Can you get over how many pages in the Bible say to "do the will of God"? It is on every page in one way or another. Again, Jesus said, "only he who does the will of my Father" will enter the Kingdom. If you stay in the Word of God, you have no question of this. However, if you keep listening to the popular religion of today, they will talk out of both sides of their mouths. They will say, "Yes, but…." The word "but" or "however" completely undermines the strong and clear message of pure repentance and obedience of the Bible, thus robbing the hearer of its full meaning and tempting them to stay in their overweight condition or in their stronghold. When someone tries to explain "around" obedience and give it a different definition, then you know down deep that they really can't fathom that God is expecting us to totally bow down to Him. The reason obedience is ever hard is when you are the prostitute-you owe your devotion to one but give it to another. That is the definition of the counterfeit church right now. The Bible described it as the GREAT PROSTITUTE in Revelation 17:1-2: "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.'" Simply put, the GREAT PROSTITUTE is the church that has allowed sin on its pews.
You do become intoxicated with the adulteries of prostitution, which is giving your allegiance to the food or sexual lust or anything instead of God. This is disobedience to God. Obedience is fundamental and essential for salvation. It is fundamental and essential for everything to be blessed on earth. It is the summum bonum-the supreme good from which all others are derived. Immediate or "on the spot" obedience is the ultimate goal, for it reveals the heart of man. It speaks volumes about your fundamental nature or the make-up of the core of your soul.
Lucifer has blocked man from obeying God in three major ways. Lie #1 of Satan is that he will say that obedience and repentance are "works," and a "work" takes away from the grace of God. So, you spend your life attending on Sundays to praise God for His work and just admit to what a great sinner (rebellious child) you are, because you think God likes that. Little does this person know that they are the mocker, and in doing this, they are storing up the wrath of God (Romans 2:5). Many will say that obedience is a "work," taking away from the cross of Christ. Woe to anyone who would lead someone to veer from the path of total surrender! Woe to anyone who would relax the cross of Christ or who would cut in on you in this race! The only "work" that is even referenced in the Bible is found in Galatians and Ephesians, and this "work" is referring only to Jewish customs, specifically circumcision, or external physical acts that can be done regardless of the state of the heart. The Apostle Paul warned that you are not saved because you observe a one-time external Jewish custom. Paul would go on to say that circumcision of the flesh did not make you a Jew, but rather circumcision of the heart. Galatians could not have been implying that obedience is a "work," because it later explains in chapter 5:19-21 that anyone who sins will not enter the Kingdom. Paul says that God cannot be mocked-you reap what you sow, and if you reap to please the sinful nature, you will reap eternal punishment (Galatians 6:7-8). He then goes on to say, "Let us not become weary in doing good" (6:9). I refer to people who use the "works" argument to relax obedience to God as people who have "works phobia."
Please tell me, how does bowing down to Jesus Christ take away from Him? How does a child's compliance take away from the parent? It doesn't; it glorifies the parent. How does an employee obeying and completing a project take away from the boss? It doesn't-it thrills the boss. It tells the boss how appreciative you are for the job. For those who want to defend this argument, may you feel the pain of non-compliance with your own children! When you tell your child to clean the kitchen or feed the dogs, I pray that they say, "I can't, because I just don't want to take anything away from you!" That will teach you. Getting you to fall for this lie that obedience and repentance are "works" was Lucifer's greatest accomplishment. It is a lie that claims that obedience takes away from the grace of God. It is a lie that says that all God wants is for you to spend the rest of your life attending on Sundays to thank Him for His sacrifice and to admit what a great sinner you are, and then you will have satisfied the requirements of God Almighty. Please know that you are the mocker when you do this, and you are storing up the wrath of God!
Now, Satan's second greatest accomplishment was lie #2: "If they believe that obedience is necessary, then let them obey, but get them to obey or elevate man-made rules so that even though they are obedient, they are obedient to man, not God!" Do you not see that God is still not being obeyed? It is an ingenious plan of Satan! It's legalism. The rules of "do and do" and "rule on rule" (Isaiah 28:13), but they are not God's rules. Legalists get worn out with the man-made religious rules and are not set free from following them. They then become vulnerable to the teaching of lie #1, which again claims that you don't have to obey. What a sad succession of lies. Man makes the rules, and God's leading is cancelled out. God's leading always says, "Follow the voice of God no matter what it tells you to do." Man's rules are set, so that God cannot guide. For instance, in the book of Acts, Peter had set rules on eating, and yes, God had at one point put them into place, but His leading is higher. The sheet came down with unclean food, and God told Peter in the dream to "Get up, Peter, kill and eat." But Peter argued with God in the dream and said, "Surely not, Lord!" God replied, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Peter again defied the voice of God and said, "No, unclean, unclean," three times (Acts 10:9-16). Legalism argues with the very voice and leading of God because it is the god of rules. No male or female prophet in the Word of God could have ever followed God if they followed pre-set rules. Paul could have never seen the vision on the road to Damascus or been led from one city to another. The only rule that you can have-if you are a true man or woman of God-is this: "God and Jesus Christ rule, and where He leads, I will follow. Even if the will of God leads to the cross, I will follow!!!"
The daughter of a surgeon, I was indoctrinated in medicine early, and I grew up hearing praise for the academic institutions. As a young adult, I obtained a Master's degree in Dietetics. How could I have ever let go of counting fat grams in favor of enjoying bacon and sour cream and blue cheese dressing if I had not been in tune with God and seeking His Word to back up His leading? I couldn't have. There would be no Weigh Down if I had elevated man's rules over God's leading. I did claim "unclean" in the beginning, but I quickly saw that His leading was truly backed up by His Word, and so I let go of the man-made rules. I am healthy and blessed when following God's law of temperance rather than following man's law of making the food behave.
What about money? Now, before Jesus' day, the rule was that wealth was a sign of being blessed by God-Abraham was rich, and Isaac was so rich that no town wanted him because he had so many animals. Job had it all. King David was rich, and Solomon was even richer. The assumption was that being rich meant that you were righteous. That is legalism. The heart that follows the will of God and loves His law is righteous, and this was the example of Abraham, Isaac, Job, King David, and Solomon, and so therefore, God blessed them with wealth. After Christ's time on earth, people did it again. They came up with any formula to keep them from having to get up daily and follow God's lead. The vow of poverty was considered the way to imitate Christ-wearing sandals, growing a beard, wearing no makeup, defiantly home-schooling your children. In fact, generally, the poorer you were, the more "righteous" you were. If you wanted the praise of man, then you imitated the externals of Jesus. Poverty was the sign of righteousness, not the fact that Jesus got up every day and devoted Himself internally to "not my will but yours be done" and "my food is to do what You want today, no matter where it leads me-even if it is like a lamb to the slaughter."
When we last moved, I got no less than 50 signs to buy the house we are currently in-the one my husband led me to. I did not even have the time to go around and look at other options with the real-estate agent. I told God that others were legalistic and would not believe that He led us to this large home, but the Bible opened to how God gave Jehoshaphat riches and honor (2 Chron. 17:3-5). I reminded God that those two things did not go together in the 20th century. In today's world, riches=sin and poverty=righteousness. I have known having little, and I have known having a lot, but I also knew my heart cared about neither. Why would God want to put me in this situation? It had been hard enough to deal with the legalists about brownies…and here I was, eating brownies and living in a big house with my kids attending public schools. All God-led, but not pleasing to those who have made up their own rules about righteousness. But God is everything. You must have scriptures to back up the leading of God, and you must stay under His authority. God had big lessons for all of this leading. It was never for my own indulgence or for me in any way, but rather for the glorification of God. Your rules-even disciplined rules-block the leading of God.
And finally, if all else fails, Satan will try lie #3: "Change the meaning of obedience so that the person never goes all the way." Notice that those who want to coddle sin try this tactic-they change the meaning of the word "obedience" and the meanings of many other words, as well. They say that "obedience" is not following a list of hard-to-follow commands from God or following His hard-to-follow laws, but rather just "trying hard," for "waiting on God," or "pursuing His will." Notice that "trying," "waiting," and "pursuing" is not doing. Why do we try so hard to get around the will of God? Why would we want to argue with the rock-solid foundation of proving whom is your Lord? Why? Because we want to be the god. Again and again we find a way around simple and pure immediate surrender. If you hear this message and say that you are "trying" to obey, that only means that you have decided to obey in your own good time. If you decide when you obey, then you are the god of time. You call the shots. You are the boss over God, and you have taken His chair once again.
The only true test is complete and immediate compliance to God. As you are birthing Spirit by obeying God, you will get to a point where waiting for the stomach growl is perfect. You don't have to think or reason or justify or calculate or plan your day with food. You just obey the leading of God-pure and simple. You forget all about eating until the command comes, and your preoccupation changes from planning meals to planning, calculating, praying, searching, and fulfilling the wishes, precepts, commands, will, and impulses of the Spirit of God. You become the feet, hands, and mouth for the will of God. This is the most fun, peaceable, and enjoyable life. Finding a fellowship of like-minded believers is incredible because the families and children are delightful as everyone is surrendering to the will of God. You have no malice or jealousy or hate or backbiting or gossip. It is truly what the Bible describes as the New Jerusalem.
Notice that God's laws are hard to follow when you have your own laws that you want to follow…but God's laws are sweeter than honey from the honeycomb for those who love His laws (Psalms 19:10). If you are still struggling, it is because you still want to be the boss somehow, some way. You do not want to be broken like a horse to that you can be directed left and right. Instead, you want to run wild, and that is the mark of the beast. If you are still struggling, it is because you still want to mix your ways with God's ways, and the wineskins will burst (Matthew 9:17). God will not let your final weight come off until you simply go from growl to growl in obedience. If you second-guess His commands or say, "this one time won't matter," then you are still the god! If you have been taking laxatives or diet pills to cover up last night's binge, you may find that now you are somewhat addicted because your stomach gets bloated when you stop taking the laxatives or cathartics. If this sounds like you, then you need to stop and just let your stomach bloat for a couple of days-you must pay for the consequences of playing god. Your stomach will get back to normal. And by the way, don't worry about constipation-just drink some hot coffee or tea in the morning and walk a little…you will be okay. If you will just go from growl to growl with your eating, your stomach will heal and your spastic colon will go away. Relax…obey…and stop getting yourself into trouble by second-guessing God!
God is the Genius and you are not. We don't have true geniuses on earth-just people with a few of God's brain cells. But pride gets people into trouble. Pride is actually stupidity, whereas the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Psalms 111:10, Proverbs 9:10). The fear of God is just the beginning. Wisdom comes from God and is given to those who are smart enough to know that they are not The God and that they are only mortal, made from dust, and very dependent in all ways upon the Creator. Pride is unbearable to be around because it is so ignorant but thinks it is so smart. Ugh! Conversations with prideful people are very empty; in contrast, conversations with humble people are very deep. You are not going to be able to change the will of God. His set-up is perfect. He has let us be exposed to all kinds of people so that we can be built up into the spiritual house that He is building off the precious cornerstone of Jesus Christ. We must line our rock-our foundation-up to THE ROCK. He is the plumb-line or the standard to which we all will be compared, for we were called to follow Him and walk in His steps.
If you have our own path and you take our own steps, then you think you are wiser than Jesus Christ. You think that you are the Messiah and you can save yourself. Do not let your actions suggest that you think you are a God, Savior, Messiah, or Lord any longer. You must repent and humble yourself in the sight of all-especially God.
By the way, there is a difference between "trying to get off the throne of God" and trying to get a clear directive on the leading of God. One is a choice and one is a process. If you have not chosen God as Lord, then you are not a child of God (Romans 8:9). The blood of Christ is for those who have repented of this rebellious behavior. Once you truly choose God as Lord, you will notice that there is a learning curve to understanding exactly what the Lord wants; these unintentional stumblings are covered by the blood of Christ. Read 1 John 2:1-2.
You must come to God on His terms, and that is a condition of the heart that is truly humble-a heart that knows it cannot rule God and cannot put the world in front of THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE. Each person must start out with a baptism, publicly announcing your willing death-to-self and your willing "yes" to the leading of God. Some can die to self only to turn around and pick up the leading of Satan again…but this must be a true "yes" to the will of God with no looking back. You must stay in the Word and under Godly counsel, for you will be very vulnerable to snakes that want to lead you away from total and complete sweet surrender to the wishes of God and put you back under man-made rules that drain you and do not give life or the fruit of the Spirit.
Remember, we must do the will of God. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).
The people who feel that Jesus and John the Baptist and Peter (as well as those who quote the Prophets and Apostles and the Lord, such as Remnant Fellowships) were condemning only want to disobey and feel good about it. They define a "loving atmosphere" as one that is free from spankings or correction. Correction is the greatest love! The Bible says that if you do not discipline your child, you are "a willing party to his death" (Proverbs 19:18). The Bible says that God disciplines those whom He loves (Hebrews 12:5-6). Do you want obedience without correction and descriptions of the consequences? Then find one prophet who actually accomplished that! You will find nothing but reinforcement that a strong message is always the message from the Creator Himself.
People want no fear -- but fear is the key to the treasure (Isaiah 33:6b). Once you obey, you have no fear: "For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid.." (Romans 13:3-4). This is too simple: do right and you will have peace with no fear. But yes, be afraid if you are rewriting the Word of God and the grace of God on this subject! Jude 4 says clearly: "For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord."
Finally, to those who are spying on our freedom in Christ to obey God without struggle (because God is Sovereign) and to have no other strongholds or gods before Him, know that the Apostle Paul was very condemning of those who taught a different message, as was the author of the Book of Jude. Paul said the following: "Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" (Galatians 1:7-8) God is upset with the people who relax the message of laying down sin and the people who are fighting against His messengers who teach His TRUE message of freedom from sin -- not freedom to sin.
In summary, don't believe someone who says, "I love obedience but the message is condemning." This is saying, "God, I like your end but I don't like your means." There is only one way to the path of total obedience - God's way. Remember, even Christ suffered. (Hebrews 5:7)