Three Levels of Obedience

By Leonard Ford

Acting on the Word of God sets in motion a flow of God's power and blessing that cannot be accessed any other way. As we follow the patterns of obedience located in the Bible, we establish our lives in the stability of God's kingdom. In his book, "Three Levels of Obedience," Leonard Ford reveals how to be a doer of the Word in systematic, spontaneous, and sacrificial obedience. You will gain insight and practical applications as you learn the principles in this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781365406416

Book preview

Chapter One: First Priority and Final Authority

I have discovered three levels of obedience that we, as Christians, must master if we are going to be successful in this life. You can follow what I’m going to share with you in this book throughout the Bible and see these levels of obedience in the lives of the men and women who were mightily used of God. In this writing, I will only cover two areas where the Scriptures bear out that these three levels of obedience were lived out in the lives of the saints of old. I trust that these two areas will be enough for you to get a good understanding of this unique principle.

The Bible lets us know that obedience was the command of paradise. The only thing Adam had to do to stay in the Garden of Eden was simply to obey the command of God. God told Adam to keep the garden and dress it.

Genesis 2:15-17

15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

There was no other command given to man where the Garden of Eden was concerned.

The other commands were given in Genesis 1:28:

Genesis 1:28

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

All men have the right to choose. God will never override the will of man. However, God will often instruct man on what to choose. Still, it is up to man to obey or disobey; the choice is always left up to man. That is why Joshua said in Joshua 24:15: And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

In the Bible, we see God giving His people the opportunity to choose between the blessing and the curse, between what He knows is good and what is bad. Yet, God always allows man to choose for himself.

Look at these two passages of Scripture:

Deuteronomy 11:26-28

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:

28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

***

Deuteronomy 30:19, 20

19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

God always desires the best for His people, but He will not force His will or choice on anyone. Although many people blame God for the bad things that happen to good people, the truth is God is never the villain.

Men make wrong choices, and choices have consequences. We should never blame God or anyone else for the consequences of our bad choices. I have discovered that success is simply brought about by a series of right choices.

One day you will come to understand that your success in life, even after you are a born-again child of God, is conceived by your thoughts, confirmed by your words, composed by your choices, and constructed by your actions. I assure you, if you are thinking wrong, then you are talking wrong and making wrong choices. And if your choices are wrong, so are your actions. Therefore, the results are wrong. Of course, many will never take responsibility for the misfortune in their lives but will continue to blame someone else for all the things that are wrong.

The purpose of this book is to help you master obedience to God and His Word so that your life will be better as you walk through life at the rhythm of God.

I don’t want to take for granted that you are proficient in obeying God, so I will share some fundamentals with you that will help you on your journey to living your life in total obedience to God. The first thing you need to do is acquaint yourself with the written Word of God. Your knowledge and understanding of the written Word of God will be both the foundation and the filter for everything that you hear where the Spirit of God is concerned.

The written Word of God must become the FIRST PRIORITY and the FINAL AUTHORITY in your life. Any instruction or leading that you think that you have received must be in line with the written Word of God before you can trust it. If what you hear or feel is contrary to the written Word of God, don’t act on it! The written Word is your safe haven against deception.

When Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus stood on the written Word of God and overcame every trick that Satan used against Him. Let’s study His example to know what we need to do when the enemy comes against us by looking at the account of His temptation in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter Four.

Luke 4:1-13

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

9 And he (the devil) brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:{Notice that the devil is going to try to use the written Word of God against Jesus to trip Him up.}

10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:

11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Everywhere else Jesus responded with It is written. So, when the enemy tried to use the written Word against Jesus, it did not work because Jesus knew the proper intent and context of the written Word.)

13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Jesus was victorious in this situation because of His knowledge and understanding of the written Word of God. Let’s look at another passage of Scripture that will help us in this vein of understanding so we can become proficient in our use of the Word of God in defense against the tricks of the enemy.

2 Corinthians 10:4, 5

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Did you notice that Paul said, the weapons of our warfare? You are in a battle, and the battlefield is your mind. The adversary will try to deceive and defeat you with subtle thoughts. The enemy will lay wait for you and try to create strongholds in your mind. Strongholds are thought patterns. Remember what I said at the beginning of this writing: I said, Your success in life is conceived by your thoughts. So, if the enemy can keep you thinking wrong, he will defeat you every time.

Did you notice that verse four said, "…to the pulling down of strongholds?" That indicates that it is a process; it does not happen all at once. You won’t get this job done overnight. Your progress in this area will be a process of right choices as you diligently work at renewing your mind in the areas that you, by the help of the Holy Spirit, identify as negative strongholds.

Let me remind you that if you think wrong, you will talk wrong. And if you talk wrong, you will make wrong choices. If your choices are wrong, your actions will be wrong. Therefore, you will be frustrated and defeated every time. So, you must spend the necessary time meditating on the Word of God until you get a true understanding of the knowledge that you obtain from the written Word.

You will need to use the words of your mouth to overthrow these strongholds. You will never be able to successfully overthrow thoughts with thoughts. Did you notice in the passage we looked at in Luke, Chapter Four, that every time Satan said something, Jesus responded with words? Jesus opened His mouth and said what was written.

Whenever thoughts that are contrary to the written Word of God come to your mind, you must open your mouth and declare what the Word says. Just follow the pattern that Jesus set for us! You will always be victorious if you follow His example. I emphasize the written Word in all of my teachings and writings because God told me to build my ministry on His Word. Not only your ministry but your entire life should be built on the written Word of God.

The writer of Hebrews told us that He (God) upholds all things by the word of His power:

Hebrews 1:3

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

You will never go wrong if you stay with the written Word of God, which is why you must increase your working knowledge of the Word of God. Did you notice in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that these high things were exalting themselves against your knowledge of the Word of God? Just in case you missed that, let’s take another look at it before we move on.

2 Corinthians 10:5

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

This verse also reveals that this action of exalting things against the knowledge of God was done by using thoughts. We must be mindful of every thought and imagination that is not consistent with the Word of God that seeks to enter our minds.

Let’s look at these two verses in the Amplified Bible:

2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 (AMPC)

4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,

5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed one),

This text provides a clear explanation of why you must increase your knowledge and understanding of the written Word of God.

Once you gain proper knowledge and understanding of the written Word of God, you will discover that the voice of God was being revealed to you all the time. You will discover His voice in His Word, just as you know the voice of a trusted friend from time spent listening to them talk. So it is with the Spirit of God.

In this process of learning the voice of God, there are three voices that you must learn to distinguish and discern. First, you must learn to recognize the voice of your own human spirit. Next,