Sermon + Bible Study Notes: How to Handle the P.I.T.S. of Life (Wrestling to Embrace: The Message of

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Renewable energy sources are becoming very popular in our culture today. But what about renewing your spiritual energy? How do you put the Bible into practice in your daily life? One thing is certain—change is inevitable in this world, but God remains the same—we have an anchor in Him. Learn more about this truth in Dr. Have you noticed how frantically people search for happiness? David Jeremiah presents the path to hope and contentment in his article, "Hope for the Future. Growing older has it benefits, as you will discover in Dr. Have you noticed how quickly we recognize a product simply by its logo?

Do you recall the last time someone shared an encouraging word with you? Through the media it is everywhere—reaching even into the everyday lives of Christians. To learn more about your role as a Christian in our world today, read Dr. Have you ever considered how much food goes to waste after a conference or special event that is catered?

Every sports team in history longs for a perfect season—a record with nothing but a whole number and a zero in the record books. In , the New England Patriots were , not losing a single regular season game. The Bible warns that every human being is subject to sudden death. No one has the promise of another day or hour. We see it happening every day around us—events that unexpectedly take the life of someone we knew and loved. Do you ever get the feeling that there is no such thing as having enough in our world? We live in a culture where there is an incessant pressure to add on to existing things.

Think about all of the people who just have to add their own personal comments to a post on Twitter or Facebook. And whether you find yourself dining in a fine restaurant or sitting at a fast-food drive up window, you are always pressured to add something to your order. Alexander is a red-headed tyke whose day starts like this: Ethan Pierce is a single father in Tennessee who made an appointment with a doctor about his eyes.

He was afraid he was going blind. After a series of tests, the doctor had bad news. Probably a brain tumor. That would account for your vision problems and your migraines. Oh, the ups and downs of life! Every day has its high spots and low points, and every year has its peaks and its valleys.

The church has always been an international enterprise established by a Savior who died for the entire world. The instructor, a scientist, had a reputation for fairness, but Matt was evidently the only person in the classroom who believed that God created the universe. Weeks passed, and Matt listened in silence, learning as much as he could. On the last week of class, the subject of religion came up, and Matt carefully advocated a Christian position. Wilber Smith was a renowned professor, researcher, and author whose lectures and books trained a generation of Christian workers.

Near the end of his life, Dr. We cannot live just for the moment, because the moments are fleeting. How we invest our time, energy, labor, and money either guarantees or nullifies our legacy. But, I want to propose a radical concept. As Christians, we can live in absolute security because of one event in history that represents the greatest security breach of all time. Cyrus Hamlin was one of the most fascinating men of the nineteenth century—an educator, a missionary, a statesman, and an inventor.

He learned early in life about the joy of making a difference. He was only eleven when he was allowed to go into town alone on Muster Day, a great holiday in Maine, featuring parades and all sorts of exciting activities. What was it that made the first-century church so powerful, so sustainable, and so revolutionary? Some days we feel like winners. Other days we feel like losers.

After carefully studying this subject in the Bible, I believe that angels take believers home to heaven when we die and help us move into our new houses. This is tremendously comforting, and it takes much of the intimidation out of the move. The primary Scripture teaching on this comes from the lips of Christ Himself. The angels carried him there. On March 17, , an announcement appeared in the Sacramento Daily Union about a new method to convey information from the East in record-breaking time.

Fifty horses had been placed at strategic sites along a planned route. Riders would carry packets of mail from one post to the next. Soon, however, the fabled Pony Express was obsolete, replaced by the Transcontinental Telegraph, then the telephone. We can still uplink with heaven at any time. Our prayers can cover the globe in the twinkling of an eye, and our earnest petitions can fly heavenward. Each of us has a clarifying moment in our lives. In , Florida was hit by a deep freeze that killed the oranges and damaged the groves. Two brothers with a farming supply business, Sydney and Joshua Chase, used the occasion to purchase some discounted land southwest of Orlando.

Suppose you made a million dollars per year. Would that set you up for life? Would it give you financial security for the future? According to a report in Investment News, 78 percent of NFL players are bankrupt or under financial stress within two years of retirement.

Sports Illustrated similarly reports that 60 percent of NBA players are in serious financial trouble within five years of retirement. Christians have always been world changers, and our influence has shaped society for two thousand years. Friedrich Froebel , for example, was the son of a Lutheran pastor who often helped his dad in the family garden. As a young man, his Christian beliefs convinced him that children need to learn about God and His world at an early age.

Friedrich imagined a school for young children that would allow their minds to be cultivated like a horticulturist tending a garden. Because of him, children have been going to Kindergarten for the last years. Look down at your shirt for a moment—is there a little emblem on the pocket?

Or a certain swoosh on your tennis shoes? A man named Gary Kildall wrote the first complete software operating system for a personal-style computer. In the s, IBM executives flew to the West Coast with every intention of inking a deal with Kildall to license his operating system for installation in every personal computer IBM would sell. But Silicon Valley legend has it that Kildall never showed up for the meeting, opting to go flying in his newly acquired airplane instead. The rest is business and financial history.

Living The Kingdom of God Lifestyle

Gary Kildall passed up a potential opportunity to be where Microsoft is today. As a young man, Loeb changed his name to Levi and wound up in California, where he opened a textile company. A tailor was called—and the rest is history. It seems to me that we Christians should have the same problem that plagued that miner—worn-out pants—for we ought to do most of our work on our knees.

Those tiny, temporary wisps of ice we call snowflakes are a wonder of creation. A small sheath of ice formed around it until it became a crystal of ice. As these tiny crystals blew around like dust in the clouds, they grew in size and became heavy enough to tumble out of the cloud. Christmas is when we want to roast chestnuts on an open fire, deck the halls with boughs of holly, ride in a one-horse open sleigh, hang our stockings by the chimney with care, and have ourselves a merry little Christmas. Year after year we try to create a perfect picture-postcard experience during the holidays, but the effort seems counterproductive.

Instead of the most wonderful time of the year, Christmas can be the most stressful time of the year—a whirlwind of traveling, shopping, spending, entertaining, and even churching. According to the American Psychological Association, seven out of ten people feel stress from not having enough time for their Christmas activities, and the same number worry about having enough money. Not surprisingly, most of the stress falls on women.

Far more women than men worry about having enough money for gift-giving, and women are more likely to take on added workloads by running to purchase last-minute gifts and working overtime in the kitchen to feed all the guests. So how can you bring joy to the whirl? Have you ever tasted something that has obviously been watered down? Even the finest coffee or tea loses some of its flavor when it is diluted with too much water. A watered down message can lose its potency as well. In the world today, there is an attempt by some to water down the Word of God in an attempt to make it more palatable to the changing morals and attitudes of our culture.

It should never be watered down. We can count on it in every condition: In a world of opinions, His Word is accurate down to the last jot and tittle. Because God is eternal, His Word is established in the heavens. Because He cannot fail, His Word cannot be broken. Because He is unchanging, His Word is certain. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the Scripture will endure forever. Benson Publishing Company, In recent years, the frequency of hearing accounts of people, cars, or even houses suddenly falling into a large hole as the earth collapsed beneath them has risen.

These events are caused by giant sinkholes. Sinkholes are caused by water saturation. In some cases, underground water pipes burst or leak, causing unseen erosion. In other cases, the culprit is rainwater or underground springs. On the surface, everything looks fine. But beneath the surface, the integrity of the earth has been compromised. When least expected, a sinkhole suddenly forms and the ground collapses. They needed motivators to fire up their enthusiasm.

Many companies rely on inspirational conferences to rekindle enthusiasm, enhance attitudes, and restore focus to employees. But human advice only goes so far. To really find spiritual focus, sit at the feet of Jesus. Nothing equals the motivation He gives for victorious living, and no one can equal His insight. Best of all, we can arrange a personal meeting every day.

More than five centuries ago, Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press, revolutionized the way books were made by creating a system of movable type: Load tiny metal letters into a tray, ink the type, and press the tray of letters down onto a sheet of paper. For five hundred years, books changed very little: That was until electronic digital books became available.

Not only would Gutenberg be dumbstruck at the sight of modern printing presses, he would be even more shocked at how books are distributed digitally. Today books and magazines are easy to store and access. You can take hundreds of books with you, stored in your digital reading device, and read them anytime, anywhere. While the loss of love is a disheartening experience in any area of life, there is one area in which the consequences are most serious: I have seen this happen to many Christians in my years as a pastor; and, like all Christians, I have even felt the temptations myself.

Without diligence, the fire of love that burned brightly when we first met Jesus Christ can begin to fade and provide lesser and lesser amounts of light in this world. Henry Dunant grew up a well-to-do Swiss Calvinist home, where he watched his parents do one good deed after another, driven by Christian empathy for the needy.

His father labored tirelessly to assist orphans and ex-prisoners, and his mother had a burden for the sick and poor. This was a time of spiritual revival in Switzerland, and Henry grew up feeling compelled to do all he could to serve Christ. As a teenager, he helped organize young men in regular Bible studies and in projects for the poor. In college, Dunant was so preoccupied with his mercy ministries that he neglected to study.

At age 21, he was forced out of school by poor grades. He found a job, worked hard, established his own business, and prospered. When the whole human race was terrified by sin, death, judgment, and hell, Jesus left the heights of the heavens to journey to earth for the likes of you and me. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me… I am the bread which came down from heaven…. I have come down from heaven…. He was transported through the womb of a virgin as the sinless Redeemer, completely God and a complete man, for the redemption of the world.

But as believers in Jesus Christ, we have an assurance that He is with us, and the knowledge that all that is good comes from Him. Okay is not a biblical word. But sometimes the blows rain down on us like daggers, and we may momentarily wonder if God exists or knows or cares. Our health depends on wise nutrition. The food we eat is assimilated into our bodies and becomes our nails, skin cells, and blood. In the same way, we are actually becoming—emotionally and spiritually—what we put into our minds. Each of the major speedways is unique, having its own turns, curves, and idiosyncrasies. To run a good race, you have to know what to expect.

The same is true for Christians. Many people today seek happiness and fulfillment in possessions and pleasure and power and popularity—fleeting riches and temporal satisfactions, but at what cost? Sadly, for many in our culture, materialism has become their god. Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? He preached with great authority—He healed the sick and even raised the dead.

He quoted Old Testament prophecies and fulfilled the requirements of the Law. His presence was electrifying to the people of Israel, but even His own family was confused about His identity. At that critical moment, Jesus took a break from the crowds and led His disciples on a backpacking expedition to the regions of Mount Hermon. There, alone with the Twelve and after months of instruction, He gave them a final exam recorded for us in Matthew It consisted of two questions.

While many look to the government, material possessions, drugs, or pleasure, they quickly find that these only lead to temporary distractions on a lifelong quest for happiness. Never have so many people been so unhappy as they are today. Some of the things that promised them satisfaction and joy have not delivered on the promise.

Hope is a main ingredient in life. It is the very core of who you are and your existence as a person. It is an invitation to those who know despair all too well. It presents and opportunity to take another look at the hope that can only be found in God. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. This poem counts the ways in which we love others. It is not possessive: Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage.

It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. If you want to commit this chapter to memory and begin practicing it, it helps to break it down into its three main sections. The successful farmer kept building more barns to hoard his wealth, and he thought he was set for life. This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be?

A text message, a pat on the back, a whisper of confidence, a public word of praise, a high five. The people around us, young and old, thrive on words of encouragement from someone who believes in them. Encouragement is a key component in strengthening others…and yourself. Linen is one of the oldest and most prized of textiles. It has been discovered in caves spanning from Europe to the Dead Sea, and in the tombs of Egyptian royalty. From their time in Egypt, the Israelites learned the value of linen—the knowledge of how to create it and an appreciation for its hard-wearing quality.

It was clearly the fabric of choice in the ancient world. What you may not know is that while linen is a desirable fabric, it requires a brutal process to produce it. It can also simply refer to someone in a high rank of authority—such as the captain of a ship. Regardless of difficult situations, the captain is the master of the ship, and all aboard follow his lead. We have the One who will safely guide us through everything.

But too often we want to take control, not allowing God to lead us through the most tumultuous times in our lives. The question must be asked, Who is your true Master and Commander? Today, such businesses are usually called gas stations—or convenience stores, buying clubs, truck stops, or travel centers, businesses for which gasoline is only one of the many products they sell.

Gas stations are all over the world because cars are all over the world. A gas station without a car is unnecessary, but a car without a gas station is a disaster. Almost overnight, cars began appearing, and a problem was quickly identified: There was nowhere to buy gas! Gasoline was being sold by the bucket at general stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, and from vendors in the street.

There were no gas pumps at first—funnels and buckets were the order of the day. Standard Oil of California claims it opened the first drive-in gas station with pumps in —and the rest is filling station history. The lesson is this: As new kinds of engines are developed, fuel for those engines—hydrogen, natural gas, liquid gas, Ethanol—finds its way into new kinds of filling stations.

And developers of electric-powered cars are determined not to be caught in a fuel shortage. Worldwide charging stations for electric cars are well under way. The lesson has been well learned over the last century: Without fuel, there is no power. Do you feel like our world is becoming overrun with pollutants? There are local and federal agencies that watch out for pollutants affecting our environment, but we should also be concerned about our spiritual environment.

We need to watch for toxins in three areas of life—people, places, and practices. When baseball great Lou Gehrig was starting his career, the Yankees sent him to Hartford to get some practice in the minor leagues. Until then, Lou had lived at home. Now for the first time in his life, he was living with a rough crowd of minor league ballplayers who cursed, drank heavily, and spent their time in bars and speakeasies.

Gehrig began experimenting with alcohol and consorting with the wilder men on the team. Consequently his game went into a slump. Anytime is a great time for being with those we love and appreciate, but fall seems special. Think about the reasons why this time of year is a great time for relationships and reunions: This is a huge one. Because of travel and vacations, some churches make adjustments to their regularly scheduled programs during the summer.

But after summer is over, everything gets back to normal. It seems people like to celebrate Christmas—at least Christmas morning—with just family. But in America, Thanksgiving is the day we fling open the doors, tell people to bring a dish, spread it all out, and thank God for the blessings we enjoy.

If Thanksgiving is the holiday of food and fun, Christmas is the holiday of love. Lump those four dynamics together—school, church, and the two holidays—and fall arrives with more reasons to celebrate than any other season of the year. You know the feeling well. The hair on the back of your neck stands up. You get goose bumps on your arms. Your palms are as damp as wet sponges. You certainly felt it as a child. Fear and childhood go hand-in-hand, especially at night—monsters under the bed, strange noises in creaky houses, branches scraping against window screens.

Adults wrestle with fears like heights, the dentist, and identity theft. The amygdala does two things: And two, the amygdala sends messages to glands to start releasing chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol the STRESS hormone. Have you ever celebrated a holiday named Memas? Some people observe it every December For them, the Christ of Christmas has been replaced by a Me-centered worldview. This is a celebrity generation in which everyone wants little flashes of fame and fortune. I love the trappings of Christmas as much as anyone; but the truths of Christmas trump the trappings of Christmas, and too many people get trapped in the trappings and forget the truth.

In a sense, of course, Christmas is all about us. God loved us, became flesh for us, died to forgive us our sins, and rose to give us everlasting life. Christmas is the celebration of what Jesus did for us. But in return, we should make it all about Him: Here are three words to remember during December. You might write them on a piece of paper to keep in your pocket or purse through the holidays. The next minute, I faced an opposite set of problems: I looked like a ten-foot pole with big feet. My kids laughed, and we all had fun in the hall of mirrors at the county fair. The shepherd is the mentor who sees to the growth and development of the immature as they grow into their gifts and places of service.

He was a person who vicariously represented Christ to the people all of their lives. This allowed little or no opportunity for the believers to mature into the priests and kings as God intended. In the relational church Christ and the mature people relate directly and not through a vicar. The sheep grow up to be shepherds or do other works as mature sons in the kingdom.

The teacher is the one who brings spiritually anointed definition to the fine points of spiritual reality. He is gifted to take natural illustrations and teach spiritual truths to the immature. In the religious church the teacher often brought dry "church doctrine" of many words and little real spiritual life. In the relational church the teacher is a light bearer bringing spiritual enlightenment in detailed pieces of real spiritual life. These gifts function in the church, in business, and in all walks of life. The apostle in business may be thought of as one who starts businesses from nothing and serves as C.

In business a prophet might be a troubleshooter. A pastor might be a personnel manager. An evangelist might be a traveling salesman. A teacher might be a technical instructor. All gifts and parts are needed. And they all need to be in their proper places doing their particular jobs. One of the greatest hindrances to each part doing its job is the lack of understanding and acceptance of the role God has given to each one of them.

Often our temptation has been to try to mold everyone into whatever we are. We need to help others to become what God has designed them to be. We must resist trying to form people in our image and stop rejecting people because they are different. We must stop thinking that we are more important than others. We must learn to submit to the servant that God has sent in the area of spiritual grace God has gifted that servant in. Our ideas that we are superior because we have some status in the church or in a business can be a serious hindrance to our submitting to the one God has sent for a specific job.

Pride in who we are and in what a great position we occupy is deadly. There are no big-shots in the kingdom of God. When God sends someone with godly ability in a specific area, we need to submit to them in that area and not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We are free to allow the love of Jesus to flow to everyone. Love is the key that allows us to receive one another, to hear and see Jesus in our brothers and to submit to the Jesus in them.

Also by love, we do not fear boldly stepping into the position of responsibility that He has called us to fulfill. In love, we serve one another. Love is the greatest principle or law of the kingdom of God. Love produces true unity, and unity leads to production and prosperity of life. Love is the power of the kingdom. It is the single greatest motivational force in the world. It creates disunity which leads to a lack of production and increased poverty. Unlove flows death from joint to joint. Unlove is simply the lack of love. All sin flows from unlove. Love fulfills the law; unlove breaks the law.

Every human conflict has its roots in unlove. Without unlove, there would be no church splits, no divorces, no wars, no crime, no bitterness, no angry hostility, no depression, no fear, no pride, no rebellion, no evil lust, and no need for hell. Regardless of what our individual functions are, we must be connected by love. Spiritual gifts, ministry, and good deeds are useless without the God-kind of unconditional love.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. I believe this personal account is the best way to communicate some universal realities of receiving the revelation of the kingdom. It was the focal point of my life, my guide and source of direction. The living Word continued to amaze me day by day as old familiar passages continued to yield new light and meaning.

To some degree I was accustomed to this wonderful phenomenon. From time to time, as fresh revelation shed new light on the Word, it seemed my whole Bible became new. When I was born again, the Bible suddenly spoke clearly of salvation by grace through faith in the cross of Jesus Christ. Later, when a deeper experience of Holy Spirit baptism occurred in my life, passages suddenly became alive to me that I had some way not even noticed before.

These and other experiences, as great as they were, had not fully prepared me for what happened to me in January of I had left the ministry where I had been serving and had no other occupation at the time. My days were spent in a nice, quiet travel trailer beside the house praying and studying the Word. I had begun again to read the book of Matthew. This time one word seemed to be on almost every page and again and again came from the lips of Jesus. He seemed to preface many of His teachings with this word. So, I prayed a simple prayer. The answer to that prayer changed my entire life forever.

Suddenly, in a moment of time, it seemed everything I had ever known was shaken and began to take on a whole new light, a new meaning. Mysteries began to clear up about things I had wondered about for years. Pieces began to fit together that I could never get to fit before. A deep satisfaction began to come into my heart as things began to become real and make practical sense for the present instead of religious ideas and doctrinal systems from the past or for the future. What is the kingdom of God - kingdom of Heaven - why did Jesus talk about it so much?

In the days that followed this prayer, the heavens were opened to me. God was closer to me than ever before. Every question I asked was instantly answered with staggering impact and clarity. I was amazed again and again and often overwhelmed, my mind reeling as God poured simple yet profound revelation of His kingdom into my heart. I became very careful about the questions I asked. Revelation from God often will not match up with our previous understandings.

One of my reactions to all of this was that of thinking that people would surely come against me because many of the things God was revealing to me were different from the way my church had taught them. I had never before heard a word of the kingdom message like God was giving to me. I was afraid I would be the only person with this radical message. Then, God told me He was giving this message to certain men around the world and that it would eventually just seem to come up from everywhere like the grass in a field.

In the years that followed, He allowed me to receive tapes from men in various parts of the world who had received the same message. Now, in the mids, this has come to pass just as He said it would - like grass in a field seemingly coming up everywhere at once.

Not as a few tall trees, but close to the ground, all at the same level. The seeds of the gospel of the kingdom are sprouted and growing forth into the world. Today there are many men of God proclaiming the message of the kingdom and a great shift has begun. This is the season for rediscovering the gospel of the kingdom of God. The history of man has completed six millennia and has begun the seventh millennium since Adam.

Since Jesus, two millennia have been completed and the third has begun. A new wineskin is required to hold the revelation of the kingdom. When Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom two millennia ago, many religious people had a hard time receiving it. Jesus warned them not to try to fit the new revelation into an old system. Then He spoke a parable to them: And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.

But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. Receiving the gospel of the kingdom makes all things new, more alive, more real and very satisfying to the soul. To me our wineskin is like a filing system. We each have within us a spiritual data filing system, a system of mental file folders with headings and sub-headings. As an example, some of our headings might be something like: Each piece of new data, when received, is analyzed, compared to the data in the system, and then filed under the proper heading.

The new wine of the gospel of the kingdom will not fit our old filing system. And the revelation of the kingdom will not fit under any of our headings. We cannot simply make a new folder and stick it in somewhere. It will not fit under any other heading. The gospel of the kingdom becomes the system into which all other revelation and truth of God regarding man and earth will fit.

The kingdom that Jesus preached is the major heading under which all other God-given understanding about God's relationship to man and the world can be filed. We must have a new wineskin. If we try to patch in the gospel of the kingdom, we will become frustrated. The others are just left there and will be replaced with fresh new spiritual reality.

Our file system must be redone under the major heading of "The Kingdom of God". The phrases "kingdom of God" and "kingdom of heaven" mean exactly the same thing and are used interchangeably in Scripture. People have different thoughts about the kingdom of God. Some see it as a generic term for anything relating to God. Others relate kingdom to heaven someday.

Some think of the kingdom negatively as a human attempt to impose religious rule over other people. Others think of it as a means for men to gain personal wealth and self-gratification. The enemy knows that, when the kingdom matures in God's people his inordinate rule on earth is completely over. So what was the kingdom Jesus taught so much about? Jesus spoke of the kingdom basileia over one hundred times in the Gospels. The thread or general theme of the kingdom of God runs through all the teachings of Jesus and much of the rest of the Bible.

But the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul in Romans The kingdom of God is a realm or walk. Righteousness always leads to peace and joy. The bride or wife of Christ carries out her part as pictured in Proverbs They are extremely potent and can produce the overcoming of any negative force in the world. This powerful possession of some of the secrets could bring quick self-destruction in the hands of impure men who would seek to use it to establish their own kingdom. The kingdom of God begins with the purification of the motives of our hearts. It is a heart that has no needs or desires apart from God.

That is why Jesus saves the lost, heals the brokenhearted, and proclaims liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. God will give us ears to hear His kingdom truth to the level that we are purified. He led me to people who had gifts and anointing to assist in appropriating the ministry of Jesus to heal my broken heart and to bring about my deliverance. For many years I had sought to serve the Lord with great zealousness and commitment.

Yet, areas of serious lack and defeat were in my own life. The best I could do with all the help I could get was not enough. The zealous application of all the biblical doctrines I knew could not keep me on track and bring me through. The firm directives to adhere more firmly to doctrine by my well-meaning brothers in Christ only worsened my condition. It took a bold, fresh revelation and work from God to loose my bonds and set me on a road to restoration and greater heights than I had ever known before.

For me it also required my life to be turned upside-down and the severance of all things that were precious to me - all the bad things, all the good things and all the people from which I drew life. He wants to become our only source of life. One was the kingdom lifestyle, and the other was personal ministry. He has since shown me they are not at all different directions.

The personal ministry of Jesus is the cleansing process that we must go through before we can walk into the purified Bride of Christ, kingdom of God lifestyle. Personal ministry and kingdom revelation are not separate directions, but are aligned in one direction toward the kingdom of God lifestyle. The goal of personal ministry is to eliminate, remove, or heal all hindrances to the manifesting or appearing of the life of Jesus in the person.

I n Luke 4: Approximately the first one-third, parts one through three, of these guides will deal with seeing the goal of kingdom. The second third will deal with the cleansing process of removing all hindrances. The last third will deal with the deeper ministries and principles of living the kingdom of God lifestyle.

From the ruling city of the Garden of Eden, Adam had dominion on the earth and lived in God's presence in intimate fellowship with Him. God breathed His life giving Spirit into Adam. Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Adam lost dominion rights to Satan; the kingdom of God was taken captive, and the kingdom of darkness was loosed on earth. Adam also lost intimate fellowship with God. The kingdom of God remained in captivity until Jesus came to redeem it. God is and always has been in complete authority over all things. He made man in His image and chose to delegate the rule of earth to mankind.

Man was made God's agent on earth to faithfully carry out the will of God on earth. God chose to limit Himself to work with what man would do on earth. He truly gave dominion and rule to man.

My thoughts

Man is free to make right or wrong decisions and will live or die by them. Satan and his powers of darkness were present in the Garden of Eden, but were totally powerless until man chose to disobey God and thereby released the power of Satan. Potentially, the devil was completely defeated and the kingdom, including mankind, was completely redeemed at the cross.

In actual experience, Christ Jesus is now establishing in the natural what is already established in the spiritual. Man has not been removed as ruler of the planet. Jesus became a man to redeem the kingdom. Now on planet earth, including up to the second heaven around earth, the two kingdoms are operating in conflict 2 Corinthians They are vying for control as each attempts to rule the earth.

The kingdom of light and truth the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness and lies the kingdom of Satan both seek to sway the minds of men. Only mankind has the ability to decide which kingdom will be released to rule and which will not. One of the greatest lies the kingdom of darkness has perpetrated is that the kingdom of God is not available on earth today. Satan would have us believe that the teachings and promises of God throughout the Bible describing His glorious kingdom life are for heaven in the future or maybe for earth someday, but surely not for you and me, here and now.

Give us this day our daily bread. Our daily bread is not just for the future sometime, but is a very present day issue. The kingdom of God that Jesus taught about is the rulership of God on earth now. It is available to us now. Its righteousness, peace, joy, abundance and presence of God are available to us now.

The kingdom of God lifestyle is for us today and many are missing it. All of these reasons are good; but, again, they may seem a bit distant to the person who is suffering in this life now. Repent, and believe in the gospel. Now Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom , and healing all kinds of disease among the people. Multitudes began to come as they saw the authority of the kingdom of light overcome the kingdom of darkness.

He went on to include casting out demons and healing the sick. What gospel was he talking about? Yes, He meant for them to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Hearing the gospel good news of the now kingdom of God life, with all its qualities and benefits, and realizing we are missing it, is a greater reason for true repentance. This real repentance turns us toward salvation. When we see the goal, the abundant, overcoming kingdom-potential life of peace and joy, we will turn toward the light and persevere until we overcome.

In a practical, real sense, we destroy the works of darkness and establish the works of the kingdom of light. The devil and all the powers of darkness fear the gospel of the kingdom more than any doctrine or teaching. As people realize the wonderful potential of Jesus Christ living in them to destroy evil and bring forth true righteousness with all its joy and peace, they will persevere and overcome.

T he powers of darkness will do all they possibly can to prevent, delay, and pervert the teaching of the gospel of the kingdom. These deceptive teachings will always have enough error in them to discredit the teaching when the error is discovered. This sets the stage for the disciple to also reject the truth when it comes to him, because it looks or sounds much like the false doctrine. The disciple must, from a pure heart by the Holy Spirit, spiritually discern the truth to determine the difference.

Another tactic of the enemy is to discredit the teacher and his motives. The adversary will preach and teach a perversion of the kingdom message. The perversion will make it appear that the message is a means for men to take dominion in order to get what they desire and to control from their own fleshly hearts. The enemy will set up extensive snares to find grounds for discrediting accusations against the kingdom teacher.

Insignificant incidents, that would normally be dealt with and quickly forgotten, will be blown out of proportion and used to slander kingdom men. When the enemy can find nothing, he will invent something from nothing. Others will accept the illusion and corroborate the accusation. Perhaps the most effective scheme of the devil is to assist men to develop alternate doctrines to replace the truth. For many years I personally accepted some of these alternate theological teachings.

However, since they refused the kingdom, Jesus returned to heaven, taking all potential for the kingdom with Him and would return at a later time and establish the kingdom of God. The best we could hope for at this time was to get people saved and try to hang on until He came to take us out of this wicked world, or until we died and went to heaven. It always bothered me that Jesus spent most of his brief ministry and most of what He said in the recorded Gospels teaching kingdom principles that we could not use until a future thousand-year reign.

We yet need to know what the gospel of the kingdom really is. In the next session we will deal with the gospel of the kingdom as Jesus preached it. He sent the twelve and the seventy disciples out to preach the gospel of the kingdom and instructed all His disciples to preach this same gospel.

Is the gospel of the kingdom any different from the gospel of salvation or being born again? We have preached the cross and personal salvation in Jesus for many years. Is that the gospel Jesus preached? Is it the gospel that the twelve and the seventy preached? Shouldn't we be preaching the gospel Jesus preached? God has been restoring revelation to His church in waves or layers.

After one wave comes and men receive it and that layer is in place, then another wave of restoration brings another layer. The newer layer does not replace the last one; it builds upon it. The gospel of being born again is the first part of the gospel of the kingdom. Although it is vital and completely necessary, it is only a part. One must be born again to see the kingdom of God. To stop at the first part of being born again is stopping and forever remaining just inside the door of the vast kingdom and never experiencing the bountiful life and treasure of the kingdom prepared for us before the foundation of the world.

Most of the teachings of Jesus were focused on what the gospel of the kingdom is and how it works. Vital, basic, foundational principles of the good news of kingdom living on earth are contained in the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament gospels. We will explore these powerful kingdom principles in later sessions. In recent years, the gospel of the kingdom has been widely restored. The gospel previously preached focused on missing hell and getting into heaven when we died.

For the most part, there was little or no real help for living life today. However, the gospel of the kingdom focuses on restoring the rule of God from heaven on earth. I wonder who would like to cloud our minds and prevent us from seeing the potential of the will of God being done on earth. Jesus announced the blessings of His kingdom in that portion of Scripture we call the Beatitudes. He had been preaching the gospel of the kingdom, healing the sick, and casting out demons all about Galilee.

And seeing the multitude, He began to speak to His disciples, telling them that the needy people were blessed now. The kingdom is finally here, and those who are entering are blessed. Before the kingdom, those who mourned simply mourned. Now they will be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

A man had set out to cross a large swamp in a small boat. He paddled well into the swamp and was attacked by several large alligators. The attack was so vicious that the small boat was damaged and sank. The man was left standing in about waist-deep, murky water with only his paddle to fight off the alligators. The fight was so fierce that his paddle was broken.

He was now left with only a stub of a paddle with which to jab and beat the alligators. An important government man was here a while back and looked at this swamp. He promised to come back someday with a big crew to drain it. But the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus preached can also help us with our alligators now. The man in the boat commanded the alligators to stop their attack. Immediately, the alligators swam away. The man in the boat helped the tired, wet and bloody man into his boat. He gave him dry clothes and medicine, which quickly healed his wounds. They immediately were at their destination.

About Dr. David Jeremiah

As mankind sees the reality of the kingdom message and its overcoming power the devil will be made powerless. This is why the kingdom of darkness so violently opposes the kingdom of God now message. There is a violent pressing involved in entering the kingdom of God walk. It is not a pressing or violence toward or from God, but from the opposition, the kingdom of darkness. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. Our seeing the rule of God only in the future allows the devil to continue his dirty work now.

Religious people and those of one's own household often become the most violent. The Lord spoke of kingdom rising against kingdom and nation or tribe against nation Matthew Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many, and because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world to all nations, and then the end will come. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. The spiritual battle is for the prize of entering and walking in the kingdom of God lifestyle, not just being born again, nor just going to heaven when we die.

The Bible often uses a natural word about a natural thing to represent a spiritual thing. Once we have the spiritual meaning of the natural word, we can use that word to communicate the spiritual thought. We all know that we are not referring to a literal bride. A natural bride is one female person who is being married to a husband. The believers may be male or female, old or young, of any heritage, and of any number. However when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all trut And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. Many of these symbols and types have been revealed for many years. But some have been more recently revealed; and, most of those we have known for some time have a deeper, freshly-revealed kingdom meaning. When I study a passage of Scripture, I pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give me revelation of the hidden, symbolic, spiritual meaning of the words. Then I meditate the passage allowing quiet time in my spirit and mind while waiting to hear from God. After enlightenment or understanding comes, then I begin to check out the concordance, Greek and Hebrew dictionaries, and other Scriptures for confirmation or clarification.

The following are a few possible examples of symbolic language to consider. Try using these as you study and meditate the Word. Mountains -Great structures of authority; may be godly or ungodly. Hills -Structures of authority as mountains; except lesser. Fields -Lower structures of authority, but still firmament. Usually indicate those saved, as opposed to the sea of lost. As such, they are the fruitful, production areas where grain, fruit trees, etc. Valleys -Lower structures than fields, often fertile and well watered by neighboring mountains.

May also indicate a very low period -- a time of difficulty and hard decisions. Sea -No structure at all, fluid, blown about, sometimes roaring, unsaved masses of people. Trees -Natural structures of life; individual men and their life structures, ranging from great men or rulers as great cedars, strong and stable men as mighty oaks, olive and fig trees as prophets or ministers, fruit trees and vines as fruitful Christians to insignificant bramble bushes and ungodly thorns and briars.

A city is structured by patterns of life. A great city is a capital or ruling city, whose patterns reach out beyond its city walls or limits to govern a greater area. Israel -The overall church, including its ruling city, its many different cities, and wilderness areas. Babylon -The ruling city of the kingdom of darkness; the great soulish system of man characterized by covetousness, immorality, and sorcery; the mother system of harlots and adulterers. Bride and Wife -The obedient, perfected, faithful and true, ruling city portion of the church where reproduction takes place and mature sons are brought to glory.

She is God-seeking and God-serving. Harlot- The unfaithful, rebellious mistress person or church who sells her purity to fulfill her own desires and meet her needs; she does not seek the true God, but is self-seeking and self-serving. Adulteress -The unfaithful part of the church who has a Husband and pretends obedience to Him, but has other lovers. She seeks to fulfill her desires and meet her needs from sources other than her Husband. She has a divided heart, and her desire is both self-seeking and God-seeking, self-serving and God-serving.

Assyrians, Philistines, Canaanites, etc. Seed -A living pattern, word, thought, idea, vision; also the offspring made from the pattern. A word or vision from God is a good seed. A bad seed would be the same, but from the enemy. Oil -Comfort, healing, joy, anointing. Water -Cleansing, washing, or life-giving Word or Holy Spirit. Old Wine -Revelation from the past; usually a taste has been acquired for it.

It is smooth and comfortable to the taste and can put one to sleep. New Wine -New revelation from God. It is fresh and exciting, but may be very different to the taste and cause discomfort for those who have not yet acquired a taste for the new. It can be intoxicating if we take too much of it by itself. One must continue to feed on the bread and the meat along with the new wine.

Strong Drink -A hard word such as, correction, rebuke, or warning, etc. Light -Understanding; discernment; life giving, growth-stimulating word or revelation by the Holy Spirit. Rain -Outpouring of grace gifts of the Holy Spirit. Rivers -Continuous flow of spiritual life; flow of Holy Spirit. Wineskins -The container, or framework, of the inner organized filing system for the revelation of God. Cloth -A woven network of understanding of life, which may contain intricate patterns of design, each thread fitting together to make the whole.

Flood -A great outpouring of damaging words. Jewels -Perfected sons or daughters of God. Fire -Intense adversity for purification or judgment; judgmental or critical words. Stars -Spiritual persons; men of God. Heat -Correction or judgment; the heat of the sun, particularly, is intense light that brings correction from God the Father. Angels -Sometimes symbolizes men of God sent to the church, ministers, messengers, preachers of the message from God.

Trumpets -Sometimes are the voices of the prophets speaking forth the message of God, calling an assembly, focusing attention, and especially blasting forth the judgments of God. Grain and Grain Fields -Production, particularly annual or periodical production. Green Grass -Production of the fields, including grain. Birds -Spirits, either godly or evil. Crowns -Authority to rule. Temple -A permanent dwelling place of God, the eternal heart of man where God dwells.

Tabernacle -A temporary dwelling place of God. Consider the meaning of the figurative words used in Luke 5: The Lord speaks of patching new cloth onto old and of putting new wine in old wineskins. He also mentions that a man having drunk old wine does not immediately desire the new. Using the key words, it is easy to discern what He is saying spiritually. What is being said in Isaiah 55, when the mountains and hills are said to break forth into singing , and the trees of the field clap their hands? One of the most devastating mistakes people make when seeking to know God through His Word is taking every passage, which can be literally interpreted and applying only literal interpretation to it.

The spiritual man learns to literally interpret the true spiritual meaning of the passage through the figurative language of the Holy Spirit. Often there is both a literal meaning and a spiritual meaning. Much prophecy has had a literal, historical fulfillment and a greater spiritual implication. One might think of this as a railroad with two tracks running side-by-side. One track is the literal meaning of the passage; the other track is the spiritual. Many Old Testament events were recorded as examples to us.

Sermon Notes

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. It was through this nation and the Jewish people that the Son of God came and the Bible was written. The many prophetic writings and historical events of Israel all have spiritual meaning to the church. God has chosen Israel and its ruling city, Jerusalem, as a living message to the world. The spiritual kingdom, the Israel of God , is a new people, a spiritual people to whom origin of nationality, race, color, social cast, or political standing is of little or no significance.

It is a kingdom in which all are adopted by the heavenly Father and become true brothers and sisters. Therefore know that those who are of faith are sons of Abraham For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy upon them, upon the Israel of God. Spiritual Jerusalem or New Jerusalem is the ruling city of spiritual Israel just as natural Jerusalem or old Jerusalem was the ruling city of natural Israel.

As old Jerusalem was the natural figurative mother, that birthed the kingdom into the earth, so now the New Jerusalem is the spiritual mother, the wife of God, the Bride of Christ that is birthing the spiritual kingdom of God into our world. The New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ, the holy, purified, overcoming portion of the church. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride for her husband.

Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. It is the Bride Church, the holy, purified, kingdom people of God. Just as it is possible for a person to be in the nation of Israel, but not in the city of Jerusalem, it is also possible to be in the church, but not yet in New Jerusalem. Not everyone in the country of Israel is in the city of Jerusalem.

Neither has everyone in the church become the purified, holy Bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem. In the New Jerusalem lifestyle, we continuously live in the presence of God as the tabernacle of God is with men. The glory and light of God fills our lives. Pain and sorrow are gone as God wipes away our tears. No more death as eternal, abundant life prevails; we pass from life to life. Righteousness and holiness prevail in our lives as pure gold and clear crystal.

There is no night; there are no dark, threatening seasons. There is no more curse. We are under the dome of His protection, and there is perfect peace. We serve Him and rule over the circumstances of life. Imagine a giant, glass dome filled with the glorious presence and light of God. Inside this huge, spiritual dome everything is as it should be. The environment is perfectly controlled like a greenhouse. Those who overcome enter and abide inside the dome where they enjoy all the victorious aspects and attributes of New Jerusalem.

The enemy has no part and can do no harm inside the dome. The bright light inside the dome flows out to the countryside in a large circle around the dome. Everywhere the light reaches, the darkness must flee and cannot return unless the light is lessened or drawn back. People who sit in darkness may see the light from a distance and begin to move toward it. At the point where they actually leave the darkness and enter the light, they have entered the Israel of God, but have not yet reached and entered Jerusalem, the city of God.

They have come out of darkness into the light and must continue to journey to the dome. Their goal is to enter the king-dome, the New Jerusalem-purified-holy-Bride-of-Christ lifestyle. The people who sat in darkness saw a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. But we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born Many people in the church are now beginning to see the kingdom lifestyle and are moving toward the Holy City.

Just as it is possible to be in the nation but not in the ruling city, it is possible to be in the outer court of the tabernacle but not in the holy place. Many have entered the tabernacle into the outer court, but now must be purified to enter the holy place. The presence of God is in the holy place; all the promises of New Jerusalem are in the holy place. We must come in the gate and partake of the brazen altar, the blood sacrifice for our sins, the atoning blood of Jesus. Next, we must be washed by the water at the brazen laver in preparation for entering the holy place.

We must journey on to the candlesticks of the Holy Spirit ministry and on to the showbread being broken before arriving at the altar of incense and the Holy of Holies, the intimate communion with God the king-dome. Walking in the kingdom of God lifestyle is all about intimate relationship with God. It is becoming one with God through Christ by the Holy Spirit. It is the five virgins with oil in their lamps entering into the wedding with Christ the Bridegroom.

Holiness is produced by the indwelling Christ living in us by the Holy Spirit. It is the mystery Paul spoke of as "Christ in you the hope of glory". Lord, who will abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Jesus preached and taught more about what the kingdom of God is like, how it works, and how to enter it, than any other subject.

The parables that Jesus taught in the four Gospels are the richest teaching on the kingdom of God in the Bible. Jesus was not greatly concerned with teaching us how to live in heaven someday.

His great concern was revealing to us how to live on the earth in this life now. The gospel of the kingdom does not do away with the gospel of being born again. It includes the gospel we have preached in the past, as well as all true Bible doctrines. Jesus focused on preaching the gospel of the kingdom because it encompasses all the parts of revealed doctrines and is the umbrella that covers them. God is still restoring His message on earth. As each new area is restored, we are tempted to think we now have it all.

However, about the time we get comfortable with what we have, He again gives us more. When He provides more light, some of the error we previously believed was accurate and complete begins to melt away. We must come to grips with the reality that entering the kingdom does not mean only going to heaven when we die.

We are not waiting for Jesus to come back to earth to establish His kingdom. Jesus has already returned to earth in the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower the people of God to rule and reign, to overcome, and to retake and possess the land. Yes, His bodily return to rule and reign with His purified Bride is the fulfillment of the kingdom. But the establishment time is now! Jesus has already done all that is necessary to defeat the devil and his rule. He now lives in us by the Holy Spirit to empower His purified Bride to overcome. According to Romans Is it any wonder why there is so much conflict, confusion and controversy about the baptism of the Holy Spirit?

It is easy to see why the enemy so fiercely comes against it, when we recognize the role of the Holy Spirit in walking in the kingdom of God potential now. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The potential for experiencing the Bride of Christ life now is in the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God potential first returned to earth in Jesus at the time of His baptism. The Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus and remained on Him, in an experience of spiritual life of a different dimension that had not been known before.

The heavens opened to Him. Jesus saw into the spirit realm, the heavenly realm. The kingdom of God age came into the earth. The potential for man to intimately communicate with God returned to the earth into Jesus, in that moment. The Baptized was to become the Baptizer and baptize many with the Holy Spirit, opening to them the potential to walk in a new level of obedience and power, and enabling them to walk in the glorious Bride lifestyle. John the Baptist, the last great prophet of the captive kingdom, did not experience the greater kingdom life available to us.

I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. Jesus was empowered to demonstrate the kingdom authority, and His earthly ministry began. When He later left the earth, the kingdom potential went with Him. Jesus made it clear that He was going away and coming back quickly, bringing the kingdom with Him. This is a strong statement by the Lord that He was returning to earth, bringing His kingdom with Him, during their lifetime.

When did this happen? Or did it not happen as the Lord said it would? In the past, the only way I could get around this statement was to assume He was speaking of the mount of transfiguration when the disciples caught a glimpse of His glory. How many Gods do we have? We have only one God! He manifests Himself in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being. When Jesus walked on earth as a man, He could be in only one place at one time.

He bodily went to the right hand of the Father and then returned as Spirit; now He can be everywhere at once. He can indwell all believers at one time, empowering us to obediently walk in His kingdom lifestyle. Thus, the will of God can be done on earth as it is in heaven. Many are yet looking for Jesus to return to do what He has already done or is now here to do. He makes it clear that He will return to His disciples.

Jesus came to earth, reclaimed the kingdom, was crucified, resurrected, ascended to the right hand of the Father, returned to earth in the Holy Spirit, and now lives in believers to establish His kingdom on earth. Yet, He is still at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. Though Jesus possessed the fullness of the kingdom potential after His baptism with the Holy Spirit, He was not omnipresent in His natural body on earth. Now that He has returned to earth in the Holy Spirit, He is omnipresent.

Christ Jesus in us by the Holy Spirit will produce righteous obedience to God. Real holiness which includes true righteousness and perfect obedience is the only way to enter the fullness of the kingdom of God and become the Bride of Christ. Positional righteousness does not in itself cause us to enter or become the purified Bride. Only practical righteousness and practical obedience will enable us to live on earth in the kingdom of God. We enter and walk in the kingdom by obedience to the will of the Father.

But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. We enter and walk by obedience to the Father. Only Jesus, by the Holy Spirit living in us, will always obey the will of the Father. Because Jesus is seated in heaven, He is available to carry out miraculous works of God through His disciples on earth. He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.

Jesus the Christ has returned to earth and lives in His people. We now have the potential to rule and reign over the kingdoms of the earth as His glorious life, His love, His power, His wisdom, His peace, and His faith rule and reign through our being. We can now take dominion over all the earth and over all the powers of darkness. We can reclaim every area of the kingdom. Nothing is impossible to Jesus in us. The other kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, can continue to run the governments, businesses, finance, religion, arts, music, media, sports, educational systems, entertainment industry and all other aspects of our world.

Evil can continue to poison the minds of our people, inflicting pain, perverting, killing, and destroying men, women, and children of our land. The saints who have gone on to heaven are not going to take back the earth, reclaim it and establish the kingdom of God on the earth. Yes, they are cheering us on. Yes, their work is made perfect in us. We are establishing what the great men of faith have begun -- building upon the foundational heritage of generations of men of faith.

But, only those alive on earth have the opportunity to cleanse their hands and purify their hearts to bring forth the work of Christ. Only then will the Spirit of Christ Jesus can come forth in their lives in glory and power sufficient to overpower the kingdom of darkness and establish the kingdom of light. This new generation has the potential to see the kingdom of God established in hearts today, individually, and then in the earth. All who have gone before and paid a great price are looking to the people of God on earth today to make perfect their works and sacrifices by bringing forth the kingdom of God on earth.

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented - of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.

And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends purposes of the ages have come.

Each of us is in one kingdom or the other. Either the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of light rules us. We are bringing forth, from our hearts, either one kingdom or the other into the earth. There is great conflict between the two kingdoms and keen competition for the hearts of men.

The propagation of either kingdom depends on the hearts of men. Men must cast the deciding vote as to which kingdom will rule the earth. Only in the heart-soil of man is the potential for ruling the earth. Whichever kingdom rules the hearts of men rules the earth. Men need make no further decision to remain in the kingdom of darkness. A decision not to come to the light is a decision to remain in darkness. God will furnish all the power, all the direction, and do all the work to establish His kingdom; but man must decide with his own will.

God has given us dominion on earth and has chosen not to overrule our will. What we bind is bound and what we loose is loosed. Now is the time for the church ekklesia to make herself ready and become the perfected Bride, the New Jerusalem. We must receive true understanding of the kingdom of God by spiritual revelation of the Word of God.

The grace of God is the empowerment of Christ within the individual to live righteously.

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