Day 324 - What Do You Really Want From Me? Obedience?

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries                         LMCM

Nacogdoches, Texas                                                           Gal. 2:20  KJV

Thoughts on Michael Wells’ teachings in My Weakness for His Strength - # 28

Michael’s book is available through:

Abiding Life Ministries International

Littleton, Colorado

(303) 972-0859       almi@abidinglife.com

This is a very profound “day.”  There is so much to “highlight” because one statement after another gives us so much insight into the wrong perceptions way too many Christians have about “what” God wants from us.  As you read the following, ask God to really open your hearts to His truth for you…

Day 324

What Do You Really Want From Me? Obedience?

He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?  --Micah 6:8

We always seem to make obedience the object of the Christian life, but obedience, as we think of it, is not the goal. Actually, God is certainly able to make us obedient if that is what He wants! He made Jonah obey, He made Paul obedient, and He made Pharaoh comply. He knows how to make us bow the knee, but that cannot be His preferred manner of receiving obedience. Paul says to imitate him because he imitated Jesus. Just what did he imitate? It was the fruit and root of Christ’s life that Paul was imitating. The fruit came naturally when the root was tended to, that root being dependence on Christ, just as Christ was dependent on the Father. So first we must define what we are to imitate, for attempting to keep the commandments of Christ without dependence on Him will lead to legalism, frustration, condemnation, and death. In the order of things God has told us what He wants from us: “To do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God!” I would like to focus on one thing, how to love kindness. It is an absolute that we are to love kindness. That means we must love the kindness that He has shown us, for if we cannot see that, how will we love it and show it to others? Basking in the mercy He has shown us will enable us to become intimately acquainted with it. Do you love or hate mercy and kindness? Many self-righteous believers actually hate it; in their flesh they want to be stronger so as never to be in need of mercy and kindness, and since they have avoided it, they cannot give it to others.  (also, because they think that if they are kind to a bunch of folks in sin, they are appearing to “agree” with the sin – condoning it)   Only in failure does the Lord reveal it to us. I can rightly say to the Christian whose failure has led to depression, “You do not love mercy and kindness, and you have never met them.”


We are to glorify the Lord. The word glorify means “to show forth what is true about,” and we are to show what is true about the Lord. What is true about Him? He is love, mercy, grace, kindness, and more. We show that this is true by believing and receiving it. In our failures people will see that one thing true about God is that we only rely on His righteousness and His extension of mercy to us. I know a pastor who begged for mercy from his congregation, they showed him none, and subsequently every man in that group encountered an untimely demise or unwieldy suffering. We take too lightly not our failures but our showing forth what is true about God. An old preacher started a meeting by telling something of his moral failures and then saying, “We are taking a break. You now know what kind of man I am in the flesh. If you want to leave, no one would blame you.” I wanted to stay! I could see that he had received something that I wanted, the mercy to be forgiven and the grace to carry on! Well, amen, who is like our God?

(underlining my emphasis)

I was sort of astounded when I first read Michael’s words (the ones I have underlined) speaking of Christians who have never “met” mercy and kindness.  Then I started thinking…every legalistic Christian I have known who has been so absorbed with the flesh has showed very little mercy or kindness to others whose flesh has controlled or gotten the best of them.  Amazing…to see that wanting the flesh to be so strong can lead someone to not want or need mercy and kindness.  Wow.  How many Believers are on the “obedience” treadmill?

Simply put…most Christians worry about the “fruit” more than the “root.”  It is why so many never understand (and enjoy) the “Vine & branches” truths in John 15.  And so much of it hinges on a misunderstanding of that one word: “obedience.”  As Michael points out, “Obedience, as we think of it, is not the goal.”

What do most think of when they hear or think of obedience ?  “I’ve got to do…perform, etc.  It’s everything in God’s eyes.”  What does God really want from us?  BELIEVE.  That’s what Jesus told the ones seeking Him in Capernaum (John 6:24-29).  That’s what Paul told the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:26-33.  All throughout Scripture, it is “believe and receive.”  So, to obey is to believe and receive, then watch the “root” bring forth “fruit.”  In fact, “believing and receiving” leads to God imparting faith.   It is His preferred manner of receiving obedience.   Christ works upon our obedient believing.  The goal is always JESUS!  The focus must be on Him.  Don’t I remember Michael saying something about the “hands” and focusing???

Think about it: under the Mosaic Law, was the power in the sacrifice, the water, the ashes, the sprinkling, etc., etc.?  No.  The power was in God who granted the cleansing through the person’s obedient believing, which trusted God.  This is what Michael told folks for years and years.  We “do” FROM, not in order to GET TO.  We believe God, and He does the work through us.

Think about it: the power was always in God Who “worked” when people exhibited obedient believing, because they trusted God…trusted His Word…trusted His promises.  It is the same way today.  There is a much stronger connection between believing and obedience than most give credit to.

Listen, if it is not of Him, it is of flesh.

Yellow – VIP, Very Important Point             Green – IT, Incredible Truth      

 Red – GP, Greatest Promises

Turquoise – UR, Unfathomable Riches           Pink – PV, Priceless Victory

Lee McDowell Christian Ministries

P. O. Box 633244    Nacogdoches, Tx 75963                                      936-559-5696