One of the things we need to understand in our relationship to God, remember, the law is for whom?  The lawless.  The moment we disobey, the moment we take things back into our lives and think we have liberties to not apply the Word of God fully in the Spirit, we place ourselves back under the law, we lose our liberty.  We bring judgement upon ourselves by refusing to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit, we are put back under the authority of the voice of the law.  If you “walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh”; amen?  So, the difference is this, obedience is just carrying out that mandate in our own abilities, but refuse to relinquish that personal right.  Submission is, whether it be in the body of Christ, whether it be in the home, the Bible makes it very clear that the head of the woman is the man, the woman was made for the man, not the man for the woman.  All of those things that if you want to start a war you can speak in public.  So, what that really means is, “And here’s how we’re to respond to God’s Word...”  We’re not just carrying out the letter here begrudgingly.  The Scripture says you will keep My commandments and they will not be grievous unto you.  They’re a delight; amen?  It’s not difficult if you love God.

Now if we love ourselves, it’s difficult and we have to grit our teeth and go contrary to our will.  And it outwardly looks like obedience but submission takes the heart of that individual as their own.  This is what we were talking about earlier where we’re one heart and one mind as a people.  So, now in this situation whenever the husband fulfilling his role and having to make decisions and apply the mind of God and the wisdom of God to our circumstances, to our family, whatever; once that decision is made, the wife to be in submission not only obeys, but changes her whole thought process.  All of her desires line up with that decision.  In other words, it becomes mine now.  I’m absorbed into that.  I am one with them.  You know, these are little things that we pass over a lot of times but it causes, in the spirit realm especially, some great conflict and the Scripture says your prayers will be hindered.  Ladies, if you’re sitting down on the outside and standing up on the inside, your prayers are being hindered.  Is that Bible?  So, this is one of the things that we have to now put toward our obedience and our submission to Jesus’ lordship.  His Word is truth; amen?

I’m not just begrudgingly keeping these commandments because I don’t want to go to hell, I don’t want to fall under the wrath of God.  It now is truth to me.  His mind is my mind.  I walk these things out because I love Him, because He first loved me. We have to arrive there or we won’t be one with God, much less us as a corporate community becoming one in the Lord, because there’s only one truth, there’s only one Lord, there’s only one baptism; amen?

So, the spirit of that, look at what He says, “O that there would be such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always that it might be well with them.”  If you’ll notice, all of these commandments with the “ifs” are that it might be well with you.  God wants to bless you.  Can you say amen to that?  Praise God?  God wants to bless you.  He wants to prosper you.  He wants you to be the head and not the tail (amen?) but our hearts have to be toward God.  Our hearts have to be set to not seeking our own gain, but the glory of God.  And if we seek first the glory of God, He will bless you.  If we’ll seek the kingdom first, everything else that pertains to life will be added to us.  If we’ll seek God, if we’ll pursue Him with all of our hearts, if we ask Him to enlarge our hearts and we pant after Him as the hart does the brook, He will bless you.

Deuteronomy says the blessings of the Lord will overtake you, praise God!  Run as hard as you can to the kingdom and you’ll get run down by the blessings of God.  I’ve taught this for so many years.  The blessings will seek you, praise God!  And these are the commandments and if we love Him we will keep those commandments.  And that breach with the commandments of God, it can become so subtle. But this is one of the breaches, whenever you’re out there working for your own glory, whenever you’re out there and think you have a better idea of how to get God to bless you, you’re not in favor with God.  He can’t bless you.  He won’t join up with your vision.  You have to join up with His.