Obedience as Entryways
By Margaret D. Mitchell
January 28, 2024
Obedience is the beautiful entrance to our purposed assignments in this season. The “everything“ in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that has been made beautiful in its time is now ready, and one of those things is you!
Our Lord desires that we continue to follow Him as doors close. Don’t look back and be grateful for His faithfulness. He has open-door relationships all lined up for you forward.
As we obey Him, He will lead us into and through.
In this light, Holy Spirit has highlighted two areas of scripture on repeat for weeks:
Deuteronomy 7:11-13a MSG and Psalm 75:10.
Deuteronomy 7:11-13a MSG say:
So keep the command and the rules and regulations that I command you today. Do them. And this is what will happen: When you, on your part, will obey these directives, keeping and following them, God, on his part, will keep the covenant of loyal love that he made with your ancestors:
He will love you,
he will bless you,
he will increase you.
These verses point to John 15:10 and reveal to us that God is working to restore legacies of honor now and that you and I have important roles. If you don’t know what your role is, you need to pursue God and find out. This is not a time to waver or wander. This is a time to listen to God and know that you know.
In Psalm 75:10 TPT our Lord reveals, "My praises will break the powers of wickedness, while the righteous will be promoted and become powerful."
In Psalm 75:10 CEB we see that "God says: 'I will demolish every bit of the wicked’s power, but the strength of the righteous will be lifted up.'"
It’s important to memorize this verse because it’s applicable in so many areas right now and along the way.
Holy Spirit is revealing He is contending with that which contends with you and me. He is reversing bondages. He is freeing us up from that which once limited us. He is removing those prior constraints so we can move forward into Kingdom expanse and accomplish, with Him, the destiny He has for each of us.
It’s time and the only way there is through careful obedience unto our Lord.
In this season, He will invite us into new exploits with Him, works we haven’t done before. And it will be up to us as individuals to pursue Him for specifics along the way.
“I don’t know how” is not acceptable. So, don’t even go there, except as a humble confession before Him. Holy Spirit has all of our answers. So, commit to honor Him by pursuing Him for wisdom.
Also, it’s not solely about the tasks at hand. It’s about what will happen as a result of working those tasks. Remember, God is at work with you. He releases His power on our work to accomplish the mission, so we are not alone and do not have to feel like we have to make it happen in our own strength. We can remember to leave room for His grace to show up in our weak areas.
The next steps He reveals may not make any sense. His instructions may evoke fear in you and around you because you’ll realize you have to relinquish control to Him. Choose to remain close with Him and do it anyway, trusting Him. This is how you’ll break through fear that tries to bind you from moving forward.
It’s a faith walk. So, trust Him with it all.
Remember Joshua and Caleb—those two leaders, out of an entire community, who chose courage and wholeheartedness in the face of impossible. This level of submission will be required of you and me, too, if we choose to move into our promised lands with Him.
John 14:15 NIV says, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
There is no other way in and through the true victory that is within reach. His standard and strategy of obedience is the path to blessing.
Holy Spirit reminded me that He built us to be like Jesus and that we are to be strongly and openly identified with Him (1 Peter 2:4-8 NIV).
He took me to 1 Peter to see a fresh perspective for this season. I encourage you to read 1 Peter for yourself and invite Holy Spirit to highlight what He desires you see right now. Because if you want to be blessed, you need to hear from God for yourself and do what He says.
Notice how these key verses link with Psalm 75:10:
1 Peter 2:9 NIV says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
1 Peter 3:12 NIV says, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
1 Peter 1:5 NIV says, You "who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
1 Peter 4:17-18 NIV - "For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"
"To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 5:11 NIV).
Margaret D. Mitchell is the Founder of God's Love at Work, a marketplace outreach purposed to share God's greatest power source - the love of Christ.
Originally published Sunday, 28 January 2024.
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