True Obedience
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 10932 |
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October 24, 2010 |
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 "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians 2:5-8)
Though Jesus is the Son of God, He put on a human form and came down to this earth and, according to the will of God, He was hung on a cross and died on it. He knew in advance He would have to bear unimaginable sufferings though there was no sin at all in Him, but He obeyed the will of God only with joy. It was because He loved God with a true heart.
God is still searching for a man of God who really obeys His will and is worthy to accomplish the kingdom of God. Such a man of God must obey in accordance with God's will whatever God wants. What shall we do in order to be deemed to really obey God?
1. There should be no 'self', but only God within us.
He who loves God must be willing to obey God. But some believers are found to disobey God despite their efforts to obey. It is because they have their 'self' in them. They involve their own thoughts, wisdom and methods and insisted on what they think is right in doing the work of God.
They say they are obeying the Word of God, but they have their own ways and incorporate them in doing God's work. Afterward, they tend to explain how they followed the will of God when did this because of this and did that because of that. But even though they say they did something in obedience to the Word of God, it is still just their own thoughts. They cannot understand the heart of God and cannot realize His will, so after doing something as they want it done, they say they did it in accordance with the will and heart of God. Thus, if the result is not worthy of others' recognition or it is unsatisfactory, they attribute this to the others.
Jesus had no 'self' at all. He had only 'God the Father' in His heart and did everything only according to the will of God. During His public ministry, Jesus always tried His best to pray and sought the will of God. In accomplishing God's ministry, Jesus thoroughly obeyed so that every single duty might be exactly fulfilled in accordance with the Word of God.
2. Our obedience to God must not be conditional.
He who sets conditions in doing something tends to make excuses. Such a person obeys what is beneficial for them but they may not obey if something doesn't benefit them. According to their desires and selfish motives they choose what profits them and according to the change of situations, their attitude changes any time. But he who truly obeys never sets any conditions on his obedience. They do not involve any of their own thoughts depending on the situation and reality of the situation. Consequently, they do not make excuses at all. They seek only the will of God. They obey whatever the will of God may be and obey unconditionally, with saying "Yes" and "Amen."
I wish for you to examine whether or not you are obeying for the sake of power, honor and recognition; whether you can obey the will of God whatever His will may be and until the end, no matter what the circumstances might be; and whether or not you are saying "Amen" only when it agrees with your thoughts and the conditions before you.
Jesus never sought His own glory at all. He only obeyed for the glory of God. That's why He abandoned the heavenly throne, and accepted being treated as a sinner and put to death by crucifixion on earth. Jesus, the Son of God obeyed that way, so how could we then dare make our obedience to the will of God conditional?
3. We should bear the fruits of spiritual love.
While Jesus was hung on a cross, His disciples ran away out of fear. But, a couple of women, including Mary Magdalene, stayed with Jesus until the last moment. It was because those women loved Him exceedingly. This is true love.
God wants us to obey with spiritual love. Since Jesus loves God the Father to the utmost degree, He fully believed in God and overcame everything with the hope for the everlasting days of glory when He'd abide with God in the kingdom of Heaven. If we really love God, we must also fully believe in God. We must hope for the eternal days when we will stay with God in Heaven. We must obey whatever He commands and even lay down our lives.
Romans 8:35-39 reads, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is the confession of spiritual love and true obedience to the Lord.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God is searching for the ones who can really obey Him in any circumstances and is worthy to accomplish His providence. May you all confess, "Amen! I am here!" for the glory of God, in the name of our Lord I pray!
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