Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 05-28-2023

Obedience Gets Heaven's Attention

"If f you want to show God you love Him, don't just tell Him with words; obey Him."

~Kevin Zadai

DISCUSSION:
This week we will discuss how obedience gets Heaven's attention. This is a subject that really struck me when I first encountered Jesus face-to-face. I was surprised to find out that there were ways of getting Heaven's attention because I was never taught this in church or Bible school.

IMMEDIATE OBEDIENCE OPENS HEAVEN
Immediate obedience is what the Lord requires of all of us. This is what will open up the floodgates of Heaven. It all has to do with attitude. There are times we think that God is not watching or concerned. We can become overwhelmed in this world down here, which is broken and not operating correctly. People often judge God based on what they see, the slowness of this realm, and how it is down here. They do not perceive that the heavenly realm where God dwells is perfect; it's very quick and accurate. The angels are literally all around us, watching us all the time (Psalm 91:11). Even if you don't see them manifesting, they are there.

The spirit realm is parallel to the world we're living in. To live a lifestyle of immediate obedience to God with open heavens, we must be sober-minded (Titus 2:6). In other words, we must become diligent and aware, knowing that the heavenly realm is not broken; the spiritual realm is very quick, with supernatural movement. In Deuteronomy 28:1–2, God says that if you diligently obey Him and carefully do all His commandments, He will set you high above all the nations of the earth. He then lists all of the blessings that will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God.

OBEDIENCE BRINGS BLESSINGS; REBELLION BRINGS CURSES
The message of Deuteronomy 28 is straightforward. God communicated through Moses to His people after He delivered them from Egypt and essentially said, "Listen, if you really love Me, you'll obey Me. If you follow these commandments, I will set you high above everyone else. I will exalt you, and you'll be the biggest and the most powerful nation on the earth." God promised that many blessings would overtake His people if they obeyed. These blessings comprise the first part of the chapter of Deuteronomy 28 (vv. 1-14).

After the list of blessings for obedience, Deuteronomy 28 warns that if you do not love the Lord your God and adhere to these commandments, all these curses will come upon you (vv. 15-68). These curses automatically happen when people rebel against God and come out from under His protection. God doesn't actually curse people; it's just that they become open to satan's attack. The enemy is not going to sit back. He actively came against God's people anyway, so the only way to escape his assault was to do what God told them; then, God would protect them.

o Read Deuteronomy 28:1–14 and discuss the conditions to open Heaven and receive the blessings of God. Also, what opens the door to curses?

WE HAVE BETTER PROMISES
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
—Hebrews 8:10

In Old Testament, God promises blessings, which include prosperity, health, and all the benefits listed in Deuteronomy 28, so how much more in the New Testament, which is a new and better covenant? As mentioned, receiving blessings involves adhering to God's word and obeying what He has asked you to do. Then He promises that these blessings will overtake you, which is the idea of coming up from behind and overwhelming you. This is an Old Testament promise.

It is interesting how people mentally separate the Old and the New Testament. We must remember that Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament, which means that He will give you everything in the old covenant, plus more. The Word of God says that the new covenant is based on the blood of Jesus and has better promises (Hebrews 8:6; 9:14–15). It's a better covenant with better promises. You may think, what can be better than Deuteronomy 28? Jesus is the fulfillment of it all! Through Christ the new covenant is written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

OBEDIENCE IS GOD'S LOVE LANGUAGE
If you love Me, obey My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.
—John 14:15–16 NLT

In John 14:15, Jesus says that if you love Him, you'll obey His commands. He gives the same message God told Moses to speak to the people in Deuteronomy 28. God's love language is obedience. If you want to show God you love Him, don't just tell Him with words; obey Him. Obedience shows Him that you love Him. That's what He understands. This is what I saw in Heaven.

In the New Testament, Jesus often quoted the Old Testament. For example, in Luke 10:19, when Jesus told the people in the New Testament to trample on serpents and scorpions and to take authority over the enemy, He was quoting Psalms 91:13. He's speaking from the Old Testament. So the idea here is that if you love Jesus and the Father, you will obey the Word of God.   

GOD DWELLS WITH THOSE WHO OBEY HIM
Jesus replied, "All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make our home with each of them".
—John 14:23

God will come and live with you if you love and obey Him. Jesus expressed that He and His Father would come and move in. The words in John 14:23 actually mean moving in and bringing all one's belongings. 

Warrior Church Home Fellowship Study

Dr. Kevin Zadai 05-28-2023

What would that look like if a Christian loves and obeys the Lord to where they have God the Father and God the Son move in? That is the revelation that the body of Christ needs to get because that's literally what it says.

You already have the Holy Spirit and He will never abandon you (John 14:16–17). He won't leave you as an orphan (John 14:18). Jesus said that if you obey, you will have the Trinity living with you. What would that look like? The scriptures promise that blessings will come upon you like a wave washing over you from behind and overtake you because you obeyed the Lord your God.

BLESSINGS OVERTAKE THOSE WHO ARE OBEDIENT

According to the Word of God, what happens when you are overtaken by blessings?

• God will take sickness away from the midst of you (Exodus 23:25).

• You will give to many nations but borrow from none (Deuteronomy 28:12).

• The enemy will come at you one way but disperse and run away from you in seven directions (Deuteronomy 28:7).

• You will be the head, not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13).

• You will no longer be sick or poor.

• These are old covenant promises. We are partakers of a new and even better covenant, sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise

(Ephesians 1:13).

GOD'S WORD IS GREATER THAN ANY DISCREPANCY

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him.

—Colossians 1:15–16

We must frame our minds with the reality that we are in a covenant with God—a better covenant. Sometimes, we experience a significant discrepancy in our world, yet we cannot judge God by this broken realm. We judge Him by what He says. God spoke the world into existence through Jesus Christ; everything created was framed with words through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11:3).

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

—Psalm 139:16–17

Just remember that God has written a book about you. Everything was already decided before you were even born. Now it's up to us to discover our book and to agree with what is written. No one needs to go to hell. No one was destined to encounter all the terrible things on this earth.

Even the Israelites, when they were in the city of Goshen, did not encounter the plagues of Egypt. In the midst of the chaos of our world, God will show you the safe places and give you wisdom concerning what to do and where to do it. He will supernaturally provide for you in the days ahead. God is moving by His Spirit.

PRAYER:

Father, thank You so much for everything You're doing in all our fellowships all over the world. Move by Your Spirit and help Your people. In Jesus's name, we rebuke the devourer. We rebuke anything coming against our family, whether through disease, sickness, or weakness in the immune system. We break the power of the devil. We ask You, Lord, for wisdom. Thank You for giving Your people wisdom and understanding on what they take into their bodies, food sources, and everything concerning health. Thank You for helping them with that.

Lord, I ask for Your wisdom for their relationships and healing for their finances. I break the power of the devil and command the money which is earmarked for the work of the Lord to come into their life. I thank You, Lord, that all Your children will prosper and be in good health, even as their souls prosper. I thank You, Father, right now that the blood of Jesus is upon every gathering and each warrior.

Thank You, Lord, that the word of God is being spoken all over the earth and that many people are coming into the kingdom. I thank You for a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You, Father. May the Holy Spirit have His way in each of us in the name of Jesus. Thank You, Lord, for Your resurrection power moving within all our family. Thank You that all our bodies are responding to that healing, resurrection power right now, in the name of Jesus, amen.

1. What would the fulfillment of John 14:15 look like—if Jesus and the Father came to live with us because we love and obey Him?

2. Jesus did not do away with the old covenant; He is the fulfillment of it.  How did He provide an even better new covenant than the old?

3. Deuteronomy 28:1–2 and John 14:15 express that obedience is God's love language. Discuss the difference between legalism and heartfelt obedience to God.

4. Discuss the discrepancy that we face in this realm. Why is it important to judge God by His word instead of what we see?

5. What is the importance of understanding that God has written a book of destiny for your life according to Psalm 139:16?