Obedience is not the final stage of our maturity in Christ… it's our training for a life of partnership with Him. It's the beginning. There is more than complying with the Word of the Lord. There is more than acquiescing to the command of the Lord. Much more! The joy comes from a place of surrender to the will of the Lord, but a surrender so complete that we are swept into the momentum of saying yes. It's a surrender so deep that we are partners in the thoughts and will of God. There is more for us than obedience. And yet, there is not less. Obedience is the teacher that leads us into true joy. We were made to worship the Lord. We were created to bring Him pleasure. There is a partnership with Jesus that to describe is nothing short of miraculous. God will grant to us the honor of moving His heart… of hastening His day. This is lofty indeed! I. BE UNTO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WILL Luke 1 [26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. [28] And he came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." [34] And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" [35] And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. [36] And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37] For nothing will be impossible with God." [38] And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. A. Saying yes to the Lord is the beginning of the supernatural in your life. Mary could have gotten stuck in the details, asking, "How will this be?" Many of us get stuck trying to figure out how the Word of the Lord will come to pass in our lives. We look and look, but we can't see how it will unfold. Beloved, the Word of the Lord comes to pass because of the work of the Holy Spirit. B. We are desperate for a move of the Spirit. We long to see a move of God in our lives, in our regions and nation. So, we have to say yes to the Holy Spirit. We must say, like Mary, "Behold, I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." C. Have you said yes to the Lord, or are you still trying to figure it out? Are you still trying to figure out how you are going to make it all happen? The plans of the Lord, believe it or not, will require the Lord. A move of the Spirit will require the Spirit. There is far more for us! Say yes! Just say yes. II. OBEDIENCE IS THE BEGINNING BUT CERTAINLY NOT THE END A. Obedience opens the door to the supernatural realm of God in your life. The Kingdom of Heaven manifests in our lives when we surrender to the expressed will of God. Let me put it this way, the Kingdom of Heaven (the blessing of Heaven) will not operate while we are in explicit disobedience. Salvation is the manifestation of God in us from the place of being reconciled. Physical healing is the manifestation of our bodies being reconciled to God. Deliverance is the manifestation of our souls being reconciled to God. Forgiveness and newness is the manifestation of our spirit man being reconciled and made alive to God. B. How are we reconciled? We surrender. We receive. Salvation is what we receive when we surrender. We receive the Kingdom of Heaven and it's manifestation in our lives. You can't work your way into reconciliation. Salvation is the gift of God. You receive it. It's easy. Just receive it! But many will ask, how do I receive? Set your mind the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8) Romans 10 [3] For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. [4] For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. C. The beginning is submission, but in Christ has come to lead us into more than submission to the law, not less. He's come to lead us into real relationship. The law provides us with 613 requirements, the do's and don't's, for being in right standing with God. Jesus has made a way for us to be in living relationship with the Father. We aren't looking at the Low, rather, we can set our eyes fully on God. Our confidence is in His leadership for our lives and not a list. Jesus will never lead us into breaking the Law, but will lead us into the liberty of fulfillment. John 15 [7] If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8] By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. [9] As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. [10] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. [11] These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. [17] These things I command you, so that you will love one another. D. Obedience is like abiding…It's not the end… it's the beginning of our real life in God. Abiding is the prerequisite of our partnership with God. III. DO AS HE SAYS A. Mary had learned something in the 30 years following her yes to the Lord. She had learned that her yes unlocked the very heavens. She had learned that her yes moved the heart of God. She had grown up in the things of the Spirit. She had matured past compliance to partnership. There is more than just saying yes. The desire of God for us is that we also contribute to His plans. This is lofty indeed! Imagine that!!! The God of the Universe is open to receiving your ideas. There's more for us than submission (but never less). John 2 [1] On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. [2] Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. [3] When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine." [4] And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come." [5] His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." [6] Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. [7] Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. [8] And he said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. B. Mary hastens the day! This is so utterly astounding it's difficult to wrap our minds around. And it's in the 2ndchapter of John's Gospel. Mary is the picture of maturity in her faith. 30 years later, we see that she has come into understanding that she brings pleasure to the Lord by her faith. She's not passive anymore. She's hastening… she's arousing the Lord's heart. 2 Peter 3 [11] Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, [12] waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! C. Jesus has granted to us the highest place of honor that can be given. We have been given the place of moving His heart. His desire is to bring us into friendship… into closeness. Friendships are never one-side. Song of Solomon 7 –The Bride Gives Her Love [11] Come, my beloved, let us go out into the fields and lodge in the villages; [12] let us go out early to the vineyards and see whether the vines have budded, whether the grape blossoms have opened and the pomegranates are in bloom. There I will give you my love. [13] The mandrakes give forth fragrance, and beside our doors are all choice fruits, new as well as old, which I have laid up for you, O my beloved. D. Maturity is more than compliance with the will of the Lord. It's a surrender so deep, so perfected, that we are able to provoke the Lord. His desires have become ours. We are no longer just passively agreeing with His will, we are calling and hastening Him to respond. This is maturity. Compliance isn't the place of joy, partnership is where we enter into fullness. Hebrews 12 [1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the
