The Secret Place 3

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Jesus is the only shelter in a weary storm and a solid rock in a weary land. No matter your affluence or social status in the strata of life you will need help and assuredly that you will find in Christ Jesus. God all in Himself is the ultimate place of safety. He prepared Himself for us because He knows certainly there would come in life a time of storm that salvation would be in no one else but He alone [man will always need God, and God will never leave mankind all to himself]. To enter therein, salvation is pertinent because it creates a relationship with divinity and governs the engagement that guarantees the secret place. Acts 4:12.

And there is salvation [safety] in no other One; for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

OBEDIENCE

The Lord is a safe refuge, but certain instructions must be obeyed to keep or sustain your position in the secret place. God is the ultimate authority over humanity, therefore He commands our obedience. To obey is to hearken to His will without questioning.

THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ON OBEDIENCE

1. There is an evil spirit called the spirit of disobedience. It is the spirit of this age also called the spirit of rebellion.
2.  According to the scriptures, unbelievers are called the children of disobedience. Eph 5:6.
3. Naturally, the flesh draws away from obedience. It is natural to say no to instructions.
4. God must be obeyed no matter what, because therein lies the mystery of godliness. Godliness [holiness] is simply obedience to God.
5. It is natural to flee the sufferings and price of obedience. It is not easy to obey God because His demands are high. It can cost you money, friendship, pleasure, e.t.c.
6. Jesus our Lord and Saviour is obedience incarnate. You can see obedience in the life of Jesus in a way you can’t see in any man. We can partake of this life when we come into Him. In His obedience we draw strength to obey God.
7. There is need for spiritual maintenance. You can get so used to God that you can even take Him for granted.

There are some important areas of our lives that require total surrender to God in absolute obedience. The bible expressly commands us thus:

1. Love God. Five out of the Ten Commandments is centered on loving God. If you don’t love God, then you must be loving other things¾your hear cannot be neutral. Deu 6:4-5 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
2. Love people. To love other people, you’ve got to deal with hatred, rancor, bitterness, hypocrisy, and envy. These attitudes make it difficult for anyone to obey the commandment of loving people. Eph 4:31-32, Col 3:5-6. Mar 12:31 And the second is like this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
3. The way you make, manage and multiply you money. Whatever resources God commits to you, He expects one-tenth in return for you tithe. If you don’t pay your tithe you are robbing God and can rob others also. Jer 17:11 The quail sits on eggs and does not hatch them; in the same way he who gets riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the middle of his days, and in his end he shall be a fool.
4. Your sex life. Your body belongs to God because it’s His temple. Submit your sexuality to God. Homosexuality, lesbianism, fornication and adultery will cost you terribly here on earth and your eternity in the world beyond. 1Co 3:16-17 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

2 Cor 10:3-6

³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ⁶ And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

Life’s battle is a fight with forces who engage in absolute disobedience. To win and gain victory you must be obedient. It is in the fulfillment of your obedience to God you can judge and still the disobedience of satan and demons. If you are trusting God for anything, you must be obedient.

Heb 5:6-8

⁶ As He says also in another place, “You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” ⁷ For Jesus, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared, ⁸ though being a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 

Obedience is tough in the human flesh. Jesus became mature in obedience by been taught. No one can obey God except Jesus lives in his heart and transmit the grace to him. Disobedience is an act of self-will. When you are obedient you will submit to the will of God. Only Jesus can deliver you from yourself [your self-will].

LESSONS ABOUT OBEDIENCE FROM THE LIFE OF CHRIST

1. The greatest aim of our salvation is our restoration to obedience. Salvation is aimed at restoring the lost obedience in the Garden of Eden.
2. The universe is still standing because it is the will of God. You can only find God in His will. John 4:34, Luke 22:42.
3. God justifies the ungodly but repentance is a return to obedience.
4. God is committed to save the obedient. The death of Jesus has its value and efficacy in obedience to God. Luke 4:28-31.
5. Christ is our leader and fore-runner. Eph 5:1.
6. Obedience is His distinguishing factor of His earthly life.

OBEDIENCE TO FIGURES OF AUTHORITY

Obeying the authority figure in our lives is obeying God and keeping safe. These figures of authority include:

1. Spiritual leaders. These spiritual figures include pastors, heads of ministries, departments and fellowships, elders and deacons.
2. Parents. They represent God and should be obeyed. They’ve been instructed by God to bring their children in the way of God.
3. Husbands. There is no small husband. Since you chose to marry him you should obey him as long as he is not leading you to sin. Also, husbands love your wives.

CONCLUSION

Disobedience means to choose your way or will against God. Its consequences are grave. God can’t stand rebellion and disobedience. A feeling to disobey God is not a sin but the act. God will not share the captaincy of your life with you or something else. He is either there or not. The blessings of God are in doing His will. Obedience will make you make sacrifices and offerings. Obedience is the seed, the power and life of Christ’s perfection.

Food for thought

You never know how self-willed you are until your will clashes with the will of God.

CONFESSION

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened; burnt offering and sin offering You have not asked. Then I said, Lo, I come, in the volume of the Book it is written of me; I delight to do Your will, O My God; and Your Law is within My heart. “Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.”

Psa 40:6-8, Heb 10:9