Day 6: The Jesus Perspective Shift — What If Obedience Is the Strategy?

The Jesus Perspective Shift is a 10-day reset that transitions through observation, consecration, and elevation. We are currently on Day 6, and we are having a GREAT time!

But today’s Word? I HAVE TO share this with you.

We read the entire chapter and prayed through Deuteronomy 8, while also looking at it alongside Genesis 1–2. I encourage you to do the same because there was something about reading these passages together that completely shifted the way I see the Garden of Eden.

Let’s start here:

“Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers.” — Deuteronomy 8:1 NKJV

💡 Fun fact: Did you know there are more than the Ten Commandments? Jewish tradition identifies 613 commandments throughout the Torah.

The point here isn't simply the number of commandments. What caught my attention is God's expectation that His people would carefully observe EVERYTHING He commanded.

Look at the language:

Live.

Multiply.

Go in.

Possess.

Does that sound familiar?

It immediately took me back to 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.”

God's original instruction to humanity involved fruitfulness, multiplication, subduing, and dominion.

Then in Deuteronomy 8, God uses similar language while speaking to Israel as they are preparing to enter a new place.

That made me ask:

What if this is a new season, but the assignment is still the same?

Don't Forget Who Got You There

A few verses later, God says:

“When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God…”— Deuteronomy 8:10–11 NKJV

This is where the chapter really grabbed me.

God isn't only warning them about surviving the wilderness.

He's warning them about what could happen after the wilderness.

There is a danger in struggle, but there is also a danger in success.

When you're hungry, you know you need God.

But what happens when you're full?

What happens when the prayer gets answered?

What happens when you finally possess what you were believing God for?

God says, don't forget Me.

Then He gets even more specific:

“My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.”— Deuteronomy 8:17 NKJV

In other words:

Don't confuse God's grace with your own greatness.

Don't forget the prayers.

Don't forget the fasting.

Don't forget the discipline.

Don't forget the humility.

Don't forget the lessons you learned when you didn't have what you have now.

Sometimes elevation doesn't expose whether you can get there.

It exposes whether you can remember who brought you there.

The Warning Isn't Just About Going Back

Then Deuteronomy 8:19 gives another serious warning about forgetting God and serving other gods.

And this made me think about the Garden of Eden differently.

Because when we talk about Adam and Eve, we usually focus on the thing they were told not to do.

Don't eat from that tree.

But what if part of the problem was that we don't spend enough time talking about everything they were told to do?

God had already given humanity an assignment.

Be fruitful.

Multiply.

Fill the earth.

Subdue it.

Have dominion.

There was a whole world of yes surrounding one no.

And that changed the way I started thinking about sin.

The Sins We Commit — and the Things We Leave Undone

We often focus heavily on sins of commission — the things we do that God told us not to do.

But there are also sins of omission — the things we fail to do when God has instructed us to do them.

And I wonder how much temptation loses its power when we become fully occupied with obedience.

What if the goal isn't simply:

“How do I stop doing bad things?”

What if the better question is:

“What has God told me to do?”

Because if I am busy loving God…

Busy obeying God…

Busy serving…

Busy creating…

Busy taking dominion over what He has entrusted to me…

Busy becoming who He called me to be…

I have less room to entertain what He told me to leave alone.

This isn't about earning God's love through busyness. It is about directing our hunger toward God instead of allowing our hunger to be hijacked by temptation.

Maybe the Strategy Is Saying Yes

This is the perspective shift I am sitting with today:

If you want to say no to the enemy, become more intentional about saying yes to God.

Don't make your entire spiritual life about what you can't do.

Become so hungry for righteousness that sin starts losing its appeal.

Become so familiar with God's voice that deception becomes easier to recognize.

Become so occupied with the assignment that distractions don't get to become your destiny.

And most importantly, remember:

You have dominion.

Sin is powerful, but it does not have to rule you.

God told Cain:

“Sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”— Genesis 4:7 NKJV

So perhaps the question isn't simply, “How do I avoid the tree?”

Perhaps the question is:

“Am I using everything God gave me to advance the kingdom?”

Because there is a whole garden of purpose surrounding the one thing God told humanity not to touch.

There is more to obedience than saying no.

Sometimes obedience looks like saying a very courageous YES.

And that is what Day 6 of the Jesus Perspective Shift is teaching me:

Don't just focus on what you're trying to stop.

Focus on what God is calling you to start.

Don't just resist temptation.

Cultivate righteousness.

Don't just survive the wilderness.

Remember God when you reach the promise.

The goal isn't simply to make it out.

The goal is to become who God called you to be once you get there.

You will make it. You already made it and been completely transformed because of what Jesus did!! Let that fill you with unshakable joy and unchangable peace and may you go and do the will of God today ❤️💕