Righteous goals in life.  In these gifts of my parents I learned to obey first because of the fear of punishment, then love them because they loved me, and finally to be obedient because I loved them.  Even after leaving home, I desired to have a personal relationship with them, just as Jesus did with His heavenly Father.  I learned to live in part, not to disappoint my parents following the example of Jesus in living not to disappoint His Father.

In the same manner we should learn to love God.  In the beginning we may fear God, and that is not a bad thing, but when we see God for the ultimate provider He really is, we come to love Him just as Jesus did!  Our love for God builds because of a developed personal relationship with Him; and just as with Jesus, it takes communication through our prayers to achieve that relationship and in that relationship we come to be obedient to Him BECAUSE we love HIM.  We love God Not because of any threats, we love both God and Jesus because of what they did and do for us, out of their love for us!  In that, we should desire and seek to be obedient.  

In Jesus Christ, we have the Perfect Example of obedience.  We will never be perfect in our Obedience, but with a prayerful relationship with Jesus and God we can have the same desire as Jesus, the desire to love God, the desire for a personal relationship with God, and the great desire to be obedient to Him in that loving relationship.  Through that relationship of love, our repentance and His forgiveness, we then have eternal life with God, beginning now.

As we seek God for our lives, we do learn out of our love for Him, "Father Really Does Know Best".

Thanks be to God.

© Lonnie Coggins        
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Publication  0116

John 4:
29"Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ ?"30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."32But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."33Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"34"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.37Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

Many Samaritans Believe

39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."
REFERENCES
*1  My son was a great kid, never once did I ever have to spank him, mother only once.  He is a greater father, three times.  I do not know how he and his wife do it....But, the do depend on God, that really is the answer.
*2  'Self-Control', part of the Gift of the Spirit, Galatians 5:23