How is the intent of the Holy Spirit working in us regarding this scripture? Does the fear of the Lord kick any rebellion out of us when we know what the way of the Lord is? Do we then with set our face like flint to obey, no matter the cost? Rebellion is as witchcraft to the Lord….In Exodus 22:18, it is written: You shall not permit a sorceress ( witch) to live.…. Hmmm….
So Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams,for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king, ( 1 Samuel 15:23).
For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore, do not be partakers with them, ( Ephesians 5:5-7).
Our God holds great earnestness for our obedience to His voice speaking His Word…..His instructions to us…. If we do not heed, there is great tragedy heading our way…
As it is written in Revelation 1: 4-6, Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The Lord then had Samuel, the prophet and judge, anoint another man to be king over Israel…. God chose David, a man after His own heart….. Someone who would follow the Lord’s instruction…… David kept the Lord’s intentions first, even in the midst of his mistakes. The Lord and David had a hidden time together before he was anointed king by Samuel, the prophet.
This hidden time, proved David’s heart in showing the Lord his great faith….. During David’s hidden years , he learned to trust the Lord was faithful. Many came to follow David because they knew he had been chosen king from the Lord……. Could we say because of David’s loyalty in obedience to the Lord that he drew many to know the Lord who might have not known there was a great God as Jehovah?
So Saul is not the only king that can be dethroned! Since He has made us kings and priests to our God, the authority with that call can fall void….. Not by the Lord, but by Satan, he sees our disobedience and then has a place in us…. The presence of the Holy Spirit is grieved….. Let us pray daily to receive all the grace that is available to us to remain in the fire of the Spirit. We do not want to wax cold toward the Lord because of the hardness on our flesh in obeying the Lord.
How can we know it is God, if we do not know His Word and ways? How can we obey if we have not mastered the art of hearing God’s voice above all else? How will we not be deceived by hearing the wrong voice……. Know the Word of God, then we will know God…. If a stranger tells you something, you will recognize the deceitful voice….. as we only hear and obey the Shepherd as written in John 10…..It is very important to have a hidden time with God, in fact, it might be most important in our learning the Lord closely.
I recognize my husband’s voice, his cough, his sneeze…… because I have spent time with him…. I know him. If we have been with the Lord, we should know Him…..!
Let us live what is written, we have died to the world and have risen in the newness of life in Christ.
The great need of His grace produces: Steadfastness…… Endurance…… Patience………Godly qualities are being pr0ven in us as we walk to obey in faith by His grace. This walk with the Lord makes a firm foundation in us in that we learn to trust His faithfulness. So we are willing again to walk out further in obedience to His word because we know He is there making a way for us where there was no way before…. His hand moves as our heart of obedience turns to Him…. If we are stagnant, there is no movement from us to Him and He waits upon us to say…… Okay, we give…. I will obey. Sorry, for my delay! I thank God for His longsuffering!
In our obedience, whether it is hard stuff or just simple instructions, brings the blessings of the Lord …. More of Him comes in to reign and through us. Our life is lived by faith in the Son of God by His Spirit and we grow in Him in maturity …. There is no other way to walk out our salvation and be the vessel of the Lord…..
In Galatians 5:4-5, You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by your by the law, you have fallen from grace….For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
In the letters to the church in Revelation, the first one to Ephesus, was rebuking the church for leaving their first love…..the words were used : Remember, therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place- unless you repent, ( Revelation 2:5).
Notice the mention from Paul’s letter to Galatians 5:4, you have fallen from grace…. The Holy Spirit is known as the Spirit of grace….. When we are doing works and getting our self righteousness from those works, we have left the Spirit of grace and have fallen again…… Our righteousness is in Christ alone…. Christ alone…..We must learn and live that we can do nothing good without Him as He spoke in the Gospel of John.
Our first love is knowing the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ…. There is no other way to know grace, but to know that we are not deserving of His grace…. We are lifted up by His Spirit or His grace to heaven…. Heaven has broken into our hearts because of what God has done for us…. There is nothing we could ever do to earn it or live righteously without His Spirit of grace and mercy upon and in us.. We do not receive the Lord without His Spirit drawing us to the Lord and His Salvation.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of your selves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast, ( Ephesians 2:4-9).
If we bow to the cross of Christ and now think we are okay with out any grace past the revelation of the redemption of Christ, we have fallen again…..
The Door is Christ, but there is more!
Once we enter the Door, He then becomes our Way we live, which is Christ. Once we come through the Door and enter in the Way, He is the Truth and Resurrected Life we live in and by the power of that Life is our daily strength….. As He is our Light in a dark world… He is our Light to walk the Way of Christ after we have entered the Door of Redemption of God. Our total salvation is of God… And Jesus Christ is more than our entry Door….. He is Everything….. to the Salvation of God .
So we are a part of His body and He is the Head giving us instructions on His behalf…. Just like our head gives instructions to the members of our body…..As it is written in Hebrew 3:15,-16 while it is said, Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?
Today, if He is speaking to you—- Hear Him….. Tomorrow, we may not hear! We do not have tomorrow promised us…. We are given today, to hear Him and obey!
Let us hear and obey and continue with the Spirit of grace in His work within and with out…. bringing many to be made righteous….. Let us not even be known by the Lord to have a rebellious, selfish heart of unbelief.
Let it be said of us as it is written of the Lord in Isaiah 50 :4-11?, The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to who is weary He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned.
The Lord God has opened My ear; and I was not rebellious, nor did I turn away. I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face as flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.
He is near who justifies Me; who will contend with Me? Let us stand together. Who is My adversary? Let him come near Me.
Surely the Lord God will help Me, Who is he who will condemn Me? Indeed they will all grow old like a garment, the moth will eat them up.
Who is among you that fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness? And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon His God.
Look all you who kindle a fire, who encircle yourselves with sparks: walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled- This you shall have from My hand: You shall lie down in torment.
If we are like our Master, our High King of heaven, the actions of men towards Him and the strength and power of the Spirit of God will also happen to us….. We do not take away the sins of the world….. but we partake in the many being made righteous…. In any of God’s work, evil wants to stop it, so the Holy Spirit keeps us pure and focused…..He awakens us with Himself morning by morning to instruct us on the way we should go today….
When we are awakened by Him, we should take heed to open the day with prayer or communion with the Lord. Let us hear Him! We pray with Him, with His Word and set things in order for the day. He also illuminates us to the comings of the day and to pray for His purpose for that day…. ( His purpose takes precedence and should also be our course!) We then are covered in His anointed garment before we even get our first cup of coffee….His Spirit of grace…..
This is a wise way to start the day and the wisest way to end our day at night….. Be still and know that I am God and I will be exalted among the nations….. Every knee shall bow before our King….. The best way to know what to obey is to hear the instructions of the day and study our scriptures. We ask for the grace to enter in and cover us the whole day…Remember, He gives His beloved good sleep….even if the amount of it is short! So we can awaken to His voice… So we say, what’s up Lord? I am hear waiting and listening for You.
Those who wait upon the Lord and believe in Him shall not be put to shame….as written.
He has many ways to manifest the righteousness of God through us, if we are really intent on being His empty vessel, for His light to go out amongst many…. If we really want His interest, we will be bow to Him in love, not duty .
Loving Jesus Christ is showing Him that we want His Name and His Fame and His Reign, which is here and shall never cease forever and ever. Amen! How pleasing it is to the King, to have His court in our hearts freely. He guides our decisions in righteousness in His life by His ways. How we are different from the world is seen before the world, but most important, by the Audience of One. Let all know how we love our King, the Christ and Savior of the world and how He loves us, even us.
Let us have His heart, a heart of Him, for Him…. Ask Him for a new heart…… It is in His plan, read the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, check it out!
Let us be found in Him, not having our own righteousness. As His fire burns through us, let the fire show only Christ in us. Let us be in the King’s hand as His secret weapon……All will know God is God, and they are not! Glory be to the Lord today and forever…. Let us magnify His name among the nations today! We do not have to travel out of our country to magnify the Lord in America…..Let us bow and give our love in every act of obedience that He requires of us….. Loving Him and others with the same love we want for ourselves! Even when we do not receive that in return, we still obey our King because we love Him above all.
Hear Him ask you today, Who Do You Say That I AM?
Selah!
