“The power of God will take you out of your own plans and put you into the plan of God,” Smith Wigglesworth.

“The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate,” (it is her fault, she became the stumbling block for me to disobey You!), ” Genesis 3:12.

“If you want to be My disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison, (You need to be so supernaturally joined in Me and filled with My Love, that in yielding yourself to Me, the natural love you have for others (and even for yourself), would seem to be as ‘hatred’, in comparison – this includes towards those who are closest to you and most precious in the natural realm of this world (I have to be more to you than)) your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even as your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple,” (Luke 14:26).

There will be no one behind whom we will be able to hide ourselves one day, if we have chosen to withdraw from that which the Holy Spirit has breathed into our hearts to pursue, having lived in disobedience toward God and to His call upon our own lives for the sake of having pleased others.

No matter how we may choose to position ourselves, we are ultimately responsible to obey God above and beyond all else, and to yield ourselves to His will at the expense of all else.

He is a personal God to us, and expects us to regard Him and His will in our lives, personally and above all else.

Submission to God supersedes submission to any human, whether it be mother, wife, father or husband, and goes beyond any obligation towards brother, sister or children.

God has to be GOD in us at all times and in all circumstances, and the Highest Authority governing our lives.

No one will one day be able to say, “I did not go, because my husband/ wife did not want me to”, or, “I needed to care for my children”.

The answer will surely come back: “Your Father knows that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the Kingdom of God….. and all these things will be added to (taken care of on your behalf for) you”.

We can only submit ourselves to those who are firstly submitted to God themselves, and joined to His supreme will in our lives.

We can never place anyone or anything above God’s revealed will, if we claim to honor and to love Him.

Adam presented Eve as his “stumbling block” and shifted the blame to God for having given Him such a stubborn woman.

In other words, it was God’s fault for allowing Adam to have a disobedient wife!

God did not entertain his suggestion for a moment, and he was found to be as naked as Eve in God’s eyes (although they were both hiding behind leaves!).

In the context of this, I am convinced that God would have asked Adam –

“Why did you obey Eve and not Me?

Is she your God?

Your Creator?

Is she more important to you?

Do you love her and esteem her more than Me, that you should submit yourself to obeying her, rather than Me?”

Let us be careful not to hide behind others, and even loved ones, or those who have authority over us, when it comes to obeying God.

We are, and will also at the end be accountable for our own choices and actions, whether they were approved by God, or done in defiance of Him and of His will.

Personally I have had to face these challenges in my own life, and so did others close to me.

The choice had to be made whether God and His will would prevail, or whether I would back down in fear of losing what was precious to me, for the sake of the Gospel.

I will never forget that pain-filled moment in all my life when I needed to release all in surrender to God, it felt as though everything that mattered to me was ripped out of my heart.

I will also never forget the outcome as a result of that choice – God became the Supreme Authority over and above all, and after He did, He stepped in and poured Healing Waters over the whole matter!

I believe at some point in time, God brings all those whom He calls to this watershed moment and to this river, to see who will pass through the deep waters and choose Him above all else!

Surrender can never be partial – We either belong to Him wholeheartedly, or we serve Him partially.

“You are no longer your own (your life is not your own). You were bought at a price,” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

 

~ Johann van der Hoven

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Johann van der Hoven is in South Africa. He has been serving the Lord in ministry since 1991 and has hosted numerous apostolic revival meetings in South Africa and in South America. He also currently pioneers a organic church planting movement across South Africa. For more information about him and his ministry visit www.sonsofsovereignty.com or Revival.

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