“Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)

How wonderful and awesome it is to think that there is no rebellion, no opposition in heaven.  The Lord our God fully and absolutely reigns and rules, not in a military way but every heavenly being is in full obedience and reverence to His Word.

This is the reason why satan was booted out of heaven because a disobedient spirit is not welcomed there. 

God never created a rebellious satan.  He created a perfect angelic being.  The failure of satan was a decision he made as iniquity was found in him. His impurity was expressed in his will and desire to rule instead of submitting to the lordship of the Lord our God.  He disqualified himself from being a resident of heaven and such gesture was irredeemable.

Desiring to build his own kingdom where he esteemed himself as god of the world, he needed followers. Being miserable as he is, he wanted more to be like him in misery.  He is the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).   Because of this agenda of his, he has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God (2Corinthians 4:4).  He veiled the eyes of men not to see the One True Jesus Christ Who came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. 

The earth was originally created GOOD in the eyes of the Creator.  When man was formed and was breathed by Him, He saw it VERY GOOD.   Man was not created a failure.  The fall came when the earth was invaded by disobedience authored by the disobedient spirit of satan.  Adam and Eve were tempted and heeded the voice that spoke what was contrary to what God commanded them, not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and this set mankind doomed to have a rebellious, wayward and non-compliant spirit.

But God Who is rich in mercy and abounding in love knew it all along.  He gave men the gift of free will and will never violate the beauty of this given gift.  Because He so greatly loved the world, He had a perfect redemptive solution in mind and that was to give His only beloved and begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to save us, redeem us and to reroute us back into the path of righteousness.

You and I are fully known by Him, therefore He perfectly knows how to win us back again into having an obedient spirit.  His Word says, “I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statues, and be careful to obey My rules.” (Ezekiel 36:27 ESV). In Hebrews 8:10, it says, I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Obedience indeed is an attainable degree of grace. It is never by our own.

Love always wins. Love never fails.  He knows that only Jesus is The Way, The Truth and The Life.  Only in Him and through Him shall we attain this so called NEW LIFE infused with His grace, the empowering ability to be who He originally created us to be and do what He originally called us to do. This is the power of being a NEW CREATION in Christ.  Emphatically, in Christ means, apart from Him, it is simply unattainable.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

God’s way is unparalleled.  He did not give us the sole responsibility to become obedient.  He knew that left on our own, it is impossible.  Mind you, even little children who know nothing about being disobedient, disobey.  Have you ever wondered why is it so?  It’s because there is a disobedient seed that has been planted within each one of us that needs to be uprooted and this process can only be achieved by being saved by grace through faith. There is no any other way. 

With man, it is impossible.  But, with God, all things are possible.  He sent us Jesus Who came as fully Man although fully God, fully obedient and fully pleasing to Him.  He only did what He saw the Father doing and only spoke what He heard Him speaking.  He was so yielded even to the point of death for the joy that was set before Him, seeing you and I redeemed, saved and empowered to live the way He lived.

You and I who received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior now has the seed of obedience within us.  As we become new creations in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17),  the disobedient spirit has become a part of our past and now the new has come, the obedient spirit.  As we are filled by the Spirit of God, we become led by the same Spirit, and when led, we carry the true nature of being sons of God.

“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”  (Romans 8:14)

This may not happen overnight, but we work out our salvation from faith to faith, from glory to glory, for it is He Who is all the while effectually at work in us, energizing us, creating in us the power both to will and to do for His own pleasure, delight and satisfaction.

To plunder the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of the deceived, is God’s redemptive agenda, for He never desires for anyone to perish but for all to come and have eternal life.  “This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3).The beauty of this lies in the truth that we are His co-laborers.  We carry His Name, His light, His life, His word, His voice, His presence, His touch and all that He is to the ends of the earth.  Anyone who encounters us as His temple encounters Him Who dwells inside of us and is being seeded with Himself.  We are the Body of Christ 24/7.  Never think that only those who are in the five-fold ministry are full time ministers.  No! We all are!  Can you imagine our own body?  If our eyes will say to the whole body, I’m off today, what will happen to the rest of our body? We get paralyzed as we cannot normally function perfectly without seeing.  This is indeed a vital thought to think of.  We are to be ready in and out of season, for anytime someone may suddenly come along needing the light that we carry and exude, and by the words that we speak that are spirit and life, we become instruments to pluck them out from the miry clay and bring into the kingdom of His marvelous light.

This reality is the importance of being His glory carrier. We arise and shine for the Light has come and the Glory of the Lord is risen upon us. Darkness covers the earth, deep darkness its people. But, the Light has come and the Glory has appeared. Nations shall come to our Light and kings shall come to the brightness of our rising.

You and I are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. We let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father Who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14;16)

We are not just being saved for ourselves.  The whole earth is groaning for the revealing sons of God who carry His presence and make Him known until the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of His glory as the water covers the sea.  You and I have a vital part to play and each one of us has our own sphere of influence to graciously invade and occupy. 

The word of God that is settled in heaven is near us.  It is our hearts and in our minds.  Jesus is the Word, therefore the Word is in us.

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” (Romans 10:8)

I believe in the power of His revealed word written in the tablets of our hearts for what good does it do to just sway the pages of the Bible without it being so alive in us.  In all our getting, we get understanding.  The Power of His Word lies in how much it is revealed to us and how much we believe in it, and out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak. 

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then YOU will make your way prosperous, and then YOU will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)

Our prayer that says, “let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” simply means that the earth where we live in should mirror what is in heaven.  If heaven is a place where His Word is settled without opposition, it should be the same on earth.  If there is no sickness or disease, lack and poverty or what have you in heaven, it is supposedly be so on earth.  If heaven only has obedient spirit, the same so should invade the earth.  Once again, with man, it is impossible, but with God ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.

The resurrection power of Christ, the residency of the Holy Spirit in us is the key to all of these, Christ in us, the Hope of glory.  It is He Who is excellent in power.  It is He Who is the exceeding greatness dwelling in us, who dare be against us?  It is He Who gives and awakens us to the reality of having an obedient spirit, for the Holy Spirit Himself NEVER goes contrary or against the God the Father and God the Son. 

“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears he will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore, I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”  (John 16:13-15)

The indwelling and infilling of His Spirit in us is what makes obedient.  It is our intimate relationship with Him, acknowledging His lordship in our lives, is what gives us a yielded heart.  It is when we hear His voice, we harden not our hearts.  It is when a little tugging from deep within us stirs us up, and we simply respond, “Here I am, Lord, I am Yours.”

“By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.   And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4 NLT)

It is never achieved by our own might nor by our own power, but only by the Spirit of the Living God. 

 In Luke 22:42, when Jesus said, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but Yours be done.”, this divine obedient nature of His has been deposited in us.  Jesus loved the Father beyond measure that He fully obeyed Him.  Therefore, God’s way of winning us was when He perfectly demonstrated how loved we are by Him when He gave us Jesus Christ, and in response, we obey in love.

I used to wonder what it meant before when our church leaders and elders kept saying how so loved we are by God, most especially when things didn’t go according to how I imagined my life would be.  My idea of being loved was definitely not by faith but by sight.  I only felt loved by Him when I saw good things happening to me. Until the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see how His great love was shown when Jesus was given to this sinful world and became sin Himself who knew no sin so that we may become the righteousness of God in Christ, only then my heart was settled.  I am loved deeply and dearly! Period! How He suffered until His body was beyond recognition and died to pay the exceptionally unequalled steep price by His precious blood so that you and I may be free and be taken out of darkness and into the kingdom of His marvelous light.   This revelation made my heart rooted and grounded in His love, that no matter what, I am loved by Him and nothing in this world can change this truth.  No one can separate me from His love regardless of what I see, hear or feel.  My daily taking of communion always puts me in remembrance of His amazing love for me. 

“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how He did it. Because He never lost sight of where He was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—He could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now He’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.  When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility He plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12:2-3 MSG)

Obedience is the fruit of our love for Him because He first loved us.  We obey Him because we love Him.  It is not by our own sheer will.   His perfect love poured in our hearts by the Holy Spirit means that Jesus has taken hold of our intentions, desires, and thoughts and has purified everything in Him.   In response, we begin to pour out our hearts to God in love with our entire being that desires Him, therefore fully yielding to Him, by His resurrection power in us.

“Those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in him.   Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.” (1 John 2:5-6 NLT)

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You for Your great love that You sent us Your only Beloved and Begotten Son.   Help us to know You and to experientially know how loved we are by You.   Thank You, Jesus, for fully yielding to the will of the Father so that I may be saved and translated from the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of Your marvelous light.  Thank You for shedding Your precious blood to cleanse me from a disobedient spirit and infuse me with Your divine obedient nature, being a new creation in You.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, for opening my eyes to see this truth that will never be taken away from me.  Thank You for pouring, filling and flooding me with God’s amazing love that empowers me to respond in obedience every time I am led by You.  Amen!