Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: We obey God as long as it makes sense to us to do so, and that's the problem. We want to love God, we'll keep his commandments, but we do it, most of us, with a limit. I'm going to do what God says, but right up to the point to where it no longer makes sense to me. And we have limits to it.

And here's the deal: you shouldn't, because God's commands are for our good.

Dave Druey: Today on Focal Point, with Pastor Mike Fabarez. If you're like most people, you cringe at the sound of words like submission, compliance, and obedience. We all have a tendency to resist authority. Unfortunately, this attitude can extend to our view of God.

Today on Focal Point, Pastor Mike Fabarez explains the benefit of obeying God without condition. Before we begin, if you're a first-time listener, we want to send you a free copy of Pastor Mike's new booklet, "Do the Right Thing." Just reach out online at focalpointradio.org. Now let's turn to Hebrews chapter 11 for today's message, "Embracing the Unconventional and the Unexpected."

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Several years my family and I lived in a house with a homeowners association. Mine was pernickety, fussy, uptight, a pain in the neck. I thought it was bad until about seven months ago we moved into an apartment complex. They have an apartment management team—a whole group of apartment managers.

I've realized that homeowners associations and apartment management teams are a lot like Congress. They've got all kinds of rules and they're adding to them every other day. It's easy to feel a little frustrated with our team, especially because a few months back we got a notice from our apartment management team that they were going to come around—and I'm not lying—and inspect our garages.

Can you imagine that? I've got a little one-car garage. That's all I've got. I'm not making bombs in there. There's no slave trade going on in my garage. There's no drug labs. It's just junk, normal junk. I'm thinking, "Keep your long managerial noses out of my garage." It's my garage. I'm paying for it. Just stay out of my garage.

It just lit me up when I got the notice. Ask my wife; I was just miserable for weeks. I was picturing these guys with clipboards going through my garage. Then I realized that no one had to train me to be irritated with authority figures with their briefcases full of rules. No one had to teach me that. It's just naturally that way.

My kids all came through the birth canal with a high competence in being irritated with rules. They were born like that. All you've got to do is tell them there's a new rule or do it this way or don't do it that way or your mom says you can't, and they just make these award-winning faces of irritation. I could do a whole video on "Faces of Irritation." They just don't like it. They chafe against it.

I realized that because there's a universal disdain for the concept of compliance, submission, and obedience. No one likes to be told what to do. We don't care for it. Then add to that, you come to church and you get the guy preaching on the stage telling us that the whole predicated problem of this irritation is a sin problem called pride.

We don't like to think that they have the right to give us rules because we always like to think we're superior and we're better than other people. I know that's totally true because the first thing I thought when I got the notice that my garage was going to be inspected—I wanted the inspector's addresses.

I wanted to go to Staples and find the biggest clipboard I could find and just show up one day at their garage. "Hey, open up your garage. I'd like to see your garage for a little bit. I'll do a little inspection today. What's in that box?" I was just irritated. Who are you to tell me about my garage? You naturally reach for that schoolyard retort: "You're not the boss of me."

But the problem is, when it comes to my garage, they are. Probably somewhere buried in that 42 pages that I signed when I moved into the apartment complex was some small print, maybe eight-point font, that said if you want to live here, guys with clipboards can show up and go through your junk in your garage. It was in there somewhere, I'm sure.

So I know that was just part of the deal. You want to live here, your garage is subject to inspection. I passed, by the way. I got to stay. They came and they left and I didn't have to get into any fights over my junk in my garage. It is frustrating—all that compliance, obedience, submission. We don't care for it.

And yet we open up our Bibles and it seems like that's all over the place. Don't the words obedience, submission, compliance—doesn't that seem to fit with the concept of this book that is delivered to us from this ultimate authority? You want to talk about the "boss of me," here's what the Bible is saying. God is saying, "I am the boss of you and here are the rules."

It is a big book and it's got a lot to say about how I'm supposed to live. If I'm irritated by someone telling me how I'm supposed to keep my garage, how irritated are we when we have some authority figure wanting to tell us how we're supposed to keep our lives or our attitudes or our thoughts? There is a natural aversion to that. We are naturally irritated by that.

And yet in the Scriptures we're supposed to see that and somehow it's supposed to be different. I think we just have to be honest. If we look at it at face value, that's a tough concept. We've got God here who is saying, "By the way, I am the boss and here are the rules and I'd like you to keep them."

As one pithy preacher once put it: "If you want to make up your own rules, get your own universe." Then you can make up whatever rules you want. The problem is, biblically, if we think theologically, we are stuck in His. And if we're going to live in His universe, He's got some rules for us. It's called the Bible.

And we open up that book and we realize God is saying that He's in charge. Now we're going to learn in Hebrews chapter 11 this week as we continue our series on "Ambitious Faith" that it's going to take ambitious faith to sometimes recognize that God is in charge and the rules need to be followed, even if the rules don't fit nicely into my mind as to why I should be keeping these rules.

Frankly, that was the first thing I thought: "Why do you need to see my garage?" I'll keep the door closed; you don't need to go in it. What's the deal? It's not important, is it? And sometimes the rules that we find in the pages of Scripture are that way. We start to see when God says, "I'd like you to do this," we think, "Why? That doesn't seem to make sense to me." And we struggle with it.

But what we need to realize before we ever talk about ambitious faith to obey God's rules, we should start with the foundational truth, and that is that when it comes to who is the boss of you, God wants to make it very clear: He is. He's the boss. He's in charge. As a matter of fact, if you're taking notes, I want you just to jot it down that way. Let's just agree with that: God is God.

Number one, let's just jot it down. Is it not true from the beginning of the Bible to the end that God wants to make it clear He is God? That's the point. And if you're thinking, "Oh, that's a cute little phrase. Where'd you come up with that?" I'm glad you asked. Jot it down: Deuteronomy chapter 7, verse number 9.

I didn't make this up. Here's what Moses said as he's giving the rules to the people. He says this: "The Lord your God is God." And that's a good place to start. This guy you're calling out to as the God of the universe that you say, "Oh God, I need your help," just listen to what you're saying. God, by definition, means He is the one in charge.

And I know that just chafes against us, partly because we have this pride problem that we think, "I don't know, I don't like that. That gives you an advantage." And sometimes we think when you give absolute power—when we see that—that's just bad. It just corrupts; it's not good. We see these dictators around the world and we just struggle with that.

But the rest, by the way—and I know we didn't turn there—but Deuteronomy 7:9 goes on to say, "But here's the good news: He's a faithful God and a God of love." And that starts to change everything. We have a benevolent dictator. We have someone who is in charge and is the absolute authority and is the boss of you, but here's the thing: He's a God who loves you and He's incredibly faithful.

He's consistent and He cares for His creation. And so that starts to change my perspective. I can start to say, "Okay, now that makes sense." But I'm still saying I want to raise my hand and say, "But why? Why all this stuff? I don't like the infringement on my autonomy and my freedom. Do we need all these rules?"

Answer: Deuteronomy chapter 30. And let's turn to this one because this is a rather lengthy response from Moses at the end of the Pentateuch. First five books Moses wrote. The last one, book number five, is Deuteronomy. *Deuteros* means "twice," *nomos* means "law." It was the second reiteration of the law.

They'd gone through it in Exodus—we had the moral law of God. We had the ceremonial law of God in Leviticus. And now in the closing of Moses's life, he reiterates in writing the law of God. And when he's wrapping it all up and talking about the commands he's just delivered, he started with, "Hey guys, God is God."

He ends making it very clear that God is not just trying to impinge or infringe or somehow mess up your party. He's not just trying to infringe on your freedom or your autonomy. He's got good intentions behind all these rules. As a matter of fact, look at how it's put here in Deuteronomy chapter 30. Drop down to verse number 11, when it says this.

Moses is now, "What I'm commanding you today, it's not too difficult for you or beyond reach." These aren't unreasonable things. As a matter of fact, it's not unknown either. It's not up into heaven that you've got to ask, "Who's going to ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us that we can obey it?" No, it's not up in heaven; God has revealed it.

Nor is it beyond the sea; it's not out of reach that you've got to ask, "Who's going to cross the sea and get it and proclaim it to us that we can obey it?" No, no, no. As a matter of fact, the word is very near to you. This is like the third time we've been talking about it. You've understood it, we've preached about it, it's there.

It's in your mouth. You go home after these little public gatherings where Moses preaches about it and you talk about it over lunch, and you know it. It's in your mouth and it's there and it's in your heart so that you may obey it. This isn't unusual stuff. And I can say, by the way, just to step out here for just a second, it's true for us too.

The things that God wants to say to you in the Scripture—unless this is your first day at church—you know the things that God is asking you to do. Okay, there may be a few things you haven't gotten to yet in Scripture, but these are some pretty general, basic rules that you know about. You know it, and they're there for you to obey. Now, for what purpose? Next verse.

The whole point is this: you need to understand. He says, "See, I set before you today life and prosperity." That's door number one. Behind door number one, you have life and prosperity. That's what you have. And behind door number two, here comes the Zonk—death and destruction. The Zonk. Do you remember the Zonk? I'm going way back now.

Behind door number one, what do you get? Life and prosperity. Behind door number two, what do you get? Death and destruction. Now, what are we talking about? Well, here's the deal: verse 16. "For I command you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His commands, decrees, and laws."

That's a big old stack of things that He's asking us to do. "Then you will get what's behind door number one: you will live and you will increase, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the land that you're entering to possess." You will have this good thing that God has for you if you keep His rules. He's not a dictator just trying to flex his muscle.

He cares about you; His rules for your life are for your good. That's what he's saying. Verse 17: "But if, by the way, you turn away from His commands, your heart goes away, you're not obedient to what He says, you're drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them." And don't think flannelgraph with some guy in front of some totem pole somewhere.

All that is, is saying that I've got another authority in my life and it's no longer God and His word. That's idolatry. And whether it manifests itself in bowing down to some golden statue, the bottom line is it's people who say, "Well, I know that's what God says, but I kind of got some other source of authority here."

Whether it's my reason or it's some talk show or whether it's some book I read or whether it's just my common sense. I mean, it's something else. "And I know God says that, but I got this." That's idolatry. And he says, "And if you do that, the problem with that is," verse number 18, "I'm just declaring to you this day you will certainly be destroyed on a variety of levels, by the way."

To the extent that you disregard His commands, there's a penalty to pay. And then he says, middle of verse number 18, "You're not going to live long in the land that you're crossing the Jordan to enter and possess." This day, verse 19, "note this carefully, I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you." They've seen it, they heard it, here we are.

We're standing here clearly setting before you two doors, two paths. "I have set before you door number one, life, and door number two, death. You have two options. And behind door number one there's blessings, behind door number two there's cursings. Now, I just want to tell you, this is good for you now: choose life." I love that.

This is not, "Obey God, obey God." Well, yeah, well it is obedience to God, but the good news is He's saying, "Can't you see where this path takes you? Obey God. Choose life. This is good for you." And you should do that so that you and your children may live and that you may love Yahweh your God and listen to His voice and hold fast to Him.

For Yahweh—and this is a big statement now—is your life. You want prosperity, you want fulfillment, you want gratification, you want the satisfaction of being who you're supposed to be and all the blessings that come with that? Well then just choose life. Walk down this path. Love God. You'll walk with Him, and when you do, that's the place you're going to want to be.

And He'll give you many years in the land that He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, I know this has a historical context. And we're not entering land and this is not about the conquest of Israel. But the principle applies, does it not? I know that following God's commands sometimes comes with consequences that the world throws at us.

But the bottom line is that's the place you want to live, isn't it? Don't you want to walk down the path and have God's blessing and not His opposition? We've been talking about that a lot in Hebrews chapter 11. Well, it comes with beginning and understanding that we're going to let God be God. And the God we're talking about is a good God.

He's a God that cares. He's a God who loves you. His rules for you are good. And at this point, a lot of you are going, "Oh, yeah, I know all that. Big deal. Churchy, you say that stuff all the time. Hear that every week." Yeah, I know you all agree with that. You all mark "true" on the Scantron: "I'm all for obedience."

Here's the problem: most of our obedience has a limit that we slap on it. We obey God as long as it makes sense to us to do so, and that's the problem. We're all into obedience, we'll keep His commandments, but we do it, most of us, with a limit. "I'm going to do what God says, but right up to the point to where it no longer makes sense to me."

"When it starts to be, 'Well, that would be kind of foolish to do that there,' and that all of a sudden now doesn't seem right for this situation. And that may have been right for those people back there in sandals and robes in the Bible, but now it's a different world. I mean, I can't see that God would want me to do that now, here and now in the 21st century."

And we have limits to it. And here's the deal: you shouldn't. Why? Because God's commands are for our good. And when He says, "Listen, don't lie," He means that in your work, as a salesman, with your clients, tell the truth. That might not work. Here's the thing: God says He wants from us a kind of obedience where we're going to say, "Because You're God, we keep Your requirements."

We keep Your standards, we follow Your precepts, we do what You say because You're God and we know that You love us and Your commands are good for us. And in the short term, it may seem like that doesn't make sense, but in the long term, it will always be life for you. You want to choose that door; you want to choose that path.

That's where we should go in our daily lives because—are you ready?—that's how your Christian life started, wasn't it? Isn't that how the whole thing started? Didn't you come to Christ, as 2 Corinthians 5:15 says, and you said, "No longer am I going to live for myself; I'm going to live for You who died for me and rose again"?

Didn't you come to Christ? The basic fundamental commitment of the Christian life was, "God, I repent of my sins, I put my trust in You, now I will follow You." Isn't that what it was all about? That's what Christianity's all about: "Come and follow me," Jesus says. Here is God, the Word incarnate, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And here was this person saying to us, "Now do what I do. Live like I live. Walk as I walk. Follow my direction." And we see that lived out in the first generation of Christians as Jesus put His finger out there and He said, "This is what it's all about. If you want to come after me, here's what you've got to do." Let's go to that passage: Luke chapter 9.

Look at verse number 23. Luke 9:23—we looked at this a few weeks back, did we not? He said to them all, "If anyone would come after me," three things. "If you're going to come after me, here's what you've got to do. You're going to be on my team, here's what you've got to do. Number one, you've got to deny yourself." Deny yourself?

Here's what deny yourself means: there will be times when you think that the path should go this way, and God's path's going to go that way, and you're going to have to make a decision. And what this is going to feel like is, "I think this is right, we should go here," and you're going to have to say, "No, I'm really committed to following Christ."

You will have to deny yourself. And it was practically lived out for the first-century disciples. Peter, James, and John, Peter, Andrew—they were mending their nets. Jesus said, "Follow me," and they're thinking, "Well, it's not really right. I mean, I got nets here that we're mending. We're trying to get the business off the ground. Just give us a while, maybe in a few months we'll follow you."

But He looks at them and He says, "No, leave your nets and follow me. And right now what you're going to have to do is deny yourself, deny your agenda, deny what seems to make sense to you and do what I say." And that's going to be hard. As a matter of fact, there may be a price tag attached to that next phrase in the verse.

Look at it: it's going to be sometimes like taking up a cross. To do the right thing will be painful at times. Now, Jesus had a path to walk that was right for Him, and it included a literal physical cross that was stained with His blood. Now, for us, it may not be a literal piece of timber across my shoulders.

But sometimes walking the right path, the self-denial is so serious and severe that it feels like, "Man, this is really hurting. This is painful." But I'm denying myself and I'm willing to—last three words—"and follow me," Jesus says. But then you're going to have to do what I say. Just follow after me.

And that may sound really simple, but that is hard when the commands that He gives us seem to not really fit. Like, I did not understand why the management team of my apartment had to have my garage. I don't get it. What are you talking about? Why? Doesn't make sense to me. And there are often times when I say, "I don't get it."

And trust me, in the contract here, the Bible, where He's directing you how to live, there'll be so many times you'll say, "That just doesn't make sense." And here's why, by the way: because God is smarter than you. And sometimes the path that He thinks is best, you're not going to think is best because He's smarter than you are.

Isaiah 55:9. His ways are higher than your ways. His thoughts are higher than your thoughts. And He's not saying, "Well, you're kind of logging in at a 115 IQ, and trust me, I'm at least at 122." Here's what He says: He says, "So far above you am I in thoughts that it's like the distance between earth and the heavens."

So here's the deal: your brain won't always be able to process why this is the right path for you, but this is the right path for you. And we're talking about the Bible right here. You don't have to go up to heaven and get it; we got it. You don't have to go across the sea and find it; you have it in your lap.

It's not something that you can't comprehend; it's stuff you talk about at lunch today and you know what God's word says. And the question is, is He really going to be your God? Are you really going to do what He says? Or are you going to say, "Well, there's some things that I just can't follow that path because it'll cost me too much of my life"?

"And there's parts of my life I've got to make sure I retain and keep in place here because I live in the real world." Look at the next verse. Still in Luke 9? He says, "Here's the problem: for those that want to save their life, be in charge of it, set their own path, the problem is you're going to lose it. That's not going to work."

But here's the deal: whoever loses his life for me, guess what? You'll save it, on a variety of levels. I know that you think it'd be best for you to finish mending your nets and work on the family business, but I'm telling you: come and follow me and preach the kingdom of God. And they said, "I'll do that."

And you know what they had in that path? Prosperity and blessing from God, His favor, His protection. They found life. Choose life. God is your life. Follow Him. Let God be God. God is good. He's a God who loves you. His rules for you are good.

Dave Druey: God's plan may not always make sense to us, but it's our job to simply trust and obey. Pastor Mike Fabarez is talking about "Embracing the Unconventional and the Unexpected" here on Focal Point. And if you want to revisit anything from this series called "Ambitious Faith," just go to focalpointradio.org.

While you're there, check out this month's featured resource, "Songs of the Son" by Daniel Stevens. It's built around nine Psalms that are cited directly in the book of Hebrews, giving you a close-up look at how these ancient songs were already tracking toward Christ long before He arrived. Each chapter is short and readable with questions for further reflection.

The layout is just as helpful in a group setting as it is in your own quiet time. Get your copy of "Songs of the Son" when you make a donation today. Call us at 888-320-5885 or donate online at focalpointradio.org. Or mail your donation to Focal Point, Post Office Box 2850, Laguna Hills, California 92654. Now Pastor Mike has a special announcement.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Thanks, Dave. I'd like to invite you to join me September 19th through the 26th, 2026, on a Christian cruise through New England and Canada. We'll sail Holland America's Zuiderdam, known for its elegance and exceptional hospitality, to historic cities like Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City.

We'll gather for devotional times in God's word followed by thought-provoking Bible teaching throughout our journey. Grammy-winning musicians Keith and Kristyn Getty will lead us in worship. You'll enjoy the stunning autumn landscapes as we explore charming coastal villages, all while building friendships with like-minded believers.

It's a unique opportunity to deepen your faith and see some of the most beautiful scenery on the Eastern Seaboard. Space is limited, so don't wait to sign up. Secure your cabin today at focalpointradio.org.

Dave Druey: I'm Dave Druey inviting you back again tomorrow for another feature of "Ask Pastor Mike Live." Mike Fabarez is fielding questions on apologetics, wine and oil, and repentance, Friday on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Hey there, Pastor Mike here. We're almost out of time, but before we go, I wanted to personally invite you to contact us here. Let us know how we can be praying for you. Head on over to focalpointradio.org and click the contact page, or send me a note on Facebook—facebook.com/pastormike—or X.com/pastormike. Can't wait to hear from you.

Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.