Category Archives: Obedience

Hear-Interpret-Obey!

Posted on by
Reply

John 2:5 ‘His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”‘

I love this verse in the bible. It is so simple and yet is so profound, and it has far reaching consequences. I’ve long held to the spiritual principle of hear and obey. It has been part of the core fabric of my spirit and walk with God, however, while I still believe and practice it, I would like to add another word into the middle of this fundamental idea.

The word is ‘Interpret’. Hearing is crucial. Obeying is vital. Interpretation is absolutely critical. A heart to interpret what God or anyone else is saying is a sign of maturity and wisdom. You might be able to hear but if you don’t interpret accurately, you could misapply your obedience.

It’s true, we do know in part and prophesy in part (1 Cor 13), however, that doesn’t mean we fail to invest time and energy into rightly handling the word of truth we have received. In my early years of ministry, I would hear the word, have a desire to obey but not always seek out the clear interpretation. I see the same thing happening with different ministries in the body of Christ today.

Truth is, it can be hard to know how to interpret what God reveals to us. Gods thoughts and ways aren’t ours and as a result interpretation can be a struggle. I’ve learnt that godly counsel, extended prayer, studying the scriptures and some helpful dream interpretation tools have been useful in processing a download from heaven. One such book is titled, ‘Dreams – The divinity code’.

I encourage you to pay the price to hear God’s voice, exercise wisdom to interpret what God has spoken and have the courage to obey boldly what God has revealed to you. Remember, not everything God reveals is to be actioned but more often than not it is.

Hear-Interpret-Obey!

Follow the Leader!

Posted on by
Reply

John 5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

I don’t know if you have ever played follow the leader but when I was in the Police Academy in 2000, I was in a physical training session where for 2.5hrs my entire squad had to play follow the leader. The instructor took us through a series of gruelling exercises and drills that we were required to follow. The only way we could follow his lead was if we watched closely and heard attentively.

This is a great practical insight into leadership. Followers take their cue from the leader. As goes the leader, so goes the followers. You reproduce who you are. It’s a law built into creation (Genesis 1). You can only reproduce after your own kind. This should cause you to take your example in leadership more seriously but it should also challenge you to ask the question, ‘Am I following THE leader?’

I’m not talking about your boss, pastor, parent or spouse. I’m talking about Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:15-20 gives us one of the most exhaustive and exalting reflections on Jesus Christ, that exists in the entire bible. V18 reads, ‘He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.’

As we consider the life of Jesus, we read in John 5:19, that he played follow the leader for 3.5 years of his ministry. Jesus said, ‘I only ever do that which I see my Father doing.’ Jesus knew that it’s not what you do that matters but what you do out of what the Father reveals to you to do. Most people I know are very busy doing a number of things that seem very important to them and possibly to others but I often wonder how much of what we do is really fuelled by a revelation from Gods heart and mind, rather than something that’s just culturally expected of us?

Even the Son of God recognised that by himself, he could do nothing. Jesus was completely reliant on his relationship with his Father and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in him and through him. Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing, which means, he had a close and intimate relationship with his Father, to actually observe and hear what his Father desired. As a result, Jesus could actually mirror his Father and authentically reflect the Father’s mind, will and intention for any given situation. Jesus took the game of follow the leader to a whole new level.

One of the most important questions you could ever ask God every moment of each day is, ‘Father, what are you saying and doing right now?’ God’s heart, mind, will and intention will be revealed to those who knock on the door of his heart and ask this simple, yet profound question.. continually. It’s time to start following the leader of our souls, Jesus Christ.

Grace & Truth

Do what God asks you to do!

Posted on by
1

Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

I could talk about this subject all day, not just because there is so much teaching in the Scriptures on it but because I am a walking illustration of both the blessings of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. You need to understand something really critical to your walk with God. Obedience does bring a blessing and disobedience does bring a curse upon your life.

The Holy Spirit spoke into my Spirit one day, “I will not bless you at the expense of disobedience.” In other words God’s blessing isn’t cheap. God also said to me one day, “If I ask you to do something, it isn’t law, it’s my will for you that I want you to obey me in”.  

Don’t call Jesus your Lord, if you aren’t going to do what he tells you to do. I think we are kidding ourselves if we think we can follow Jesus but not do some of the things he asks us to do. The chief indicator of Christ’s Lordship in our lives is our obedience to his commandments. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments”. Even the Great Commission outlines the process of making disciples includes, ‘teaching them to obey everything I’ve commanded you’.

For several years God has asked me to get up at 5am every day and spend quality time with him. While I’m a morning person, I have never taken this seriously enough to warrant a change in my lifestyle to action what the Spirit of God is asking me to do. I saw this as ‘Law’ rather than obedience and so procrastinated on it and dismissed it . However, God has repeatedly asked me to obey him in this area and went so far as to inform me that my disobedience was bringing a curse upon me and my ministry. I can tell you that when I began to hear the word of the Lord, a healthy fear of God came upon me. I asked God, “Why are you so intense about me getting up at 5am?” He said to me, “I want you to know that apart from me, you can do nothing. I want you to know that the blessing and success I give to you hasn’t got anything to do with you but comes from me and my grace in your life. If you are going to bear much fruit, you are going to do it my way, not your way.” Needless to say, I’m now a regular riser at 5am because I know the issue isn’t about 5am, it’s about my obedience in the context of my relationship with Jesus.

Too many of us are concerned about the outcome of our lives (results, fruit, success) rather than our obedience to Jesus. God said to me, “Obey me and the results will take care of themselves.”

What has God asked you to do that you have been procrastinating on? Stop bringing a curse against yourself and just do it. The blessing of God follows obedience. This isn’t a teaching of ‘law’ but a fundamental part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Either Jesus is Lord of your life or he isn’t.

Insight!