In FreedomMinistry Levels 1 and 2 we discuss how to release the power of the Cross and the power of the Spirit without limits. If hell cannot keep me from the Cross, hell will work to limit the power of the Cross in my life. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:17 that it is possible to limit the Cross’ power by substituting human wisdom and strength. If hell cannot keep me from Holy Spirit, hell will work to limit the power of Holy Spirit in my life. Paul says we can grieve Holy Spirit, quench Holy Spirit, and live without fullness of the Spirit.
Level 3, Serving Leaders, begins with this discussion of Obedience Without Limits. If hell can’t keep me from obeying God in the first place, hell will work to limit my obedience to God. Jesus says, “If you continue doing what I tell you to do, you are really My disciples.”
FreedomMinistry is a discipling ministry. While I have reached into the best of deliverance, inner healing, and healing that has been released into the Body in the past three spiritual generations, the definition of FreedomMinistry is not found within any one of these in particular. The seminars are designed to bring freedom, but to equip believers to keep the freedom they receive. However, we are “Turning Ordinary Christians into Ministering Leaders.” This is the definition of discipling that disciples and makes disciples who can make disciples. Discipling is long term.
Rick Joyner says, “Good intentions are not obedience.” In fact, we could agree that 99% obedience is disobedience. Go back to the place of your last disobedience and you will uncover the beginnings of betrayal.
Jesus shows us obedience without limits, learning by things He suffered to continue until He completes His assignments. He says what Father says, does what Father does, and finishes what Father starts. It costs Him everything-to gain everything. Words cannot bear the strain of the revelation: “Tho He were a Son, yet learned He obedience-“ He learned obedience by obeying.
The moment we fall short of full obedience, we stopped learning that level of obedience. We freeze frame at the point of our unfinished obedience. While our learning process is imperfect–Jesus fulfilled His obedience, finished His learning, by saying and doing all He was assigned–we can get it right! We can obey God! We can learn obedience.
The difficulty for many of us is that fulling obeying God means obeying someone else He has assigned to our lives. Oh, here is the rub as they say! We get into all kinds of “God wouldn’t ask me to do that” limitations in this vein of obedience. Yet, discipling is our assignment, and discipling cannot occur without learning obedience to someone other than God. Yes, let me say this again to this generation: discipling cannot occur without learning obedience to someone other than God.
Here’s where obedience, submission, honor, and serving get into the picture of destiny and purpose. We learn obedience working with others within Christ’s Body. We learn obedience without limits by interaction with others.
The same reasoning that allows us to rebel again authority in our lives pushes us to unfinished obedience with God. Notice how the mighty weapons of our warfare deal with strongholds in order to deal with obedience: “bringing every thought captive unto obedience to Christ.” ( See 2 Corinthians 10.) The direct connection between strongholds and disobedience is “the high thing that raises itself up.” The warfare weapons are required to deal with these spiritual conditions; the weapons mentioned here were in the hands of Paul and other ministry leaders in his apostolic assignment.
In other words, Paul and leaders within his apostolic assignments had “weapons mighty through God to pull down strongholds and bring every thought into captivity unto obedience to Christ.” Whatever we may learn from Paul’s inspired comments here, we see that Paul’s leadership is involved in accomplishing the end result.
The point is that leaders are strategic to our most basic assignment as the Church: namely, discipling. Within the discipling process, obedience to leaders other than Jesus is prescribed by Jesus. We learn obedience by passing the tests of submission.
