KINGDOM PERSPECTIVES MARCH APRIL -2021

JAMES 1:22

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

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Editorial Sherin Johnson

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DIVINE OBEDIENCE Keziah Merin Chacko

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Etymology - Grace Rev. Shyam Raj

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Obedience is the Key Factor for Our Blessings.

Kirthana J. S 13

President: Blasson N Mathew Chief Editor: Sherin Johnson Co-Ordinator Overseas: Betty Joseph Subscription Co-ordinators: Roshin C Raju, JJithin Abraham and Kevin CK

Special Thanks: Jessica Coutinho

All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Kingdom Perspectives has been made available to you through the help and support of the friends and sponsors of Kingdom Perspectives Ministries. All the BIble references are from King James Version, New International Version, New Living Translation, Amplified Bible Classic Edition and Revised standard Version (RSV), Kingdom Perspectives is published by Kingdom Perspectives Ministries, Bangalore, India.

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ABOUT OUR WRITERS Kirthana J. S Mrs. Kirthana is working as an Audit Associate and settled in Bangalore. She is married .Together they serve the Lord along with their job in various ministries such as church planting, music ministry and youth empowering. They Are blessed with a baby boy.

Keziah Merin Chacko Ms. Keziah is working as a Speech Language Pathologist in Bangalore. She is dedicated to the Lord’s ministry and pursues her theological studies. She is involved in various ministries with her church. She is passionate to lead lives to the real love of God.

Rev. Shyam Raj Rev. Shyam Raj has completed M.Th in mission and MA in history and stays at Bangalore. He is a renowned Bible teacher and preacher in India and abroad. He is married to Riji.and blessed with twins Jordan and Joshah.

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WORD / PRAYER / FELLOWSHIP

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Kingdom Perspectives I March- April 2021

Editorial In secular terms Obedience Is all about living in compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority. However, the Biblical perspectives of obedience is to obey God, who is the spirit above everything else. Obedience is highly regarded, if you could love God even when you can't comprehend Him wholly. Compliance to God is the key that opens all the doors. You cannot wait to know everything and then obey God, rather when you obey God, you will know Him and experience His blessings.

The relationship between God and man is complete when we are able to obey Him by means of love. Since the basis of obedience is not by compulsion, God has given us the free will for all to choose to obey Him with due respect and love. In John 14. 5 the Bible says if you love me you will keep my commandments. Jesus' love for the father was expressed in his obedience to the father. Similarly, submissiveness, love and respect is exercised among the disciples and to their teacher Jesus. so our love for Jesus is expressed in our veneration to all His commandments. Therefore, let us live in compliance with His commandments from the Bible -the word of God with due love and thereby get into the kingdom's blessings. In this edition we present the theme obedience; enjoy more as you flip the pages.

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Sherin Johnson Chief Editor

"If you are willing to follow the voice of the Spirit of God when He takes you out of your comfort-zone, you shall find life in His leading."

NITHIN VARGHESE

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DIVINE OBEDIENCE K E Z IAH M E R I N C H A C K O Besides, God doesn’t threaten us into submission. Jesus said, “My sheep will hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). So let us submit ourselves to God, resist the devil, so that he will flee from us. The more we draw ourselves near to God, the more He will draw near to us. Jesus patiently stands at the door of our heart, waiting for us to open for Him. When we open our heart to him, our life perspective changes completely. We don’t find the world and everything in it fascinating anymore.

As grown-ups, we are cautious enough to obey the government laws and all other higher authorities, greatly out of fear, than respect.

As we are apprehensive about the consequences that we have to face, if we violate the rules or laws. How much more should we be obedient to our Creator and Master of the whole universe, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgement.

Divine obedience means to submit, surrender and act according to God’s will. Our obedience to God should be rooted in love rather than fear. Jesus said, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 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” (John 15:9-11).

We stop running after the things which we found worthy before. The one thing that would truly satisfy our soul would be Jesus Christ alone. The moment we decide to follow Jesus; He turns us to obedience by His spirit. We obey God wholeheartedly, when we truly understand who our God is. Our God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (He is everywhere at the same time). Knowledge of God leads to obedience. Once we truly know whom we serve, no matter what situation we are in, we take the first step of obedience through faith.

Obedience is the greatest act of faith in Christ.

In this journey of life, we often forget the reason why we are born into this world. The Almighty God has created us for a purpose.

Sadly, we are all busy running after the worldly pleasures rather than fulfilling the divine purpose. In the book of James 4:4 says, ‘friendship with the world is enmity with God’.

We cannot love the world and love God at the same time.

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When there is still ability and strength to honor and serve God. Because that strength never lasts long. It will be gone someday.

Hence, we need to make use of it, at the prime of our life. If we don’t remember and obey our Creator in our youth, we can possibly miss the perfect will of God for our lives too.

In the book of James 1:22, James urges us to “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”. We need to obey the word of God which we hear. Obedience is the first step to spiritual growth. Without obeying the Word of God, we can never attain spiritual maturity. The Word of God inspires us to pray. Word of God and prayer are the two modes of communication with God. While we meditate on His word and pray, the Holy Spirit reveals the areas where we have shown disobedience to God, makes us repent and helps us to lead an obedient spiritual life.

Once we truly know whom we serve, no matter what situation we are in, we take the first step of obedience through faith. Obedience is the greatest act of faith in Christ.

When we are in a close relationship with God, we love Him more. Obedience to God reveals our love towards Him. Jesus has said “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me (John 14:21). It is also written (1 John 2:4), ‘He who says, “I know Him”, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him.’ Hence we need to be watchful not to commit multiple sins altogether, by disobeying and lying with our tongue.

It is not when we grow up and become adults that we obey God. From childhood, children should be disciplined to obey and honor their parents, in obedience to the Lord. Apostle Paul instructs, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise: that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth”. (Ephesians 6:1-3). Children should not be under the assumption that they can wait until they are adults to obey God. We can honor and serve God by obeying our parents from our childhood itself. King Solomon, urges us to “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

God has commanded us to lead a holy life.

Holiness is God’s greatest attribute. In 1Peter 1:14, it says, as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy”. God commands us also to be holy, because our body is the temple of God. We should not defile it with unholy actions, words or thoughts. Being holy is to emulate God in our deeds and speech, which is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Scripture repeatedly emphasises the importance of divine obedience in many verses. In the book of 1 Samuel 15:22, Samuel declares, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice”. Obedience is the ultimate act in which God would be well pleased than any other outward signs of sacrifice.

The complete Scripture depicts all instructions and commands that have to be obeyed by a Christian till his eternity. In Jeremiah 7:23, “Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you”. This is a promise of God if we obey Him and walk in His ways, it will go well with us. It doesn’t mean that we will lead a perfect life, but, we will be able to experience the blessings promised for our obedience. It is not the kind of blessings which the world defines, but blessings far better than anything this world can offer us.

He humbled himself and endured all the suffering. Therefore, God the Father rewarded Him for His obedience, with high exaltation and subjection of the whole creation to Jesus. Paul states, in Philippians 2:6-11, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

If Jesus could lead a perfect obedient life till the cross, we can do it too by the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to give the Holy Spirit complete control over our lives. Then the Holy Spirit will guide and lead us in the right path. Without the power of the Holy Spirit it is impossible to lead a holy life in this unholy world.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of true obedience to God, the Father. Jesus modeled to us how to lead an obedient life on earth. He was even obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross.

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God gives the gift of the Holy Spirit to everyone who repents and baptizes in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the forgiveness of our sins.

The book of Ecclesiastes concludes with the warning, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil”. To fear God is to honor and revere Him. We need to fear God above everything else. If we don’t obey and follow His commands, we will have to give an account for every disobedience before God, on the day of judgement. Therefore, let us humble ourselves, fear and obey God in everything we do, so that it may be well with us. May God bless us all.

We need to give the Holy Spirit complete control over our lives.

Then the Holy Spirit will guide and lead us in the right path. Without the power of the Holy Spirit it is impossible to lead a holy life in this unholy world.

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ETYMOLOGY OBEDIENCE

The New Testament Greek term used for Obedience is hypakoḗ, that means "to hear" to persuade, to win over," "to be persuaded, to listen, and to obey." The term is recorded 5218 times in the Bible. It means "submission to what is heard" in a literal sense. Hence, obedience is a response, while someone is speaking. This refers both to an earthly voice and the Lord's voice.

Obedience in Hebrew is: shama that means to hear, to listen, to give attention, to understand, to submit to, and to obey.

In terms of our relationship with God, the Hebrew translation shows the intent and meaning of “shama’s” use in Scripture.

Inorder to know God and to hear His voice, we must have the intention to do whatever He tells us to do. We must have a willingness for spiritual intent. Moreover, we must practice to prepare the soil of our minds and hearts to directly experience this oneness as we hear and obey. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; Willingness is yoking us to do the will and the word of God. When we do this we will obey as we hear, As a result, just as in the scripture above, we will eat the good of the land; the rich produce that comes from yoking ourselves to Him. Listening, in our culture, is a passive mental activity, and hearing just means that our ears registered sound waves. But in Hebrew, the word describes hearing and also its outward effects of taking heed, being obedient, and doing what is asked. Therefore Let us willingly obey the Bible.

There is only one word in Hebrew obedience which is shama. This Hebrew word is also generally translated as “hear.” The word carries the meaning of hearing and obeying. Obedience is our sure measure of successful listening. “One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons.”In this Hebrew word there is a direct correlation between hearing and obeying.

“Shama” is an excellent example of the difference between Hebrew, which stresses physical action, and Greek and Western culture that stresses mental activity.

Rev. Shyam Raj Kingdom Perspectives I March- April 2021

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OBEDIENCE IS THE KEY FACTOR FOR OUR BLESSINGS K I R THA N A J . S

The stepping stone for the most marvellous blessings in our life is to obey the words of the Lord Almighty. Now, let us see what the Bible talks about obedience. We can learn much about obedience as we go through various scriptures. For instance, Children are asked to obey their parents in Ephesians 6:1 as this is the right way to behave as a child in a family.

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. We see in Philippians 2:8 that even Jesus showed obedience to death and death on the cross.

“And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

Further, in Colossians 3:18, wives are also called upon to be submissive to their partners as this is fitting with the lord. “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord'' Likewise, husbands are asked to treat their wives with respect in 1peter 3:7 which says, “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

However, Jesus condemns hypocrisy in the act of obedience to the law. Speaking to the Pharisees, he said that despite our deeds, without Christ, even our best and most righteous works are “filthy rag. So, as Christians, we are asked to obey the law of Christ which is the law of love as it is seen in John 13:34.

Three Forms of Obedience in Christian Life

Do you know why the Bible stresses it as an essential part of the Christian faith? Mathew 16:24 teaches us that as Christians, we must deny ourselves from the worldly unholy desires and choose to follow Christ alone and that is obedience.

1)Love the Lord Your Lord Obedience might seem easy to say, but applying it in life demands paying a price. This simple term put everything in our lives to honour and praise God and that is the key factor for our blessing.

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2) Love Your Neighbour as Yourself In order to love our neighbour, friends, and even family, we must forgive them in our hearts against all their mistakes against us.

3) Prayer This is an important factor in our daily life. The

To live by faith means to live by prayer, commonly

Bible literally tells us to “pray without ceasing.”

God in everything you do.

going to God in supplication and thanksgiving.

Obedience is very essential in a person‘s life. And being obedient to the Lord Almighty is the one factor which will help us to please the Lord and to be His dear one. May the Lord help you to be obedient to

Jesus condemns hypocrisy in the act of obedience to the law. Speaking to the Pharisees, He said that despite our deeds, without Christ, even our best and most righteous works are “filthy rag. So, as Christians, we are asked to obey the law of Christ which is the law of love

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1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”

4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:

P S A L M

6 In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger and terrified by your indignation.

8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.

10 Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11 If only we knew the power of your anger!

Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?

Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor[a] of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.

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Philippians 2:7-8 he made himself nothing by taking the very nature[a] of a servant, being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

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