A life of responsive obedience

A life of responsive obedience
As I was reading in my Message Bible this morning again, God spoke to me through some words in the book of the prophet Zechariah. This prophet of God shared with the prophet Haggai the task of getting the people of God to rebuild the ruined temple of God. Their prophetic ministry brought the people out of their self-preoccupation and got them working together as a people of God to fulfil and work out His purpose in the world!
Through eight visions God provided the people with images of their magnificent identity as God�s people and gave credibility to the long-term purposes of God being worked out in their life. The fresh images of a sovereign God stirred the people, motivated them and released energy within them to do the work of God in their generation.
The message of God was simply this: Be alert! There is a man among you whose name is Branch. He will branch out from among you and build the temple of God. When he has branched out and built the temple of God he will assume the role of royalty. He will take his place on the throne and rule � a priest sitting on the throne! � showing that king and priest can coexist in harmony. Then people from faraway places will come to join in working out the worldwide purposes of God in the earth!
All this follows as the people of God put their minds to a life of responsive obedience to the voice of God!
This is the crux of the matter! Only a life of responsive obedience to the voice of God will make us partakers of the promises of God and enable us to become instruments of God in the realisation of His plan and purpose!
Therefore the word of the Lord came to me again this morning: Be alert! God wants His covenant community to be the cooperative Branch. The constant branching out to establish new covenant communities is the sign of His presence among His people. Those who branch out will gain respect and assume the role of corporate leadership as they mirror the creative and redemptive community of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit! Togetherness is a key word in the move of the Spirit in these days of branching out! Together we need to put our minds to a life of responsive obedience to the voice of our God. Then we will together see the purpose of God be accomplished in the world in our generation!