There are two words that seem to be missing in the 21st Century Church that we desperately NEED in order to be right with God: SUBMISSION and OBEDIENCE!
These two words have always had a MAJOR impact on the chosen people of God! When the Nation of Israel OBEYED God things went well for them, but every time they would start falling away and disobeying everything fell apart.
Contrary to popular Culture and the ways of the World, SUBMISSION and OBEDIENCE are NOT signs of weakness!
Also, SUBMISSION is NOT “true submission” only when you AGREE on the matter; that’s agreement! “True SUBMISSION” is when you can submit in obedience to something even when you DON’T AGREE!
SUBMISSION and OBEDIENCE is apart of God’s Plan! If you LOVE GOD, desire to please God, and have “A Heart after God,” your life will include both SUBMISSION and OBEDIENCE to God, His Word, and His Man!
I’ve been Preaching for 11 years now, and have been in some form of a Pastoral Role for the past 9 years and I’ve come to the conclusion that “people do what people WANT to do!”
I’m amazed at people who will make sure their children are involved in extra curricular activities outside of church but are too tired to make sure their children are at CHURCH! Or people who will allow their children to dictate whether they go to church or not and the parents let it happen…I don’t understand that. People who can play ball, go shopping, do whatever they WANT to do on WORK/SCHOOL nights but can’t make it to CHURCH amaze me.
The bottom line is this, IF they have “A Heart after God” they’ll do WHATEVER God asks them to do, whether by Conviction of the Holy Ghost, Revelation of His Word, or the leadership of their Pastor!
But IF they don’t have “A Heart after God,” God can’t Save them, His Word can’t Save them, and the Pastor certainly can’t Save them! They’ll look long and hard until they find loopholes, justified reasons, and excuses why they don’t agree with the Pastor, the Word and ultimately GOD!
This current Generation and the ones coming after NEED to understand that GOD placed Shepherds/ Pastors in their positions in order to lead His people, and with this position comes Authority and Accountability! Every Pastor is accountable to God for what He preaches and allows and is responsible for preaching the WORD of God to the church! However, once the Pastor has preached the WORD of GOD, the church is then held accountable for that WORD and is responsible for SUBMITTING to and OBEYING the WORD that the Pastor has preached!
Another thing people wthe truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understandingho have “A Hear After God” will do is LOVE His WORD!
(Proverbs 23:23/ KJV) says, “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.”
(2 Timothy 3:16/ KJV) says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
The NLT says it like this, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.”
There are four things that the WORD does for us:
1. First, we get Doctrine from the Bible. A Doctrine is a principle presented for acceptance or a belief system.
2. Next we get reproof (or scolding or caution) from the Bible. That’s the act or an expression of reproving; speaking firmly to someone.
3. The third thing we get is correction. Correction is the process or correcting or substituting what is wrong for what is right.
4. And finally we get instruction form God’s Word. Instruction is some helpful item of knowledge; a lesson.
If you have “A Heart after God” you’ll LOVE God’s WORD…ALL of it! NOT just the parts you agree with...ALL of it
NOT only will you LOVE the DOCTRINE, you’ll SUBMIT and OBEY it…ALL of it! You’ll be grateful for the reproof, the correction and the instruction that comes NOT only from the Word of God, but the Man of God!
You want to know what Jesus had to say about it...Jesus said in (John 14), “15 If you love me, OBEY my commandments…21 Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me…23 All those who love me will do what I say…24 Anyone who doesn't love me will not do what I say.”
The Bible says Demas left Paul in (2 Timothy 4:10) because he LOVED the WORLD. Perhaps, there were some things that Demas wouldn’t SUBMIT to or wasn’t willing to OBEY. Whatever the case, Demas didn’t finish the journey he started because apparently he didn’t have “A Heart after God.”
If you have “A Heart after God,” you’ll do WHATEVER God asks you to do, whether by Conviction of the Holy Ghost, Revelation of His Word, or the leadership of your Pastor!
