At the beginning of the year God put these three words on my heart. This has been the theme for my year.
- Believe – Part 1
- Biblical Obedience – Part 2
- Breakthrough – Part 3
John 8:32 NLT
Jesus said to the people who believed (Believe) in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. (Biblical Obedience). And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Breakthrough)
Did you know that Obedience is Gods love language?
John 14:21
‘Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me.’
John 14:23
‘Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.’
It pleases the heart of the Father when we are obedient to Him.
I wanted this year to be a year marked by biblical obedience and breakthrough. I’ve learnt over the past few months, that there are times when I only begin to see Gods breakthrough in my life when I am biblically obedient. As I began to open up my heart to allowing God to work out His plans in my life – I felt the urgent call to humbly follow God whole heartedly in a walk of obedience.
The call to walk in obedience is not something radical or noble, but rather, it is something biblical. We see the fingerprints of obedience inked all throughout Gods Word.
There’s a quote by Lysa Terkeurst that goes something like this: I have paraphrased it. ‘Did you know that radical obedience is just biblical obedience. But we have strayed so far from biblical obedience that whenever we choose to be obedient to God, we now deem it radical.’
John 14:15
“Loving me empowers you to obey my commands”
Often, we think that living a Christian life is the sum total of what the walk of obedience looks like. From personal experience – I know this to be untrue. The call of obedience requires our everything – not just our Sunday mornings and maybe one Bible study appointment in the week. To be obedient means to surrender our hearts to God with absolutely everything.
A few weeks ago, I was getting my girls ready for school. I finished off their hairstyles and my eldest daughter asked me if she could have the purple bow in her hair, which she had been wearing all week. I asked her if her sister could wear the purple bow this time and she could wear the green one. She said, “but Mommy I want to wear the purple one” – I said to her, “I know my love but do you think your sister could wear the purple one today.’ She then handed me the purple bow and said, “Yes Mommy, thats okay.”
Sometimes obedience looks a lot more like sacrifice and a lot less like selfishness.
Obedience is a response of the heart. And when we are obedient – God releases His blessings and breakthrough.
So what does obedience look like?
*There are 5 types of Obedience:
- Disobedience: Numbers 20 – we see that Moses was disobedient to God and so he never entered into the promised land.
- Partial obedience: 1 Samuel 15 – Saul was disobedient when he spared Agags life and all his cattle, when God had specifically asked him to destroy everything in the land.
- Twisted obedience: Dueteronomy 12:32 – ‘So be careful to obey all the commands I give you. You must not add anything to them or subtract anything from them.’
- Delayed obedience: Jonah 5: Jonah got swallowed by a large fish because he was disobedient and ran away from God.
- Perfect obedience.
Partial, twisted and delayed obedience are all disobedience.
So what is perfect obedience?
Perfect obedience is this:
Luke 22:39-44
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
We see in this powerful text that Jesus faced one of His most heart wrenching moments on earth as He knelt down in the garden of Gethsemane to pray just before He was handed over to be crucified. Even though He knew the amount of pain He was about to endure – He still uttered these life altering words; “yet not my will, but Yours be done.”
Jesus perfectly illustrates the heart of obedience and teaches us what biblical obedience looks like. Biblical obedience is putting Christ first in my life and choosing to follow Him whenever and wherever He leads. Biblical obedience is following the Word of God even when it doesnt suit me to do so.
Biblical obedience is laying down my will for Thy will.
Theres is something so powerful in uttering these life altering words – ‘yet not my will but Yours be done.’ Obedience to Gods plan immediately drowns out the enemies voice, deactivates the enemies plan, and destroys any stronghold the enemy has over our lives.
Jesus was obedient to the point of death. And His obedience brought our deliverance.
Philippians 2:8
‘And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death– even death on a cross!’
Obedience aligns my heart with the will of God.
So what can you do today to better position your heart to hear from God and walk out the abundant life of absolute obedience?
Ask God to show you where you have walked away from His plan for your life and how you can start walking down the path that He has puposed for you.
*www.youversion.com