Missing Immediate Obedience

July 31

6:28AM...rang out in orange lights on the digital clock by my bed yesterday morning...I'd stayed up late watching the Olympics and really wasn't ready to greet the day.  My husband came in the room to say he'd been up since 3:30AM... Moses had demanded to go out and moon gaze. No sooner had we finished chatting than I saw the "red ball rising" in the east.  "Get your camera," I sensed God saying.  Instead I decided to open emails.  The first one was the Adrian Rogers devotional below.

July 30

Obedience Brings Blessing

“Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.” - Jeremiah 7:23

In 2 Kings 5:10, we read that God chose to heal Naaman, who was a leper, in a very unique way. God told Elisha to tell Naaman to wash seven times in the Jordan and he would be healed.

Why seven times? Why not eight or five times? Because the number seven is the number of perfection in the Bible. One is the number of unity. Two is the number of witness. Three is the number of deity. Four is the earth number. Six is the number of man.

When God told Naaman to dip seven times, He was saying, “If you want Me to bless you, not only must you obey, you must obey perfectly.”

If you want God’s blessing upon your life, you cannot just obey in part, you must obey perfectly. What wife wants a husband who is 85 percent faithful to her?

 Enough said.  Grabbing a robe and my camera I scampered down the spiral stairway off our screened porch and dogging sprinklers, I headed towards the sunrise.  In just those few minutes I'd missed it.  Ugh.  I thought back to all the times I'd missed "immediate obedience".  I knew what God had in store for me that morning was not the sunrise, but something "deeper".  Turning my heart to Him I was ready for whatever the morning held.  In the next few days I will unfold the various elements to the story...truth be told, I know there must be something coming.  Something much bigger where I will need to have Immediate Obedience.
Sensing the instruction to turn from my favorite wide water view and walk back to our cove, I continued to dodge sprinklers and came upon this scripture sign.  A reminder it is not about me, but about God and the gift of his Son.

 Deciding the pontoon would be a good place to ponder, I went to sit down and saw this orange fellow. I am NOT a spider fan.  I've had my share of spider bites, so this was an immediate distraction. At first glance he appeared to be dead and caught in this web, so I sat down beside him!

 Ah, but he was only sleeping and my presence sent him scurrying up a sticky strand of web thread to the pontoon boat cover.

My mind drifted to Beth Moore's study on Patriarchs, which I have just embarked upon.  I recalled Abraham's encounter with God and wondered if I might get to see God's glory.  Living EXPECTANTLY is thrilling.There is a large old turtle who has lived in our cove for years, but he is rarely seen.  I wondered if God was planning on speaking to me from the depths of my heart and He would surface today.  Thirty minutes had passed and lessons on reflections and ripples occurred and will follow. My husband came out to leave for work and hollered..."You be careful!"  Then he jogged down and took a picture of me in my short robe and long nightgown on the back of that boat, before he left.  :)

Then it happened...the big bubbles, the ripples and the turtle's head.  Before I knew it his shell surfaced as well.  Wanting a better shot, I stood up on the back seat of the boat and I guess my RED nightgown startled him and he expediently dove under with a splash!  It was so exciting!

I didn't want this time with the Lord (or the turtle) to end.  Heading back to the house, I could hear the phone ringing.  It was my husband.  Knowing the spiritual battles we seem to draw into our lives, he was certain I had fallen in the lake with my camera!  He just needed to hear my voice and remind me once again to be careful.  In his wisdom he knows when one gets in immediate obedience mode life can get wild!


Off to jury duty today!  Bet there will be some life lessons in that environment!