Jesus obeyed God to the point of dying on the cross for the providence of salvation. Jesus could do so because He loves Father God. Since He loves God, He lowered Himself, only obeyed, and accomplished the providence of the cross with joy.
To achieve the providence for the end time as well, we should correctly understand the will of God and obey it.
First of all, we must not have our ego or 'self' but only God in us.
Those who love God should want to obey Him. They say, "God, I love You" but their works may sometimes lead to disobedience. It's because they have their 'self' in them.
It means when they do a certain work, they use their own thoughts, wisdom, and methods. They insist on what they think is right. In fact, they just do what they want, but they still think they are obeying the word of God. It usually happens when they don't understand and realize the heart of God.
When the results aren't satisfactory or they don't gain recognition or praise, they begin to blame others, not themselves. In fact, this is why they fail to discover their shortcomings. The failure is caused because they mistakenly think that they have faith, fulfill God-given duties well and obey the will of God with an attitude of complacency.
But Jesus did not have any self or ego. He only had Father God in His heart, so He only followed the desires of the Father, without any of His own will. He always prayed and sought the will of Father God during His public ministry. He obeyed in such a way that every single thing was in perfect coherence with the word of God in His ministry (Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:2-7). As explained above, Jesus only obeyed the will of God and fulfilled the providence of the salvation of the cross without a single error.
We can also obey the will of God when we deny our 'self' and put it to death just as Apostle Paul did, saying, "I die daily" (1 Corinthians 15:31).
We must have the kind of heart that has no stipulations.
Some people think about stipulations in every matter. They choose what is beneficial for them according to their desires and self-centered motives, and their attitudes can change any time. They obey when it's beneficial for them, but they don't obey giving excuses when it's not beneficial.
But true obedience is not about your benefits. It is not about thinking of the circumstances or the reality nor about giving any excuses. You only take into consideration what the will of God is. You unconditionally obey in any kind of situation as long as it is the will of God.
In Matthew chapter 19, a rich man came before Jesus and asked Him, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" But he was not able to receive the response he wanted to hear from Jesus. Then, the young rich man went away grieving. He came before Jesus with good intentions, but he was only willing to obey up to his own limits. Therefore, he finally followed his own benefit.
Haven't you obeyed for personal fame, authority, or any other self-centered results, or aren't you obeying only what agrees with your way of thinking and what is beneficial for you? You have to obey the will of God in any kind of situation until the end. If you truly want to obey, you can obey with joy until the end.
Jesus did not seek any glory of His own; He only obeyed for the glory of God. That is why He forsook the glorious heavenly throne, came to the earth, and died on the cross being treated like a heinous criminal. By realizing His love and obedience, we should not only obey explicitly what God commands us to do, but also obey with a clear understanding of His heart and will.
We must have the fruit of spiritual love.
When Jesus was hung on the cross, most of His disciples were frightened and ran away, but the women including Mary Magdalene stayed with the Lord until the end. For they loved Him so much they did not feel fear of any danger.
If you love God and the Lord, you can put your 'self' to death and won't think about your circumstances. Without such love, you cannot gain spiritual faith, and you cannot practice the will of God and cannot have hope for heaven either.
Since Jesus loved God so much, He trusted God and hoped for the glorious days during which He would enjoy the heavenly kingdom with God. If you also truly love God, you will believe God and hope for the days that you will have in the heavenly kingdom. Then, you can obey anything. And you can even give your life.
The apostle Paul's confession shows how much he loved God. He said in Romans 8:35-39, "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."
Therefore, remember that true obedience comes out from such deep spiritual love and bear abundant fruit of spiritual love.
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