1Cor. 16:13  Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, ACT LIKE MEN, be strong.

In our present culture…

• Suicide is the leading cause of death among men under 50
• 75-80% of suicides are men
• Every 24 hours 105 men self delete
• Plummeting marriage rates by 2030 will see 40-50% of women childless and unmarried

Under the paradigm of modern culture, the Masculine Man is the most hated and endangered of all people.  Men are being systematically hollowed out and replaced with insecure, effete beings, reformatted as social drones.

Because under a society of Real Men evil concepts, like Gender Fluidity, Borderless Globalism, and the Cult of Climate Change, could never become ruling norms.

Thereore Real Men are being branded as Toxic and marginalized, so these ideologies can gain enough power to prep the world for the Antichrist.

It’s time to resurrect the Charter of Real Manhood.  Here are 7 characteristics of Real Men…

1. The Man of God — He understands Authority

Matt. 8:8-10 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof! Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed.  For I ALSO am a man UNDER AUTHORITY, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”  When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel!

The Real Man doesn’t have to be a Christian to understand life as a Chain of Command.  He understands there are morals and values higher than himself, from which he derives his own authority in life.  And he lives to be Approved by that Higher Ruler.  (Dad wore the Uniform)

2. The Man of Faith — His Motivation is Intrinsic

A real man is first the leader of himself.  He may be enlightened and encouraged by things he learns in life, but he’s not dependent upon acceptance & approval from without in order to act.   The Real Man ultimately lives by the Faith within himself.

John 7:38  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”

In God’s design for the Real Man life flows out, not in.

3. The  Man of Family — He Understands Priority

Gen. 18:17-19 The LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?  For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”

The Real Man is not simply a man with a family, he’s a Man of Family.  Family is the 1st Circle of Priority in the world of The Real Man. It’s the home base of his life.  (Dad became the Blizzard Shield)

4. The Man Among Men — He has Clarity about Nature

1Cor. 16:13  Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, ACT LIKE MEN, be strong.

The Real Man has a natural unbreakable bond with masculinity.  He’s highly motivated by the inner compulsion to Be a Man.  He’s at home in the company of men. 

The thought of his masculinity being threatened is completely foreign to him.  He is never ashamed of being kind, empathetic, or gentle.

Real Man clearly see that the problem with Nature is not Gender, but Sin.

5. The Man of Love & Hate — He’s Balanced

Heb. 1:9 You LOVE justice and HATE evil.  Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”

Love and Hate do not exist apart from each other.  They are defined by what is precious and what is abominable to God.

Prov. 6:16-19  There are six things that the LORD hates, even seven things that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to run to evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who spreads discord among family members.

The Real Man is balanced with a healthy ability to Love and Hate appropriately, without being drawn into sin or intimidated into inaction.  He knows the right way to navigate all challenges.

6. The Man of Appropriate Action —  He Acts with Judgment

2 great examples from the Perfect Real Man…

Example #1 John 8:10-11 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

The Real Man knows when judgment calls for Mercy and Truth.  In this case, Jesus saw the power of sin pressing down upon the woman’s weakness.

Example #2

Luke 19:45-46  Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices.  He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

Jesus made sure those who fled understood He didn’t hate them, but what they did. 

The Real Man knows when judgment calls for action that brings shame to the offense.  In this case, Jesus saw the power of sin flowing out of the money-changers, taking advantage of others’ weakness and in disregard for God.

7. The Man of Thanksgiving —  He lives with Gratitude

Psa. 92:1 It is a GOOD THING to give thanks unto the LORD

The Real Man, no matter how harsh his circumstances, knows that Good Things follow Thanksgiving, because his Treasure is in God.

So the Real Man is…

A Man of God

A Man of Faith

A Man of Family

A Man Among Men

A Man of Love & Hate

A Man of Appropriate Action

A Man of Thanksgiving

Acts 2:1-4 Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting.   And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.

The Baptism of the Spirit w/ Manifest Gifts is how Jesus SIGNS His Church.   

1Pet. 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should SHOW FORTH the praises (wonderful deeds) of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

WE demonstrate that we’re a peculiar people…possessed by GOD, when we’re SHOWING FORTH His wonderful deeds.

The Church can do a lot of good in Jesus’ Name.  But it’s the manifestation of the Gifts/Signs of the Holy Spirit that elevate us above a Public Charity.  Because it’s what the Spirit does through us.

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OUR SIGNS...

Psa. 74:9 We do not see OUR SIGNS; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.

• The NT Church was born with the supernatural Signs of GOD’s Presence flowing out from within it. 
• The Book of Acts is a chronicle of the ACTS of GOD  through church members as SIGNS that their message was coming from Him. 
• OUR SIGNS flow from within us, and don’t just declare that we’re the House of GOD, but that, God is in the house!
• WE are to be LIVING SIGNS of what GOD IS DOING, not reminders of what He use to DO.

When we don’t see Our Signs we should cry out to GOD for Refilling, and Renew our Desire for them!

FILLING & REFILLING...

Eph. 5:18-19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but BE FILLED with the Spirit; speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Paul didn’t say, Receive the Spirit, he said, BE FILLED with the Spirit…”  GOD isn’t talking about Possession. He’s talking about VOLUME; staying Continuously Filled.  That’s a Mandate the early Christians didn’t neglect.

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

The BAPTISM of the Holy Spirit isn’t about GOD-consciousness but God-ACCESSIBILITY.  

Filling meant Receiving Power!   That Filling of the Spirit causes a revelation—a new level of intuitive faith—where we realize that the acts of God are within us.  That Filling replaces the sense of postponement with confidence for the immediate.   “Such as I have, I give you…(Acts 3:6)” 

TONGUES & GIFTS...

1Cor. 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be UNINFORMED.

EVERY Christian should KNOW ABOUT the Gifts.

1Cor. 12:7 To each person the MANIFESTATION (Exhibition) of the Spirit is given for the benefit of all.

EVERY Christian should MANIFEST the Gifts.

Mark 16:17 ”These SIGNS will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;…

The Baptism in the Holy Spirt & Speaking in Tongues was the 1st Manifest SIGN that Jesus was going to continue His ministry through His followers.  

Sign of Filling & Overflow — In Ac 2, 10, & 19, when people were Filled they praised GOD in Tongues.

Personal Edification — The ability to pray beyond your vocabulary.

1 Cor. 14:4 He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies (builds up) himself.

Jude 1:20-21 But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…

The freedom to pray beyond your vocabulary —

Rom. 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts (GOD) knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Edification for your Spirit AND your Mind —

1Cor. 14:15  I will pray in the SPIRIT, AND I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the SPIRIT, AND I will also sing in words I understand.

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit should be the Platform of our Fellowship!

Eph. 5:18-19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but BE FILLED with the Spirit; SPEAKING TO ONE ANOTHER…

The combination of Being in One Accord & Filled with the Spirit is GOD’s formula for the Body of Christ.  It’s the condition through which He operates.

The Fruit Jesus is talking about isn’t the product of WORK but the RESULT of ABIDING. What’s REAL and TRUE in Heaven requires a SYNC with Earth in order to have its transforming affect. Everything Jesus came to bring depends upon YOU being IN SYNC with Him in order to manifest.

Heb. 1:3 ...He upholds the universe (All Things) by the WORD of His power. 

GOD’s power flows through His Word. Have you ever noticed that the the Bible has a “BUT GOD…” for every bad condition?

"Saul hunted David (to kill him), BUT GOD didn’t give David into his hands." —1Sam 13:24

In every situation involving Sin & Death there’s ALWAYS a BUT GOD hovering just above it, waiting for you to SYNC with GOD’s Word and access it. Being in SYNC with GOD requires a solid connection between 2 POINTS: Heaven and Earth.  The Heavenly Connection is You living with your Attention, Affection, and Expectation on Jesus. The Earthly Connection is Jesus’ Words living in you through your Conscience & Behavior. REMEMBER: It was the WORD of GOD that Satan attacked in order to severe the connection between GOD and Man: Has GOD said?

In every situation, GOD has a WORD, pregnant with His Power and Will, ready to go to work, just waiting for a Sower to Speak it and Follow it. K’dom Authority comes from being in Sync with Jesus His WORDS abiding in you so that you KNOW exactly what YOU HAVE within you.  In Acts 3:6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but WHAT I DO HAVE I GIVE YOU. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, stand up and walk!” Acts 3:6 was a SYNC! Peter didn’t WORK a miracle, he was in SYNC with a Miracle. Stop coming to church expecting K’dom results on earth w/o SYNCING up with Jesus! Revival occurs when the SYNCING between Heaven & Earth is strong. Reformation occurs when the SYNCING between Heaven & Earth is Expeditionary.

Is. 30:18 The Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore HE LIFTS HIMSELF UP, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a GOD of justice. Blessed are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and LOOK and LONG for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!

April is Stress Awareness Month.  Personally, I think we’ve been celebrating Stress Awareness for the past 3 years.  This morning I want to introduce Stress Awareness Month to Jesus Awareness Month.  It’s time to make the STRESS and trouble that’s hard to deal with and hard to bear aware of the GOD of Justice, who LIFTS HIMSELF UP to have Mercy on you and show you His Loving-kindness.  

Stress is the Gravity of Life.  Every step of living takes energy to break through the resistance of stress.  Under normal conditions stress is no more difficult than walking.  But like the ocean, floating on an inner tube along the shore is refreshing.  But being tossed by 30’ waves in a tempest is life-threatening.  Stress isn’t a killer until the storm comes.

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As the world becomes more stormy everyone today is struggling with STRESS…

• About 33% of people describe feeling very stressed
• 75%–90% of healthcare visits in the U.S. are stress-related
• 48% of the U.S. has stress-related sleep problems
• 13% of children will acquire stress-related anxiety disorders.

What you feed grows—What you starve dies.  So Stress can quickly grow from a Shih-Tzu to a Wolf. There are tons of scriptural devotions and self-help guides to assist with the maintenance of the Personal Stresses of provision, health, and relationships in a calm world.  But what happens when the world goes mad?

GOD warns about the added External Stress of a culture exploding with evil.  In 2Tim. 3:1-5 the GOD calls it  perilous times of great STRESS and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear].   And He warned us about the intense stress of this time, saying…

…People will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

Our present world is rapidly aligning with the Apostle Paul’s prophecy…

• Absurdities, Insanity, and Evils are bursting the seams of society and flooding into every void.  
• Education, Media & Culture are run by Elitists, and
• The Economic & Political World is ruled by Totalitarians.

 We are wired to overcome our trials by Winning, Solving, and Getting Passed them.  But when those trials don’t let up, and consistently overwhelm us, unresolved Stress turns into anger and apathy.  And when people’s sense of safety erodes their resistance to Stress breaks down.  Then out come the behaviors you never imagined you’d act out.  When Stress wears thin the skin of your Composure it tears, and undisciplined thoughts and behaviors begin to leak out.  And those leaks will quickly expand into toxic spills. Will Smith’s acting out at the Oscars looked like a sign of Behavior that would ordinarily be suppressed breaking through weakened defenses.

When people feel powerless, a sense of hopeless causes them to give up and give in.  Then the thought, Why bother? opens the doors for people to…

• Say things they would never have said before,
• Do things they would never have done before,
• Go places things they would never have gone before.
• Imaginations and temptations are being acted out.
• What was hidden under the surface is now jumping out.

Jesus great warning is coming into view:  Because lawlessness abounds the Love of many will grow cold.

BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER: Ro. 5:20 Where sin increased, GRACE abounded all the more.

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be STRESSED or lacking in courage.

The world gives peace as a greeting, but I give you MY PEACE—the very power of the Father’s Love that’s holding Me up in this moment of betrayal.  I don’t just speak it to you, I GIVE it to you!

Is. 30:18 ..The Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore HE LIFTS HIMSELF UP, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a GOD of justice. Blessed are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who EXPECT and LOOK and LONG for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!

GOD Lifts Himself Up above the Storms of Stress.  He eagerly longs and looks for the opportunity to be gracious to you.  

When you Expect, Look and Long for His 

• Victory
• Favor
• Love
• Peace
• Joy
• And His Matchless Unbroken Fellowship

He will find you, show you His loving-kindness, and Lift you and Up with Him.

The peace the world gives depends on those who create the the trouble promising to fix the trouble.  Oh, the stress of waiting!   But in the time of trouble Jesus’ peace Lifts you up and keeps you from the Trouble-Maker…

John 17:15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.

Note the difference between Religion and Jesus: Bartimaeus’ cries irritated the people, but not Jesus.

And Jesus Passed through Jericho — He walked in and walked out without anyone stopping Him, not one reported miraculous encounter until Bartimaeus cried out...

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Could Jesus walk through your house like He walked through Jericho?  Your community? Your Church?

The fact is many people live in Jericho homes and attend Jericho Churches.

Jesus regularly passes through Jericho Churches unstopped.  His Presence passes through the service with no encounters, because no one’s crying out!  They’re satisfied with coming to church without coming to Jesus.  Our churches must become more than an institution that helps us live in this world (Like a garnish or side salad to life).  Church must get back to being the place where you Cry Out to Jesus, and He stops the service and Calls For YOU to come to Him!

To stop Jesus from walking in, and walking out of Jericho Churches, w/o a Bartimaeus encounter, pastors need to stand up and announce: “We’ve prepared a service for you today  But if you want Jesus you’ll have to CRY OUT for Him.”

Jesus LOVES the Broken people by the roadside because Jericho’s not enough for them.   O How He yearns for US to cry out to Him.   He’s passing by the all the Satisfied People.  But if you’re Bartimaeus, Crying Out to Jesus then Jesus has stopped and He’s Calling For You!

GOD has always loved the broken for whom the sinful world is no home.

Jesus said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…to preach the gospel to the poor…to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, (Luke 4:18)

Jesus is attracted to the Brokenhearted, the Captives and the Bruised who Cry Out to Him.  Those for whom life has no more time, no answers, and no help.

If you’ve set yourself on fire, used up your last Get Out Of Jail Free card, and the world has no more sympathy for you, Cry Out to Jesus, and Take Courage, Arise! HE IS CALLING FOR YOU.

If you’re a believer who’s fallen out of church, and think you’ve used up your Do-Overs, Cry Out to Jesus, and Take Courage, Arise! HE IS CALLING FOR YOU.

Churches use winners, achievers, strong and beautiful people, who don’t need much work to attract people to Jesus.  And it seldom works.  But someone who's clinging to the grace of Jesus will always attract the lost because they see GOD's hope in them.   GOD’s Love for the Lost is what our world needs today!

“Take Courage, Arise! HE IS CALLING FOR YOU.”

When the Heavens broke open over the manger where Jesus lay, and the angels filled the night sky in celebration, they proclaimed, Unto YOU is born this day, in the City of David, a Savior who is Christ the LORD!

When I think of Christmas I think of… 

• Goodness Triumphing
• Truth Prevailing
• Hope Paying Off
• Promises Delivered

I think of every reason for despair, cynicism, and hopelessness being ransacked by Love Manifest!

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We finally know Who GOD is.  He’s not aloof or hiding in a religious riddle.  He’s MANIFEST.  A GOD who has come forth to make Himself known in the most tangible, relatable way. 

Jesus has MANIFEST the Eternal GOD…

John 1:14  So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and truth. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

We have seen his glory…

And He’s not mean, angry, or temperamental.  But He’s tenderhearted and kind.   The Eternal King of Glory is a Wonderful FATHER…

John 14:8-9  Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”  Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!

We KNOW that a FATHER who loves us is holding the universe together.   We know the Creator is GOOD, not evil or apathetic.   His love isn’t mysteriously random, but strong and consistent.

Isaiah 54:10  Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

We know that Love will Triumph and evil will pass away because the Hand on the throttle of Eternity was MANIFEST in Jesus!

Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. And He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

GOD made Himself a Gift to us as the Perfect SON…

When Abraham tried to offer his only son as a sacrifice to GOD, GOD in His great Love, said, I accept your heartfelt gesture of faith, but you need a Better Son!  I will give you My Son…

Is. 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty GOD, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

When life is cruel and disappointing REMEMBER: Jesus IS HERE!

He’s Love Manifest as The Wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace, in your life…

• He’s the Way Out of every dead end.
• He fired Hopelessness and gave you the right to believe you’re loved by God.

When you don’t know how to navigate life’s storms Jesus is more than an advisor, He’s your Way-Maker.  When He sends you across the Sea of Galilee it’s not because the weather’s calm, but because the Storm-Calmer is going with you!

Titus 3:4-7  But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

One thing you can never have too much of is THANKSGIVING.  GOD never says, “Enough, you may stop now.”   Prayer may go unanswered but Thanksgiving is never unanswered. 

Here are 4 powerful truths about THANKSGIVING…

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#1 - Thanksgiving is the perfect spiritual practice

I’ve seen wrong prayer but never wrong Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is always right...Thanksgiving is always GOOD.

Psa. 92:1 It is a GOOD THING to give thanks unto the LORD

The Thanks-Giver is a Good-doer. In any situation, those who give GOD Thanks always do the Good Thing. 

When you don’t know what else to do Giving Thanks to GOD is always the Right Thing to do.  And that’s because the Attitude of Gratitude Increases Altitude. If you want to increase your Altitude with GOD the Attitude of Gratitude is how you get there.  In fact, if you want to soar with GOD don’t just be a Thanks-Giver but become a Thanks-Liver. 

GOD’s Frequent Flyers all know, you must reach Cruising Altitude before the cabin service can begin.  So practice Thanks-Living and you can live at Cruising Altitude.  Then angels will come out with your blessings!  People often say, “I don’t even know what to pray for.”  But GOD already knows what you need.  And when you Thank Him for being your Provider you’ll reach Cruising Altitude, and what you need will come out. 

Is. 9:6-7 Of the INCREASE of his GOVERNMENT and peace there shall be NO END, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The ZEAL of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Thanksgiving is the perfect spiritual practice because it’s the music of the Kingdom of GOD, and gateway to His Increase.

#2 - Appreciation Appreciates

When your circumstances depreciate express your gratitude to GOD for being the Glory and Lifter of your head.  For he who Appreciates GOD will Appreciate.  How can we not appreciate the ONE who owed us nothing, but gives us everything.

1Cor. 15:56-57 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But THANKS be to GOD, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Thanksgiving to GOD for Jesus is how we rise above the depreciation of Death and Sin.

You can never rise above your appreciation of GOD

When you lift up Thanksgiving YOU will be lifted up.  Your life will follow the direction of your Appreciation.  When your Thanksgiving goes up you will follow. 

Remember the Kingdom rule: The Appreciator will Appreciate.  You will never find a Thanksgiver where you last saw him.  Because GOD will make him to appreciate and will move him forward. 

#3 - GOD Is the Thanks-Giver’s KEEPER

Phil. 4:6-7 ...in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests  be made known unto GOD.  And the peace of GOD, which passes all understanding, shall KEEP your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Anyone can believe in GOD’s promises.  But the Thanksgiver becomes the Beneficiary because Thanksgiving files the claim!

When the actions of life are against you, Thanksgiving is the reaction that will KEEP you.  GOD is looking to become the KEEPER of that person who reacts to the actions of life with Thanksgiving! 

And that leads us to #4…

#4 - You Can Confront Every Situation With Thanksgiving To GOD!

Psa. 107:1-2 O GIVE THANKS unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever.  Let the REDEEMED of the Lord SAY SO, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Thanksgiving is the SAY SO of the Redeemed.  We thank the Redeemer for what He HAS DONE because that is what He WILL DO!  Thanksgiving for past Redemptions is the SAY SO that links them with today’s needs! 

When life wants to introduce you to disease, give Thanks to GOD for the Stripes of Jesus and introduce that disease to Jesus the Healer!

If you suffer great loss and don’t know how to respond.  Give Thanks to GOD with the Redeemed life you still have.  For He has said...

Is. 51:11 Therefore The REDEEMED of the LORD SHALL RETURN, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

Blessing can Return from any part of a Redeemed person’s life who lives as a Thanks-Giver!

Here We Are.  America has pulled the pin from the grenade, and I hope we haven’t tossed away the pin yet.

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When I was a kid and thought of the 21st Century I envisioned The Jetsons.  When I became a Christian I envisioned the apocalyptic world of the Last Days.  But now Here We Are.  And the Apocalyptic Seeds we’ve been sowing, have broken the ground, sprung up, and are producing its fruit of chaos.   And finally many people are waking up to the realization of where we are.  Yet many more are diving into the deep sleep of deception.  Conflict is in the air, as all the moral, political, and religious skirmishes of the past 100 years are now consolidating into WAR Against THE TRUTH.

The 2 Streams

In November of 2019 GOD gave me a vision which I preached on that Dec. 15th called, The 2 Streams… 

(From The 2 Streams)  This emerging obstruction is made up of all the lusts, deceptions, and lies of the world that capture and divert Christian’s lives away from THE TRUTH of GOD’s Word.  It’s arising to become the great Rock Of Division, that will produce the Great Falling Away, and split the River into 2 STREAMS… The LEFT Stream will divert out into the wilderness and evaporate into the world.  They are losing their appetite for THE TRUTH, and their increasing diet on the things of the world is killing their faith.  As they increasingly convert to the Sinful Trends of Society, they’re becoming bored with the Bible, and ashamed of THE TRUTH they were once a part of.  But the world will love and embrace them. 

Paul writes, warning us of this day…

2Tim. 4:3-4  For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject THE TRUTH and chase after myths.

2Thess. 2:10-12 (Antichrist) will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept THE TRUTH that would save them.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false.  Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing THE TRUTH.

When churches, called to be the Salt of the earth and Light of the world, abandon THE TRUTH, TRUTH falls in the streets of society….

Is. 59:14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off: for TRUTH is fallen in the street, and equity (straightforwardness, uprightness) cannot enter.

Loudoun County VA School Board mandates Transgender bathrooms, covers up resulting sodomy rape of girl by dress-wearing boy.  Then denies it when confronted by angry father, and has him arrested at school board meeting, while rapist remains in school and sexually assaults another girl.

Psa. 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

We are the stewards of THE TRUTH….

1Tim. 3:14-15  I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with you soon, so that if I am delayed, you will know how people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is the church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of THE TRUTH.

Back To Pilates Question…

The 2 Popular modern definitions of TRUTH…

1. The perspective of an individual’s experience & opinion: Your Truth…My Truth.

2. The collective judgment of cultural consensus: America is evil…There are many genders

These popular definitions of Truth are corrupt  because they are limited to the trending state and desires of the fallen world.

For Truth to be REAL it must flow from REALITY. 

• Experience doesn’t define THE TRUTH.   
• THE TRUTH judges Experience. 
• THE TRUTH Answers all questions.

A Real Definition of TRUTH…

The Reality of GOD, His Purpose and Creation.

Psa. 31:5 Into thine hand I commit my spirit: you have redeemed me, O LORD GOD of TRUTH.

THE TRUTH is Light.  It illuminates, uplifts, exposes lies, and corrects error.

THE TRUTH is Moral.  It inspires, guides, loves, redeems, and judges.

THE TRUTH is more than one’s Experience & Perspective.  It’s the PURPOSE for Reality.  When Jesus told Pilate that He came to TESTIFY to the Truth He was saying…

I AM the THE TRUTH manifest in its highest form, revealing the Father’s Purpose, Love, Grace, and Judgment, in perfect balance.

THE TRUTH Speaks For Itself!

I have come into the world, to bear witness to THE TRUTH.

I AM declares What IS.  For how can people, who can’t change one hair on their head by Thinking, be the source of Truth?

John 14:6 Jesus said….I am THE TRUTH…

John 8:32 And you will know THE TRUTH, and THE TRUTH will set you free.

Because submitting to THE TRUTH produces Alignment with Reality, without THE TRUTH there can be No Freedom.  Only the anarchy of one’s will over another.

If Knowing THE TRUTH leads to salvation, and people no longer believe THE TRUTH exists, then we need to get busy and repair that error. 

People who realize they’re living in a world of lies, become hungry for freedom, and thus hungry for THE TRUTH.

2Cor. 13:8 For we cannot do anything against THE TRUTH, but only for the truth.

The Unassailable TRUTH!  What you do against THE TRUTH only damages yourself and others.

Pilate is the Modern Man.  He lives without THE TRUTH  like a pinball in a moral vacuum.   With all his decisions being guided by the forces of circumstance, he exists in a state of Vertigo.

In contrast David writes, “I have chosen the way of TRUTH and faithfulness; Your ordinances have I set before me. (Psa. 119:30)

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in TRUTH. (Psa. 145:18)

Jesus in His prayer for us said… John 17:17 Sanctify them (free them from bondage to the futility of lies) in THE TRUTH; your word is TRUTH.

Everyone who is of the Truth [who is a friend of the Truth, who belongs to the Truth] hears and listens to My voice.

The Faith of one man allowed GOD to advanced an entire race of people.  The desperate needs of people may touch GOD’s heart, but it’s Progressive Faith that moves Him to deliver.

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In Review…

1. By faith Moses, when he was come to years — Entering the path of Faith requires a decision to grow up (spiritually), because coming to years is a spiritual, not a numerical, destination. 

2. Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter — Walking by Faith begins with REFUSING to continue in your present condition. 

3. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season — Progress In Faith is made by CHOOSING what we need over what we want. 

4. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect for the recompense of the reward. — Progressive Faith ESTEEMS GOD’s favor over the pursuits of men.

5. FORESAKing Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king — Progressive Faith requires fearlessly Forsaking the things that resist what GOD is changing you into.

6. Endured as seeing him who is invisible. — Progressive Faith will Endure and overcome Satan’s opposition while staying focused on Christ. 

Today’s Message…

7. kept (Covenant) the passover, and the sprinkling of blood

GOD’s plan to the Israelites depended upon Him breaking Pharaoh’s will.  In order for that to happen, all Israel had to KEEP Covenant with GOD, so that GOD could treat Pharaoh’s resistance against them as an attack against the Covenant!

Is. 49:24-25  Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?  For thus says the LORD: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

GOD is Paternal Love and desires to deliver us and meet our needs.  But His greatest desire is that we Know, believe, and KEEP His Word.  If you  KEEP His Word GOD will KEEP you…

3John 2 Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

GOD has placed everything He wants to give us and do for us into His Covenant Word.  So KEEPING Covenant  w/ GOD isn’t just Believing His Word, but DOING His Word.  For example…

Jesus said, I give you authority over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means harm you.   But the way you act on that promise is Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 

With every Promise of GOD there is an Act of Obedience to the Word that triggers the Covenant.  So that GOD contends with those who contend with you because they are challenging Him.  THAT is the primary principle of Progressive Faith. 

So that GOD could deliver Israel from the death angel and slavery He gave them 2 things to KEEP in order for them to walk with Him in Covenant: The Blood and The Passover 

By KEEPING the Blood and the Passover Israel Kept Covenant w/ GOD and Progresses by Faith into their deliverance!

TODAY we KEEP The Blood by KEEPING Jesus’ Words...

Heb. 12:24-25 (You have come) to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel…

And we KEEP The Passover by KEEPING Fellowship with the Body of Christ sacred.

Eph. 4:14 …That we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

Eph. 4:15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Eph. 4:16 from whom the whole body, JOINED and HELD TOGETHER by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Nothing derails Progressive Faith quicker than failing to KEEP Covenant with Jesus’ Body.  When we break the JOINTS with which the Body is HELD TOGETHER, we are breaking fellowship with Him.  GOD gives to His Body the wisdom and power to overcome satan’s aggression!

1Cor. 12:12-13  The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ.   Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into ONE BODY by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

We must KEEP Faith with the Body of Christ because GOD weighs how we treat Him by we treat His Body.   GOD has set His Church among the nations as the Light of the World.  And we must understand that…

Imperfect things can be sacred!

The Body is the extension of Christ in the world.  And when we KEEP it sacred we receive the blessings GOD has appointed through it.  Ps. 133 …For there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life forever.

TODAY, this message must resolve with an admonition…

Satan is tearing into the Church to get at the Covenant and nullify its effect upon the nations.  Each one of us must recapture our vision for KEEPing the Covenant of GOD, as members of the Body of Christ, for the sake of GOD’s plan for the world.

This great story of how the Forward Faith of one man advanced an entire race of people, contains a series of steps that we all must take to advance ourselves and others into GOD’s promises...

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continuing from Progressive Faith - Part 1

5. FORSAKING Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king

Progressive Faith begins with fearlessly Forsaking the things that resist what GOD is changing you into.

Phil. 3:8  ...for Jesus I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish IN ORDER that I may gain Christ,

Forsaking certain things at critical points in your life is absolutely necessary if you’re going to walk with Jesus.   There’s no Obtaining w/o Forsaking.  But these days we hear very little about Forsaking things to follow Jesus.  Religion has corrupted the idea of Forsaking the old for the new, and turned it into a symbolic gesture w/o any purpose.  No makeup for women, no meat on Friday, bald circles on monks’ heads, etc.  But Progressive Faith only Forsakes what it no longer needs.

When it’s time to become a butterfly the moth must Forsake crawling on branches.

For GOD to bring you into Mercy & Blessing you must FORSAKE unforgiveness. 

For GOD to bring you into into Divine Favor you must FORSAKE corruption.

For GOD to bring you into His perfect will you must FORSAKE all plans that oppose His Destination.

Rom. 12:1-2  And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. THEN you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

There are potential consequences to FORSAKING the things of the world.  Others will resent you and pull you back.   If you’re high-minded you’ll bring yourself down. 

In Progressive Faith the power of FORSAKING isn’t in what you’re turning from but what you’re turning to.

Dedication vs. Commitment

All Christians are Dedicated, but not all are Committed.  You can be simultaneously Dedicated to many things.  But you’re exclusively Committed to only one thing.  You can’t be Dedicated to 2 or more lovers and Committed to one spouse.   A pig and chicken open a restaurant called “Ham & Eggs”.  The chicken’s Dedicated but the pig’s Committed, because the pig FORSAKES everything for his Commitment but the chicken’s only Involved and free for other pursuits.  When David said, “One thing have I Desired and that also will I Seek…(Ps. 27:4)” he was saying I’m ADDING Commitment to my Dedication.   The difference between being Dedicated an being Committed is the difference between having Beliefs and having Faith.

As Christians we tend to think that our Dedication to believing in GOD’s promises is the Faith that will receive them.  But when we FORSAKE the reasons we’re NOT receiving, THEN we have Committed faith to the Promises we believe.   All church members are Dedicated, but the Committed ones are here, because they’ve FORSAKEN the reasons to stay home.  That’s Progressive Faith!   Dedication to what you believe is Sincerity.   Commitment to what you believe is Doing It.

Mark 16:17-18 And these signs will ACCOMPANY (FOLLOW NEAR), those who BELIEVE (i.e. are progressing): in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will LAY THEIR HANDS on the sick, and they will recover.”  Jesus didn’t say, “Those who believe in healing will…”

Not everything that Progressive Faith requires us to FORSAKE is sinful or wrong.  Sometimes we must FORSAKE good things in order to Commit to GOD’s special things.

You have to FORSAKE the boat before you can walk on water!

In this message, More Than A Fisherman, we’re going to see, in the life of Peter, how GOD desires to raise us up to become much more than we are; making us Ambassadors of His Kingdom upon the earth.  So you must understand that when Jesus relates with you you He sees More Than A Fisherman. 

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Man is the only creation that’s Upgradeable. 

• GOD made us Convertible. 
• We’re designed to Improve.   
• We can Rebound from a Downgrade. 
• And be Elevated to live a higher purpose Above our station in life.

No other creature has that modifiable quality.  Even the Angels are fixed into their created purpose.   Lucifer could not survive his attempt to elevate himself.  Yet David writes, O LORD in the morning will I direct my prayer unto you and LOOK UP.

Paul writes, You are RISEN with Christ so seek those things that are ABOVE.

Notice the ELEVATION in these words that GOD inspired Paul to write to us…

2Co. 5:17  Therefore if any person be in Christ, they are a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Eph. 2:6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

Rom. 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that LIKE AS Christ was RAISED up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Peter didn’t realize it at first, But Jesus was about to awaken an eternal reality lying dormant within him.  As he struggled inside the life of a Fisherman, he was about to be Elevated into Sonship with GOD, and learn how to Integrate with the KOG…

Luke 8:10 Jesus said, “To you it has been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of God…

No fish, no bird, no dog, ever lamented over their position in creation, or tried to elevate themselves.  But man never stops searching for The Door to More.   There is a DOOR created in man that doesn’t exist in any other creature…

Rev. 3:20 Listen! I am standing at THE DOOR and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his home and share a meal with him, and he with me.  What Door?

Everyone has this Door in their life, called a Soul.  It is The Designer’s Door, and it remains in every person as a gate, a portal, to reconnect with GOD.   Man has used that DOOR to open himself to everything in the world, seeking to lift himself.  And nothing has elevated him.  But when Jesus is knocking at your Door, and you open to Him, He enters your soul and leads you into Life, Purpose, Glory.

John 10:9 I am THE DOOR. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture.

By Opening that Door, Peter went from a Fisherman, trying to push Jesus away—depart from me, I’m a sinful man—to a Soul-Winner through whom Jesus reached others—Such as I have I give to you.

Peter’s Upgrade:  From Fisherman to KOG Ambassador

Matt. 16:16-19  And Simon Peter answered and said, You art the Christ, the Son of the living God.  And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed art you, Simon Son of Jonah: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.  And I say also unto thee, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.   And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever you shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

When Simon the Fisherman declared to Jesus, You are the Messiah, then Jesus revealed to him, You are now Peter (A piece of the Rock).  And upon this revelation (in you) of my Lordship, I will build my Church…And give you the Secret Keys to the Door of the Kingdom of GOD.

The Ambassador’s Keys

Psa. 24:9-10 Lift up your heads, O gates!  And lift them up, O ancient doors, THAT the King of glory may COME IN.   Who is this King of glory?  The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!

Those Ambassador’s Keys unlock the blinding obstacles that keep sinners from seeing their Door of Deliverance and opening it so that the King of Glory may come in.

Why would GOD design man with a Door that could shut Him out?   Because that same Door of Free Will would one day open voluntarily to welcome the King Of Glory back in…

• Sinners would choose His Goodness,
• The Dying would reach for His Life,
• The Fallen would seek His PURPOSE!

Today there are Doors of Glory concealed within Fishermen struggling to find their Glory in life.   And the King of Glory has come to Open and Lift them to their Destiny.

The life of Moses is the inspiring story of how the Progressive Faith of one man advanced an entire race of people.  These verses contain a 6 Step Progression of Faith that we all must take to advance in GOD, and along the way, inspiring others to do the same.

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1. By faith Moses, when he was come to years…

Entering the path of Progressive Faith begins with a decision to grow up.  There’s a time in life when you come to years.  Whether you grow up at 18, 28, or 58, coming to years isn't a numerical destination.  It's a moral destination.   Growing up begins with the decision to Change.

• The 1st thing Moses had to learn was that being desperate for change isn’t Faith. 
• Surrender to God is Faith! 
• Because Changing what’s wrong starts with Joining what’s Right.

James 4:7-8 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Rom. 8:13 For if you live by the dictates of your flesh, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.

Coming to years and beginning to grow up starts by realizing that the world isn't going to change itself for you.   So Progressive Faith begins as a commitment to Change Yourself into a person who lives By Faith.

2. Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter

Your first Big Step on the path of Progressive Faith is a Negative Decision.  Moses’ Forward Progress began when he REFUSED to continue pursuing his familiar course in life.  This critical 1st step has to be complete.  If not, you won’t have Progressive Faith but Frustrated Faith, because it's constantly being undermined by double-mindedness, and the claims of your old life. 

Heb. 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

Heb. 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Heb. 11:15 And truly, if they had been MINDFUL of that country from where they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.

Heb. 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Pilgrims of Faith REFUSE to settle where they are before they ever inherit where they’re going. 

Progressive Faith operates on The Promises of GOD (the Promise Land).  You must be willing to REFUSE to identify with where you are, solely on the Promise of where GOD is bringing you.

3. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season

The most important choices in life, especially when it comes to moving forward in Progressive Faith, are often unappealing & hard.  But we know they have to be made in order to move forward.  Wise people know how to CHOOSE against the current, rather than simply drifting toward what’s naturally appealing or EZ.   Jesus chose the cross. And so must we. If we don’t CHOOSE the cross, we miss the resurrection.  The greatest blessings come from CHOOSING what we need over what we want. 

4. Esteeming the reproach of Christ (to be) greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect for the recompense of the reward.

To move ahead in Progressive Faith you must learn GOD’s value system. That’s what Esteeming is.  You must calculate the value of following Jesus, and the things of GOD.  And then weigh it against the offers of the world.

Phil. 3:7-8 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,

Moses changed the Reward he sought because he made the ESTIMATION that the worth of God’s favor made the wealth & power of Egypt worthless! 

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches…   

The world will always downgrade you as a Follower of Jesus.  But YOU, as a person of Progressive Faith, must keep your Eyes on the Prize.  Jesus did…

Heb. 12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out before him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

That Joy set out before Him was having US with Him!  Someone who gave His life to share all the rewards of Heaven and Earth with you, is waiting up ahead for you. 

Keep your eyes focused on ESTEEMING The Reward!

John 19:26 So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, look, here is your son!”

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John 20:2 So she went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

John 21:7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” So Simon Peter, when he heard that it was the Lord, tucked in his outer garment (for he had nothing on underneath it), and plunged into the sea.

John 21:20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. (This was the disciple who had leaned back against Jesus’ chest at the meal and asked, “Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?”)

Who named John, “The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved”?  Since the only places where John is called, The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved, are in John’s Gospel, he obviously up with the idea to refer to himself as The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved.   And there is no indication in scripture that John was Jesus’ star pupil.  In short, John saw Jesus’ love for them as the central motivation for everything Jesus did.  So John chose to define himself by Jesus’ love for him. 

Years later John speaks about Love more than any other writer in the Bible.  And in 1John 4:10 he reveals to the secret to understanding and walking in Love… 

In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Perhaps other disciples might have believed Jesus’ primary motivation toward them was His mission.  And that he basically valued them as Followers, or Ministers of His Gospel.  In which case they would have described themselves as The Disciple Who Followed Jesus, or …Served Jesus.  But because John identified with Jesus’ love for him, that brought him into great favor.  And we too should identify ourselves by Jesus’ love for us.

Think about it…

Is your relationship with Jesus defined by how you are towards Him or how He is towards you?

• Some people see themselves as having come to Jesus more than Jesus having come to them. 
• Some people see their relationship with Jesus as a more of a necessity on their part than a desire on His part.  They have a stronger sense of their need for Him than of His love for them
• Some people see their walk with Jesus being driven by their pursuit of Him more than His pursuit of them.
• Some people think GOD’s motivation toward them is determined more by their correct actions toward Him than His perfect love for them. 

When people see Jesus this way their tendency is to think, I’m not very spiritual so GOD’s not very interested in me.

If John had referred to himself as The Disciple Whom Jesus Forgave, or Took Pity On, or Tolerated, he would have been focusing more on himself rather than the LORD.  But when John saw that Jesus loved him, he overlooked all his own shortcomings and accepted GOD’s promotion as the Disciple GOD loved! 

That understanding transformed John’s life…  1John 4:16-19  And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.  Through this love is perfected with (in) us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as Jesus is, so also are we in this world.  [In this world we have the SAME relationship of LOVE with the Father that sustained Jesus here]  There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears punishment has not been perfected in love.  We love because he loved us first.   

That understanding of GOD’s love for him transformed the Son of Thunder into a man of exceptional calm and confidence.   Don’t let your identity in this world keep you from the transformation GOD’s love has for you…

Mark 10:21-22 And Jesus, looking at him, LOVED him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

John’s focus on Jesus’ love for Him brought him into positions of great favor:

• Inside information at the Last Supper
• unharassed access to Jesus’ trial
• Entrusted with Jesus’ mother
• Given the Book of Revelation
• The only un-martyred disciple

Many people identify primarily with God’s mercy, or forgiveness, or His calling.  Though true, these are not our strongest connections to God.  1Cor. 13:13 And now these three remain (abide): faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Faith that believes Jesus is GOD is great.

And having Hope in Heaven is great.

But knowing and believing GOD LOVES YOU is the greatest.

Satan has come into America like a flood.

Flood-Attacks differs from frontal attacks in that they spread everywhere, forcefully entering where they don’t belong, disrupting & destroying everything.  They have the potential to sweep away everything and leave communities uninhabitable.  Like a flooding river, bursting its levees and overflowing its banks, spirits of rebellion, perversion, and lying accusation are sweeping through our communities, schools, and governments, and rearranging the landscape of our society.   

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Signs that our foundations are being undermined are everywhere.  For the first time in our history…

• Educators have driven Christian principles out of our schools in favor of the anti-God Marxist theories. (i.e. Critical Theory v. Individual responsibility)
• Destructive mobs are burning through our cities, militantly carrying signs declaring their defiance against GOD.
• Lying and false reporting are flooding our society, so that people are drowning in confusion and fear,  and addiction to alcohol and drug dependency have become standard coping mechanisms. 
• We’re rewriting our laws to license sin because a few loud, angry people demand that our moral standards be eliminated.  But instead of making people happy, they’re more angry, bitter, and nasty.  The trend towards permissiveness hasn’t produced more tolerance.  Just the opposite!  People are more offended, unforgiving, and  fault-finding, than ever.  

• And the more our society dialogs across social media, the more people are turning to suicide.  People aren’t dying because they’re not being heard.  They dying because of WHAT THEY’RE HEARING!!   We don’t need more Deceptive Dialog.  We need More TRUTH!

The signs of a world floating in a flood of satanic lies and deception are all around us, crying out for deliverance!  

BUT GOD said, When the enemy shall come in like a flood, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD shall lift up A STANDARD against him. 

GOD’s Saving STANDARD is in His Word.  And He sends His Spirit into THE CHURCH to Lift THAT STANDARD against Satan.  

But the Church is being FLOODED!  

HOW can the Holy Spirit lift a STANDARD in churches that won’t STAND on His Word?

• The Pope has just called the Catholic Church to sanction Same-Sex Civil Unions.
• Because Protestant churches are caving under HATE from radical feminists they’re backing away from their Pro-Life stand against Abortion and leaning Pro-Choice.

When Christians endorse leaders with evil agendas, and won’t stand up for the Truth, they leave Society defenseless against deception. 

Psa. 94:20-23  Can wicked rulers be ALLIED with You LORD?, those who frame injustice by statute?  They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.  But…the LORD will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness…

Many churches endorsement leaders who the LORD is NOT ALLIED WITH, and are clearly part of The Flood.

1Tim. 5:22 Do not be in a hurry in the laying on of hands, nor share or participate in another man’s sins; keep yourself pure.

This principle is true inside and outside the church.  Those who vote for leaders who keep abortion legal are guilty of participating in the sin of murder.

The ACCUSER is casting his flood of ACCUSATION and OFFENSE into America…

And into America’s churches! 

BUT…  the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up A STANDARD against THE ACCUSER.  

SO GOD is sifting through churches to find an EMBASSY of the Kingdom of GOD, from whom He can lift up His STANDARD and expel the Accuser, just as it is in Heaven.

He is looking for Churches who are walking in their K’dom ASSIGNMENT to LIFT UP their Gate of influence, so the King of Glory to Come in!

As an Embassy of the KOG, the LORD owns your position on earth.  And He’ll Lift Up His STANDARD among you, if you’ll do the following…

1. Treat your church as an Embassy of the KOG.  Don’t let the Flood in.  Don’t form alliances with leaders and movements that are alined against GOD.  Instead, make your positions against evil clear.  Don’t hate the world—GOD loves the world—but stand up against the evil that keeps the world in darkness.   Eph. 5:11 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

2. Prepare for a Royal Visit.  It is specifically the Spirit of the LORD that will raise the STANDARD against the enemy.  So seek the Baptism in the Holy Spirit!  Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, BECAUSE He has anointed me to (lift up the STANDARD) preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

3. Unfurl Jehovah Nissi—the Banner of the Gospel.   Put out the Gospel welcome flag for all to see.

When the eternal arch enemies of GOD raid His people’s communities, rob their possessions, and enslave their families, GOD has a plan for them to RECOVER ALL...PURSUE!

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But when the Amalekites invaded and captured David’s entire society his men were crushed into defeat. Following David as GOD’s anointed King, provoked the Amalekite raid against their families.  Getting rid of David was exactly what the Amalekites wanted.  

TODAY, our communities are being invaded, and overrun by the Amalekites—the GOD-hating unrelenting enemies of His K’dom.

• They have overrun our government and are ripping every shred of our historic biblical culture from our society.  
• They have raided our schools and carried off our children.   
• And just as David’s men blamed and turned against their Charismatic leader, many churches today are turning against Conservative Christians, blaming them for angering the godless progressives.
• And the Church is so traumatized by its loss of influence, that most have conceded to defeat.

The Church has changed it’s prayer from, “Your K’dom Come, You’re Will Be Done In Earth…” to, “Que Sera, Sera”

Jesus’ has given us a Royal  Order: “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on EARTH as it is in Heaven.   But the victories of the Amalekites have diluted our DESIRE to PRESS that Mandate and PURSUE.  We’ve let Escape Theology talk us out of our K’dom Come Mandate.    

We’ve modified it into, “The earth rejected Your Kingdom, but Your will is still done in Heaven, so come get me.”  But Jesus didn’t come to Earth to confiscate its people for a Heaven Repopulation Program!  We should REPENT for giving up this world for Heaven, when GOD created us to Rule and Have Dominion on Earth, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!  JESUS didn’t say, Watch the Signs till I come.  He said, labor and occupy till I come!

Stop saying The Rapture’s Coming!  I see the signs!  It’s still an evil and adulterous generation that seeks signs.  Why are you looking for signs of Heaven’s Rescue Choppers when we’re the Sign that Heaven’s watching.  When will WE preach the K’dom to every nation?

Bring Me The Ephod!

It’s time for us to rise with Kingdom-minded Authority and be militantly aggressive and PRESS our Intercessory Mandate!

• STOP believing the struggle ends with an Amalekite victory!!  
• Be Converted to K’dom Consciousness, rather than Convinced by Amalekite Culture!
• Nothing outside you is stronger than the K’dom inside you! 1Jn 4:4

Put on the Ephod of of your calling and ENCOURAGE YOURSELF IN GOD! 

• We’re talking about GOD who drove a million Midianite invaders from Israel using Gideon and 300 shouting men with flashlights.
• Have you forgotten that when a 3-Nation Axis of evil invaded Israel, He that’s IN YOU wiped them all out with a Praise Team?!
• Before you surrender America to the Amalekites, remember that GOD empowered Samson to slay a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass.  So imagine what He could do with YOU! 
• Before you accept a godless marxist takeover of America remember that our GOD turned around the entire godless city of Nineveh with one message from a reluctant prophet!  The entire city fasted and repented, from the King down to the pets!

The Gift Of Disturbance

GOD wants to send you the Gift of Disturbance to rescue your faith.  Nothing changes till GOD’s people trade the Comfort of Sermons for being Greatly Distressed…David was greatly distressed.

GOD produced the great Prophet Samuel to lead Israel to drive the Amalekites (and others) from their land.  And this is how GOD produced him…

1Sam. 1:7, 10 So it was year after year; whenever Hannah went up to the Lord’s house, Peninnah provoked her, so she wept and did not eat.  And [Hannah] was in distress of soul, praying to the Lord and weeping bitterly. She vowed, saying, O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your handmaid and [earnestly] remember, and not forget Your handmaid but will give me a son, I will give him to the Lord all his life… 

Samuels are forged by the pressure of Distressing Desire that will not be consoled by anything less.

• The Church that finds the theft of our children and destruction of our Biblical heritage intolerable, 
• Refuses to accept an Amalekite victory, 
• And with a fierce grieving spirit, takes up the ephod of Kingdom Mandate,
• And seeks GOD’s face for His Answer,

That Church will hear GOD say, Arise, Pursue, and  Recover All!

When everything else is weak you can have The STRENGTH Of PRAYER.

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Through The Strength Of Prayer you can….

• Save a marriage
• Face your faults
• Change directions
• Open a wounded heart
• Launch on a mission

The STRENGTH Of PRAYER is where we connect with GOD and Find….

• The Grace to change
• The Courage to act
• The Ability to Understand
• The Tenderness to Love

Elijah — The Strength to Convince

Jacob — The Strength to Transform

Jesus — The Strength to face the unbearable

The STRENGTH Of PRAYER is the most powerful force on earth.

There is no facet of the Christian life under attack more than PRAYER.  Satan lays a perpetual siege against prayer, because he knows that of all that’s said and done concerning the KOG, the actual impact depends upon The STRENGTH Of PRAYER.  I think that if the influence of the Church is weak, then anemic prayer is the cause.  Therefore I want to give you 3 things you must BE in order to have The STRENGTH Of PRAYER.  Here they are: Be READY, be SPECIFIC, and be THOROUGH

#1 Be READY to Pray

Rom. 12:12 (Be)…instant in prayer; 

In our fast-paced world full of unexpected challenges, being caught off guard, UNREADY to pray, is a serious problem.  It’s an indication of how deeply distracted we allow ourselves to become.  It’s the exact position Satan wants to get you into.  When the need for Prayer arises, and we’re caught w/o Oil in our Lamps, it’s because we’ve let ourselves drift so far from the Spirit.  Our hearts and minds have trouble connecting with GOD because we haven’t kept the lens of His Word up to our eyes as we view the world and its troubles.  Make your READINESS to Pray the most important barometer of your soul.  Don’t silence the alarm that signals when your Heart and Mind start to drift across the lane into oncoming traffic.

#2  Be SPECIFIC in Prayer.

Jesus said, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” — Mark 14:38

Sleep Walking through life rather than Watching and staying Vigilant causes the inability to focus prayer on a specific need and answer.

1Pet. 5:8 Keep your mind clear, and be alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour.

The STRENGTH Of PRAYER relies on your ability to be SPECIFIC.  If you need an operation you go to a Surgeon who KNOWS what he’s cutting into, and has the right instruments.  Not someone with an anatomy book and a butter knife.   That kind of SPECIFICITY requires an ability to Matchup the Circumstances you’re praying for with the right Promise of GOD’s WORD.  That kind of insight comes from WATCHING.  Which means, seeking the Holy Spirit’s explanation of Life through the Word of GOD.  Don’t let the world tell you how to think about things!  GOD says, “The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.” — 1Cor. 2:15

Prayers that get answers don’t have to be eloquent.  But they do come from a Process of distilling the request down to its essential need, and then matching it with GOD’s Appropriate Promise.  You have to Care Enough about the Answer to seek and receive the Spirit’s wisdom about how to pray.  This kind of Specificity comes from DESIRE.    

Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you DESIRE, when you pray, believe you receive them, and you shall have them.

#3  Be THOROUGH in Prayer.

The old-timers use to call it, “Praying Through”.  And it simply means that you pray until you receive your Answer or the Assurance of an Answer.  

Acts 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made WITHOUT CEASING by the church unto God for him. 

When the Angel of GOD released Peter from jail and he went to the house where the church met, they were too busy praying to let him in!

In Gen. 32:26  Jacob wrestled with the angel of GOD for a blessing.  When the angel said, Let me go, Jacob said, I won’t let you go UNLESS you bless me. 

The STRENGTH Of PRAYER won’t relent until GOD answers.   But you can’t Pray Through on Prayer-Fumes.  Praying Through takes a tank of mental vision full of the Word of GOD.  Without a Filled-Up-Mind it’s hard to have a Made-Up-Mind.  Because it’s Powerful Word-Inspired Thoughts that produce the faith to Pray Through.

IN CONCLUSION, Your Prayer Life IS your actual relationship with GOD.  So…

• Pray without ceasing.  
• Never stray too far from prayer.  
• Keep your conscience tender and your thoughts always standing in the Doorway of Prayer.

Luke 4:43 He said to them, I must preach the good news of the KINGDOM of GOD to the other cities [and towns] also, for I was sent for this purpose.

Luke 9:60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the KINGDOM of GOD.”

What was Jesus’ message to the world?  

• You must be Born-Again?
• Love One Another?
• Put GOD first?
• Treat others as yourself?
• Forgiveness?
• Heaven?

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Clearly, Jesus message to the world is to receive and enter The Kingdom of GOD.  The phrase is used 85 times in the Gospels—nearly always by Jesus, in reference to His mission & message!

Jesus did not preach being Born-Again as His message to the world.  Nicodemus asked about The KOG, and Jesus said that being Born-Again was necessary just to SEE and ENTER the K’dom.  We’ve made a mistake telling the world that Jesus’ message is: Getting Trough The Door is The Answer.  It’s like telling young people that The Wedding is the answer to a successful Marriage.  The Wedding is an Event, a Connecting, a Beginning, not a Life. But Marriage is a PURPOSE in life.  Having a Wedding BEGINS the Purpose of 2 people dominating a life together.  So likewise, becoming Born Again BEGINS the Purpose of you and Jesus overcoming the world together.  THAT is the KOG!  

Jesus’ message to the world isn’t a Religious Escape from it.  It’s GOD’s Plan to Retake it!  He said the KOG is like Yeast and your life is the dough waiting for GOD’s K’dom to expand, through all your activities, associations and areas of influence.

The KOG is a Domain you preside over.  Nothing outside of you is bigger than what’s inside of you (1Jn 4:4).  Every day your life is measured in acts of Authority.  Every step in your life is either a forward advance in the KOG or a set back in the KOD.

Rom. 5:17 says we “REIGN in life by Jesus Christ.”

When the Trimbles labor over their family (with 5 children), training their kids in the word, working their family problems out under the authority of GOD’s Word, they are REIGNING in life and Presiding over the expansion of the KOG.  

Isaiah the Prophet said, “ …YOU shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” —Is. 58:12

Those who receive Jesus’ Message for the World see their entire life as the territory of GOD’s K’dom.   

Rev. 5:10 And You have made them a kingdom (a royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth!

The KOG is the only K’dom in which every citizen is considered a King!

John 20:21-22 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”  Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has transferred His Spirit, Power, and Mission to you, making your life a living continuation of His K’dom… You walking in the KOG is Jesus’ Message to the world.

As I consider this verse against the backdrop of our present society I realize how much we’re beginning to have in common with the early Church.  What a precise balance we must hold, walking through such a hostile world as Ambassadors of Christ, helping Hostiles become Disciples.  We must thread the Dual Horizons of Judgment against sin and Mercy for sinners. SO HOW DO WE, amidst the rising lawlessness keep from being pushed  by anger into Offense, or pulled by sympathy into Compromise.  With each passing day it’s becoming more evident that only the narrow way of Jesus’ cross can prevent us from swerving over one cliff or the other.  What does it take to stay on that path?  It takes being Strong in Grace!

What is Grace?  

• Permission to Come
• Power to Change
• GOD is Working Here!

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Strength in Grace begins as VISION.  It’s seeing GRACE helping a Rebel—like you once were—become a Disciple like you now are.  Strength in Grace begins by REVIEWING the work GRACE has done in you—how it transformed you from the foolish sinner into the sincere Christ-Follower.  THEN Strength in Grace becomes your DESIRE TO SEE its Transforming Power change obnoxious sinners, rather than losing them to judgment.  THIS is the Strong Grace that will enable you to work in this hostile world, shaping broken lives into disciples who make disciples.  BUT this VISION comes at a PRICE.  Because this VISION doesn’t work from the Heights of Elevation, but from the Depths Humility. 

1Pet. 5:6-7  Humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor.   Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

If you want to be a Disciple-Maker, Strong in Grace, then it’s COSTLY to follow Jesus.  You’ll always have to keep Self out of your line of sight if you want to see GOD’s Grace transform sinners.  But the Strong Grace of many will be lost...

Matt. 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love (agape) of many will grow cold.

We’re in a Spiritual Battle, but people are not our Enemy.  Eph. 6:12  Our struggle is not against flesh & blood…  Don’t let Satan get you to Fight Your Fruit!

Stay Strong in Grace.  Don’t stare too long at the Lawlessness.  Remember Lot’s wife.   We’ve never seen the captives of sin clinched so tightly in the jaws of Satan.  This is an Captured Generation in the Satan’s Trap of Offense.   But REMEMBER…

Is. 49:24-25  Who can snatch the plunder of war from the hands of a warrior?  Who can demand that a tyrant let his captives go?  But the LORD says, “The captives of warriors will be released, and the plunder of tyrants will be retrieved.  For I will fight those who fight you, and I will save your children.” 

Have the Vision of Grace and be Strong!   Remember that GOD who retrieved Jesus from the marble jaws of death can still deliver People from their Policies, and pull sinners from sin!

An Ambassador isn’t a Religious, but a Governmental Appointment.  As Ambassadors of Christ, we’re not representing ourselves, or our own personal relationship with Him.  But we are Representing the Government of His K’dom.  In order to fulfill your call you must understand your Assignment.

Understanding Your Assignment...

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1. You Represent a Government, Not a Religion

Is. 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder… Of the INCFREASE of his GOVERNMENT and of PEACE there will be no end…The ZEAL of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

• When Christ came into the world He didn’t bring a Religion to earth, but a Government.  
• Jesus was announced as a King at His birth.  And tried as a King at His crucifixion. 
• The Gospel of the K’dom isn’t the communication of a religion, but of a government.  

As an Ambassador of the KOG you are bringing people the most important message ever delivered to the human race; because it explains who they are, where they came from, and restores them to GOD and their authority in His K’dom. 

2. You Must Change Your Mind With K’dom Thinking

Matt. 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, REPENT: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

 People who live in a Democracy have trouble with KOG Authority because it’s not democratic.  When they find the Demands of Jesus to be contrary to popular culture, they want to submit them to a voting process, or moderate them through a committee. BUT…

• The KOG is a a DOMAIN, not a democracy.
• It’s CONSTITUTION is the Word of GOD, and...
• GOD’s Word is eternally SETTLED. Psa. 119:89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.  It’s not legislated or voted on. You can obey it or rebel against it, but you can’t change it. 

Ambassadors of the KOG have the same Mindset as Jesus did.  And Jesus’ mindset is described John 5:30 in when He said...I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, BECAUSE I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.

As the Ambassador of Christ’s K’dom…

• You are appointed by Him, not voted in by people
• You represent His Government, not your relationship
• You’re empowered when you voice His policies, but not when you speak your opinions 

We are AMBASSADORS for Christ, as though God making his appeal through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, BE RECONCILED TO GOD!  Christians who don’t adopt an Ambassadorial mindset allow their k’dom authority to be subverted by contemporary culture.  The world is full of run-of-the-mill “Christians” whose publicly expressed opinions are all over the map.  And it’s because they practice no Ambassadorial allegiance to the KOG.  The reason they modify the moral and social laws of GOD to fit with popular trends, is because they’re on a misguided mission to reconcile GOD with the world, rather than pleading with the world to be reconciled with GOD!  An Ambassador must always Understand their flow of authority…

John 20:21-22 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”   Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

As a follower of Christ, Jesus passed His Ambassadorial Commission and Authority to you.

3. Ambassadors Prevail With K’dom Purpose

Prov. 19:21 There are many plans in a man’s heart, but the LORD’s purpose that PREVAILS. 

GOD’s great gift to mankind isn’t Perfect Plans but the PREVAILING PURPOSE of His K’dom.  No Plan can survive the world’s Misguided Purposes of Pride, Wealth, and Lust for Power.  Human history is a vast graveyard of Perfect Plans that failed for lack GOD’s Prevailing Purpose.  But GOD’s Prevailing Purpose can succeed with a Poor Plan.

Running at Goliath with a sling…was a Poor Plan that Succeeded because of the PREVAILING PURPOSE of GOD’s K’dom.

Surrounding 100K soldiers with 300 shouting men armed with flashlights…was a Poor Plan that Succeeded because of the PREVAILING PURPOSE of GOD’s K’dom.

Challenging an Emperor with a stick, to turn over his slaves…was a Poor Plan that Succeeded because of the PREVAILING PURPOSE of GOD’s K’dom.

Your life lived as an AMBASSADOR of Christ’s Kingdom may be a Poor Plan in the eyes of the world...But it’s the “Poor Plan” that’s going to Succeed because you’re standing in the PREVAILING PURPOSE of GOD’s K’dom.

When Christ came into the world He didn’t bring a Religion to earth, but a Government.  Throughout His ministry, Jesus made it clear that His mission was to install the KOG in people’s hearts…

Lk. 8:1 Jesus preached the Good News of the KOG from town to town

Lk. 9:11 Jesus spoke with the multitudes about the KOG

Lk. 9:32 Don’t be afraid Little Flock, because your Heavenly Father is happy to give you the K’dom

Lk. 12:31 Jesus said, Seek 1st the KOG and everything else will be provided

Lk. 22:29  Jesus told His disciples, I confer upon you a K’dom, just as the Father has upon Me.

Jesus was announced as a King at His birth.   And tried as a King at His crucifixion.

The KOG isn’t a religion, it’s a government.  

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Is. 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder… Of the INCFREASE of his GOVERNMENT and of PEACE there will be no end…The ZEAL of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The INCREASE of GOD is the effect of the GOVERNMENT of His K’dom.  The difference between Christianity as a Religion and Christianity as a Government is this... 

When people receive the Gospel as the Kingdom of GOD they are Governed by the Lordship of Jesus.  They see their faith more as a public accountability than a private practice.   

BUT when people receive the Gospel as a Religion the LORDSHIP of Jesus is replaced with a kind of  Believerism.  Instead of obeying His Word they interpret it by the trends of popular culture.  And they often join the world in criticizing Conservative Christians, for not supporting popular cultural trends.

Christianity as a Religion rather than a Government is how we end up with liberal churches crusading for LGBTQ Rights rather than honestly LOVING gay people by sharing the Gospel with them.  It’s how we end up with Christians siding with feminists, that childbirth is a Woman’s Right To Choose instead of a Mother’s Responsibility.

When people receive the Gospel as a Kingdom rather than a Religion, they are GOVERNED by the Word of GOD and adopt the Culture of the K’dom by being.

1Th. 2:13 we constantly thank God that when you received God’s message that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human message, but as it truly is, the Word of God, which is at work in you who believe. 

The primary difference between Christianity as a Religion rather than a Government is ACCOUNTABILITY.

Matt. 18:23  “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a KING who wished to SETTLE ACCOUNTS with his servants.

Christianity as a Religion looks to Heaven as the place where accounts are settled.  It kicks the can of bondage down the road towards Heaven as the place where GOD will settle accounts and finally set people free.  BUT Christianity as a The Government of Christ overlays GOD’s gift of Sonship to you, with the K’dom Concept, and adds a layer of Servant Accountability to your faith.   Besides being your Savior and Shepherd, Jesus is your King, desiring to daily Settle Accounts with you.  It’s in the actual daily Settling of Accounts where your Transformation occurs…

Rom. 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you PRESENT your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Children of GOD who see themselves as Citizen-Servants of His K’dom, not only daily settle accounts with their King, but they’ll settle accounts between themselves.  It’s what keeps the KOG in a Church.

FINALLY, Jesus saw the Meek, not inheriting Heaven, but the Earth!  Christianity as a Religion is preoccupied with leaving Earth and going to Heaven.  But the priority of the KOG is the Reclamation of Earth, not an escape to Heaven.

Jesus said in Matt. 12:28,  “If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”   Clearly, Jesus K’dom Objective was to make the devil flee from people so they’d inherit the Earth.  Not people fleeing from the devil to inherit Heaven. 

I leave you with this thought, Lk. 8:1 states that “Jesus preached the Good News of the KOG from town to town.”  The coming of the Government of the KOG to Earth is called The Good News because where Christians walk in the authority of the K’dom the effect of Jesus’ Government, which is Peace, Increases over the people. 

This picture of our lives as Fragile Jars of Clay containing the Perfect Eternal Light of Jesus is what’s known as a PARADOX.

A simple definition for Paradox would be: A great truth expressed in contradictory terms. 

Think about it…

• We see the unseen
• We have Freedom in His Yoke
• We reign when we serve
• We’re lifted up when we humble ourselves
• We win by yielding
• Giving is getting
• Dying is living
• And the boundless Kingdom of Heaven lies within our finite souls

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Divine Paradoxes are the Atomic Particles of Theology.  They’re created where the Vastness of GOD intersects the Weakness of Humans.  Without paradoxes there is no Christianity.  FOR when Heaven touches Earth in a Believer’s soul, a Living Paradox is birthed, causing GOD to speak concerning us as, Those things that be not as though they were.   Paul testifies about himself as a Living Paradox…

2Cor. 12:9-10 (GOD told me), “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

When life becomes hard Remember You Are a Living Paradox, and pray to the TREASURE of GOD’s Love inside of you.  For LIVING IN His Love is living in His Presence.

Rom. 5:3-5 We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

When GOD installed the Holy Spirit, along with His Love, into your soul He created a Sacred Space inside of you.  This is where His Grace & Your Weakness fellowship together to create a Vast & Wonderful Home where you are always accepted in Christ.

Psa. 118:5 In my distress I cried out to the LORD.  And the LORD answered me and put me in a LARGE PLACE.

It’s that LARGE PLACE, in you, where GOD has made all the room you’ll ever need to Learn, Correct Mistakes, Grow, and Be Happy.  Sometimes life becomes a Claustrophobic Experience. You become franticly cramped by you’re own mistakes.  And the inability to explain yourself is like a gag over your soul.  But when you get on your knees and step through into Your Large Place—the Secret Place of the Most High—you're under the Shade of the Almighty, and you know YOU’RE understood.  THERE, on the inside of you, as you commune with the LORD, is the Paradox of Strength-In-Fragility, where your fears and anxieties fade, as you trade with your Heavenly Father…

• Ashes for Beauty
• Mourning for the Oil of Joy
• And exchange the Spirit of Heaviness for the Garment of Praise.  

Even in life’s best relationships we can come to the end of people’s tolerance, where we’re censored, misunderstood, and no explanation we can offer for ourselves is accepted.   There is no Beautiful Paradox in the fallen world, just consequences.  Surviving those relationships is like surviving an amputation: You come through it alive but leave a part of yourself behind.  And a piece of the love dies.  But no matter how much of your natural life the world takes, INSIDE the praying Christian, there’s a place where the Beautiful Paradox waits with Mercies that are renewed every morning.   GOD’s Love working inside you is the Beautiful Paradox of life.  And it’s what makes you a Living Testimony of GOD’s Love & Power, to those who haven’t yet received Jesus Christ.   While the world around you probes your natural limitations, the Love, Joy, and Peace, GOD gives you, keeps flowing out from your life within.  You carry your Vast Inner Home within a compact earthen vessel.  It’s your Freedom in Captivity, your Large Place in a Claustrophobic world.  It’s THE PLACE where GOD Loves you, and waits to trade with you: the Excellency of His Power for the troubles of your Earthen Life!   The Beautiful Paradox you carry through life is carrying you.  You live and move within that which lives and moves within you.

2Cor. 4:6-7 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.  We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like FRAGILE CLAY JARS containing this GREAT TREASURE. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

Jesus replied, “Are you saying this on your own initiative, or have others told you about me?” 

Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own people and your chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” 

Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my servants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” 

Then Pilate said, “So you are a king!”

Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the TRUTH. Everyone who BELONGS to the TRUTH listens to my voice.” 

Pilate asked, “What is TRUTH?”

The K’dom of Darkness and the K’dom of Light come Face-to-face in this remarkable encounter between Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ.  GOD brings Pilate, as the representative of all worldly kingdoms OF DARKNESS, into direct confrontation with His K’dom of LIGHT.  Pilate thinks that he represents everything that is REAL and MEANINGFUL.  He’s baffled at Jesus lack of effort to save Himself by taking refuge under his authority.  He thinks Jesus is about to Lose Everything, and has no clue that Jesus is about to take over the world!  By refusing to put Himself under the authority of the Kingdom of Darkness in order to be saved, Jesus both saves Himself and every human who will follow Him into the KOG!

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“So you are a king!”

When Pilate recognizes Jesus’ Kingship He immediately wants to know about His Authority.  And in His answer, Jesus goes directly to the difference between the K’dom of GOD and K’dom of darkness: The TRUTH.  The TRUTH is what The I AM says IS.  In Is. 30:21  GOD says “This is THE WAY, walk in it…”    

The KOG is founded on the fact: GOD HAS Said.  But the Kingdom of Darkness is founded on the question: HAS GOD Said?   Every Government AND position of Authority upon earth chooses to be ruled by either, GOD HAS Said. or HAS GOD Said?  

The Contrasting K’doms of LIGHT vs. DARKNESS 

“DARKNESS” in the Bible isn’t absence of physical light, but absence of The TRUTH.  Darkness is IGNORANCE of The TRUTH. Therefore the K’dom of Darkness is essentially Satan ruling people BY IGNORANCE, not IN IGNORANCE.  In other words, in the KOD people aren’t ruled by Satan because OF ignorant but they’re ruled by Satan WITH IGNORANCE. 

2Cor. 4:4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see (IGNORANCE) the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.

He blinds them not with a Hood of Inaccessibility to The TRUTH but by feeding them Lies and Rebellious theories, so that they Reject The TRUTH.  Governments of the world are ruled by the KOD because they base their authority on the satanic accusation, Has GOD Said?  When 2Cor. 4:4  People are in government they, spread the Darkness they themselves are controlled by.  

When you vote for people who support Abortion, the sexualization of children in school, tolerating lawlessness, and the tyranny of marxism, you make them your leaders, and help to spread the same Kingdom of Darkness that crucified Jesus!

“What is truth?”

When Pilate hears Jesus state that His K’dom is founded upon The TRUTH, his response reveals the total absence of the LIGHT of TRUTH in the government he represents.  Pilot’s statement, “What is truth?”, reveals that the Authority of the KOD is simply the raw exercise of power by those who possess it in IGNORANCE.  After Jesus explains the Nature of the Authority of His K’dom, as The TRUTH, Pilate realizes that there’s Nothing in his k’dom that can Save Jesus.  And he turns Him over to be crucified.  The TRUTH has no chance in this world when the wicked are charge.

Is. 59:14-15  Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.  Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil is attacked.  The LORD saw it, and it DISPLEASED him that there was no justice.

When Christians help elect the wicked, who work against The TRUTH, they create the conditions for their own persecution.

Prov. 29:2 When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice.  But when the wicked are in power, they groan.

In a Representative Democracy, when you put those who honor the KOG in authority, LIGHT shines in the nation.  But when you put the IGNORANT in power, DARKNESS rules the land; and no amount of Christian influence can stop the spread of evil.  The government that say’s “WHAT IS TRUTH? is the one that Crucified Jesus, and it will come after you too!  BUT, there is Good News!  When the godly are in Authority, the Impossible is Within Reach!

Col. 1:12-13 …The Father has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.  For he has rescued us from the KINGDOM OF DARKNESS and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son.

GOD will work through people who have let Him RESCUE them from the KOD, to be TRANSFERRED into His K’dom, under His LORDSHIP.  Even though they are flawed, rough, and have made big mistakes, GOD will come to people who honor The TRUTH, and put them in powerful positions, to do the impossible through them.

Gideon said, I am insignificant and the least among a weak people.  But GOD came to him and said, You are My Mighty Warrior!  And through Gideon GOD miraculously delivered the nation out from under tyrants.

David was just a shepherd boy, overlooked by his family.  But GOD came to him and said, You are the King!  And through David, He delivered the nation out of bondage under corrupt leadership, to freedom and victory over their enemies.

Joseph was a slave in a foreign empire.  But GOD came to, and said, You are a World Ruler!  And He made him Prime Minister over the empire and used him to save Israel.

Peter told Jesus, Depart from me, I’m a wishy-washy sinful man.  Jesus said, You’re a Fisher of Men with a Rock of Revelation growing in you!  

Jesus explained His K’dom to Pilate by saying, “I came into the world to testify to The TRUTH. Everyone who belongs to The TRUTH LISTENS TO MY VOICE.” Jesus is speaking from His K’dom to YOU today.  And when He speaks to YOU, He speaks to the REAL PERSON.  Not the person others see, but the one who GOD sees.  No matter who you are, flawed, rough, and having made big mistakes, Jesus is calling you into His Kingdom, and  to STAND for The TRUTH in this world.  

GOD will make a difference through you.

There is a Rock of Revelation that Hell cannot prevail against.  Inside every Petros (a single life touched by GOD) there’s a PETRA, a massive spiritual Revelation of Christ the King and His K’dom. 

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Simon (Peter) was a man who was very centered in his own flesh. Impetuous and quick to speak, but not overly courageous.  Big intensions tethered by short leash of self-interest.  Like many of us, he had strong opinions but was never going to venture out of his own comfort zone.  The status quo was safe—Peter was never going to set the world on fire.  He would live in one town and catch fish.  

“Depart from me Lord, I’m a sinful man.” 

But Jesus saw what Peter’s life would look like standing on The ROCK.  He would walk on water, see Moses and Elijah, and his shadow would heal cripples. 

“Come with Me, and I will make you a Fisher of Men.” 

Whoever lives on the Rock has the power to Bind ON EARTH what Heaven has bound, and Release ON EARTH what Heaven has Released!  That Rock is the Revelation of the KOG.  And Jesus offers that Revelation to everyone of us who receive Him as LORD… “UPON THIS ROCK I will build my church, and…I will GIVE YOU the KEYS of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven…”  It’s the heritage and destiny of every Born-Again Christian to Live on the Rock of K’dom Authority, and exercise it Upon the EARTH!  Wind + Time wears down mountain ranges.  But the Power of The Rock, moving through a Peter, raises monumental testimonies that change history forever.

Rom. 8:15-17 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, THEN HEIRS—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,

Satan knows that Divine Authority is the true mark of sonship.  So he vigorously promotes the concept of a “Christianity” where the children of GOD have no Authority.  So if Satan couldn’t keep you from receiving Jesus, then he’s doing everything he can to keep you off the ROCK of K’dom Revelation.  He’s using your own weaknesses to convince you that you don’t have THE STANDING to use the Keys of K’dom Authority against him. Satan twists the words of Jesus to say, I'll GIVE YOU the KEYS of K’dom Authority if you earn the right to use them.  But what Jesus really said is, If you get the Revelation you get the Keys (the Authority).  So don’t let Satan back you down off the Rock that GOD’s revelation put you on!  Don’t let him frighten you with your own weakness.  Jesus said…

Luke 12:32 …Fear NOT little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.

GOD rejoices when you act in His Authority simply because you’re a testament to His Fatherhood. (i.e. Jesus leaps for joy when the disciples cast out devils and perform miracles in His name).  Your view of life, from standing on the Rock, changes YOU.  You see the Father’s unconquerable Love and absolute K’dom Authority, operating in you, as His child.  St. Augustine wrote, “Without GOD, WE cannot; without US, GOD will not.”  Father GOD’s Family Authority is revealed through YOU, His children.

When the Prodigal Son returned home he tried to come as worker.  Sin-consciousness had stripped him of his identity, so that he hoped for nothing better than an opportunity to work.  He knew provision was in his father’s house, but didn’t believe he had a right to it.   But His Father immediately sees that his son’s greatest need was the restoration of his identity, so that his mind would work correctly.  The first thing his Dad does is put the Family Ring on his finger—the official symbol of Family Authority.  The Holy Spirit is that Ring of K’dom Authority the Father has given you.  Jesus knew in advance, that Satan would use our own failures to talk us down from the Rock, and to quit using our K’dom Authority. 

Luke 22:28-32 You are the ones who have remained with me in my trials.  Thus I grant to you a kingdom, just as my Father granted to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  Simon, Simon, pay attention! Satan has demanded to have you all, to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. When you have Turned Back (are CONVERTED), strengthen your brothers.

Jesus used Peter to remind us that it’s His intercession that put us on that ROCK.  So don’t let Satan talk you down.

Some people are SAVED but not yet CONVERTED to K’dom thinking.  They’re still trying to come to GOD as a “employee”.  But people, like Peter, who’ve been CONVERTED (from failure mentality) to K’dom Authority, speak from The Rock.  They have the power to Strengthen others.   Stand on The ROCK and Strengthen your brothers and sisters!

I want to develop the thought that Earth was created to be the home of the KOG.

FIRST let’s start with the fact that the physical world is eternal…

Psa. 78:69  the earth he has established forever.

Eccl. 1:4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 

NEXT, consider that Mankind is a Hybrid creation; the Dust of Earth mixed with the Spirit of GOD.  He is formed from the dust of Earth, designed in a physical body, to be at home in the physical world, and have Dominion over it. 

Gen. 1:26-28  Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may HAVE DOMINION…over all the earth…” 

Psa. 115:16  The highest heaven belongs to the Lord, but he has given the earth to the descendants of Adam.

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IN ADDITION, though Man is Formed from Earth He is made Alive with the eternal Breath of GOD.   Our dominion ON EARTH is Eternal. 

Psa. 145:13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and your dominion endures through all GENERATIONS.

The term, all GENERATIONS, obviously refers to mankind.  It’s apparent that Man was created for the Eternal KOG ON EARTH.  In Man, GOD creates a DOOR for Himself into the Physical world.  SO, GOD, being the invisible Spirit inhabiting Eternity, created the condition where He NEEDS a Body in order to operate ON EARTH!  This is why GOD always seeks the cooperation of People ON EARTH in order to do His will.  

For Example: He sends Moses to be His representative in delivering the Hebrews…

Ex. 14:15-16 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving!  Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground. 

GOD stirs a prophet BEFORE taking action ON EARTH…

Amos 3:7 Certainly the sovereign LORD does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. 

This is why Satan cannot work without getting people to cooperate with his will…  

Luke 22:3-24 Then entered Satan into Judas…and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. 

Eph. 4:26-27 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.  Do not give the devil an OPPORTUNITY. 

ULTIMATELY, GOD planned from the Beginning to Come Himself into the Earth in Human Form…

Heb. 10:5  …when Christ came into the world, he said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a BODY have you prepared for me;

GOD made us in His Image & Likeness so He could become Human.  And now He is operating on Earth as GOD & Man.  The KOG has begun to come ON EARTH!  Jesus is the 2nd ADAM. The Perfect intersection of GOD and Man!  

1Tim. 2:5 For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, THE MAN, Christ Jesus 

Jesus foretells His Kingdom ON EARTH…

Matt. 19:28-29 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the REGENERATION (Renewed World) when the Son of man shall sit in the THRONE of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.  

When GOD, who is Spirit, came into the world as Jesus, the Messiah, He created The Condition for our eternal Fellowship & Love, not in Heaven but ON EARTH.

Earth was created to be the home of the KOG  

Rev. 21:1-3 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 

SO, When we pray for GOD to manifest His K’dom through us, we’re not fighting a battle, we’re executing a DESTINY…

Matt. 6:10 May your kingdom come, may your will be done ON EARTH as it is in heaven.

As Ambassadors of Jesus’ Authority on Earth we are RESPONSIBLE to Him for 2 things:

• To Emulate His Spirit (moral Strength, Courage, Boldness)
• Loyalty to His WORD

Josh. 1:7-9 Only be STRONG and VERY COURAGEOUS, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.  This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

To properly understand Jesus’ answer you have to understand the Pharisees’ and their question…

Who were the Pharisees?  They were the Rulers of Their Society.  

The Pharisees had devised a complex network of rules that controlled family, business, speech, and thought.  They began as a moral revolution and quickly morphed into the Ruling Class of an oppressive Nanny State.  They had the power to classify you as a Saint or make you out to be a Devil.  The people secretly hated them but they gave into their demands out of fear of being banded from society as an outcast or stoned to death.  The Pharisees were the Architects and Enforcers of a highly refined System of Words that guaranteed moral superiority, but ultimately imprisoned the entire society.  

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The Pharisees instantly hated Jesus.  Why?  Because He was freeing offering people the KOG, and releasing them from bondage to the Pharisees’ legalism.  

The Pharisees controlled the Social System of their world as their own K’dom.  And they did it by force, through:

• Accusation, Ridicule, & Condemnation,
• Labels of Political & Moral Correctness,
• And ultimately, Violence, Prison and Execution.

The Pharisees twisted GOD’s Word into oppressive Compliance Regulations so as to control all personal and social life, in the name of upholding Rightness and purging Evil.

So if they had managed to amass all this power WHY were they asking Jesus about the KOG?  It’s because He wasn’t holding the KOG out, like a carrot on a stick, and using their Coercions of Fault-Finding, Ridicule, and Threats against the people.  Instead, Jesus was simply giving away Grace, Mercy and the Power of Healing & Deliverance.  And the Pharisees wanted to SEE (Judge) His System to Find Fault with it.  

These are the PC Police of the world.  They classify everyone in groups and have no respect for the Individual.  And because Jesus made the KOG available directly to Individuals they wanted to Execute Him.  Their utter contempt for the rights of individuals was evident when they sent officers to arrest Jesus, but the officers returned without Him because they were so amazed by Him; and the Pharisees belittled them saying, “Have any of us believed in Him?  But these people following Him are ignorant and cursed!” (Jn 7:48-49).  

SO Jesus answer to them about the KOG is this: GOD’s K’dom isn’t a System. You can’t manipulate it or use it on people.  In fact the KOG is AMONG YOU right now!  In other words, There is NO social SYSTEM that can make you a citizen in the KOG.  No one can earn it because everyone has fallen short of it.   And people can’t be coerced into it by fear or shaming because there’s no way to lift themselves up.

There’s only One Way into the KOG… 

Jesus, the Perfect King, has offered Himself in sacrifice for your sins. And everyone, rich & poor, good & bad, enters the KOG the same way: Humbling yourself in repentance, and accepting GOD’s forgiveness, to become His child.  The KOG is GOD’s Family and you must be born into it by the Holy Spirit.  No System of Words has ever put one soul back into GOD’s K’dom. 

Rom. 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not MEAT and DRINK; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 

Under the Pharisees’ System MEAT and DRINK is the Title Heading for the set of rules you had to comply with in order to prove you weren’t whatever THEY wanted to accuse you of being.  

Just think: How wonderful it is to be blessed with righteousness, peace, and joy through the Holy Spirit rather than laboring under the unbearable stress of having to comply with MEAT and DRINK Laws!  

The Pharisees are working hard in today’s world to dominate our society.  They’re using the same coercions of Accusation, Ridicule, Shaming, Intimidation & Violence.  Through their cruel tactic of Cancel Culture they’re taking away people’s jobs, ruining their credit, and shutting down their existence on social media.  While society’s trying to deal with its challenges, the Pharisees are injecting their twisted accusations and threats into the public dialog.  And for those who listen and succumb to them, stress and anxiety is boiling over.   

Jesus warned His disciples about the spirit of the Pharisees when He said, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” —Mt 16:6   Their Hypocrisy and Intimidation effectively spreads like yeast through dough.

But FEAR NOT!  

The KOG is still here!!  

The Holy Spirit is still here!

Righteousness, peace, and joy are still here in our midst!

THE PHARISEES SAY…The System is Broken!  

Every problem is now “Systemic”.  Race, Economy, Law Enforcement, ALL “Systemic”.  

The Marxist view of social problems, is called Critical Theory, and has infiltrated our education system.  It teaches that people are bad because the system is bad—Change the system and you’ll change the people.  People who believe this curse the system rather than take responsibility for themselves.  This is the belief driving the current revolt in our society.

But the problems of society aren’t Systemic, they’re SINstemic.  

Sin always blames the system.  When sin took hold of Adam he immediately blamed the System of Marriage!  

But the KOG says, “For we are each responsible for our own conduct.” — Gal. 6:5

THE PHARISEES SAY…Everyone Must Fight Racism!  If you don’t “Fight Racism” you’re a racist.  

But the KOG says, “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” — Gal. 3:28 

I don’t have to fight what Jesus already defeated.  Just lead people to Him.

THE PHARISEES SAY…Tear Down These Statues.  They Inspire Wrong Thinking!  

But the KOG says, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” — John 12:32 

Tearing down statues doesn’t help or improve anyone.  But lifting up Jesus does!

THE PHARISEES SAY…I’m Offended. I demand Reparations!  

But the KOG says, “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.” —Matt. 6:14

In the KOG Jesus has covered every debt of sin.  He gave Himself to us as our Reparations.  I think you’ll find He’s MORE THAN ENOUGH for you!!

THE KEY: Jesus is The Treasure and The Kingdom of GOD is The Field, the Environment of the K’dom.  The one who found Jesus sold all to possess His K’dom; for to truly possess the blessings of the King you must live under the Authority of His Kingdom. 

After preaching the Gospel in cities of the Roman Empire Paul is beaten by mobs and left for dead.  But he recovers and tells the Christians that, “We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions.” — Acts 14:22

Why does the Gospel of Jesus’ Love and Forgiveness draw persecution?  Because Jesus is connecting people with the KOG, instead of endorsing the K’dom of the World. 

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The World is Adam’s Fallen K’dom and is under Satanic influence.  It’s authority changes to suit whoever’s in power and what they want.   So the world resents having to subject its justice to Eternal Standards.  

John 17:14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

If GOD created the world how did He end up on the outside looking in? For the answer we must go back to the beginning…

GOD created the world as a physical territory of His K’dom, through which man would relate with Him as His Delegated Throne of Authority.  The Holy Spirit became the most important relationship that man had.  Because through the Spirit Adam lived in direct fellowship with GOD, having great power under His Authority.  This was The KOG.  Which made the Holy Spirit was the most important Person on earth…

Rom. 14:17 For the kingdom of God is…righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Adam was Heaven’s 1st Ambassador to Earth.  When Satan saw GOD hand the Authority of His K’dom to Adam he saw POWER and immediately came to steal it.  If he couldn’t overtake GOD’s Throne in Heaven then he’d settle of His Delegated Earthly Throne.

Satan’s Strategy Against The KOG

To obtain GOD’s delegated authority over the earth, Satan would have to break man’s relationship with the Holy Spirit.  This would effectively cause the loss of the KOG on earth, and put Man’s Delegated Authority under Satan’s influence, making the world into a Rebel Kingdom in perpetual CONFLICT with the KOG.  Adam’s authority under the Holy Spirit was wide ranging, with one limitation: He must live under The TRUTH that Good & Evil was Eternally fixed under GOD’s Sovereign Authority.  The TRUTH is the Foundation of Righteousness and morality, and Eternally Unchanging, preceded Adam.

Jn. 1:1 In the beginning was the WORD…

Psa. 119:89 Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven…   

The TRUTH about Good & Evil was never offered to mankind for Opinion.  GOD never gave man Authority to determine Right vs. Wrong or set moral boundaries.  So all Satan had to do was coax Adam into challenging GOD’s Sovereignty over Good & Evil.  And that would turn him into a Traitor to the KOG, and transform his children into deserters living as rebels, hostile to the KOG.  The death sentence against Adam’s sin is for TREASON against the KOG!   Therefore it’s the nature of sin to trivialize itself as simply human moral flaws, rather than acts against the K’dom.  

The greatest fault of the Church today is taking The KOG lightly.  A church without a strong allegiance to the K’dom will not stand to defend the TRUTH.  But will always surrender the claims of Jesus’ Gospel to the demands of popular culture.

Earth’s Delegated K’dom Authority was assigned to man.  So Satan must use people to manipulate that authority.   All the violent revolt and strife we’re experiencing right now in our cities is the direct result of demons stirring people to fight for the right to challenge the Eternal Truth and moral Authority of the KOG. Through the powers of education, culture, and politics, Satan is fighting to overthrown the influence of the KOG on America, and subject our country to the Spirit of Antichrist.  We’re entering the Valley of Decision.

Why should this matter to Christians trying to win the lost to Christ?  Because the farther people fall into rebellion against the KOG the stronger the bondage to the spirit of antichrist, and the darker their blindness becomes.

Joel 3:12-14 Let the heathen be wakened (Wokeness), and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.  Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.  Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 

It was into this Rebel K’dom of the World that King Jesus came to begin to bring man back under the Authority of His K’dom, and begin restoring the KOG on earth…  

Pray like this, Your K’dom come, Your will be done IN EARTH as in Heaven.

See how Jesus gain the Right over the fallen K’dom of Adam.  Jesus was executed as the King of the K’dom of GOD!  The religious authorities objected but the Roman empire acknowledged Him as the King.

Mark 15:31-32 Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.  Let Christ the KING of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. 

Satan fell right into GOD’s plan when he moved the Leaders of this world to crucify Jesus.  Because he made the entire world guilty of executing The Man who was the rightful King of the KOG.  As the Victim of the World’s Treason against the King, Jesus now had the Right to condemn or forgive the world’s sinners!  On Calvary’s cross Jesus exercised His Right over the sinners of the world…

Luke 23:34  But Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Because the Lamb of GOD is also the King of the KOG, His Blood is upon you.  It can be the sin that puts you in Hell or the offering that brings you into GOD’s K’dom as His child. 

The Treasure is Jesus Christ and His Power to Restore Man’s Authority over the fallen world.  History is the story of man’s search for the Authority he lost when he left the Truth of GOD for Satan’s lie.  Jesus is The Treasure because He’s the fulfillment of that search.

Luke 10:19 Behold, I have given you AUTHORITY to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 

FINDING THE TREASURE is receiving the Gospel w/ Joy

THE FIELD is the Environment of Jesus’ Rule.  Jesus calls it, The Kingdom of GOD and makes clear that the Treasure and the Field are INSEPARABLE!  

BUYING THE FIELD is selling off your stock in the fallen world and relocating under Jesus AUTHORITY in The Kingdom of GOD. No Kingdom, No Overcoming Power.

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The Church Is Not The KINGDOM

Your Relationship with Jesus’ AUTHORITY (Not church) determines your ABIDING in His K’dom.  “Getting Saved” instantly enrolls you as a citizen of the Kingdom.  But whether you actually live in The K’dom is up to you…

Luke 19:11-14 And he spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.  He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.  And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.  But HIS CITIZENS hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to REIGN (RULE) over us. 

When Jesus laid down the qualification for entering the KOG by saying, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mark 10:15), He wasn’t referring to a child’s ability to Believe but their willingness to be Led.  Adults’ skepticism isn’t their big hindrance to Abiding in the K’dom.  It’s their Resistance to Authority.

A way to conceptualize the KOG is to think about it as the activity emanating from His RIGHT TO RULE.  As opposed to the activity emanating from the Revelation of His Divinity.  Such as the multitudes who followed Him because He Healed and Fed them.

There's been a 40 year transition from LORDSHIP-based Christianity to WORSHIP-based Christianity that has elevated Jesus’ popularity in the earth, while diminishing the manifestation of His Authority.  Those following His Right To Rule are The Kingdom.  Those following His Blessings are a Religious CAMP.  Camps are always larger than the K’dom. They quickly disperse and regather with the changing conditions.  But the KINGDOM ABIDERS, though fewer in number, cannot be moved…

Heb. 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be MOVED

Christianity is being Tee’d up for the Great Falling Away (2Thess. ch.2) because the Popular Music Jesus has no power to KEEP followers when the shaking starts.  But K’dom Abiders cannot be shaken loose.

In Rom. ch. 8 Paul exhorts us to walk after the Spirit (of GOD’s Authority), and not the flesh (our own will).  And as a result…

I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Treasure is Jesus Christ and His Authority over the fallen world the world.

The Field is The Kingdom of GOD, the Environment of Jesus.

SO the intent of Jesus’ message about the K’dom is to make clear that the Treasure and the Field are INSEPARABLE!  It’s IMPOSSIBLE to have Jesus without selling off the world to relocate to His Kingdom.  And further…

It’s IMPOSSIBLE to have His POWER without living under His AUTHORITY.  

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Jesus said w/o being Born Again (finding the Treasure) you can’t See or Enter the KOG.  But after you’re Born WHERE are you going to ABIDE?

(1) ABIDING: The 1st Rule of K’dom Authority

ABIDING in the K’dom is where Authority comes from.  Born-again Christians who don’t ABIDE in the K’dom lack Authority. Satan’s concentrates his greatest efforts at getting you to slip out from under the Authority of Jesus’ Lordship and live by your own independent will and impulses.  Because his greatest threat is not from BA Christians, but from KOG ABIDERS. 

It took a soldier to understand Jesus’ Kingdom Authority.

Matt. 8:7-10 And he said to him (the centurion), “I will come and heal him.”  But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.  For I TOO am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”  When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

What was it that made Jesus marvel?  It was the fact that the Centurion understood the nature of Jesus’ Kingdom AUTHORITY and saw Jesus ABIDING in the Chain of Command.

John 5:19  So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.

The reason Jesus was able to Heal ALL who came to Him was that He never attempted to do anything out from under the Father’s Leading.  Jesus was led moment by moment.  There was never a time when He allowed Himself to disengage His awareness from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of GOD’s Authority.  

Is the Holy Spirit able to tell you not to jump up right now and go to the restroom???  Or does He have to fight through your Impulsiveness and Rationalization?  The answer to that question reveals whether you’re living in the KOG or just another Christian saved by Grace.

(2) Using KINGDOM AUTHORITY Manifests Jesus

1John 3:8  For this purpose the Son of God was MANIFESTED, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 

The only thing that can destroy the works of the devil is the MANIFESTATION of Jesus.  And the reason is because Satan has no defense against GOD’s AUTHORITY.  “Then Jesus said to them, “ALL authority (even Satan’s) in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations…” —Mt 28:18-19

i.e. the 7 Sons of Sceva.  

MANIFESTING Jesus is an Act of K’dom AUTHORITY.  You can only do it by operating on earth as an Ambassador from the KOG.  Christians who ABIDE in the K’dom have His AUTHORITY.  They KNOW Who they represent and what they have to work with…

Acts 3:6 But Peter said, “I have no silver or gold, but what I do HAVE I GIVE you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, stand up and walk!” 

Peter was Filled with the AUTHORITY of the K’dom.  Because he had let go of all his own pride and self-defense, and totally surrender to Jesus as King over his life, GOD’s Authority was overflowing within him.  It wasn’t Faith that enabled Peter to Give healing but K’dom AUTHORITY.  When Faith doesn’t seem to be moving mountains it’s usually because it’s not coming from a heart that’s operating under K’dom AUTHORITY.   Anyone of us can operate in that level of AUTHORITY if we’re willing to unseat SELF from the throne of our hearts, and Relocate to the KOG.

The Treasure is Jesus Christ, Eternal King, LORD and Savior of the world.

The Field is The Kingdom of GOD/Heaven.

SO the Heart of Jesus’ message is that the Treasure and the Field are INSEPARABLE!  It is IMPOSSIBLE to have Jesus without selling off the world to possess His Kingdom.  

This is the Permanent, Unchangeable, Non-negotiable FACT of the KOG, that it’s impossible to possess the TREASURE without relocating to The FIELD. 

So, what is The KOG?  And how do we live in it?

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The KOG is the Sovereign Reign of the Eternal GOD and Redeemer-King, Jesus Christ.  When you’re submitting your life to Him you’re living in the KOG.  Jesus Is King & LORD!  That is the simple commanding policy of the Kingdom.

There are no elections.  No evolving philosophies.  No changing morals.  The I Am Is What Is.

In the KOG all Provisions are Perfect, and Complete, and Flow from The King…

Rom. 14:17 For the kingdom of God IS…Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness isn’t being correct.  It’s Standing forgiven in Christ

Peace isn’t when people are in agreement with you.  It’s when you’re in agreement with GOD.

Joy isn’t when you get what you want, but when GOD gets YOU!

Heb. 12:28-29 Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is UNSHAKABLE, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.  For our God is a devouring fire.

The KOG arises through true inner worship not outer striving.

Psa. 46:9-10 He brings an end to wars throughout the earth; he shatters the bow and breaks the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  He says, “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!   I will be exalted over the nations! I will be exalted over the earth!” 

Oh how the Church needs to reorient to the Field today!

The Kingdom Now And The Kingdom To Come

At the birth of King Jesus, GOD began to re-establish His K’dom in the earth in 2 Stages…

Mark 4:26 And Jesus said…the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground (Process);

Luke 21:31 …when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.

First SEED Form in the lives of People, and then Full Manifestation at the return of King Jesus.   

SO in the present world the Kingdom of Darkness and the Kingdom of GOD exist simultaneously as the KOG grows.  

The K’dom is Given but not yet fully Received.  The Covenant Promises are given to be received by Faith, but not yet the Rule of the Land.

We are healed (1Pe. 2:24) but we still get sick.

We have GOD’s Peace… John 14:27 I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.  But we still fight off worry and strife.

For those who’ve bought The Field there’s constant tension and skirmishes along the borderlines between these 2 kingdoms in conflict. 

Acts 14:22 (Paul was) strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

But Stand firm in the Field and the Treasure will keep you from falling.

1Cor. 15:58 So then, dear brothers and sisters, be firm. Do not be moved! Always be outstanding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord

Kingdom Purpose In The Age Of Grace

This period exists for the purpose of redeeming people from among the Lost into the KOG BEFORE His reign upon the Earth begins!  

Col. 1:12-14  GOD has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light.   For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the KINGDOM OF HIS BELOVED SON.

As an Ambassador of the K’dom, GOD wants His Light of Righteousness, Peace, and Joy to shine out through you to those in Darkness.

The Kingdom Is A Family

The KOG is a FAMILY that you must be born into…

John 3:5-7   Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.  

The K’dom is GOD’s manifest Love for man.

Rom. 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The greatness of GOD’s Love wasn’t shown by preventing man from rebelling, but by Redeeming and lifting us out from Rebellion!

The Treasure is Jesus Christ, Eternal King, LORD and Savior of the world.

The Field is The Kingdom of GOD/Heaven.

SO the Heart of Jesus’ message is that the Treasure and the Field are INSEPARABLE!  It is IMPOSSIBLE to have Jesus without selling off the world to possess His Kingdom.  

In other words, you can NOT possess the TREASURE of The Savior without relocating to The KINGDOM.  THIS is the Permanent, Unchangeable, Non-negotiable FACT of the KOG.  You either sellout to it or reject it.  There’s NO MIDDLE GROUND…No Time-share Plan.

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As we open up Jesus’ message about the KOG, the reality of what’s at stake quickly emerges, that reorienting your life, from the World to the KOG is the decision between Eternal Salvation and Outer Darkness Forever

Getting Jesus’ message about the K’dom wrong can cost you eternity.  Because bypassing the Field to obtain the Treasure is impossible.  If you don’t Relocate to the Field you Forfeit the Treasure…"which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."   Why cover it back up and run off to sell all?  Because it can’t be removed from The Field.  The Treasure & The Field are ONE.

Jesus always pointed to the perfect continuity between Himself, The Father, and His Word.  They are ONE.  So that there is no such thing as “Taking” the Words of Jesus and applying them to your life.  The KOG is a singular reality that cannot be parsed!

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Mark 8:38 For if anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

In other words, once you’ve Located The Treasure (The Savior-King) rejecting Jesus’ Lordship over your worldview and lifestyle is forfeiting the Treasure. 

Jesus doesn’t “Date”.  You must move in with Him.  The price of the K’dom is EXCLUSIVITY!  You don’t “sell all” to pay for the Treasure (Jesus Blood did that), but to Make Room for The KOG.  It’s a Fire-Sale!!   Jesus’ the Savior is a Mission of Jesus the King of Glory.  Rejecting Jesus’ Authority over your life as King disrupts His work as your Savior.

On the other hand, when Jesus said you must Buy The Field to Possess The Treasure He’s talking about a Decision not an Accomplishment.  You Possess The Treasure the very moment you Choose His K’dom.  Not once you’ve Mastered His K’dom.  You then spend your life reinforcing your decision to live under His Kingdom Rule.

The Reason Jesus is called The Treasure of the Kingdom is because He (the King) will help you throughout your life to stay and walk in His Kingdom.  No other message is more central to the Gospel than The KOG.  The Gospel isn’t the story of Jesus.  It’s the Presentation of GOD’s Kingdom IN Jesus!

Mark 1:14 … Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the Kingdom Of GOD, 

Luke 4:43 Jesus said, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom Of GOD

The KOG is the Good News that the Bad News of the World is looking for.

Luke 11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the Kingdom Of GOD is come upon you.

Jesus is the Manifestation of the KOG overthrowing the kingdom of devils, known as The World. Every problem we are trying to sort out in the world is answered in the KOG!

Matt. 5:29 (AMP) If your right eye serves as a TRAP TO ENSNARE YOU or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be cast into hell. 

Offense / Offend – 

skan´-dal-on — “scandal” a stick trap (bent sapling), i.e. snare—a thing that offends, a stumbling block.

Satan’s Trap works through the part of you that reaches for the bait.  If it’s an eye or hand, Jesus said cut it off before it drags you to Hell. But what if it’s your attitude or thought that’s reaching to engage with something you don’t like or disagree with, that offends you?  In today’s culture of Victimization, Fault-finding, and Strife masquerading as Advocacy, people with Offended Attitudes are considered social heroes.  But Jesus says they’re just prisoners of offense.  And Jesus said, when it’s your Attitude that becomes stuck in The Trap of Offense, (just like the eye or hand) drop the issue before it enslaves you.  In fact, an offended attitude is the most damaging to your life because it enslaves Your Heart, which is the part of you through which faith and love must flow.  

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Matt. 5:29 (KJV) And if your right eye OFFENDS (TRAPS) you, pluck it out,… 

Jesus isn’t condemning the Bait, He’s condemning the TRAP!! He’s not giving a social rebuke against all the things in the world that can BAIT your attitude.  He’s warning YOU not to become Trapped by their Offense.  In short, no matter of how valid your Claim is about the Offense that Baits you, if you become trapped by strife, your enslavement is much worse for you than the issue that baited you.   

The Trap Of Offense Belongs to Satan

2Tim. 2:24-26 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the SNARE (TRAP) OF THE DEVIL, who are taken captive by him at his will.

In the 1860s an illegitimate Irish boy named Joel Chandler Harris worked on a plantation in Georgia, and spent all his spare time with the slaves. He later went on to compiled the life lessons and stories he learned from his older slave mentors, into a series called The Uncle Remus Stories.  One of the most classic stories, dealt with avoiding offense, and has been traced back to Africa, with variations of the story circulated around the world.  It’s called, THE TAR-BABY. 

The 2 main characters are a clever Rabbit, named Br’er Rabbit, and an conniving fox named, Br’er Fox.  Br’er Fox is always trying to capture Br’er Rabbit, and devises a surefire secret weapon especially designed to work against Br'er Rabbit's greatest weakness: his pride. He fashions a doll from tar and turpentine, called The Tar Baby, dresses him in clothes and sets him up at the side of the road where Br’er Rabbit’s certain to pass by and try to greet the Tar-Baby. Knowing that the Tar-Baby won’t respond to Br’er Rabbit, and Br’er Rabbit's ego won't let him overlook "offenses", Br’er Fox simply slides undercover beside the road and waits for the magic to work. 

Sure enough, Br’er Rabbit comes along, greets the Tar Baby, who rudely ignores him.  With his ego offended, Br’er Rabbit can’t leave it alone, starts brawling with the Tar-Baby and is immediately trapped and helpless to escape Br’er Fox, who’s waiting.  Whatever African wisemen devised the Tar-Baby proverb they nailed the schematic of Satan's Trap Of Offense.

2Tim. 2:24, 26 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves…SO THAT they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

If we are going to be effective in the Harvest today we’re going to have to know how to deal with Entrapped Offended people. It takes an Overcomer to lead someone else out of the Trap Of Offense.  Christians can NEVER help someone recover from Offense as long as they themselves are in strife. To be an overcomer YOU MUST know how to walk past Tar Babies.  If you fail to recognize the Tar Babies that Br’er Fox sets up along your path, you’ll never have victory over Satan.

I can hear someone justifying the Trap of Offense they’re caught in by the importance of its Bait.  But Satan has engineered that reasoning into his traps.  The more important the strife, the better the trap. Tar Babies are by design, crafted to appeal to YOUR issues and idiosyncrasies. Satan's got a Tar Baby out there aimed right at your weak spot.

The Schematic of an Offense

It takes 2 Parts for an Offense to Trap You: Someone has to GIVE the opportunity to be offended, Someone has to TAKE the opportunity to be offended.

No Taker, No Trap. 

Matt. 5:29 If YOUR right eye serves as a TRAP TO ENSNARE YOU or is an occasion for you to stumble and sin, (YOU) pluck it out and throw it away.

WARNING: This is going to be really hard to swallow.  Jesus’ warns that the Person is Trapped by their OWN Offense!  If YOUR Right Eye…  

Br’er Fox’s doll was just the Tar-Baby until Br’er Rabbit started fighting with it and turned it into His own Trap!  SO THEN who’s more responsible for the trap you’re in?  The Taker always blames the Giver. 

We condemn those that Give Offense as Criminals while exalting those that Take Offense as Victims. We’ve taken all the responsibility for being mature, forgiving, understanding, and patient away from those that Take Offense and made those that Give Offense responsible for the Taker’s Rage.  

THE CULTURE OF OFFENSE: 

Satan’s Plan Against People Coming To GOD 

Matt. 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

Mark 4:17 (Those who) have no root in themselves,…endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately THEY ARE OFFENDED.

Modern Christianity doesn't even train Christians to avoid Offenses.  Instead we foster a culture of offense by preaching the doctrine of victimization: The Right To Be Offended. The advent of the digital age, that has connected the world, has produced the ability to Accelerate The Trap Of Offense globally at a exponential rate.  Social media Connects all offenses.  People become infuriated within days of an offense half a world away.   Strife sparks in Minneapolis and within hours the nation’s burning.  The global media is an fire accelerant to smoldering souls, already trapped and waiting to burn.

2Tim. 2:24 the servant of the Lord MUST NOT STRIVE

Jesus does not permit His People to Handle Tar-Babies! The Reason?  Because today's Offendee is tomorrow's Offender. It's the nature of the Tar-Baby to transfer himself to the one who Grabs him. You can disagree with what people think or say.  But before you start hitting the Tar Baby remember who's waiting in the weeds.

Offended Christians demonstrate that the Holy Spirit isn’t working in them.  The only thing that should offend you as a Christian is your own sin!  Rather than encouraging others to be offended, by validating their unforgiveness, let's encourage one another to endure insults and overlook faults. 

Prov. 14:29 Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

Prov. 19:11 A person’s wisdom makes him slow to anger, and it is his GLORY to overlook an offense.

Christians must be covered in GOD’s GLORY to be effective in an offended society.  But carrying the slogans of the world’s offenses is the Greatest Sign of believer’s Immaturity.  There isn't a scene in the Gospels where someone wasn't setting up a Tar Baby to trap Jesus.  But Your Salvation was too important to Jesus to lose it in the quicksand of strife. 

Rev. 3:11 I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown.

Jesus didn’t come so we’d know that GOD was able.  He came so we’d know GOD is WILLING!  The revelation of GOD never stops at His Abilities.  

Jesus IS GOD WILLING!!----more----

Jesus isn’t about what GOD can do, but what GOD WILL DO!  You haven’t REALLY received Jesus yet if you only believe that GOD is ABLE.  

Acts 10:38 And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. THEN Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

GOD in Jesus was manifest to Heal you and bring you His Goodness.

Mark 9:21-24  “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. 

He replied, “Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us, if you can.” 

“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” 

When the man saw GOD in Jesus, saying , I WLL deliver and heal your son, his unbelief was cured.

GOD is moved, not when we believe He’s Able to help us, but when we believe He WANTS TO help us.  If GOD only loved Himself He would never have come to us as Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  BUT Jesus is proof that GOD loves YOU as much as He loves Himself!  GOD’s LOVE is His Manifest Will.  Hear Jesus say to YOU, “I WILL” and receive His love!

1John 4:16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him. 

GOD’s will for you IS His Love for you.  The more you let yourself believe in His Love for YOU, the more you’ll hear Jesus saying to you, “I Am Willing”.  And the more you will dwell in and experience His will.

(The story of Hosea and GOMER)…

When the Prodigal son asks, “Will you let me come home?”  The Father’s answer, with fresh clothes, a ring, and a celebration, was a resounding joyous, I WILL!

• Distributive Justice—Fairness in Economics
• Procedural Justice—Fairness in Process
• Restorative Justice—Fairness in Restitution
• Retributive Justice—Fairness in Punishment

Since the murder of George Floyd, and all the protests, violence, and destruction that followed in response, we have heard endless commentary and accusation in an effort to explain what Justice is, and who’s at fault when it fails.  But GOD has expressed an underlying context in which JUSTICE, in all it’s forms and applications, must be understood for it to be the blessing to society He has intended for us. Here is His commentary on JUSTICE, why it fails, and how it’s restored…

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Is. 59:1 BEHOLD, THE Lord’s hand is not shortened at all, that it cannot save, nor His ear dull with deafness, that it cannot hear. 

Is. 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear. 

Is. 59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. 

Is. 59:4 None sues or calls in righteousness [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage]; no one goes to law honestly and pleads [his case] in truth; they trust in emptiness, worthlessness and futility, and speaking lies! They conceive mischief and bring forth evil! 

Is. 59:5 They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and [from an egg] which is crushed a viper breaks out [for their nature is ruinous, deadly, evil]. 

Is. 59:6 Their webs will not serve as clothing, nor will they cover themselves with what they make; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 

Is. 59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths and highways. 

Is. 59:8 The way of peace they know not, and there is no justice or right in their goings. They have made them into crooked paths; whoever goes in them does not know peace.

Is. 59:9 Therefore are justice and right far from us, and righteousness and salvation do not overtake us. We expectantly wait for light, but [only] see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity and gloom. 

Is. 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, yes, we grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at noonday as in the twilight; in dark places and among those who are full of life and vigor, we are as dead men. 

Is. 59:11 We all groan and growl like bears and moan plaintively like doves. We look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. 

Is. 59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O Lord], and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know and recognize them [as]: 

Is. 59:13 Rebelling against and denying the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and muttering and moaning from the heart words of falsehood. 

Is. 59:14 Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) stands far off; because TRUTH HAS FALLEN IN THE STREET, and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice]. 

Is. 59:15 Yes, truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. 

Is. 59:16 And He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor [no one to intervene on behalf of truth and right]; therefore His own arm brought Him victory, and His own righteousness [having the Spirit without measure] sustained Him.

Is. 59:17 For [the Lord] put on righteousness as a breastplate or coat of mail, and salvation as a helmet upon His head; He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal [and furious divine jealousy] as a cloak.

Is. 59:18 According as their deeds deserve, so will He repay wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; on the foreign islands and coastlands He will make compensation. 

Is. 59:19 So [as the result of the Messiah’s intervention] they shall [reverently] fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives].

Is. 59:20 He shall come as a Redeemer to Zion and to those in Jacob (Israel) who turn from transgression, says the Lord. 

Is. 59:21 As for Me, this is My covenant or league with them, says the Lord: My Spirit, Who is upon you [and Who writes the law of God inwardly on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from henceforth and forever. 

The 2 Great Principles Of JUSTICE…

#1 No GOD, No JUSTICE, No Peace!

GOD’s message concerning the breakdown of JUSTICE begins and ends with our relationship to Him!  

GOD’s statement opens with the bold declaration that He is Willing and Able to hear society’s cries and deliver us from injustice.  BUT society’s own sins of hypocrisy and injustice have brought a separation between GOD and them.  

It’s always GOD who’s the first to be grieved at INJUSTICE…

And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was NO JUSTICE.

And GOD’s statement closes with the covenant promise that Jesus the Messiah will intervene and become The Standard against Satan’s floods of injustice.

When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and…He shall come as a Redeemer to Zion and to those…who turn from transgression, says the Lord.

In summary: The foundation of JUSTICE is laid on the MESSIANIC PROMISE.  

Injustice immediately appeared at man’s Fall when Cain slew Able.  But GOD promised that the Blood of Jesus would bring a Better JUSTICE, sown with Mercy and Restoration.  

When JUSTICE is removed from its foundation in GOD it becomes a corrupted form of Partial Justice, and becomes a tool of whoever holds the power.  The History of Injustice is the history of Human Justice.

When dealing with Israel over their treason against Him and their resulting practices of INJUSTICE, this was GOD’s command to them:

Hos. 12:6 But you must RETURN to your God, by maintaining love and justice, and by waiting for your God to return to you.

Mic. 6:8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God.

#2 Justice Is The Fruit Of Sowing

Is. 59:14 JUSTICE is turned away backward, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) stands far off; because TRUTH HAS FALLEN IN THE STREET, and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice].

JUSTICE cannot survive on Hypocrisy!

Truth Falls in the street of a society whose people demand a JUSTICE they don’t practice towards others.  When Society allows The Street to be ruled by people (whether citizens or police) that demand JUSTICE while violating the rights of others, then Truth Falls, Hypocrisy reigns, and JUSTICE loses.  The message to Society is simple: There can be no JUSTICE among people who do not Practice JUSTICE!  Sowing INJUSTICE will only produce more INJUSTICE. 

So what do I do with my ANGER toward INJUSTICE?

Eph. 4:26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on the cause of your anger.

When Jesus overthrew the Money-Changers’ tables He wasn’t attacking the idea of commerce or prosperity in “The Street” of Society.  He was attacking the sin in His Own House!  If we’d practice Righteous Indignation with ourselves (in our own house) we’d be less likely to act UNJUSTLY toward others when we pursue social JUSTICE.  Anger can only become Righteous Indignation when it’s surrendered to GOD in Repentance and pleads for MERCY instead of Judgment.

Hos. 10:12 Sow to YOURSELVES in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. 

Altar Call —

This is a Moment of Great Opportunity for a Jesus Revival!!

If people can pivot away from finding fault in others and turn to realizing their own need for GOD’s Love.  

If they can turn from rage and accusation to plea for GOD's Mercy to be sown in their hearts.

If we could see The Truth of our Need for GOD honored in our Streets.

We could have the greatest Jesus Revival and JUSTICE Renewal America has ever experienced.

THIS is a time of trouble…when Coronavirus has cast a long shadow of sickness, fear, and disruption over the whole world. Without elaborating on the bad news, we can simply say...

• Sickness is stalking populations, 
• Fear is shutting down commerce and raiding the stock market
• Jobs and Industries are at risk

But there’s Good News in times of trouble...

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GOD’s Presence is available as a Shelter to those who run in to Him. 

"The name of the LORD is like a strong tower; the righteous person runs in to it and is set safely on high." —Prov. 18:10 

HE is our SHELTER from the storm!  

The safety of the world depends upon finding a REFUGE to seal you in and hope the germ doesn’t land on you and make you sick.  BUT GOD makes you safe by putting Jesus, His REFUGE, in you so that if the germ touches you IT DIES!

"O God, listen to my cry!  Hear my prayer!  From the ends of the earth, I cry to you for help when my heart is overwhelmed.  Lead me to the towering rock of safety, for YOU are my safe refuge, a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me." —Psa. 61:1-3 

Jesus: the 4th man in the fire furnace with Meshach, Shadrach, Abednego 

“LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent out his WORD and healed them, snatching them from the door of death."  —Psa. 107:19-20 

The Promises of His Word and Name are the REFUGE of His Safety…

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the WORD of GOD…" —Heb. 11:3 

"So mightily grew the WORD of God and PREVAILED." —Acts 19:20 

"For the WORD of GOD is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart." —Heb. 4:12 

"For they (the WORD of GOD) are life to those who find them and healing to one’s entire body." —Prov. 4:22 

So let’s take our REFUGE in GOD’s Word.  This is how we do it...

"The one thing I ask of the LORD the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple.  For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary.  He will place me out of reach on a high rock.  NOW I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.  At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music." —Psa. 27:4-6   

The absence of their signs was evidence Israel had drifted from GOD, lost His favor & Presence, and their unique identity among the nations.  But hundreds of years later the promised Messiah came.  And after the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit entered the world, and the NT Church was born with the supernatural Signs of GOD’s Presence flowing out from within it.

----more----

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may SHOW FORTH the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." —1Pet. 2:9 

The OT Signs indicated the GOD of Heaven was among them.  But these NT Signs, flowing from within us, declare we are the House of GOD, and that, God is in the house!  Many churches today are more concerned with maintaining their denominational and theological signs than GOD’s signs.  But there is no scriptural evidence that God ever intended to turn His Heaven-Born Spirit-Connected Church over to an earthly institution.  WE are called to be MORE than signs of what we believe.  We are called to be Living Signs of what GOD is DOING.  Therefore until He returns These SIGNS of GOD should flow from us.  If we don’t see these signs today we should cry out in prayer to GOD for reconnection, until our SIGNS manifest once again.

#7 Laying On Of Hands

The 7th sign on my list is Laying On Of Hands.  This sign is a divine function of the Holy Spirit.  It’s not a religious symbol but an impartation of Anointing.   

"Do not neglect the gift which is in you, which was directly imparted to you [by the Holy Spirit] by prophetic utterance WHEN the elders laid their hands upon you." —1 Tim. 4:14 

Through Laying On Of Hands the Holy Spirit installs Ministry-gifts in people, imparts Healing, Miracles, Deliverance, and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

"And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." —Acts 19:6 

You can lay your hands on people as a gesture of approval or sympathy for them, but it’s not The Sign of Laying On Of Hands unless there’s an Impartation of transforming power from GOD that changes them!

"…they will lay their hands on the sick, and they WILL recover." —Mark 16:18 

God could certainly have avoided the problems with human pride and misuse, and chosen to impart His power without using the agency of man... 

"Then they laid their hands on them, and they RECEIVED the Holy Ghost.  And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money," —Acts 8:17-18 

...But that would have bypassed His entire purpose, which is to demonstrate GOD’s ONENESS With His Body.

The sorcerer saw what GOD wanted seen: that GOD was in people, operating through them…

"That we should SHOW FORTH THE GLORY OF HIM…" —1Pe 2:9

Simon’s error was wanting GOD’s power w/o GOD.

GOD fearlessly risks applying His authority through the vulnerable vessels of mankind, because He is confident of His influence over us.  GOD will have it no other way, but to let the world see Jesus working through OUR hands. 

The key to Laying on Hands is Understanding  that you are designed and ordained by GOD to GIVE.  

You must be FERTILE, like the earth that GIVES its produce after it receives the seed and rain.   Live and Work with GOD daily as a Receiver of His blessings.  And you will come to know experientially (not just theologically), that Jesus is with you, your Jehovah-Shammah, blessing your efforts. THEN you will know that you HAVE Him, and that you can GIVE Him to others. 

#8 Preaching

As suddenly as the Holy Ghost fell upon the believers, Preaching came forth.  No Sign, other than prayer, is more common to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit than Preaching.  

Because sermonizing is a learned skill we forget that real Gospel preaching is supernatural.  Preaching doesn’t come from talent, education, or even human zeal. It’s produced by the power of the Holy Spirit.  

"And (pray) for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel…" —Eph. 6:19 

Paul called preaching Utterance, and prayed to be empowered with it, because he knew it came from GOD.

Preaching Isn’t Teaching — Teaching is Explaining but Preaching is Proclaiming.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to Preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to Preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to Preach the year of the Lord’s favor." —Luke 4:18-19 

Explaining may lead to understanding.  But understanding, doesn’t lead to a decision. Proclaiming leads to a decision. 

"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” —Matt. 4:17 

No amount of information can force a decision.  Proclamation leads to Decisions.

"For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom KNEW NOT God, it pleased God by the foolishness of Preaching to save them that believe." —1 Cor. 1:21 

Preaching is the Voice of LIFE piercing the shroud of death hanging over an unbeliever’s heart.

Preaching Isn’t just for “ministers”

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how are they to preach unless they are SENT?" —Rom. 10:13-15 

The Holy Spirit produces Sending, which produces Preaching, which produces Salvations. So Pray for Sending!

Where’s the desire to Preach today?  Increasing numbers of young Christians seek ministry positions as musicians, entertainers, community workers, and administrators. But where is the burning desire to Preach the Gospel?

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power (dunamis) of God for salvation to everyone who believes," —Rom. 1:16 

The more Christians need to be accepted by people that don’t like to be confronted, the less the Gospel will be preached.   But don’t let Satan steal your most effective tool in leading the lost to Christ!  The Sign of Preaching needs Christians who are Alive enough with the love of GOD, to be Dead enough to the pressures of Political Correctness, and become Brave enough to Preach the Gospel.

Preaching is the spiritual homing beacon for lost hearts, adrift in the darkness of sin.  Man thinks with his head but sees with his heart. 

Preaching cuts to the heart.

Psalm 74 is a cry for the loss of Israel’s supernatural SIGNS of GOD’s Presence.  The absence of their signs was evidence they had drifted away from GOD, and lost His favor, and unique identity among the nations.  But hundreds of years later the promised Messiah came.  And after the resurrection of Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit entered the world, and the NT Church was born with the supernatural Signs of GOD’s Presence flowing out from within it.

----more----

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may SHOW FORTH the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." —1Pet. 2:9 

The Body of Christ was called the Church of Acts because GOD’S ACTS through its members were SIGNS that their life came from Heaven.  The OT Signs that would come upon Israel when they’d  obey the LORD.  But these Signs flow from within us, and don’t just declare we’re the House of GOD, but that, God is in the house!  The Signs of the NT Church tell the world who we are, and Who we belong to.  Most church Signs today indicate what denomination they belong to and theology they serve.  Most church signs today basically declare, “Thank You, GOD; we’ll take it from here.”

There is no scriptural evidence that God ever intended to turn His Heaven-Born Spirit-Connected Church over to an earthly institution.  WE are to be Living Signs of what GOD is DOING, not what we’ve STOPPED DOING.  Therefore until He returns These SIGNS of GOD’s Possession should flow from us.  If we don’t see these signs today we should cry out in prayer to GOD for reconnection, until our SIGNS manifest once again.

#3 Speaking In Other Tongues –

 ”These SIGNS will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;..." —Mark 16:17 

 The Baptism in the Holy Spirt was the 1st Manifest SIGN that Jesus was going to continue His ministry through His followers.  The 120 in the Upper Room were already “saved”.  They weren’t there to get saved, but to Get Filled Before Going Out To Preach!

"And they were all FILLED with the Holy Spirit and began to SPEAK in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."  Acts 2:4 

 Accompanying the Baptism in the Holy Spirt was the Sign of Speaking in Other Tongues.  Speaking in Other Tongues didn’t result from the Arrival of the Spirit, but from Overflowing with the POWER of the Spirit.  Tongues isn’t the sign they’d Received the Spirit.  It was the Sign that they received the PURPOSE of The Baptism!!   These 1st Signs of the Church of Acts were all about Filling and Overflow.

 What makes people Really Talk?  A FULL HEART

"The good person out of the good treasury of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasury produces evil, for his mouth speaks from what fills his heart."  —Luke 6:45 

So this strange yet divinely ingenious Gift of the Holy Spirit facilitates a divine Dual Purpose: The ability to speak & operate beyond your vocabulary. 

Purpose #1 is the edification of individual believers in their own prayer life…

"He that speaks in an unknown tongue edifies (builds up) himself."  —1 Cor. 14:4  "But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…"  —Jude 1:20-21 

Being a New Creation in Christ, it takes GOD’s supernatural strength to lift your soul, to take hold of GOD, i.e. to pray effectively…

"…let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me;"  —Is. 27:5 

GOD knows that the spiritual strength needed to take hold of Him in prayer could not be limited to people’s minds.  He knew our hearts needed a way to reach out beyond our mind’s ability to communicate…The ability to speak & operate beyond your vocabulary.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." —Rom. 8:26-27 

Purpose #2 is the that, coupled with the Gift of Interpretation Of Tongues, the two together produce Prophecy.

"Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy; and greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying."  —1 Cor. 14:5 

ALSO, the use of Tongues + Interpretation is a SIGN to the unbeliever…(Tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not…1 Cor. 14:22)…Signaling that GOD is speaking through His Body.  The SIGN of Tongues + Interpretation gives unbelievers an opportunity to witness the supernatural intimacy of GOD among His people, and believe the Gospel.

Tongues (like all other Signs) aren’t PROOFS for people who don’t want to believe, but EVIDENCE for people who do!

Tongues may be thought of by many as "the least gift", but it's arguably the most valuable of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit because it’s the only Gift used for personal edification. AND it aids the manifestation of the other Gifts.

Because of its value, this Sign is greatly resisted by the devil.  Therefore let’s determine to obey Paul’s summation on the matter:

"Do not forbid or hinder speaking in tongues."  —1Cor. 14:39 

#3 Boldness –

There are 34 references to boldness in the Bible.  31 of them are in the NT!

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."  —Acts 4:13 

• When Peter and John were hauled before the same court, that only weeks before, had ordered Jesus’ crucifixion, boldness went with them. 
• Boldness was evidence that people had been with Jesus! 
• Boldness provides you the traits and abilities that your personality might lack.  
• The SIGN of boldness, was evidence of the mighty Hand of God, lifting men and women far above the limits of their own courage.
• Boldness pushed Jesus’ fearful disciples out of the comfort of anonymity onto the public stage of GOD’s calling.
• And it was boldness that put the Spirit of preaching into their mouths.
• Under the SIGN of boldness, God uses ordinary people to open the prison doors of sin with the Gospel… 

"And pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known WITH BOLDNESS the mystery of the gospel,"  —Eph. 6:19 

The SIGN of boldness isn’t the attitude of self-confidence we see rooted in people’s ego.  But rather the Convincing Confidence of Holy Spirit Presence that strengthens resolve.

"And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,…And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness."  —Acts4:29, 31 

Boldness — (gk) par-rhay-see´-ah; all out-spokenness, i.e. frankness, bluntness, publicity; by implication, assurance: — confidence

"Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness (confidence) in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world."  —1John 4:17 

Whenever a miracle or supernatural accomplishment was mentioned in the Book of Acts the SIGN of boldness was operating.

"And it came to pass (also) in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.  But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.  Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands."  —Acts 14:1-3

Before risking big steps, the human mind wants favorable natural conditions, smart strategies, finances, and assurances of support.  But GOD has given us the SIGN of boldness to help you keep up with the Holy Spirit!

Obey the Spirit of boldness and watch GOD do great things!

Psalm 74 cries out in agony over Israel’s loss of its SIGNS that Indicated God’s favor was with them. The absence of their signs was evidence that Israel had drifted away from GOD, losing His favor, and their unique identity among the nations.  Hundreds of years later the promised Messiah came.  And upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ the NT Church entered the world with the supernatural Signs of GOD’s Presence, not just accompanying it, but within it.

----more----

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may SHOW FORTH the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." —1Pet. 2:9 

The Church of Christ was called the Church of Acts because its members came with ACTION SIGNS that indicated their origin was from Heaven.  These signs tell the world who we are, and Who we belong to.  And they also remind us of the same.  Unlike the OT Signs that came among them, these Signs flow from within us!  These Signs declare, God is in the house!

There is no scriptural evidence that God ever intended to change the Heaven-Born Spirit-Connected nature of His Church into an earthly institution.  Therefore until He returns, these are The SIGNS we should expect to flow from us. 

"…A people for his own possession, that you may SHOW FORTH the excellencies of him…"  —1Pet. 2:9

Showing Forth results from being GOD-Possessed.  If we don’t see these signs today we should cry out in prayer to GOD for reconnection, until our SIGNS manifest once again.

#1 - The Sign Of Filling Of The Holy Spirit 

"And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." —Acts 2:4 

The first SIGN of the New Testament Church was being filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Filling Of The Holy Spirit was the Birth Sign of the Church.  It signified the arrival of the healthy living offspring of the Father!

"But WAIT in Jerusalem (before you go preaching) until you have been clothed with power125 from on high."  —Lk. 24:49

Zealous Believers did NOT create the Church!  The Church was Birthed by GOD through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit!

The Sign Of Filling Of The Holy Spirit is a Sign of Continual Filling…

"And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled (AGAIN) with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." —Acts 4:31 

When a couple falls in love and marries they don’t just experience one romantic encounter and then declare, “Well, we’ve got it.  We've had the experience, we’re full now…”  No! They want a continuous filling.  It’s the Continuous Filling that produces a family!  How are we the Bride of Christ if we don’t share the Continuous Filling that makes us One with Jesus?  The Church was never intended as a one-night-stand, followed by a lifetime of talking about it.

"Filled (again) with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness." —Acts 4:31

The Filling of the Holy Spirit launched Prophetic Preaching and began the Age of The Vessel & The Indwelling God.  (see Eph 3:18-19) 

Jesus’ response to the prayers of His Church when they were being opposed was to fill His followers with the Holy Spirit!

"Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?" —Gal. 3:3

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit is the first and foremost SIGN of the church.  God Himself put the Church under the SIGN of Being Filled With The Spirit because it’s the Facility of all our communion, power, and provision.

#2 - The Sign Of Joy 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, That you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into JOY…And you now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your JOY no man takes from you." —John 16:20, 22  

The JOY of the LORD arrived with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday.  It was The SIGN that Jesus had conquered death and returned to us…"I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice…"  

"….And your JOY no man takes from you."  Because this Joy comes from Heaven it can keep you beyond the reach of a world that would take it from you, if it could.  This JOY is truly a SIGN that’s contrasted against the Momentary Happiness of the world.  The Happiness of the world is a temporary hoax, to make you think the Happenings that generated it will last. But Eternal Conditions generate the JOY of the LORD!

The SIGN of JOY Connects & FILLS you with the the Holy Spirit. — "And the disciples were Filled with JOY, and with the Holy Ghost." —Acts 13:52 

The SIGN of JOY is a Renewable Energy Source. — "Let all those that seek You Rejoice and Be Glad in You:" —Psa. 70:4 

The SIGN of JOY is contagious and can be given to others. — "And there was great JOY in that city." —Acts 8:8 

The SIGN of JOY is Transcendent and will cause you to complete your mission. — "But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with JOY, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." —Acts 20:24 

LORD Of My Rebound!

It is the ability to REBOUND from stumbles & sins that is the great secret to ultimate victory, for those who are a New Creation in Christ. God has engineered the New Creation to be resilient, constantly rising through the ups and downs of life. 

GOD’s strategy in your life doesn’t depend on you never falling down, but on you never staying down.  Ours is the grace to press victoriously though failures in life. 

Proof of Jesus’ work of Redemption in you isn’t manifest in you never stumbling or failing at life’s tests.  But He is glorified as Redeemer when He leads you triumphantly back to your feet.  GOD is Keeping you, not so you’ll avoid trials, but so you’ll recover from them.

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That Your FAITH May Not Fail

As a child of GOD, if you won't stay down, then you can never be defeated.  

If you keep taking your Father's Hand and rising from your shortcomings, Satan can never win against you.  

Your made-up-mind to REBOUND from mistakes and failures is the devil’s worst nightmare.  

Basketball teams that put all their effort into winning just with great shooters, will never be champions.  Because no matter how good you are at hitting the net, there’s an opponent that’s equally good at knocking your ball away.  

Satan Has Demanded To Pick You Apart

Luke 22:31-32  “Simon, Simon, pay attention! Satan has demanded to have you all, to sift you (PICK YOU APART) like wheat,

How is it that Satan was able to obtain permission to pick Peter apart???  HOW did he get passed Jesus?? Perhaps the answer is found in Jesus comment about His own temptation.

John 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world (Satan) comes, and (he) has nothing in me.

The Devil comes.  It's an inescapable fact of life. And like the winnowing wind, God cannot protect the chaff of worldliness in us, from being revealed by Satan’s probes. 

"And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the Heaven.”  This expression, "Yet once more," denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken MAY REMAIN." —Heb. 12:26-27 

God's Word states with sobering certainty, that all things which can be shaken will be shaken.  So Satan attacked the "things which could be shaken" in Peter's character, thinking he was “picking him apart”.  But look at what God says about the removal of the shakable things. Afterwards, "those things which cannot be shaken will remain." 

Satan thinks he’s “picking you apart”, but Jesus said he’s “sifting you like wheat”.  The Chaff in you is the only thing Satan can blow away.  He can’t touch the Wheat.   The Chaff will blow away but the Wheat will REMAIN and not be moved

But I Have Prayed For You!

God has provided for your rebound BEFORE you’ve even stumbled or missed your shot.

It’s the team that masters its ability to REBOUND and take back control of the ball, that cannot be defeated.  

Winning your battles under the net is what makes you an undefeatable champion of faith.

Strengthen Your Brothers & Sisters

"When you have turned back (Rebounded), strengthen your brothers & sisters.” —Luke 22:32

If the devil knew that every time you REBOUND from  stumbling in a trial, that you would come up stronger in grace and ready to strengthen others, you would think that he’d leave you alone.  

Satan’s nature is bent in obsession over GOD’s favor for you.  But he has no power to separate you from GOD’s Love.  

As GOD’s child every time you REBOUND from your trials you demonstrate His unconquerable Love and become a symbol of hope & courage to others!

Membership in the Body and moving with the Flock does not fulfill my call to personally follow Jesus.  I can’t use the acceptance & approval of the Church as a substitute for my individual calling & responsibility to Jesus.  I have a race to run, that I  can’t complete just by being active in Church.

There’s an occupational hazard to church membership that I call: Group Faith.  And some have substituted their individual pursuit & obedience to Jesus for it. Many Christians are parked in church, and not moving with GOD in their personal lives.  Without an individual moving vision, and measurable spiritual objectives, their personal life with GOD is stalled out.  The Body of Christ is not a Religious AutoTrain hauling parked souls through life.  We are called to be Pathfinders & Trailblazers, not Settlers & Occupants.  We are a cooperation of GOD-connected, internally-motivated, individual Jesus-followers, moving forward in the same purpose & direction.  ----more----

GOD Has SET Some In The Church — 1Cor. 12:28 

GOD must HAVE me BEFORE He can SET me!  So LORD, You HAD ME in Christ before You set me in the Body.  But if I stop letting you HAVE ME, then am I still Set in the Body?  Or am I just filling space in a church somewhere?  

Relationship with church doesn’t replace relationship with GOD.   But many churches have made Feeding & Satisfying their members 100% their responsibility.  The real responsibility of the church is to routinely call its individual members to Pray, Fast, Pursue & Refresh their connection to JESUS, the Head.  We are suppose to be a Body of Pathfinders, blazing trails into the world with the Light of Christ.  But churches that keep their members dependent on church, rather than pushing them to Jesus in Fasting & Prayer, will end up a Religious Settlement.  

Preaching Motivates But It Doesn’t Mobilize. The Holy Spirit Mobilizes! Messages convict, direct, and encourage believers.  But if messages turned believers into Pathfinders, then after 3.5 years of teaching, why did Jesus send His disciples to the Upper Room to wait for the Holy Spirit!!  Snacking on sermons will keep Church Settlers satisfied.  But Pathfinders?  They require the energy to launch out and FIND Paths.  And that comes directly from Jesus.

So a Church must always push its people to GOD if it wants GOD to make it part of the Body of Christ by being in its midst, and Setting members in it. The Christian who’s a forward-looking, Trail-Blazing, Jesus-Follower will Quench their hunger for natural food with the Appetite for Spiritual Progress!  Fasting & prayer isn't about losing physical pounds but gaining spiritual weight!

Let the church send its people to Jesus if it wants them to be Pathfinders and not just Settlers.  

"Follow ME and I will make you fishers of men." — Jesus

You can’t feed the “Appetite for Spiritual Progress” by re-ordering Sunday Sermon Seconds.  You need to press out from the comfort of the Church Diner into the pastureland of Prayer & Fasting with Jesus, and let Him LEAD YOU out into your fresh Pasture.   

We’re not choosing between Bad & Good, Quitting or Finishing.  We’re choosing between Good & Excellent, Finishing or Winning.  We either live as a TrailBlazers or Sit as an Occupants. 

So if you’re carrying a hunger in your soul STOP trying to fill it with things.  It’s spiritual!  Your soul is hungering for your purpose, and JESUS CHRIST is the only one who can feed you.

Researchers in Positive Psychology define Happiness as, The experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile.  Their research breaks down the things that influence happiness into 3 categories:

• Genetics (50%)
• Actions & Thoughts (40%)
• External Circumstances (10%) 

That's a fair definition, but it basically leaves happiness as Emotions resulting from Conditions.  We believe there's a better definition that embodies a recipe for happiness...

“Knowing that I have the ability to control myself in every situation, and can ask the LORD for help, and He will answer.”

GOD cares about you; and your happiness is important to Him.  Too important to be risked on things that will leave you open to disappointment, defeat, and despair.  Learn how you can live a happy life without losing yourself in an unhappy world.