Is It Possible To Perfectly Obey God's Commands? (Part 3)

In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out--until the day it lifted.  So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels.  Exodus 40:36-38




The Israelites had done all the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Moses did everything just as the LORD commanded him.




Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.




We see two things from the word of God:


1. When we perfectly obey God by faith, God will manifest His presence with us. Jesus affirmed this to the 12 apostles:




"Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them." John 14:21


2. God's manifest and leading presence will be not only normal, but objectively visible. For us the church, this is the case.  We walk in the Spirit.  We are led by the Spirit.  This is the normal state of our lives, and should be as tangible as the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night with Israel. 


The Israelites did not travel or make a move until the cloud of the LORD led them.  This was  normal for Israel.  It should be normal for the church to follow the Spirit in the same way, everyday, in all of our travels.


But we don't experience this as normal because we don't obey God.  We don't do everything just as the Spirit commands us.


We stumble over the word "perfect."  We dismiss and dishonor this word, as though the word itself is a burden of sin.  This is a deception.


When you go to a restaurant and place an order, you expect the order to be "perfect."  You expect to get what you pay for.  You ask for steak, salad, and potatoes.  You expect to get these three items, cooked to your specifications.  You expect the cook to do everything just as you commanded.  And that's what happens.  The waiter says, "How is everything?" If you're eating what you ordered, everything is fine.  But if not, you tell the waiter what is missing, or imperfect.


So it is with following the Spirit.  The Spirit is leading me to write this blog.  I'm writing it.  I'm writing everything He's giving me, just as He's leading me to write it.  It isn't burdensome, too difficult, or beyond my reach to use the gift He's giving me.  In fact, I enjoy it. To follow the Spirit is the joy of my life.


When we follow the Spirit by faith, we can do everything just as He commands us.  And we will experience His manifest presence with us.  This is normal.  May we accept it as our reality.