Devotions with Pastor Dick Guilfoil

John 14:15
"If you love Me, keep My commands."

Our Lord never insists upon obedience; He tells us very emphatically what we
ought to do,

• He never takes steps to make us do it.
• We have to obey Him out of a oneness of spirit.

That is why whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an IF

• You do not need to unless you like.

Matt. 16:24
“Whoever wants to be my disciple, must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Our Lord is not talking of eternal positions, but of being of value
to Himself in this order of things, that is why He sounds so stern.

Luke 14:27 “Whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Never interpret these words apart from the One Who uttered them.
The Lord does not give me rules,

• He makes His standard very clear.

If my relationship to Him is that of love,

• I will do what He says without any hesitation.

If I hesitate,

• It is because I love some one else in competition with Him, “myself”.

Jesus Christ will not help me to obey Him,

• I must obey Him;
• When I do obey Him,
• I fulfill my spiritual destiny.

My personal life may be crowded with small petty incidents.

• If I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances,
• They become pinholes through which I see the face of God,

When I stand face to face with God I will discover that through my obedience thousands were blessed.
When once God's Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates.
If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me to other lives,
because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God.

Pastor Dick