Living the Surrendered Life
of Obedience
On Sunday, April 29, 2012 God spoke the following message to me as I prepared to go to church service. He entitled the message, “Living the Surrendered Life of Obedience.” Then He defined obedience by His Spirit as “being in the right place and position, at the right time, doing the right thing for the right reasons.” He explained that the word right is the root word of righteous. Therefore, it refers to righteousness, according to God’s standards. Righteousness is determined by one’s alignment with God’s Word, Will, and Way.
God is calling us, His people, to incarnate His Word, fulfill His Will, and walk in His Way. How do we incarnate God’s Word? By eating, digesting, and becoming His Word, which is a truth God is expounding through a message He has ministered to me, “Eat that I Give Thee.” How do we fulfill God’s Will? By incarnating His Word and walking in His Way. How do we walk in God’s Way? By incarnating and becoming prophetic demonstrations of faith, hope, and love to the world, which is the economy of Heaven. Therefore, incarnating God’s Word, fulfilling His will and walking in His Way are intricately interwoven and inseparable truths just as the Triune Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit also ministered to me that one’s right place and position is both physical and spiritual. We must seek God’s face diligently to know our rightful physical and spiritual place and position in Him. Our spiritual position ought to always be one of complete trust and reliance on God (Proverbs 3:5-6) and surrenderance to Him as living sacrifices, holy, acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service (Romans 12:1-2). Yet, we must seek His face continually to know His specific right physical and spiritual place and position for us during various seasons and assignments of our life. The right time is always NOW, because there is never any other time than now. We cannot return to the past, and the only way that we can press into the future is by living the surrendered life of obedience NOW. Then God began to minister to me how often our focus is upon our future destiny. Yes, He wants us to move forward towards His destiny for us. Yet, the only way to do this is through consistently living the surrendered life of obedience NOW. For this reason, Hebrews 11:1 states, “NOW faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen” (KJV).
Doing the right thing involves actions of the spirit, soul, and body. Our spirit, soul (mind, emotions and will) and body are all active. We must examine the activities of our spirit, soul, and body to know whether they are righteous, which means to be properly aligned with God’s Word, Will, and Way. For example, one may be harboring bitterness and jealousy in their heart and mind, which is not visible to man, but completely visible to God, who tries and searches the heart of man. God is continually sanctifying His people through the Apostolic process of separation, preparation, revelation, and reformation in order to fulfill the ministry of reconciliation, which is to completely reconcile or allign us (spirit, soul and body) to God’s Word, Will, and Way. His theme is “Whatever it Takes”, and though we may never fully understand His workings in our lives until we see Him face to face, He KNOWS what it takes!
The actions of the spirit and soul of man lead to the right reasons, which deal with the motives of the heart, because it is very possible to be in the right place and position at the right time and doing the right thing for ulterior motives other than righteousness. The right motives are always the same: to please, honor, glorify, and intimately know God, and make Him known to others, by incarnating His Word, fulfilling His Will, and walking in His Way of faith, hope, and love. After all, the greatest sermon is the one preached through a God-fearing and God-pleasing righteous life!
Now just because God is revealing these truths to and through me does not qualify me to have already attained such a glorious a place in Him! No! I am yet striving to live the surrendered life of obedience, and like the Apostle Paul, I will forever testify one of my favorite Scriptures…
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count thembut dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (KJV, 2000, Philippians 3:7-14).
Abba Father, teach us and help us to live the surrendered life of obedience in order to give you increasing measures of glory in the Earth. Teach us how to humble ourselves and surrender ourselves to You completely on Your Potter’s wheel. Then INFUSE us with Your heart, the Mind of Christ and Your Spirit that You may fully use us as You please for Your honor and glory and the building of Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
© 2012 Christine Lombard, All rights reserved, Use only with permission
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