I was reading something by John Piper the other day and it sparked a thought in my head that the Lord was good to elaorate on for me. I have a tough time with letting rules… well… rule me. I sometimes overvalue the importance of obedience over relationship. Then Sunday at Midtown Mike Breen of 3DM says that God puts the value of “being” before “doing”. God made Adam in His image to BE in His likeness. He then gave him dominion over everything. His identity and existence came before his duties and roles in Gods plan for him on earth.

This struck home with me. I’ll just be honest, I have a severe overly analytic mind and so much so that I can almost always talk my way out of identity and intimacy with God given the right pushes and pulls from the enemy. We know from Ephesians 6:12 that the devil is trying to destroy us and deceive us. His plan isn’t to kill us although he would if he could, but to do the next best thing since we have eternal life… keep us from tapping into the fullness of what God is offering.

All this being said, which is easier in… well lets say a marriage (and a healthy one at that), not going out to eat after work because your wife/husband tells you not to, or recognizing that they are probably cooking you dinner now and that if you decide to trust what they ask in love, your needs will be satisfied? This is exactly the situation we are put in all the time with God! He says do not give in to lust. Is it because He thinks its wrong, or because if we try to satisfy ourselves with it, we won’t allow Him to satisfy us? And honestly, I know that because we were created by such a great and powerful and loving God, that the amount of satisfaction we need can only be truly provided for by Him.

So what now will we choose? To allow ourselves to be continually deceived into thinking we need these self destructive behaviors that give instant gratification, or to yield and allow the God of Love to satisfy us in ways we have never thought imaginable? And to add to all this, in the faith that He is all we need, we WILL be obedient, and therefore give Him MORE glory!

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