obedience – CadreMen Press

God’s Purpose by Kirk Hunt

But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Acts 16:28;30 NKJV
Please also read Acts 16:25-32

Every door of the prison swings open. The stocks and chains fall off all of the prisoners. The apostles stay right where there are, so they can complete God’s purpose.

If God sent you there, then He has a purpose for you to complete. Will you stay in obedience? Will you faithfully complete your assigned mission?

The situation in the Philippi jail is dramatic and fantastic. An earthquake opens the doors and chains, but does not destroy the building or kill anyone. The prisoners, including the highest profile inmates, do not leave. Then the apostles stop the prison warden from committing suicide.

Paul and Silas are not in jail for their own reasons. They are in position to fulfill God’s purpose. And their faithful obedience leads to the salvation of an entire household.

Where are you today, man or woman of God? You are not there by random chance or senseless accident. You are deliberately placed to fulfill God’s purpose.

God does not always send angels. Often, He sends mere men and women. His saints, deliberately positioned through faith and obedience, fulfill His purpose. And the Kingdom of God expands.

Maybe serving your purpose will only be seen by a few, in silence. Perhaps you will be thrust to the front of a crowd, in noise and furor. God has maneuvered you there for His purpose. What purpose will you serve?

Think: God ordered your circumstances for a reason.

Pray: “Lord, help me to serve Your Kingdom where You put me.”

This devotional is a ministry of CadreMen Press.

Send Me

Send Me by Kirk Hunt

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:

“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”

Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

Isaiah 6:8 NKJV

After standing in the very presence of God, and being purified by Him, Isaiah is in full relationship with his creator. God’s man answers God’s call for volunteers with simplicity and confidence. It really is as simple as saying, “Send me.”

Do not confuse simplicity with ease. Isaiah’s message from God was not comforting or reassuring. His message came during some of the most difficult and war-torn years of Israel’s history. Traditional sources say that Isaiah, like most of the Old Testament prophets, was murdered by his own countrymen.

The important part is that when God called, Isaiah answered. God’s man delivered God’s word with courage and integrity. Isaiah kept true to God’s calling, regardless of the circumstances or the reception.

If you have a full relationship with God, your response is simple. Your confidence is complete, in Him. Inconveniences, like martyrdom by your own nation, will not distract you.

Christian man or woman, you have a calling in God. Like Isaiah, start in His presence. Let Him purify you in His love, and your obedience. Then, when He calls, answer in simplicity and confidence.

The circumstances may be difficult. Their response may not be positive. It is all about your relationship with Him. If there is any doubt, stand again in His presence.

Think: How will I respond when God calls?

Pray: “Lord, when you call, please send me.”

This devotional is a ministry of CadreMen Press.

“Mother, Go With Me?”

“Mother, Go With Me?” by Kirk Hunt

And Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”

Judges 4:8 NKJV
Please read also Judges 4:4–9

Deborah sent for Barak, a leader and general of Israel. She confirmed to him that God had already commanded him to fight Sisera’s army, and promised him victory. Barak responded with “Mother, will you go with me?”

Barak faced a bigger, better equipped army. God told Barak to lead footmen against chariots (think infantry against tanks) and promised him a win. Barak, through faith, trusted God. Still, who could blame him for wanting God’s woman, a Mother-in-Zion, to go with him?

If you are one of God’s people, you run a risk. God, at any moment, may command you to face insurmountable odds with nothing but His promise. Barak went to fight a battle that military science said could not be won. In trembling obedience and imperfect faith, Barak went to war.

True saints with Real Faith™ follow God’s Word in confidence and trust. Real saints, like me, might want a trusted man or woman of God to go along. If nothing else, to constantly repeat God’s promise. Things are different when your life, legacy and liberty hang in the balance.

God, of course, delivered on His promises. Still, Barak kept a grip on Mother Deborah’s hand. Your faith, like Barak’s, may not be completely perfect, but God always honors our obedience.

Think: Trust God’s Word in your life and purpose. Take men and women of faith with you to help.

Pray: “Lord, my faith and trust is in You.”

This devotional is a ministry of CadreMen Press.

Your God Is The God

Your God Is The God by Kirk Hunt

The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.

Daniel 2:37-38 NKJV
Please, also read Daniel 2:1-11.

Daniel said the words the astrologers, the sorcerers, and the soothsayers could not. Daniel repeated the King’s secret dream in exact detail, then revealed its hidden meaning at the same time. Daniel proved that God is the God.

Too often, we confuse our assignment to be engaged and obedient with His power and sovereignty. Daniel was aware of Nebuchadnezzar’s impossible task, and the very serious death warrant he issued for failure to complete the task. After prayer, and n obedience, Daniel received both dream and interpretation from God, through a vision.

Daniel was careful to give credit to God for the completion of this impossible task. In reverence and humility, King Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged God is the God. Daniel’s obedience helped others to learn what Daniel already knew: only God is God.

Let God be God. Your part is to be engaged. Obedience to your sovereign God is the hard part. Watch as He proves, yet again, that He is the only God.

Think: Your God is the God. He is the only omnipotent, omniscient God.

Pray: “Father-God, help me to remember that You are the only God, and all I need.

This devotional is brought to you courtesy of CadreMen Press. You can purchase a copy of Blessed and Blessing: Devotionals For Gospel Champions from your favorite bookseller or directly from CadreMen Press.

Not My Own Will

Not My Own Will by Kirk Hunt

And Moses said: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will.

But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.”

Numbers 16:28, 30 NKJV
Please also read Numbers 16:1-40

Moses declared God’s Will, before witnesses. The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram ended with an abrupt, final, and unappealable act of God. Moses understood the mutiny of these men was not against a human leader, but directed at the sovereign God of the universe.

As a man or woman of God, it is not supposed to be about your feelings, vision, or thoughts. You are an instrument of Father-God. From the first gasp through the last sigh, it is supposed to be God’s Will that commands and controls.

Do we, and they, sometimes forget who is supposed to be in charge of the universe, yet alone local affairs? To our shame and peril, we sometimes forget that God is big and we are small. Korah, and his co-conspirators, paid for their God-directed rebellion with their lives.

Make very sure you are performing God’s will and not your own. Your blessing and safety lay in Father-God’s will. And trust that God will address the mutineers at His convenience.

Think: Whose will am I trying to enact?

Pray: “Not my own will but Yours, Father-God.”

Obey And Live

Obey And Live by Kirk Hunt

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

Numbers 21:7-8 NKJV
Please also read Numbers 21:4-9

Not learning enough from Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16), God’s people again spoke against God, and God’s appointed leader. Because of their disobedience and rebellion, God sent “fiery serpents” among them. The cure for the sins of God’s people was an act of submission and obedience.

Moses, at God’s direction, mounted a bronze snake on a pole. Those suffering from snakebite had a simple test: look up and live. God did not remove the serpents, but He provided a way to survive serpent bites. If the people could exercise enough obedience and submission to do as instructed.

The powerless bronze image was a symbol or focus point for a man’s or woman’s obedience and submission. A heart submitted to God would understand the need for confessing sin and obedience. A mind and soul obedient to God’s command would look up and live.

You can choose today. Hearts, obedient and submitted to God, can live. Rebellious and disobedient men and women will suffer and die. Your choices are that stark and clear.

Think: Am I willing to be submitted and obedient to God?

Pray: “Lord, I choose to be submitted and obedient to You.”

A Mother’s Confidence

A Mother’s Confidence by Kirk Hunt

Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

John 2:4-5 NKJV
Please read John 2:1-11

A wedding in the era that Jesus walked among us, was a major affair, important for the entire community, not just the family. To prevent an embarrassment of epic scope, Mary asked her Son, Jesus, for a literal miracle. Despite His answer, she acted with a Mother’s confidence.

Running out of wine would be a humiliation for everyone involved with the wedding. Mary, somehow connected to the affair, knew who could help. Despite His refusal to act, she committed her Son, as only a mother can.

The miracle of the Cana wedding proves that Jesus is concerned about every aspect of our lives. What concerns you concerns Him. As fits in His divine plan, Jesus acts on your behalf. Mary knew and understood Messiah’s power. She acted in the confidence that comes only from strong faith.

A mother’s confidence in her child is a special, beautiful thing. A mother’s confidence in Jesus Christ is also special and beautiful. Man or woman, boy or girl, you can act with confidence through faith in Jesus. Because He already cares for you.

Think: My confidence comes through my faith in Jesus.

Pray: “Lord, strengthen my faith so that my confidence in You.”

Healing in The Spit

Healing in The Spit by Kirk Hunt

When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

John 9:6-7 NKJV

Faced with a blind man, Jesus chose to make mud with His own spit then anointed the man’s eyes. Some would call Jesus’ actions humiliating. The blind man called those same actions healing. Too often, we are more concerned with the means rather than the outcome.

Healing the man’s blindness was the important part. The means of healing were far less important. So the blind endured having spit and mud rubbed on his eyes. He obediently followed Jesus’ instruction to wash his face in a specific location.

The blind man wanted to see. The indignity of his healing quickly gave way to the joy of vision. The price of God’s process is a bargain, considering the outcomes He gives.

Perhaps you feel that God has anointed your life with muddy spit. Maybe You feel humiliated as you follow His instructions to parade around in public before cleaning off the mud. God’s process does not always make sense to us, but His outcomes are always a blessing.

Follow His process and receive His ordained outcome. Your obedience is the price you must pay to receive His blessings. In the end, you will consider the whole process a bargain.

Think: Regardless of the means God chooses, it is the outcome that is important.

Pray: “Lord, help me to see what You doing, not how You are doing it.”

How To Correct And Rebuke Yourself

How To Correct And Rebuke Yourself by Kirk Hunt

“Your own wickedness will correct you,
And your backslidings will rebuke you.
Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing
That you have forsaken the Lord your God,
And the fear of Me is not in you,”
Says the Lord God of hosts

Jeremiah 2:19 NKJV

Instead of repenting and asking God for help, ancient Israel turned (again) to idolatry and foreign alliances. Their sin made them weaker. Their errors only served to speed up and intensify their correction and rebuke. The nation would be exiled in Babylon.

Israel came to understand, as early as their forced march to captivity, how choosing sin led to their downfall. Internal error, not external threats, led to their exile. Please know that self-correction and self-rebuke applies to whole nations as much as individual men and women.

Like the Prodigal Son, we come to ourselves in a humiliating circumstance (pig pen) of our own making. Our rebellion, lust and greed always leads us to a place of debasement away from God’s perfect will. Prayerfully, in that place of correction and rebuke, we turn back to Father-God. Know that God always loves us, despite our error and in the midst of our sin. Our chosen sin causes our separation, not His Heart.

God did not allow the Babylonians to exterminate Israel. In fact, God commanded His people to live, grow and increase during the Babylonian Captivity. Father-God loves you, even now. Allow the correction and rebuke of your circumstance to drive your heart back to Him in repentance.

Think: My self-inflicted correction and rebuke is an opportunity to repent.

Pray: “Lord, help me to repent and return to You.”

Be No More

Be No More by Kirk Hunt

Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.

Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

Psalms 37:34-36 NKJV

It sometimes seems that nothing can touch or impact the wicked. Do not be fooled, God’s justice and judgment cannot be delayed forever. The villains will (suddenly) be no more.

I confess, my heart and spirit too often look on with frustration and aggravation. The wicked and unrighteous seem to enjoy wealth and ease with impunity. It seems, to my natural eyes, that the villains are having a good time and winning easily.

Of course, I have to stop and see the situation with spiritual eyes. God’s faithful people possess now, and will inherit, good things and blessed circumstances. No matter how large wicked men and women live, they will disappear with hardly a trace.

My job is to carefully work out my soul’s salvation. If I can help anyone else reach Jesus, I am blessed in great measure. In the meanwhile, I do not have the luxury of worrying, from a distance, about the spiritual lives of other men and women.

Scripture promises we will all reap what we sow. The wicked will get their harvest, sooner or later. In the meanwhile, I am sowing as much good for His Kingdom as I can.

Think: No matter what they do, I must remain a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.

Pray: “Lord, help me keep my eyes on You.”