"As Far As"

 "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." (John 15:14 KJV)

  "And so it happened just as the Scriptures say, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith." He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone." (James 2:23-24 NLT)

  Believe it or not, but those three little words, "As Far As," were words I remember my mother saying to me, as the measure of my obedience to what I was told to do. It pretty much went something like this: 'You will be rewarded, as far as you do as you told.' In other words, the better you listen and obey, the greater life treats you, and better off you will be!

 To be clear, it really doesn't matter about how this life treats you, because if you are doing everything Lord is telling you to do, even the ugly and bitter things that happen in life, will be better for you! It really just depends on the close relationship you have with the Lord; the closer you walk with the Lord, the less life's issues will bother you. 

 We know good and well when we are not walking with the Lord as we should. We don't need to be shown the rebellion in our hearts, because it is plain to see; we just refuse to change our hearts. There is so much more we can do, as far as, we will allow ourselves to obey what the Lord tells us to do! The more we do, the more He gives us to do, because we faithfully obey what He tells us to do. Plain and simple! 

 By the way, spoiler alert: The brother that became ordained to give his twin brother Last Rights, took his place and was executed for him! He knocked his brother out, changed clothes with him, and gladly went to the chair; at the same time, praising God and forgiving his brothers accusers. When the other brother woke up, he realized what had happened; reaching into his bothers pocket, he found a note, and an invitation to speak at a local church. 

 We cannot do what God has called us to do, without being obedient to what the Lord commands...

"And the Lord replied, "A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns."" (Luke 12:42-44 NLT)