Obedience es Better Than Sacrifice

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Hello friends,

Why am I leaving Vineyard Church? Many of you have asked me this question following the announcement I recently communicated to you on my social networks. Yes, after serving more than 10 years in full-time pastoral ministry I decided to leave the Vineyard, which has not been an easy decision, but a necessary one.

One step of obedience brought me to the Vineyard, and another step of obedience years later bids me farewell to the Vineyard. Because nothing lasts forever.

Obedience has been an essential part of my walk with Jesus for more than 25 years of ministry. For that reason I have titled this first blog  “Obedience is Better than Sacrifices.”

Many of you may remember the story of the first king of Israel, his name was Saul. God told Samuel to anoint a king, just as the people had asked. Saul's reign over Israel began peacefully but the peace did not last. 

One of the many lessons we can learn from the life of King Saul is to obey the Lord and do His will. All he had to do was seek the Lord wholeheartedly, obey His commandments, and align his will with God's, so that his government would have been one that honored God. However, like many others, Saul chose a different path and strayed from God by being disobedient to the ordinance to kill all the Amalekites, but Saul spared the king's life and kept some of the spoils of the war. His disobedience cost him his reign. To which the prophet Samuel as God's messenger says the following in 1 Samuel 15:22a:  

  

"Behold, obedience is better than sacrifices..." 

In this verse, the prophet Samuel is telling King Saul that obeying the Lord is more important than offering sacrifices.

Obeying God means listening to his voice and obeying it.

On my journey of obedience to God:

• I left my country of origin, my family, work, ministry, friends, and everything I knew, such as the language and customs, to start from scratch a new, completely different life in the United States with my husband.

• I said “Yes!” to be the pastor of a Spanish congregation on the Vineyard and later “Yes” to lead the initiative to integrate the Spanish congregation with the English congregation.

• And I have recently said “Yes” to pursuing what God has next for me and my family. 

Changes are not easy, I confess. I could say that it is even terrifying to launch into the unknown.

That reminds me of the story of Abram (later called Abraham) when we read in Genesis 12:1

“The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your relatives, your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you.”

Wow, it's not in vain that Abraham is known as the "Father of Faith" because: 

• He believed in God against all hope

• Trust in God's promises, even if they seem impossible

• He was loyal to God

• He strove to walk with God

In short, in obedience I made the decision to leave the Vineyard Church to wait on God and what He has next for me and my family in this new season. Thank you for wanting to stay connected through my email list.

I want to encourage you in whatever season you are in, to seek God with all your heart and to listen to God's voice and obey it.

I leave you these questions for you to analyze in your time alone with God:

• What is God telling you?

• What are you going to do to obey him?

I hope you can share a little of your season with God. Until the next blog.