#obedience — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #obedience, aggregated by home.social.
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Dogfirmations with Doofie and Dingus: Obedience
Dingus chooses divine direction over the comfort of approval.
#Obedience #Technology #ArtificialIntelligence #Animals #Photography #Dog #Nature #Pets #Affirmations #Art
View Dogfirmation: https://dogs.blackcatwhitehatsecurity.com/?dogID=198#today -
Control continues Mon – Fri 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST. Last day is May 22nd. I will be returning in early August. #LiveShow #Obedience
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# 13. The Manager as Minor Lord
Middle managers operate like minor lords in a fragmented empire. They enforce rules, demand tribute, and maintain order. Their authority is rarely questioned because the #hierarchy depends on their #obedience. -
Answer like a good boy. Routine or impulse? Which do you prefer? Tell me now. Be present. Follow with consistency. #MindGames #Obedience
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I want a straight answer. Do you like a steady cadence you can follow? Yes or no. Stay in my lane. Listen with guidance. #Obedience #TuesdayVibes
Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. EST -
**God is the narrative humans built to make obedience feel meaningful.**
If you’re going to follow rules, it’s easier to believe they came from the universe itself. Submission feels noble when you call it faith.
#Obedience #CulturalDesign #Anthropology #BeliefMechanics -
You keep asking God for clarity…
But He already told you what to do.
💥 The problem isn’t confusion.
💥 The problem is you didn’t like the answer.Because His instruction challenged you.
Required you to let something go.
Pushed you out of your comfort zone.So instead of moving…
You paused. You questioned. You asked again.If that hit you, this message is for you.
👉🏾 Read today’s powerful post:
https://wix.to/ZEK8cbd#Obedience #Discipline #TyroneTonyReedJr #FaithWalk #PurposeDriven
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You keep asking God for clarity…
But He already told you what to do.
💥 The problem isn’t confusion.
💥 The problem is you didn’t like the answer.Because His instruction challenged you.
Required you to let something go.
Pushed you out of your comfort zone.So instead of moving…
You paused. You questioned. You asked again.If that hit you, this message is for you.
👉🏾 Read today’s powerful post:
https://wix.to/ZEK8cbd#Obedience #Discipline #TyroneTonyReedJr #FaithWalk #PurposeDriven
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Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, “to be free from freedom.” It was not sheer hypocrisy when the rank-and-file Nazis declared themselves not guilty of all the enormities they had committed. They considered themselves cheated and maligned when made to shoulder responsibility for obeying orders. Had they not joined the Nazi movement in order to be free from responsibility?
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 5, § 26 (1951)More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/10751/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #burden #cause #collectiveguilt #control #escape #freedom #individual #movement #obedience #orders #responsibility #selfcontempt #selfdeprecation #selfdoubt #selfimage #selfliberation #selfopinion #selfregard #selfrespect #selfresponsibility #truebeliever
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Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, “to be free from freedom.” It was not sheer hypocrisy when the rank-and-file Nazis declared themselves not guilty of all the enormities they had committed. They considered themselves cheated and maligned when made to shoulder responsibility for obeying orders. Had they not joined the Nazi movement in order to be free from responsibility?
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 5, § 26 (1951)More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/10751/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #burden #cause #collectiveguilt #control #escape #freedom #individual #movement #obedience #orders #responsibility #selfcontempt #selfdeprecation #selfdoubt #selfimage #selfliberation #selfopinion #selfregard #selfrespect #selfresponsibility #truebeliever
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Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, “to be free from freedom.” It was not sheer hypocrisy when the rank-and-file Nazis declared themselves not guilty of all the enormities they had committed. They considered themselves cheated and maligned when made to shoulder responsibility for obeying orders. Had they not joined the Nazi movement in order to be free from responsibility?
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 5, § 26 (1951)More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/10751/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #burden #cause #collectiveguilt #control #escape #freedom #individual #movement #obedience #orders #responsibility #selfcontempt #selfdeprecation #selfdoubt #selfimage #selfliberation #selfopinion #selfregard #selfrespect #selfresponsibility #truebeliever
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Unless a man has talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden. Of what avail is freedom to choose if the self be ineffectual? We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, “to be free from freedom.” It was not sheer hypocrisy when the rank-and-file Nazis declared themselves not guilty of all the enormities they had committed. They considered themselves cheated and maligned when made to shoulder responsibility for obeying orders. Had they not joined the Nazi movement in order to be free from responsibility?
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 2, ch. 5, § 26 (1951)More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/10751/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #burden #cause #collectiveguilt #control #escape #freedom #individual #movement #obedience #orders #responsibility #selfcontempt #selfdeprecation #selfdoubt #selfimage #selfliberation #selfopinion #selfregard #selfrespect #selfresponsibility #truebeliever
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A quotation from Henry Commager
Who among American heroes could meet their [loyalty] tests, who would be cleared by their committees? Not Washington, who was a rebel. Not Jefferson, who wrote that all men are created equal and whose motto was “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Not Garrison, who publicly burned the Constitution; or Wendell Phillips, who spoke for the underprivileged everywhere and counted himself a philosophical anarchist; not Seward of the Higher Law or Sumner of racial equality. Not Lincoln, who admonished us to have malice toward none, charity for all; or Wilson, who warned that our flag was “a flag of liberty of opinion as well as of political liberty”; or Justice Holmes, who said that our Constitution is an experiment and that while that experiment is being made “we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death.”
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-07), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 2, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #conformity #conservatism #history #loyalty #loyaltytest #obedience #patriotism #rebellion #statusquo #unAmerican #huac #redscare
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A quotation from Henry Commager
Who among American heroes could meet their [loyalty] tests, who would be cleared by their committees? Not Washington, who was a rebel. Not Jefferson, who wrote that all men are created equal and whose motto was “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Not Garrison, who publicly burned the Constitution; or Wendell Phillips, who spoke for the underprivileged everywhere and counted himself a philosophical anarchist; not Seward of the Higher Law or Sumner of racial equality. Not Lincoln, who admonished us to have malice toward none, charity for all; or Wilson, who warned that our flag was “a flag of liberty of opinion as well as of political liberty”; or Justice Holmes, who said that our Constitution is an experiment and that while that experiment is being made “we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death.”
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-07), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 2, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #conformity #conservatism #history #loyalty #loyaltytest #obedience #patriotism #rebellion #statusquo #unAmerican #huac #redscare
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A quotation from Henry Commager
Who among American heroes could meet their [loyalty] tests, who would be cleared by their committees? Not Washington, who was a rebel. Not Jefferson, who wrote that all men are created equal and whose motto was “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Not Garrison, who publicly burned the Constitution; or Wendell Phillips, who spoke for the underprivileged everywhere and counted himself a philosophical anarchist; not Seward of the Higher Law or Sumner of racial equality. Not Lincoln, who admonished us to have malice toward none, charity for all; or Wilson, who warned that our flag was “a flag of liberty of opinion as well as of political liberty”; or Justice Holmes, who said that our Constitution is an experiment and that while that experiment is being made “we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death.”
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-07), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 2, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #conformity #conservatism #history #loyalty #loyaltytest #obedience #patriotism #rebellion #statusquo #unAmerican #huac #redscare
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A quotation from Henry Commager
Who among American heroes could meet their [loyalty] tests, who would be cleared by their committees? Not Washington, who was a rebel. Not Jefferson, who wrote that all men are created equal and whose motto was “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Not Garrison, who publicly burned the Constitution; or Wendell Phillips, who spoke for the underprivileged everywhere and counted himself a philosophical anarchist; not Seward of the Higher Law or Sumner of racial equality. Not Lincoln, who admonished us to have malice toward none, charity for all; or Wilson, who warned that our flag was “a flag of liberty of opinion as well as of political liberty”; or Justice Holmes, who said that our Constitution is an experiment and that while that experiment is being made “we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death.”
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-07), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 2, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #conformity #conservatism #history #loyalty #loyaltytest #obedience #patriotism #rebellion #statusquo #unAmerican #huac #redscare
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A quotation from Henry Commager
Who among American heroes could meet their [loyalty] tests, who would be cleared by their committees? Not Washington, who was a rebel. Not Jefferson, who wrote that all men are created equal and whose motto was “rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” Not Garrison, who publicly burned the Constitution; or Wendell Phillips, who spoke for the underprivileged everywhere and counted himself a philosophical anarchist; not Seward of the Higher Law or Sumner of racial equality. Not Lincoln, who admonished us to have malice toward none, charity for all; or Wilson, who warned that our flag was “a flag of liberty of opinion as well as of political liberty”; or Justice Holmes, who said that our Constitution is an experiment and that while that experiment is being made “we should be eternally vigilant against attempts to check the expression of opinions that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death.”
Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) American historian, writer, activist
Essay (1947-07), “Who Is Loyal to America?” sec. 2, Harper’s Magazine, Vol. 195, No. 1168More about this quote: wist.info/commager-henry-steel…
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #henrycommager #America #conformity #conservatism #history #loyalty #loyaltytest #obedience #patriotism #rebellion #statusquo #unAmerican #huac #redscare
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Discover the true cost of discipleship — a life of commitment, sacrifice, and obedience in following Christ above all else.
#Discipleship #Faith #ChristianLiving #Commitment #Obedience #SpiritualGrowth
Read here: https://www.ojgreenministries.com/cost-of-discipleship-meaning/
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Discover the true cost of discipleship — a life of commitment, sacrifice, and obedience in following Christ above all else.
#Discipleship #Faith #ChristianLiving #Commitment #Obedience #SpiritualGrowth
Read here: https://www.ojgreenministries.com/cost-of-discipleship-meaning/
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We have to be honest: people have used faith as a veneer for hatred for far too long.
But Biblical Christianity is the exact opposite.
Read the full breakdown of why love is the ultimate "litmus test" for faith here:
🔗https://downiefamily.wixsite.com/wherebreadisfound/post/the-love-principle-study-21-love-as-command
#love #Obedience #loveoneanother -
We have to be honest: people have used faith as a veneer for hatred for far too long.
But Biblical Christianity is the exact opposite.
Read the full breakdown of why love is the ultimate "litmus test" for faith here:
🔗https://downiefamily.wixsite.com/wherebreadisfound/post/the-love-principle-study-21-love-as-command
#love #Obedience #loveoneanother -
Struck Blind, Led By Grace
A Sermon of Encounter on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:1–19a)
(Note: Sermons can be heard in audio format at https://millersburgmennonite.org/worship/sermon-audio/)
Introduction
Last Sunday Rachelle talked about the disciples trembling in fear behind locked doors, only to have a surprise encounter with the risen Christ. As you may remember, last week I shared during the children’s story about a fearful encounter with a tornado from my childhood. Since I left you hanging at the end, and since there have been some inquiries about how things turned out, I wanted to finish the story.
I left the story with the windows of the school wide open, the skies dark and roiling with clouds, and we students and teachers sitting with our heads between our knees in the hallway, as I heard a teacher running from the office and the squawking Bearcat weather radio announcing that a tornado was heading right for us.
Well, unless I have somehow been replaced by a clone, you of course know I survived.
I did some research, and it seems the tornado in question was an F4—one step below the worst rating—that occurred on March 29, 1976. It started in central Mississippi and traveled 127 miles to Meridian. I was in third grade. I was scared.
If my memory serves me correctly, the tornado jumped over the school and tore the roof off a car dealership down the road. I learned that the tornado did kill three people. But it could have been much, much worse if the twister had landed on top of a bunch of scared children in Mt. Barton Elementary School that warm afternoon in March.
If we live on this earth very long, most of us will encounter forces greater than ourselves. Moments of terror. Moments of mystery. Moments when we are left trying to understand why we encountered what we encountered, why we lived while others died, why we had to face the experience at all. There are things that overtake us in this life—storms in the sky, storms in history, storms in the soul—and in those moments we feel very small indeed.
That is part of what makes Acts 9 such a powerful text.
Because Acts 9 is not just about a road.
It is about a man under orders.
It is about a collision with a force far greater than himself.Scripture portrays Saul as overwhelmed by the terrifying nearness of the risen Christ—fallen to the earth, blinded by glory, and reduced from a man of force to one who must be led by the hand.
Let us pray,
Que las palabras de mi boca y las meditaciones de nuestros corazones sean agradables a tus ojos, oh Dios, roca nuestra y redentor nuestro. Amén.
Homily
Saul begins the story as a man of certainty, a man of momentum, a man of religious fervor. He is not hesitant. He is not conflicted. He is “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord.” Violence is in his lungs. Zeal is in his bones. He believes he knows exactly what he is doing.
And yet in one terrible and merciful moment, all of that certainty collapses.
Sometimes Christ meets us that way, by interrupting the life we thought we controlled. Sometimes grace arrives as disruption. Sometimes truth comes as collapse. A veces, Cristo resucitado nos encuentra no en nuestra fuerza, sino en nuestra debilidad. Sometimes the risen Christ meets us not in our strength, but in our weakness.
And so as we come to this story, we do not come merely to admire Saul’s conversion from a safe distance. We come as people who know what it is to be brought low, to have our certainties shaken, to ask what on earth just happened, and what do we do now.
Acts 9 is not only the story of Saul’s conversion. It is also the story of how Jesus interrupts violence, how blindness can become the beginning of true sight, and how the church is called to receive even the one it most fears.
“Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest…”
That is how the story opens. Saul is not merely irritated. He is not simply mistaken. He is a man so certain of his cause, so convinced of his righteousness, that he believes persecution is holy work.
That is one of the most unsettling truths in all of scripture: it is possible to be zealous for God and yet resistant to God. It is possible to be religious and wrong. It is possible to think we are defending truth while we are actually wounding Christ.
Saul is fervent. Focused. Devoted. He has official backing. He has a mission. He is going to Damascus to bind disciples and drag them away.
And then, on the road, everything changes.
A light from heaven flashes around him. He falls to the ground. And he hears a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
That sentence is at the heart of the whole passage.
Jesus does not say, “Why do you persecute my people?”
He says, “Why do you persecute me?”Christ so identifies with the church, with the suffering, hunted, trembling body of believers, that to strike them is to strike him. To wound them is to wound him. To terrorize them is to terrorize him.
This means the church is never merely a voluntary association or a club of like-minded people. The church is bound to Christ. The body belongs to the head. Jesús resucitado se toma como algo personal lo que se le hace a su pueblo. The risen Jesus takes personally what is done to his people.
And this also means something else. When anyone is trampled, degraded, humiliated, or brutalized, Christ is not distant from that suffering. The crucified and risen Jesus is the one who still says, in every age, “Why are you persecuting me?”
The voice of Christ echoes across history—across jail cells, lynching trees, prison camps, ghettos, slave ships, detention centers, ruined villages, and frightened homes. Christ is not neutral where human beings are crushed.
But notice: Jesus confronts Saul yet does not destroy him.
The first word Saul receives is judgment, yes—but judgment in the form of revelation. Saul is forced to see that the one he opposes is the Lord. The one he thought he was defending God against is, in fact, God’s Anointed One. The risen Christ unmasks Saul’s righteousness as rebellion.
But Jesus does not kill Saul on the road. He stops him.
The grace of God is often like that. It interrupts before it rebuilds. It knocks us down before it raises us up. It unmasks the disease before it heals.
And then comes the strange mercy of blindness.
Saul opens his eyes, but he can see nothing.
The man who thought he could see clearly turns out to be blind. The man who believed he had clarity, certainty, and theological precision is suddenly dependent on others to lead him by the hand.
He came to Damascus to take captives.
Instead, he enters Damascus a prisoner of his blindness.He came with authority.
He arrives helpless.He came breathing threats.
He arrives in silence.For three days he neither eats nor drinks. Three days. A familiar length of time in the Christian story. It sounds like death, burial, waiting, undoing. Saul is in a kind of tomb. The old Saul—the self-assured, violent, self-justifying Saul—is being dismantled in darkness.
Sometimes we speak of conversion too lightly. As if it were merely changing one’s opinion or adjusting one’s beliefs. But in Acts, conversion is more like death and resurrection. It is not a tweak. It is a collapse of the old order. Saul’s world caves in on the Damascus road. As Paul later wrote to the church of Corinth, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: ¡Lo viejo se ha ido, lo nuevo ha llegado! The old has gone, the new is here!”
Some of us know what it is to have a world we trusted come apart. We know what it is to discover that our certainties were too certain, our judgments too sharp, our righteousness too self-protective, our religion too aligned with our fear.
Some of us know what it is to be brought low enough that we must be led by the hand.
But that is not the end of the story. Acts 9 is not only about Saul. It is also about Ananias.
The Lord comes to a disciple in Damascus and says, “Go.”
And Ananias rsponds with the facts: “Lord, I have heard from many about this man…”
In other words:
Lord, do you know who this is?
Lord, do you know what he has done?
Lord, do you know what he came here for?Ananias is not faithless. He is honest. He knows the danger. He knows the stories. He knows the trauma Saul has caused. He knows that “welcome” is not cheap for people who have been hunted.
Pero el Señor dice: «Ve, porque él es un instrumento que yo he escogido…»
Yet the Lord says, “Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen…”
This is astonishing. God chooses the persecutor. Not because the persecution did not matter. Not because the harm was unreal. Not because God waves away the suffering Saul caused. No—God chooses Saul because grace is stronger than Saul’s past. La gracia es más fuerte que el pasado.
That does not minimize sin. It magnifies mercy.
Ananias goes.
This may be the hardest part of the text, honestly. Saul’s conversion is dramatic and memorable, but Ananias’s obedience is perhaps even more difficult.
Ananias must walk into the house where his enemy is staying. He must cross the threshold of fear. He must trust that Christ is already at work in someone he would never have trusted on his own.
And when he enters, his first words are breathtaking:
“Brother Saul.”
Brother.
Not “former enemy,”
not “dangerous man,”
not “suspect,”
not “problem,”
not even “convert.”Brother.
Before the scales fall, Ananias speaks kinship. Before Saul has preached a sermon, planted a church, or written a letter, Ananias names him as family.
That is what the church is called to do—not cheaply, not foolishly, not without truth—but with the deep, trembling courage that believes Christ can make a new creation where we may only see a threat.
Ananias lays hands on Saul. Saul’s sight is restored. He is filled with the Holy Spirit. He rises and is baptized.
Maybe today some of us need the Saul word.
We have been too certain.
Too quick to call our own fear “conviction.”
Too ready to wound in the name of righteousness.
And the risen Christ is merciful enough to stop us.Some need the Ananias word.
We are being asked to go where we do not want to go.
To cross a threshold we did not choose.
To trust that Christ may already be at work in the person we fear, avoid, or resent.
And obedience feels dangerous.Some need the church word.
We are not merely individuals with private spiritual lives. We belong to one another in Christ. What is done to one member is done to all of us. The wounds of others are not somebody else’s problem. Christ says, “Why do you persecute me?”And some need the resurrection word.
Our blindness is not the end.
Our darkness is not the end.
Our undone place is not the end.
God knows how to use even the tomb-like places that fill our souls.Again and again in Scripture, God meets fearful, overwhelmed, disoriented people and makes a way where there seemed to be none. Paul himself will later admit that he came “in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” La Biblia no oculta el miedo humano. Revela a un Dios que se encuentra con las personas en medio de él. The Bible does not hide human fear. It reveals a God who keeps meeting people in the middle of it.
We often think faith should remove fear entirely. But scripture is more honest than that. Faith is not always the absence of trembling. Often it is what happens when trembling people keep going because God has met them where they shiver and shake.
This means grace is not merely about making nice people a little nicer. Grace is about new creation. Grace does not simply smooth over rough edges. It raises the dead and rips off the grave clothes. It takes enemies and makes them kin. It takes what is curved inward on itself and bends it toward love.
The church, then, is called to be the place where this strange and difficult miracle keeps happening. Not that we become naive about harm. Not that we forget wounds. Not that accountability disappears. But that we refuse to believe anyone lies outside the reach of the risen Christ. Nos negamos a creer que alguien esté fuera del alcance de Cristo resucitado.
So perhaps part of the sermon today is this: someone else’s healing may depend on your willingness to go.
Your willingness to knock on the door.
Your willingness to enter the room.
Your willingness to pray.
Your willingness to trust that Christ has gone ahead of you.And perhaps part of the sermon is this too: your own healing may depend on letting someone come to you.
Letting yourself be seen in your blindness.
Letting yourself be led.
Letting yourself receive touch, prayer, kindness, and naming.
Letting the community do for you what you cannot do for yourself.So this morning, wherever you find yourself in the story, hear the good news.
If you are frightened, Christ speaks peace to frightened people.
If you are blind, Christ can open your eyes.
If you are ashamed of what you have done, Christ can heal you.
If you are reluctant like Ananias, Christ can still send you.
If you are wounded by what others have done, Christ sees that wound as his own.The voice that spoke on the Damascus road still speaks today.
Still interrupts. Still confronts. Still blinds false vision. Still opens true eyes. Still joins himself to the wounded. Still sends disciples into difficult places. Still makes apostles out of enemies and saints out of the shattered.
So may the Lord who met Saul meet us. May the Lord who sent Ananias send us. May the Lord who restored sight restore our own. And may the scales fall from our eyes—whatever they are, however long they have clung—so that we may finally see Christ, and in seeing Christ, also rise with him in power, witness, and glory.
Amen
#Acts9 #Ananias #ApostlePaul #BlindnessAndSight #ChristianConversion #ConversionOfSaul #DamascusRoad #Discipleship #DivineCalling #EncounterWithChrist #Grace #HolySpirit #JesusAppearsToSaul #Mercy #NewLifeInChrist #Obedience #PaulSConversion #Repentance #SaulOnTheRoadToDamascus #Transformation -
Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.
[Óderint, dum métuant.]Accius (170-c. 86 BC) Roman tragic poet, literary scholar [Lucius Accius, Lucius Attius]
Atreus (fragment 168) [tr. Kline (2010)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/lucius-accius/20033/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #accius #cicero #seneca #suetonius #caligula #compliance #danger #despot #fear #hatred #leadership #lifeanddeath #threat #tyrant #terrorism #coersion #obedience #compulsion #power
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Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.
[Óderint, dum métuant.]Accius (170-c. 86 BC) Roman tragic poet, literary scholar [Lucius Accius, Lucius Attius]
Atreus (fragment 168) [tr. Kline (2010)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/lucius-accius/20033/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #accius #cicero #seneca #suetonius #caligula #compliance #danger #despot #fear #hatred #leadership #lifeanddeath #threat #tyrant #terrorism #coersion #obedience #compulsion #power
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Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.
[Óderint, dum métuant.]Accius (170-c. 86 BC) Roman tragic poet, literary scholar [Lucius Accius, Lucius Attius]
Atreus (fragment 168) [tr. Kline (2010)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/lucius-accius/20033/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #accius #cicero #seneca #suetonius #caligula #compliance #danger #despot #fear #hatred #leadership #lifeanddeath #threat #tyrant #terrorism #coersion #obedience #compulsion #power
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Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.
[Óderint, dum métuant.]Accius (170-c. 86 BC) Roman tragic poet, literary scholar [Lucius Accius, Lucius Attius]
Atreus (fragment 168) [tr. Kline (2010)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/lucius-accius/20033/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #accius #cicero #seneca #suetonius #caligula #compliance #danger #despot #fear #hatred #leadership #lifeanddeath #threat #tyrant #terrorism #coersion #obedience #compulsion #power
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#obedience : subjection to rightful restraint or control
- French: obédience
- Italian: obbedienza
- Portuguese: obediência
- Spanish: obediencia
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🚨 Breaking News: Secret tapes from the Milgram experiments reveal that rule-breaking is a thing! 🕵️♂️ Apparently, the real shocker wasn't the subjects' #obedience, but the fact that the tapes were so forbidden they 403'd themselves. 😂 Who knew #psychology could be so rebellious? 🙃
https://www.psypost.org/audio-tapes-reveal-mass-rule-breaking-in-milgram-s-obedience-experiments-2026-03-26/ #BreakingNews #SecretTapes #MilgramExperiments #RuleBreaking #HackerNews #ngated -
Quote of the day, 18 March: St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi
[Saint Mary Magdalen de’ Pazzi] tried to render her disciples not only obedient with a tranquil submission, but also desirous and almost famishing for the yoke of obedience. To this end she imposed on them that they should never do even the least thing without her permission; and as she could not always be with them, she assigned to each of them a companion, of whom, in her absence, they were to ask permission; and when even this could not be done, they were then to ask permission of anyone present, and never to do anything without some submission to the will of others. By accustoming themselves to obey in small things, they facilitated obedience in things greater and of strict obligation, as the same disciples avowed that it had so happened to them.
“Until you give yourselves into the hands of obedience as if dead, you can never taste what serving God is. Offer your will in sacrifice to God, and you will derive therefrom a sovereign consolation. If you wish to comply with the Divine Will, beware lest by persuasions you draw the will of the superiors to your own; but try to execute, simply and entirely, their orders, and thus will you arrive at a great perfection. If you experience a repugnance to break your will for the sake of obedience, you show that you have very little love for God, as you do not wish to trouble yourself in the one thing by which you can give Him sovereign honor—namely, submitting to the will of others for His love.”
And she tried to render her disciples not only obedient with a tranquil submission, but also desirous and almost famishing for the yoke of obedience. To this end she imposed on them that they should never do even the least thing without her permission; and as she could not always be with them, she assigned to each of them a companion, of whom, in her absence, they were to ask permission; and when even this could not be done, they were then to ask permission of anyone present, and never to do anything without some submission to the will of others. By accustoming themselves to obey in small things, they facilitated obedience in things greater and of strict obligation, as the same disciples avowed that it had so happened to them.
Father Placido Fabrini
The Life of St. Mary Magdalen De’ Pazzi, chap. XXIX
Fabrini, P. & De’ Pazzi, M.M. 1900, The life of St. Mary Magdalen De-Pazzi: Florentine noble, sacred Carmelite virgin, translated from the Italian by Isoleri A., [publisher not identified] Philadelphia.
Featured image: The Ecstasy of St Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi is an oil on canvas painting attributed to the Italian painter Alessandro Rosi (1627–1697). Its creation date is ca. 1650–1660 and it is part of the collection of the Musée des Beaux Arts in Chambéry, France. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
#DivineWill #obedience #religiousLife #service #StMaryMagdaleneDePazzi -
"So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran."
Genesis 12:4 #Bible #obedience #faith
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"And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'"
Genesis 2: 16-17 #Bible #obedience
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#LínguaInglesa #AdamandEve #cainandabel #descendantsofcain #disobedience #expulsionfromeden #faith #genesis4 #jealousy #judgment #markofcain #mercy #obedience #offeringtogod #originalsin #punishment #redemption #sacrifice #thefirstmurder #wrath #wrathofgod Jeferson Santos https://canaldefrasesbiblicas.com.br/genesis-chapter-4/ Unveiling Life Lessons in Genesis Chapter 4
https://canaldefrasesbiblicas.com.br/genesis-chapter-4/?fsp_sid=7623 -
"Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling."Psalm 2:10-11 #Bible #obedience
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"The Lord said to Moses, 'Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.'"
Exodus 24:12 #Bible #obedience
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Extreme obedience assumes ignorance in the one who obeys; it assumes ignorance even in the one who commands; he does not have to deliberate, to doubt, or to reason; he has only to want.
[L’extrême obéissance suppose de l’ignorance dans celui qui obéit; elle en suppose même dans celui qui commande: il n’a point à délibérer, à douter, ni à raisonner; il n’a qu’à vouloir.]Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/81939/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #autocracy #autocrat #command #consideration #deliberation #despot #dictator #ignorance #obedience #reason #servility #tyranny #tyrant #want #will
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Extreme obedience assumes ignorance in the one who obeys; it assumes ignorance even in the one who commands; he does not have to deliberate, to doubt, or to reason; he has only to want.
[L’extrême obéissance suppose de l’ignorance dans celui qui obéit; elle en suppose même dans celui qui commande: il n’a point à délibérer, à douter, ni à raisonner; il n’a qu’à vouloir.]Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/81939/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #autocracy #autocrat #command #consideration #deliberation #despot #dictator #ignorance #obedience #reason #servility #tyranny #tyrant #want #will
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Extreme obedience assumes ignorance in the one who obeys; it assumes ignorance even in the one who commands; he does not have to deliberate, to doubt, or to reason; he has only to want.
[L’extrême obéissance suppose de l’ignorance dans celui qui obéit; elle en suppose même dans celui qui commande: il n’a point à délibérer, à douter, ni à raisonner; il n’a qu’à vouloir.]Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/81939/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #autocracy #autocrat #command #consideration #deliberation #despot #dictator #ignorance #obedience #reason #servility #tyranny #tyrant #want #will
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Extreme obedience assumes ignorance in the one who obeys; it assumes ignorance even in the one who commands; he does not have to deliberate, to doubt, or to reason; he has only to want.
[L’extrême obéissance suppose de l’ignorance dans celui qui obéit; elle en suppose même dans celui qui commande: il n’a point à délibérer, à douter, ni à raisonner; il n’a qu’à vouloir.]Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Spirit of Laws [The Spirit of the Laws; De l’esprit des lois], Book 4, ch. 3 (4.3) (1748) [tr. Cohler/Miller/Stone (1989)]More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/montesquieu/81939/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #montesquieu #autocracy #autocrat #command #consideration #deliberation #despot #dictator #ignorance #obedience #reason #servility #tyranny #tyrant #want #will
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Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you don’t, they will make you. Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition than you can by acting on your own better judgment.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Essay (1882), “Advice to Youth”More about this quote: wist.info/twain-mark/81836/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #marktwain #authority #children #humoring #obedience #parents #youth
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The #God Too #Evil to #Worship
Worship shapes you and when #obedience replaces #conscience, something gets lost. Under #Yahweh, you’re asked only to follow. What are you willing to become when #morality bends to power and survival starts to look like silence.
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Quote of the day, 18 January: Père Jacques de Jésus
Mr. Zamansky, who was a prisoner with Père Jacques at the Royallieu camp, gave the following account of the moment when Père Jacques knew that he was leaving in one of the convoys heading east:
“We saw them off. Père Jacques was among them, his face imbued with the same peace we knew him for, but he was serious in his look and his walk. Surrendering oneself to God can only be done without any ulterior motive, and above all, without any hope of choice. And I think that’s what Père Jacques was saying the last minute I saw him: ‘Fiat voluntas tua.’ ”
In an interview given at the Carmelite convent in Avon, Mr. Michel de Bouard recounts how he was with Père Jacques in the quarantine block at the Mauthausen camp, when he told Père Jacques that he’d made a vow if he got out of that hellhole alive. Père Jacques thought about it for a moment, then said:
“No, you mustn’t tempt God; he’s the one who decides. Say ‘Fiat voluntas tua’ [Thy will be done (cf. Mt 26:42)].”
Fr. Didier-Marie Golay, ocd
Lent 2024 Carmelite Online Retreat, Week 5
Servant of God Père Jacques de Jésus—Discalced Carmelite priest and headmaster of the Carmelite boys school in Avon, France—endeavored to live the truth of his message, living a life of silence, obedience, and charity.
During the Nazi occupation of France, he enrolled three Jewish boys under false names and employed a fourth boy as a worker at the school and monastery of the friars. With the aid of a local villager, he was able to shelter the father of one of the students. Furthermore, he hired a noted Jewish botanist as a faculty member at the boarding school.
On 15 January 1944 between 10:00 and 10:30 in the morning, the German officers came for Père Jacques and the three students he had been sheltering at the boarding school; in a separate Gestapo raid in Fontainebleau, the botanist, his mother, and his sister were arrested at their home.
Although Père Jacques was sent to different concentration camps, the students, their botany teacher, and his family were incarcerated in the Melun detention center in Paris on 15 January. On 18 January they were transferred to the Drancy transit camp in the northeastern suburb of Paris.
On 3 February 1944 the students, their teacher, and his family were deported to Auschwitz in a transport of roughly 1200 persons. Upon their arrival in Auschwitz on 6 February, 985 persons were sent directly to the gas chambers. The Carmelite students from Avon, their botany teacher, his mother, and his sister all perished that day.
Only the fourth boy survived because he was working in the monastery on 15 January when the Gestapo arrived.
Translation from the French text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: Père Jacques and some of the boys he cared for through the years. Image credit: Discalced Carmelites (by permission).
#Jews #obedience #PèreJacquesDeJésus #ServantOfGod #willOfGod
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A quotation from Hannah Arendt
The aim of totalitarian education has never been to instill convictions but to destroy the capacity to form any.
Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) German-American philosopher, political theorist
The Origins of Totalitarianism, Part 3, ch. 13 “Ideology and Terror” (1951)More about this quote: wist.info/arendt-hannah/81340/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #arendt #hannaharendt #conviction #education #motivation #obedience #terror #totalitarianism
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🎄 On the Naughty List 🎄
Hands on your stocking
Eyes on your Goddess
Good boys wait👉 https://SaraDesireXO.com
ONLINE NOW#NaughtyList #HolidayFemdom #GoddessWorship #Obedience #PTV #HolidayControl
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The Significance of the Manger: How Christ’s Humble Birth Shapes a Man’s Strength and Leadership
1,444 words, 8 minutes read time
I want to take you back to Bethlehem, the quiet town, the Roman census rolling through, the air thick with expectation and tension. Picture a young couple arriving late at night, streets bustling with shepherds, travelers, and the faint glimmer of torchlight flickering on stone walls. There is no royal palace, no grand fanfare, no ceremonial welcome. Instead, a stable—a place for animals—is their sanctuary. And in that lowly manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, lies the King of kings.
This is the scene that defines humility at its most radical. The birth of Jesus wasn’t just a story to warm hearts at Christmas; it was the blueprint of God’s upside-down kingdom values, a blueprint for every man called to lead with strength, courage, and integrity. Humility, service, and courage in obscurity—these are not soft virtues; they are the hallmarks of true leadership.
In this study, we’ll explore three pillars emerging from the manger that shape a man’s character. First, humility before God: why the King chose the lowliest place to enter the world and what that means for us. Second, leadership through service: how Jesus’ life demonstrates strength under submission. Third, courage in obscurity: thriving faithfully when no one is watching. By the end, you won’t just see a story of a baby in a trough—you’ll understand a call to embody a life of resilient, humble strength.
Humility Before God: Lessons from the Manger
The Greek word used for “manger” in Luke 2:7 is phatnē, a simple feeding trough for animals. It’s not glamorous. It’s not the kind of place a man imagines for a king’s birth. And yet, this is where God chose to plant His Son. This choice wasn’t random; it was deliberate theology in action, showing that God values humility over pomp, service over status.
Bethlehem at the time was under Roman occupation. The Jews longed for a Messiah who would sweep in with armies and crowns, a conqueror to restore their pride and sovereignty. But God’s Messiah came quietly, unarmed, dependent, and vulnerable. The King who commands angels chose the lowliest of entry points, signaling that true power is often hidden under weakness.
For men today, humility before God is not about groveling or self-deprecation; it’s about recognizing our place in the grand scheme of life and aligning our strength under God’s authority. It’s about showing up as you are, stripped of pretense, ready to follow rather than dominate. Think of it as the foundation of a building: invisible but crucial. A man who refuses to kneel in humility may boast outward power, but without that grounding, the whole structure risks collapse.
Here’s a truth I’ve had to wrestle with personally: humility doesn’t mean you are weak. It means you are aware of what you can and cannot control, and you are willing to carry responsibility with integrity. It’s like showing up to the battlefield with nothing but a trusted blade—no armor, no pomp, just readiness to serve. That’s the heart of a man shaped by the manger.
Leadership Through Service: Strength in Submission
When you look at the manger, you see more than a scene of humility; you see a model of servant-leadership. Philippians 2:5–8 frames this perfectly: Christ, though in the form of God, did not grasp at status. He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. This is leadership that wins not through intimidation but through example, commitment, and sacrifice.
Worldly power often equates leadership with control, title, or recognition. But God’s standard is different. True leadership is lifting others, absorbing the strain, making the hard choices without applause, and guiding people with a heart of service. For men, this applies across every arena—family, workplace, community. The strongest men I’ve known lead quietly, consistently, and sacrificially. They don’t need a throne; they need character.
Consider the metaphor of a yoke. A man’s strength is measured by how well he can bear the yoke—responsibilities, burdens, and trials—without complaint. Jesus’ birth in a lowly manger prefigures the ultimate act of leadership: carrying the cross for the world. In your own life, you may not face crucifixion, but every act of leadership is a chance to serve with courage, humility, and vision. This is the marrow of masculine strength.
And here’s the kicker: service-driven leadership doesn’t just bless others; it refines you. It teaches patience, self-control, and endurance. It forces you to operate in alignment with truth rather than ego. Jesus’ life started in a manger and ended on a cross, a testament that leadership is forged in quiet, humble service, not public accolades.
Courage in Obscurity: Faithful Work When No One’s Watching
There’s a raw courage in the manger that often gets overlooked. No one expected God to enter the world this way. No crowds, no coronation, no pomp. Just a couple of parents, some animals, and a feeding trough. The first Christmas is a story of working faithfully in obscurity, trusting God even when recognition is absent.
Life as a man of integrity often mirrors that scene. Most of the work that shapes character is unseen: the quiet discipline at the gym, the late nights working to provide for family, the decisions made when no one is watching. The courage to persist without immediate reward is exactly what the manger teaches.
Biblically, God frequently works through hidden, humble circumstances. Joseph, David, and even Paul had seasons where their faithfulness was invisible. Men are called to the same quiet bravery—faithfulness not measured by applause, but by steadfastness under pressure. Strength in obscurity is the kind that lasts, the kind that shapes generations.
A metaphor I’ve lived by: real men are forged in the grind. You don’t become steel in the spotlight; you become steel in the heat of daily struggle, in rooms no one sees, in choices no one notices. The manger tells us: God honors that kind of courage, and it’s the foundation of enduring manhood.
Conclusion
The manger is more than a Christmas story. It is a blueprint for men striving to embody humility, leadership, and courage. Christ’s birth calls us to a strength that is rooted in humility, a leadership measured by service, and a courage defined by faithfulness rather than recognition.
We’ve seen three pillars here: humility before God, leadership through service, and courage in obscurity. Each one challenges men to measure strength not by status or applause but by character, perseverance, and faithful obedience. The manger doesn’t just whisper; it calls us to build lives of lasting integrity.
So, ask yourself: Where are you seeking recognition instead of doing the work? Where are you carrying burdens without leaning into humility and service? Where is your courage tested in the quiet spaces of life? The wood of the manger still speaks. Let it teach you to be strong, faithful, and humble. Let it shape you into a man who leads not with ego, but with purpose and conviction.
If this message resonated, I invite you to join the conversation: leave a comment, share your reflections, or subscribe to continue growing as a man of faith, courage, and integrity. The path won’t be easy, but as the manger teaches, greatness in God’s kingdom begins in humility.
Call to Action
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D. Bryan King
Sources
- Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word of God
- Gerald O’Collins, Incarnation
- Gerald O’Collins, Christology: A Biblical, Historical, and Systematic Study of Jesus Christ
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas
- Athanasius via C.S. Lewis Institute, On the Incarnation (summary & analysis)
- Russell Moore, The Incarnation Is More than the Manger
- The Gospel Coalition, The Humility of Christ: From Manger to Cross
- Why the Incarnation? Athanasius & Advent
- Brian Chilton, The Incarnation’s Appeal to Humility
- Daniel Kendall & Gerald O’Collins, eds., Karl Barth and the Incarnation: Christology & the Humility of God
- Ed Rickard, The Child in a Manger: Commentary on Luke 2:1‑20
- Precept Austin, Luke 2 Commentary
- Lange’s Commentary on Luke 2
- Grace Presbyterian Church, The Messiah in a Manger
- Opus Dei, Commentary on the Gospel: Born in Bethlehem
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author. The information provided is based on personal research, experience, and understanding of the subject matter at the time of writing. Readers should consult relevant experts or authorities for specific guidance related to their unique situations.
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