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God looks with special interest and affection upon the one who is devoted to obedience. He said it this way, '"But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word"' (Isaiah 66:2, NKJV). It's fantastic to just imagine it: You're in the secret place with his word before you, and you're trembling at the prospect of his speaking to you; He sees your willing spirit and conceives of ways to honor your devotion. Wow! To tremble at his word means firstly that we long for him to speak, and secondly that we tremble with ready diligence to act upon the word that comes. When we tremble for his word with this kind of keen anticipation, he fastens his gaze upon us in order to do good on our behalf.

In my opinion, one of the most powerful statements Jesus made on earth is right here: "'He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him'" (John 14:21, NKJV). Jesus said obedience is the proof of love, and love brings us into incredible intimacy with the Father. Furthermore, obedience unlocks the affections of Christ and his self-disclosure to the human heart. There's nothing more I long for than for Jesus to manifest himself to me! For the hope of beholding him I will embrace any and every command of his mouth. I choose to obey him, not because I am energized by watching my obedience change people's lives, but because his presence is so sweet when I obey. My heart is enflamed with zeal for his closeness, and obedience only fuels that fire.

Obedience Builds Unshakable Foundations. "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them,
I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew
and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded
on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine,
and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his
house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And
great was its fall" (Matthew 7:24-27, NKJV).

You will notice that the storm comes both to those who do Jesus' sayings and those who don't do them. No one is exempt. Storms are most certainly headed your way. The only question is, will you survive? Will your foundations be strong enough to sustain the winds and floods? Those who walk in radical obedience have made themselves ready for the storm, and they will overcome. '"Oh, that you had heeded My commandments' Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea'" (Isaiah 48:18, NKJV). The greater the winds that assault the obedient, the more his righteousness rises up like mighty breakers, crashing on the shore in majestic thundering.

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