The Holy One calls to me this morning. There is an assault on my peace that has for a while choked out my hope. Today hope has been revived as the Holy Spirit teaches me more about His Kingdom. His voice fills my spirit ears:
"The Kingdom of Heaven is material as well as ethereal."
This is a message of hope since the evil one floats the deception that the Kingdom of Heaven is only a future place of the sweet by-and-by and not a present place for the situational day-to-day.
To make His point, The Holy One reminds me of His word that reveals a kingdom where streets are paved with gold and has dimensions.(Rev 21) Even if the graphic picture is not one we can wrap our finite minds around, the description of it is provided in material terms.
But then the King who came to earth to show us the way and the only point of entry into the Kingdom said, "The Kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, "here it is" or "there it is" because the Kingdom of God is within you".
Luke 17:20-21
Luke 17:20-21
As I ponder the words spoken and written, I realize how I can be out of balance in my thinking and not operate in the total truth about the Kingdom of Heaven AKA God's Kingdom.
Jesus, in teaching the disciples how to pray, said to pray in this manner: Our Father Who is in Heaven, Hollowed ( Holy) be Your name. Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven". Then follows the prayer petition of provision, forgiveness, protection from temptation and deliverance from evil. (Matt 6:9-13).
I always wondered why there was the word "in" earth and not "on" earth in the KJV. Some translations have transcribed that word as "on" earth which makes more sense to our human minds. Unless, that is, we come to grasp and understand that the "ethereal" earth kingdom is the place where the invisible enemy resides and does his best to corrupt the physical/material earth with his depraved agenda.
Sickness and disease, lust and murder (all death spirits) are on the list of the evidences of a dark kingdom that festers in our material/physical world but really originates in the ethereal realm. These are the works of the devil that Jesus came to destroy and then to teach us how to do the same.
This has caused me some faith issues and exposed some underlying unbelief that needs to be resolved with regard to miracles and Divine intervention. I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit leads me into all Truth and is patient for the time it takes me to grasp what He is trying to teach me.
The importance of today's message has to do with following Truth that leads to the structure of Divine authority and that opens the way for Divine intervention in our material/physical world.
Jesus came to show us the Father as well as the Kingdom of Heaven and how it operates. Jesus was in total submission to the Father's Will and that put Him in perfect balance in both the Heavenly Kingdom and the earthly one.
Jesus said that He only did what He saw His Father in Heaven do and only spoke what He heard His Father in Heaven speak. This defines the structure of Kingdom authority that Jesus came to demonstrate and then teach.
All that Jesus did in over-ruling the conditions associated with life in our earthly realm, were according to what the Kingdom of heaven offers all its citizens. This visual picture of the Kingdom of Heaven was given because we as individuals must choose where we will spend eternity: Will we choose to ultimately live with the Creator God in His kingdom or reject Him and choose to live somewhere else apart from Him. Jesus came to offer the better choice by the demonstration here on earth of what life is like there, in the Kingdom of Heaven.
By and through miraculous intervention (the evidence of the miracles here on earth) Jesus calls us to believe:
In the existence of the Kingdom of Heaven!
In the One True Holy God of all Creation whose Kingdom it is!
In the fact that His death through crucifixion and His life through resurrection is the only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Those of us who believe and are, by choice, already citizens of the Kingdom of our God, are now in a position to be a witness to: His Divinity (as our God), His life (as our King) and under His authority (as our Lord).
We are to live our lives here on earth as servants of our King, as a beloved child of our Heavenly Father and in the structure of Divine authority that comes from honoring the Lordship of Christ and His Holy Spirit who dwells within us.
When we are in right alignment with those factors in our mortal existence we can see and experience the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, and then, through our lives, others can see it as well. The importance of our coming into right alignment can never be underestimated since our life is to serve as the "evidence" of His love and care that can cause others to come to believe and receive Jesus as their own personal Savior, Lord and King.
As I let the Truth saturate my mind, heart, soul and spirit, I am reminded of a visual that describes the Body of Christ in ways that are similar to how a human body moves and operates. We are all members of the Body of Christ and like our body parts. In our physical body the head is where all information is received and stored and where all our outward actions are first initiated. Christ is the Head of the Body and all our actions must be initiated by Him.
As a part of the body I must report to Him what is going on from any and all threats I am aware of to any and all needs that might require an action to be taken for the good of the entire Body of which I am a part. I am to convey all the challenges and respond to His directives for His Godly, Kingly, Headship directive and reaction.
Taking this visual helps me to grasp the bigger picture of my role and ultimate accountability with the Lord's authority to act. I cannot move on my own for that is like a spasm in the body and the representation of a body part taking independent action that is not fully connected to the Head. The Church can be a well functioning body in a graceful motion and purpose given by the Head or it can be a spastic disconnected set of body parts.
The Kingdom of Heaven truly begins in the heart of the individual. As we each give Jesus the Lordship over our personal lives then we can become a well functioning part of the bigger Body of Christ moving in concert with all the other parts reporting to and taking directions from the Head whereby the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven can then flow to and through us.
As we report to the head and receive His directives for our function, the Body of Christ will no doubt experience and manifest more of the earth shaking delightful things Jesus brought to earth as evidence of the Kingdom of Heaven. Things like Divine healing and deliverance, the bind given sight, the deaf given hearing, the lame given mobility and even the dead restored to earthly life.
Today, I am thankful that my hope has been revived with the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven. To acknowledge with thanksgiving the Lordship of my Jesus and take all things needed to my Head, is the plan and prayer for this day. But I know I must first yield to His authority and directives in my personal life and then I can wield His delegated authority as He tells me what to do. This is the challenge.
So I pray:
So I pray:
Abba Father
Holy is your Name
Your Kingdom come
Your Will be done
In earth (through me)
As it is done in Heaven
All for You and in Jesus Name!
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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