India

And so it begins. Flight leaves today, off to India. Please pray, will update when I can.

Prayer

Today’s post is a collaborative effort with a friend of mine, Sophia Arul. We dove into prayer and covered the surface of most of the major points. I will be going into more depth on these categories later as I have more time, if we covered them all fully this would have been far longer than any of you wanted to sit down and read in a sitting. ;) enjoy.

What is prayer?

Prayer is intentional[y] conveying a message to God – John Piper

It is not just communication because God doesn’t speak back to us through his prayer to us.

Communication meaning: The imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writing, or signs.

How do we pray?

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus said:

“This, then, is how you should pray:
 “‘Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come, 
your will be done, 
   on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us today our daily bread. 
And forgive us our debts, 
   as we also have forgiven our debtors. 
And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.
 Jesus didn’t say to repeat this prayer every day. He said pray like this. We have to understand the meaning behind these words and use our own words to exalt and acknowledge our Father in heaven with humility and adoration, seek ye first the Kingdom of God(Matthew 6: 33)
Surrender completely to his will and relinquish control over our lives and letting him guide us in the right direction.
Present our request for our daily needs, Our God is our provider. Remember our wants and needs are two different things.
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14&15)
Ask for protection over our lives – protection from unseen and visible temptations & dangers.
We ask for all these in the name of Jesus since no one reaches Father except through Jesus.
“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. (John 14:6 NIV)
“Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence”. (Ephesians 3:12 NLT)
What if we don’t have words to pray?
Prayer doesn’t come easy for most of us. Some of us struggle with not having the right words to express our true needs. It is not unusual for the bible teaches us clearly in Romans 8, it is a weakness.
 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (Romans 8:26 NASB)

It means that the Holy Spirit greatly assists or aids us; not by praying for us, but in our prayers and infirmities.

With groanings - With sighs, or that deep feeling and intense anxiety which exists in the oppressed and burdened heart of the Christian.

IF God knows what we need already then why do we pray?
Be not therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him (Matthew 6:8 ASV)
God is sovereign over all and governs all. No one can manipulate the mind of God, but we can join in through prayer with God in all his doing… We are children of God. Prayer is a part of His great plan.
Prayer causes things to happen that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t pray. Prayer is our privilege of engaging with God to bringing to pass events into universe. Our request would bring into existence of events which otherwise would not come into being.
 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. (Luke 11: 9-10 NIV)

We need to take time away from our busy world to spend time with him and get to know our creator. Just like in life in any relationship the more you talk to one person the more you feel closer to them. The more you get to know them. We should get to know our heavenly Father in the same way; through his word and quiet time and understand his will for our lives which will enables us pray in submission to His Will and plan for our lives. Jesus himself took time away from his disciples to have time alone with Father. (Mark 1:35)

Should I ask more than once?
Absolutely yes, In fact, God tells us to, more than once.
I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, [which] shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence, And give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.(Isaiah 62:6,7)
In these verses God is telling His people that He is going to lift Jerusalem up to be a praise for all the earth, He tells them to keep calling on Him for this to happen and to continue praising until it does.
Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him. And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.
    “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
   “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”(Luke 11:5-13 NIV)
In this verse Jesus tells his disciples that the man didn’t get what he needed from his neighbor just because he asked. He receives he continued to ask and didn’t give up.
Word of Caution:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:7-8 NIV)
Yes we are to pray for things more than once, but do this at different times. Repeating the same thing over and over in a prayer is useless. Give God time to answer before you ask again, as in this parable:
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!” (Luke 18: 1-5 NIV)
Where do we pray?
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6: 5-6 NIV)
Jesus puts emphasis on praying in private, just you and God. He did this in His own life, see these verses:
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, (Matthew 14:23 NIV)
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”(Matthew 26:36 NIV)
One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1 NIV)
In all of these cases Jesus left His disciples and prayed alone. He is our example, we should do the same.

Armor of God

I know it has been a while since I posted, things have been very busy and during my study times I wasn’t feeling called to write. However God has moved in some pretty amazing ways these last few days, and revealed a lot that I feel needs to be shared. So today we will be looking at the armor of God in Ephesians.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I out to speak.” Ephesians 6: 10-20

I love these verses. We open with a call to stand strong in the Lord. And the rest tells us how to do that. We are no longer fighting against each other, but a spiritual battle, therefore we do not need conventional weapons and armor, but something different, something spiritual. I want to go through the pieces of armor one by one, and examine them.

First we are told to wear truth around our loins.

I know what many are thinking, and that is, why there? Why are we to wear truth around our waist?

I believe the answer to this comes in the very nature of that region of our body. That is a very secretive area, people don’t walk around with that exposed, it represents what we don’t want others to see. We are being told to guard our secrets, what others don’t see, with God’s truth.

This involves a lot. It is a call to be the same in public and in private. Our devotion to God shouldn’t be a face we put on for the sake of others; it should be who we really are, even when we are in the privacy of our homes or rooms. We should be living for God even when there is nobody else watching.

The next piece of the armor is the breastplate of righteousness.
We are to protect our heart with God’s righteousness. Remember that our bodies are now the Lord’s temple. He lives in us. 1 Corinthians 6:19
We need to keep God close to our heart, so that He can transform us. Whatever we hold close to us, the desires of our hearts, becomes what defines us. We need to hold God closest to our hearts, and let His righteousness define who we are. Let Him shape and mold us.

Then our feet are covered with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
This is a big one. We already have ourselves covered in God’s truth, His righteousness is transforming our hearts. Then we put on the preparation of the gospel of peace.
We need to dive into God’s word, know it, and be prepared to use it. How can we share His word if we ourselves have not read it? We need to be prepared by it. Whenever Jesus gets questioned He turned to the scriptures for His answers. We should do the same.
But why our feet? I think that answer rests in Matthew 28:19-20. We are supposed to GO and teach. When we have put on the preparation of the gospel of peace, we are carried forward and to those that need it. When we understand the gospel we can’t ignore it, and we naturally begin to live it. That is why we needed to put on truth and righteousness first. Because once we have on the preparation of the gospel we begin to move.

Now we pick up the shield of faith.
Once we have entered into the world, to carry the gospel to others we will be challenged, attacked, and face resistance. It is vitally important that we lean on our faith for defense rather than ourselves. Faith is of God, and when we rely on Him there is no obstacle we cannot overcome. This gives us a trust and reliance on God. Draws us close to Him.

Next is the helmet of salvation.
We wear this as a helmet because we need to keep this on our minds at all times. We need to let this transform us, and renew our minds. (Romans 12:2)

Next is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Our weapon is not a tool of destruction, but rather a tool to edify (Ephesians 4:29). We use the word of God to teach and instruct those we come across, and to build them up. Reveal God’s truth.

Now this last part isn’t a piece of armor, but it is vitally important. Prayer. After we put on all of this armor we aren’t asked to run and fight some big battle, we are simply asked to pray. The process of putting on this armor aligns us with God’s Spirit and will. This is what makes for powerful prayer.
Luke 11:9. We are told to ask and it shall be given to us. This passage has been used by many to claim that God will give you whatever you want, but that is only a partial truth. Jesus is speaking about those who are aligned with the Spirit of God. When we align ourselves with His Spirit, we want what God wants, and therefore we will ask only for those things that God wants to give, things to glorify Him, or edify others.

As many of you know, Joplin was recently hit by a powerful tornado and most of the town was destroyed. There are more than 160 confirmed dead and hundreds still missing. Rescue crews and relief agencies are sifting through the wreckage, trying to help whoever they can, but it is long, hard work. Last night another powerful tornado was heading their way. Word was spread among those I know as each heard about the storm and spread the word to pray for the people of Joplin. God moved last night and exact prayers were answered, the tornado dissipated, and the storm turned. Joplin was spared. When we align ourselves with God, we see powerful results to our prayers. We need to surrender to His will, and pray with confidence. Remember the centurion that asked Jesus to heal his servant. He knew that Jesus had that authority and had no doubt that even if Jesus didn’t go to the servant in person, what He said would come to pass. We have that same power living inside of us, and when we align ourselves with the Spirit, it isn’t our words that we pray. The Spirit will speak through us and we will see results. Believe this, trust this, and praise God. For all the Glory is His.

Shall Never Perish

“And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.”  Mark 5:21-24

“While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe. And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.”  Mark 5:35-43

I would like to start here, with one of the more spectacular miracles of Jesus.

This is a powerful lesson on what faith can do, Jesus simply asked the father to believe, and then He raised his daughter.

But there is something a bit deeper that I want us to look at, something I think is often overlooked.

“And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying” Mark 5: 39-40

Jesus told them she was just sleeping, and that she was not dead. And they laughed.

Isn’t that how most of us, even in the church, react to outlandish sounding statements of faith these days? Here Jesus not only ignores those who doubt, but excludes them completely from what happens next. He sent them out, and took with Him only those who believed.

However, we all know the story, she is restored and everyone is happy. I want to look closer at the words: “The damsel is not dead”. She very clearly was. Death was not an uncommon thing in these days; people knew what a dead thing looked like. Yet Jesus says that she isn’t dead.

Perhaps they didn’t know what death was, and perhaps… we still don’t.

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:25-26

Ah, here we find words in another resurrection story. This time it was Lazarus, again we all know the story so I just want to focus on the above verses. We know that Jesus spoke truth to us, and here we see Him clearly say that if we believe in Him, we shall NEVER die.

Interesting… but we have all lost people, been to funerals, or heard about the deaths of famous people, even “christians”. So does that mean none of us have faith? That we don’t believe in Him?

Or does that mean that we don’t know what death is?

Christ promised us this more than once, if you wish to see another verse just look here:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”  John 10: 27-28.

So the natural conclusion is one of two things, either A, none of us, including the disciples, truly had faith. Or, we can’t tell the difference between dead and sleeping.

Paul discusses death and the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:

“So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as in the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, bretheren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”  1 Corinthians 15: 42-58

Now this is a powerful piece of scripture. I could probably write a whole post just on this here (although at this point I have no intention of doing that, though who knows, maybe someday). What I want to focus on is the heavy emphasis here on the resurrection being a change. Whether we are alive or “dead” these bodies will not go with us into eternity, we will receive new spiritual bodies.

Note how Paul also uses the words “we shall not all sleep”.

This is seemingly random and put in where all other similar words are death, and dead. By all rights that word could easily read as die, yet Paul doesn’t say that. He says sleep.

Are they interchangeable? Is there a distinction? I can’t really say for sure. What I can say is that death has always been a statement of finality, and in Christ, nothing is final. I like this word sleep. We don’t have to mourn the passing of those we know and care about, or even of ourselves.

It is not final, simply a quick nap before being called home to Christ, refreshed and ready for eternity.

Praising God with our lives

Today I want to go into more of what has changed my life. And that is simply learning to praise God, to really make Him the focus of my love and attention, above all else. I want to look at Psalm 66 today, while reading I was just floored by it, and can’t wait to share.

“Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious. Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah. Psalm 66: 1-4

Make a joyful noise!!  I love this so much, and is at the heart of my worship. A simple statement like this, we aren’t asked to worship God in any particular way, with a certain style of music, singing, or praise. He simply wants us to make a joyful noise unto Him. And He wants ALL of us to do this. Our God is great and powerful and deserving of our affections and praise. He should be ahead of all things in our lives, and He deserves all of our praise.

 Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.” Psalm 66: 5-7

We aren’t just worshiping a God who demands it, we are worshiping a God who time and time again has shown us that He deserves it. God has done amazing things for His people, and is utterly deserving of everything we can give. Who are we in comparison? How can we lift ourselves up against God? This is a call to humble ourselves before our God. It is Him that we serve.

“O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, Which my lips have uttered and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah. Psalm 66: 8-15

We also praise our God for all that he has done for us. When we suffered, when we struggled, it was God who rescued us. Even while we were in our sin God loved us so much that He sent Jesus to die for us, and save us. He is bringing us into His presence, because we can’t get there on our own. This Psalm is written while men lived under the law, thus we see listed the sacrifices that were given to God. We are no longer under that law, but we can still sacrifice for Him. What do we cling to in our lives that we should throw upon the alter and be done with? Our God deserves our first and our best, if we are placing anything at all before God, we need to sacrifice it. Give God our praise, for to Him goes all the glory. Think about how we spend our time, for our praise is more than music at church, or a song in our hearts. Our praise is a condition of our heart. We need to place God first in our lives.  Do we spend as much time diving into His word, or serving others, as we do watching television, or playing video games? How about our time on facebook? Does it eclipse our time with God? God needs to be first in our lives, and we need to devote our time to Him. If we are spending more time in other areas of our lives, then we are praising those things above Him, we have made idols and we need to break them down and turn back to God.

 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.”  Psalm 66: 16-20

God has done so many amazing things for me, and for you. Are we declaring this the way we should? I won’t speak for individuals, but as a culture I can see clearly that we are not. And I am not even including non-believers in this statement. Of those that call ourselves Christian, the vast majority do not live a life that shows praise to God. I am not sure how this bit on praise turned into such a look into our lives, but I feel the Spirit leading me to say this, and so I will. During this Easter season, look inside yourselves, and at the outward image you present. Can people see God in you? If you don’t know how to answer, or if you know that they don’t. Ask yourself this, what can I sacrifice to the one who gave it all to me? How can I make my life a praise to Him? Focus on the last sentence in these verses. God gave us His son, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again. No longer do we have to worry about making ourselves right with God as the one who wrote this song did. If we surrender to Jesus our very lives, God will hear our prayers, and His mercy is already showering down upon us. Give praise to the God who created us, and to Jesus for rescuing us. God Bless you all.

Dominion

I would like to start this post with a look at something I covered briefly in my last post, a comparison between some verses in Genesis chapter 1, and Colossians chapter 1.

“Who is the image of the invisible God,” Colossians 1:15

As we covered last time, the Who mentioned at the start of this verse is Jesus. And image refers to the traits and character. So what this verse says is that Jesus is the very nature and character of God, only in a form we can see, touch, smell, and learn from. God came down in the form of Jesus and walked with us, talked with us, left us with lessons on how to live our lives, and, most importantly of all, redeemed us! In my last post I went over some of the traits that Jesus portrayed, and I say some because I know I only scratched the surface, my writing isn’t meant to be all inclusive, only to cause a desire to dig deeper, only God’s Word truly teaches.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” Genesis 1:26

And here is the quote from the first half of that verse in Genesis that I also quoted last time; where God is saying that He is going to make man “in our image”. This is powerful. We are made after the image of God. So yes, we are made in the image of God. Refer back to Colossians (or refer forward as the case may be) and look again at the image of God mentioned there. From the very beginning, Genesis chapter 1, we were made in Christ! God knew the very day we would fall away from him (yes, song reference, for those that know me try not to faint) and was preparing, even then for that eventuality. We belonged to Christ then, before the fall, and had His traits. Now this is where comparing these two verses starts to get really interesting, let us take a look at these two areas, include a few more verses surrounding each.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis 1: 26-28

Wow, so when we were created we had control over everything on the earth? Every creature, “over all the earth”. That is amazing. We were created to lead, and to rule, under God, but over the earth. Suddenly the name “King of Kings” is more appropriate than ever before, in a way, all were given dominion here and all were kings, and He the King over us. And then sin enters the picture, we all know the story, serpent deceives Eve, Eve eats forbidden fruit, Eve gives unto Adam, Adam eats, God kicks us out of the garden and we find ourselves living in the curse, all of a sudden without that same dominion we had before, now we have to struggle and work to get results out of the earth. If the story ended here, I probably wouldn’t be writing this, but then something happens; Jesus comes. Let us look into Colossians and see what His description is.

“Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1: 15-17

Well, this is getting exciting now. “firstborn of every creature”. This doesn’t mean that Christ was the first thing created by God. Biblically speaking firstborn always refers to not an order of birth, but a right. The firstborn received the largest portion of inheritance, the firstborn ruled after the father passed. Solomon, though not the firstborn son of David, is considered a firstborn in the rights that he received. You see that with Jacob and Esau as well, Jacob received the rights and blessings of firstborn, even though Esau was born first. Christ was not created, in fact He created us and we were created in Him. He is the firstborn of creation because He rules over creation. The next part of these verses goes into some examples of the things that He rules over, which is a list of, well, everything. The verses close out with a clear statement that Christ is the head of all, and the reason for our very existence. Now I said this was where it got exciting, and I know some of you are probably wondering what is so exciting about this, we all knew Jesus was God, where is the news? Where is the excitement? Whereas I do have more, I just want to assure you that this is exciting, I am thrilled with my Lord Jesus and even simple statements like this make me want to belt out praises (again, those that know me know I don’t sing well, so that would be to the detriment of all nearby). This is glorious when compared side by side with all that Christ taught. Because Christ did more than just cleanse our sins, he brought the kingdom of heaven back to us. He has returned what we lost in Eden.  If there be any doubt of this, let us take a look at some of Christ’s teachings.

I don’t want anybody panicking on me here, I am not about to get into one of those God will give you what ever you want messages. I am going to start off in Luke, chapter 11, after Christ teaches the Lord’s Prayer and the parable of the man who asked for three loaves. We start off in verse 9:

“And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11: 9-13

This is powerful. If we ask we receive, if we seek, we find, if we knock, the door is opened. I realize that on the surface this might look like what I just told you I wasn’t going to do, so I encourage you too look a little farther, what does it say our heavenly Father will give us? That is right, the Holy Spirit. So wait, what does this mean? When we seek, ask, and knock. God answers, He fills us with His Spirit. The Spirit can then guide us in the ways of God, comfort us through our troubles, and truly teach us how to ask things of our Lord. You see, God doesn’t provide for us whatever we ask for before Christ. This is part of what Christ brought to us. When we surrender to Christ, live for Him, the Holy Spirit fills us with desires that are Godly, and a heart that seeks His face. It is when we ask through the Spirit that God grants us our desires, for then, the desires are truly His anyway. The real power of prayer comes not in praying for what you want, but in letting the Spirit pray for you, and accomplishing His perfect will. This is but the first step in finding what Christ brought back to us, there is more, so much more. Getting excited yet? Let’s move on.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16: 15-18

This is Jesus speaking to the disciples just before his ascension into heaven. When we believe and are baptized. This is critical. First we believe, our faith is a gift from God, granted by him, and then we surrender into baptism. We give up our old ways to follow Him, surrender ourselves and receive the Holy Spirit. At this point Christ describes what those who believe will look like, I don’t know about you, but that seems like a fairly powerful group of people. In the name of Christ we can do all of those things, if He but gives us the faith. The dominion that was given when man was created, and lost to the sin of Adam and Eve, has been restored through Christ. If we surrender to Christ, allow the Spirit to live within us. That dominion is given back. Through His name we regain what was lost, not of ourselves, but of Him that created us, died for us, and defeated death itself.

All praise and glory to God the Father, through our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

Image of the Invisible God

“Who is the image of the invisible God,” Colossians 1:15

I know that isn’t the whole verse, but I want to stop there, at least for now, I will probably cover the second half of that verse and the next few in another post, but my last post was far longer than planned, and I don’t want to do that again, at least not so soon after the last time.

For those that are wondering, the Who being referred to is Jesus. So I ask, what does it mean by the image of the invisible God? There is another place where we have seen something referenced as being in the image of God, and that is in Genesis:

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” Genesis 1:26

Again, I know I cut the verse off midway, however you have the context I am trying to connect you with, the rest is also important, but I will cover it in my next point, as it shadows the rest of Colossians 1:15, the connections are inspiring. Now, we have to references to the image of God. The image of God refers to God’s traits, so us being made in the image of God means we contain these traits, although sin has separated us from God and the traits are a poor reflection of our creator. However, Christ is not mentioned as in the image of God, He IS the image of God. Christ is no reflection, He is the real deal. When we read through the Gospels we get a window, a glimpse at God, and His very nature and character, in a form we can see and understand clearly. We see His mercy, love, kindness, power, and control. Before I go more into them though, I want to point out one more thing.

We are made in the image of God. Christ is the image of God. We are made in Christ. Now this may seem mind bogglingly simple, but let this sink in for just a second. Allow this thought to be more than just a thought, let the truth sink in.

Now, back to the image of God, Jesus portrays the characteristics and traits of God. First, he is all powerful. There are numerous instances where Jesus casts out demons, which is exerting His might over darkness. One of my favorites, that truly shows how the demons and devils fear our Lord, is found in Mark.

“And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (There were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.” Matthew 5: 2-13

That is power. The enemies of Jesus fall and worship at his feet. There is no struggle, no resistance; they know they have not the power to resist. We worship the God of all. He is the Most High. Next we take a look at another trait, which is control, turn back just one chapter in the book of Mark for an example of this.

“And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  Mark 4: 35-41

Christ has been given dominion over all the earth, this includes every part of it, from the smallest of creatures, to the largest of mountains. He but needs to speak a word for the winds and the seas to obey Him. Christ is in complete control. There is no circumstance or situation that He is not both aware of, and prepared for. We have no reason to fear anything for our God is in control.

The next trait I wish to discuss is Christ’s mercy.

“And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8: 3-12

Here we find how Jesus treated someone who was undoubtedly guilty, and who, according to the law, should have been killed. And yet Jesus does the unexpected, He displays mercy, rebukes her accusers, and allows her to walk free, saying nothing more than “sin no more”. Wow. This is something to praise God over. Despite the fact that we are all guilty of sin, without exception, Jesus is extending mercy to us, saving us from the death we deserve.

Last I want to show Christ’s love,

Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the yes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” John 11:35-44

Here we see an example of Jesus’ love for others mixed with a show of his power to heal, and even bring the dead to live. Jesus was grieved for the loss of Lazarus, even to the point of tears. Jesus cares for every single one of us greatly, so much so that He died for us, that we may live in Him. There is no greater love. We should follow this example, and have true compassion for those around us. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and we are made in His image. We need to surrender to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, allow the Spirit to move in us and make us more like Him.

Food For Thought: Child-Like Faith

It is Sunday morning, I have a busy day ahead of me, and I know you likely do as well, so today I am going to keep it short and simple (thus I used NIV instead of my usual King James today). Ponder on this:

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 NIV

This is some serious food for thought. The kingdom of heaven is for those with a child like faith. So what does that mean? The faith of a young child is untainted; if you tell them something they simply trust you. Children do not doubt, or rationalize about whether or not what you said was true. We should be like this with our heavenly Father. He has told us the truth, why do we still doubt? Why do we hesitate when He says to go? We should trust in our God and ALL of His sayings. We need a child like faith.

A Kingdom Concept

Are we living in His kingdom? Do we act like it? Have we surrendered to His lordship over us?

Today I am going to continue along with the theme of surrendering to God and His will for us. Little did I know when I started this blog where it would take me, or even why I picked the title that I did, just happened that it was very fitting for the scripture I was reading at the time. Now I have continued my studies, and what a surprise, it is a topic that continues to flow in with the theme, on a much larger scale. A friend of mine posted a series of interviews, where pastor Benny Hill interviews another pastor, Dr. Myles Monroe. (you can find the video here: Interview and I do encourage watching it, however you need to study the scripture they use yourself, some of the theology seems a bit off) I was a bit skeptical going in, I hadn’t heard much about Benny Hill, but what I had heard wasn’t the most positive of things, so I think it is honest for me to say I started the video with my defenses higher than was fair. It did not matter, the views spoken about and the perspective this man, Myles Monroe, looks from was mind blowing. I have spent the last couple days cross referencing what I found in the videos with scripture and double checking all of their references. We say that we are working for the glory of God and His Kingdom. But do we even know how to live in a kingdom? As Myles Monroe puts it, we have a tendency to carry our knowledge of government structure and impose it onto the Bible. For us, this means a republic. And many read it and pick and choose as if we have some sort of say in it. And that is not what a kingdom is, not at all. Now I know this is a very long post, and I apologize as that was not my original intent, but there was a lot to cover. If you wish a quick summary, the last couple paragraphs do that, but whereas they brought up some very interesting points, and have a lot of good information; I did unfortunately find some misuse of scripture, so I want to use this to separate the truth from the confusion. I am going to leave this intro with a quote from Myles Monroe, then I am going to dive into the scripture used or referenced in the video, I will get back to the quote again later, but I want you to start thinking about this now:

 “A kingdom is not a democracy, not a religion, and not a republic. A kingdom is a governing influence of a king over his territory, impacting it with his will, his purpose, and his intent, producing a citizenry of people who express his culture and reflect his nature.” – Myles Monroe

“The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah” Psalm 24

A common reference to God is the King of glory. I just used this one example here as we have a clear example that not only directly tells us who the King of glory is, but also does it in a way that shows His might, power, and everlasting quality. God created it all, everything belongs to Him. We are a part of His creation, we are His citizens.

Another name that is used in referring to God is as the Ancient of days. We see this use in Daniel chapter 7. This is prophesy, and in it we see reference to Jesus(called the Son of man) The first part of the chapter is describing some of the beasts in Daniel’s vision, I shall pick up in verse 9, after their description.

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints o the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 7: 9-23

This series of verses has so much to say and is used often by those looking to preach the end times. However that is not what I want to draw attention to today. Mainly I want to show how the Ancient of days has ultimate power, no matter how great the beasts were He was able to subdue and judge them. Those that were referred to as His saints inherited the kingdom. This leads into then next verse I wish to show you, revealing more of the names that God is referred to as.

“Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the king of kings, and the Lord of lords;” 1 Timothy 6:15

God is referred to here as the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. Again we see reference to His supremacy over all. And as we saw in the verse in Daniel where He gave His saints the kingdom, God has the ultimate authority even of the kings and rulers of this world. His is the ultimate power and authority, and it is to Him that we should surrender and submit.

I want to take this time now that we have seen that God is our king, to talk a little about kings in general. The video, and world history, tells us that Kings rule by birthright. You can not choose to vote for a king, or even to vote to remove a king. On earth if kings are removed it is because they are overthrown, which as we see in Daniel chapter 7, simply is not possible with the Ancient of days, our King of kings. So, God is our King, always has been, and always has been. That is great, but what do I do with this information? How do I react to it? Well let us just take a quick look at a few more things. We owe God our reverence, unlike other forms of government, in a kingdom everything is owned by the King. The lands, animals, even the people, belong to the king. We also see that the king’s word is law, and irrefutable. You don’t argue with your king, you submit. So what do we do? We obey. I know obey isn’t a word we like to hear, but here it is, I said it. Jesus didn’t walk around asking people to do things; He TOLD them what to do. Everywhere He went this remained consistent. That is because Jesus has the authority, and doesn’t have to ask. Submitting to God’s authority doesn’t make us pathetic, on the contrary it is very powerful, and I want to show you something. Let us take a look, at Matthew, chapter 6.

“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6: 25-34

How awesome is this? God is our authority, He is our king. And thus He takes care of us. God cares for us like a father, and like a king. A good king will always take care of his people; we will talk more of that later, but first let us cover what Jesus commands us to do in this verse. We are told to seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. This is because to be a part of a kingdom, we need to seek its ruler. So how do we do this? Jesus tells us in quite a few places how, let us look at a few of them.

“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life, for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father wit the holy angels.”  Mark 8: 34-38

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6: 35

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.” John 14: 6-7

Jesus commands us to give up ourselves and our worldly ways, to turn and follow Him completely. In that same verse He makes a reference that matches up with the verse we read in Daniel earlier, and calls himself the Son of man. Jesus calls himself the bread of life, and by believing in Him, we shall never hunger or thirst. This looks like an answer to what we saw him speak about in Matthew. Then Jesus clinches it. We are told that if we have known him, then we also know the father. So by knowing Jesus, by following and becoming one with him, we meet our King.

Next in the video, Myles Monroe talks about what he refers to as the Governor.  When Myles Monroe says this he is referencing the Holy Spirit. We can return to John, chapter 14 for more detail on this, and the role of the Spirit. I will pick up in verse 16, after Jesus explains to the disciples that He won’t be with them much longer.

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but you know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” John 14: 16-17

Jesus calls the Spirit of truth a Comforter. He shall be with us forever. Monroe mentions the day of Pentecost, when all of the believers there received the Spirit. The Spirit is what transforms our lives, replacing and cleansing the old, filling us with our new birthright, as citizens of God’s kingdom.

On that note I want to dive back into more about kingdoms. This is the area of the video that Myles gives us the quote that I showed you at the beginning. A kingdom is not a religion. Jesus didn’t behave like the religious men of the time, because Jesus came to introduce us to the kingdom of God. When Jesus was taken and was about to be crucified, look where the governor in Jerusalem and the Pharisees were questioning Jesus, note how Jesus responds to Pilate’s questions, but not to those of the Pharisees.

“And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, Art though the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it. And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest though nothing? Behold how many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marveled.” Mark 15: 1-5

Jesus wasn’t responding to the Pharisees because they had no say or part in His job there. Jesus wasn’t coming to revive the religion of the time, but to establish a kingdom; therefore he only answered Pilate, the governor of the earthly kingdom.

Another thing Myles Monroe said is that religion produces a system, while a kingdom produces a culture. As long as we are trying to follow a religion, we are bound to laws and rules, seeking only to appease God, which is a task none of us can accomplish. Stepping into a kingdom and becoming a part of that, gives you inherent rights, and you develop a culture which pertains to the kingdom. Therefore, by living for the kingdom of God, we will develop a culture, befitting that kingdom. We are not members of a religion; we are citizens of a kingdom. If there is any doubt as to which mindset is preferred by Jesus, just take a look at this next verse.

“And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that though shouldest enter under my roof: Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.”  Luke 7: 2-10

Jesus marveled at the faith of the centurion. Not because of how religious he was, but because he understood how things worked in a kingdom. He knew that Jesus carried authority, and simply by speaking things happened. If you would like more evidence that Jesus came to bring a kingdom, simply look at Isaiah chapter 9.

“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. 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.”  Isaiah 9: 6-7

This is prophesying regarding the birth of Jesus. He came into the world, born into the line of David. He came and the government shall be upon his shoulder. That was His burden, and His job. Jesus brought to us the government, the kingdom of God. As Myles Monroe puts it, God is colonizing the earthly kingdoms. God created everything and owns it. When you colonize somewhere, such as what the British did in the Bahamas, you erase the past culture of the people there; remove their language, history, and culture. The people living in the Bahamas are of African descent. However, very few could tell you much of anything about their ancestry there. However, they can all recount to you the history and mannerisms of England. In fact, you will find they follow the same customs and many of the same cultural traits. The kingdom of God is similar, Jesus comes to us and teaches us the ways of His kingdom, which we are reborn into. And we are told to forsake the ways of this world, and follow Him. Notice the similarity? Again we must mention that in a kingdom, the king owns everything. If you look back at Psalm 24 which we read earlier you see why God owns everything, He created it all, even us. This is I think the key to why David was a man after God’s own heart (see my last blog post for more on this). David praised God continually, because he understood that God was responsible for all that he had, and everything belonged to God anyway. It is for this very reason, David’s character and response to God, that David’s line was chosen to lead Israel. If we look in the book of Mark, we see a blind man who calls to Jesus for healing. But look at how he does this:

“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jeus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.” Mark 10:47

This man recognized that Jesus had royal authority. He linked his lineage to that of a king, and submitted to Jesus, calling for mercy. For this act of faith and reverence, the man is healed. We are called to submit to the authority of Jesus, as we are citizens in His kingdom. Jesus owns it all, the trees, rivers, food, earth, the air we breathe, and yes, even us. Realizing this is a key to gaining a proper mindset. We don’t own anything, not even our own bodies. That is why we are called to be a living sacrifice, give up our own will, follow his. Everything we “own” belongs to God; we are simply stewards of it. That is what tithing teaches.

“Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herwith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Malachi 3:10

Now this is where what I see in the scripture, differs a little with what the video says. I agree that there is a difference in tithing, and in giving, which I will get into in just a second. However, they say that tithing does not produce a blessing, only giving. This scripture clearly states otherwise. Tithing does keep us in good standing with our King, and opens us up to receive His blessings. However, there is something they mention that I agree with completely. This verse in Malachi does mention that the tithe is simply for maintaining the Lords house. So if you wish to see your church grow in what they can do and to spread their ministry beyond where it currently sits, giving beyond a tithe is how to see that happen. And another thing they were right about on this topic is that I haven’t found Jesus speaking on tithing, only on giving. And the language for the two is quite different. Now on to what the New Testament says about giving:

“But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he puposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them, and unto all men; And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” 2 Corinthians 9: 6-15

Here we see giving being mentioned. None of what is written here is speaking about maintaining, rather it speaks about growing. This is giving unto God, not tithing. Here we see mention of multiplying your seed sown, and increasing your fruits. This verse says that when you take what God has blessed you with, and bless others with it; it can grow into something beyond what you would ever have thought possible of your gift. For if you give unto others of what God has blessed you with, he will multiply the fruits of your labor, and do great things with it. Note that it isn’t you who does these great things. They were God’s resources to start with, and He does the work with them. The fruits of the gift are multiplied because this shows that it was more than just what we gave, God’s hand is present. Another thing is that this verse does not speak just on finances. When you give you can do more then send someone some money. It speaks of sowing. That involves work. When you plant you don’t just casually toss some seed out on the ground. You prepare the ground, removing the weeds, tilling the soil, carefully planting your seed, and then watering it. You can give of your time, with patience and love listen to someone in need. You can use your resources; perhaps you pass a homeless person in the street on a hot day and give them some water. Giving of yourself is an example left to us by Jesus, who even though a king, washed the feet of His disciples.

As kingdom citizens were are told to be in the world, though we are not of it. We are to forsake the ways of the world. Looking at things as a kingdom certainly makes verses like this, make even more sense.

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

The title of Ambassador makes so much more sense if we view things as though we are representing a country, or in this case, a kingdom. We are to be citizens whose culture and point of origin are clear. We are to live in such a way that Christ is visible in all of us.

The next concept they discuss is something that was briefly mentioned by me earlier in the post. And that is this, you don’t argue with a king. The words of a king are not up for debate, they are simply to be obeyed.

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”  Matthew 7:21-29

In this passage we see that simply doing good works in the name of your king is not enough. God wants us to obey Him. Another thing I would like to note is at the end of this passage. Jesus wasn’t teaching like the established religious leaders, He was speaking as one with authority, as a King.

The next topic covered in the video is a Lord’s responsibility to their charges. It does not reflect well on a king if their citizens are in poor shape, barely surviving. I would like to reference again to Matthew chapter 6 where it is discussed that submission, surrendering, to God means that He will take care of you, and you need not worry about anything. I am reminded of Solomon, at how well he took care of his servants. Look at this passage from 2 Chronicles:

“And when the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel; his cup-bearers also, and their apparel; and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the LORD; there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom: Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard. Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom.” 2 Chronicles 9:3-7

Solomon took great care of his people. They were dressed in the nicest of garments and they were happy. Obviously his people were well taken care of. And yet, Solomon had many flaws himself, we can expect much greater from the King of kings. Myles also makes mention of the relationship of husbands and wives as an example of this. In the Bible wives are asked to submit to their husbands. However, this isn’t in the western idea of submission, which would make them lesser, far from it. All that it simply means is that the husband is now responsible for the wife, and for providing for her. They used 1 Peter chapter 3 as a reference to this, I will go ahead and quote that here as well, along with some of the verses surrounding what they mention which helps to clarify:

“For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” 1 Peter 3: 5-7

We see here that it was the husband’s responsibility to care for their wife, and to take great care of them, “that your prayers be not hindered”. This isn’t just a suggestion; this is a command, a man who does not treat his wife with honor and respect, risks losing their window of communication with God.

Next we can discuss what our responsibility as a citizen is. Like in any modern country, the civilians are not warriors, they do not fight. Jesus never asked us to fight for the kingdom; he has his own servants for that. In fact, that is the role of the angels; they are the Lord’s army. I am reminded of 2 Kings 19. Here we see the power of God in action, with the use of just one angel:

“Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a bank against it. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.” 2 Kings 19: 32-36

God has an army far more powerful than anything we could develop, just waiting for His orders. God will fight those battles for us. Now Myles uses four other verses to reference that God is more than capable of fighting battles for us. The first three are these:

“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?”  Matthew 26:53

“Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause cam I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.” John 18: 36-37

“Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” John 19: 11

In the video they mix up these scriptures a little. Myles says that while talking to Pilot (which is the John verses) Jesus says that he could call down legions of angels. However, this was not said to Pilot at all, but to Peter when Jesus was taken. The message is the same however, Jesus has not asked us to fight, but rather simply that we pray, and allow God to fight our battles.

“Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, and host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! How shall we do? And he answered, Frear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horse and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, LORD, open the yes of these men, that they may see. And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they ewere in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them? And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. And he prepared great provision for them: and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. So the bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.” 2 Kings 6: 14-23

In these verses here we see Elisha, not fearing an entire army because he knew the power of his King. Elisha did nothing more than pray, and God conquered an army for him. And that is all that we are asked to do as well, which brings me to my next verse.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6: 13-19

I love this, all the prep work putting on the armor and gathering the sword, just to pray. We are to outfit ourselves to enter the presence of our King. But it is He who will ultimately do battle on our behalf.

Next Myles starts talking about the keys of the kingdom. Now here, he does say some things that sound good. But I don’t think it is directly relevant to the passage. First, I will give you the passage:

“He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16: 15-19

Now Myles links this with another verse:

“And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said., O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard see, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17: 14-21

Myles links these two verses, and says that when Jesus teaches the disciples apart from everyone else, that this is actually him teaching them the keys to the kingdom. Myles makes claim that the keys to the kingdom are what grant access to such things as healing. I am not convinced by the context in which Jesus speaks about these keys. The context is actually quite different. Allow me to use the other time that Jesus uses these words as an example:

“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  Matthew 18: 11-20

When we see this in the midst of this text, we see something different from what Myles preached. Binding and loosing seems more akin to a spiritual response from our Father, based on what is happening on earth. It seems to say that when believers gather what they ask is given to them, or “loosed”. Also in this example Jesus shows how grace was extended several times to a brother who had fallen away, and that if that person would but hear their wisdom, all would be forgotten. As other passages say (which I will cover shortly in response to other verses discussed later in the video), when we extend grace to others, God extends it to us in return, or else, what we loose on earth (grace to others) is loosed in heaven (grace to us).

In the video they next jumped back to the Spirit, and being born again into it. We all know of the call to be baptized into Christ, and that we are “born again”. I am including a bit of Myles’ perspective on what that means in relation to a kingdom concept. Myles states that we need to be born again because we must be born into the kingdom of God in order to receive the “rights” granted to citizens. That is our show that we are surrendered to God’s lordship over us. When we are baptized we are sent the great Comforter (see earlier verses). Myles perceives the Holy Spirit as a sort of Governor for the kingdom of heaven. The job of a governor here on earth is to live among the people, remove their language, history, and culture, and then replace what was taken with the equivalent from the culture of the ruling kingdom. I spoke earlier of how this was done in the Bahamas. And frankly I kind of like this concept. The Holy Spirit is here to make us into one of God’s own, when we let Him guide us, and truly surrender, we see God work in our lives.

The last thing they talked about (yes we have reached the end) is giving, and how that blesses you. Sadly I have to say they didn’t use the right scripture to back this up, and I want to clear some of the misconceptions here. What Myles quotes about what you measure out being measured back to you, can come from one of three places, I will list them all so you can fairly judge for yourself which you think he was using.

“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6: 36-38

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” Matthew 7: 1-3

“And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? And not to be set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.” Mark 4: 21-25

Ok, so in the first two we see a very clear theme against judging others. For what judgments we measure out, will be measured back us. In the third verse we see a slight twist to the theme. Here it seems to be talking about not hiding the light (perhaps God’s truth) Even that which was kept secret was only done so for it to be revealed later. If this verse truly is referring to the Gospel, which is what I read here, then we are showing love and grace by sharing it with all that have the ears with which to hear it. So in a way, this is similar to the previous two verses as well. In all we seem to be asked to extend grace, with the promise that God will in return extend grace back to us. Just one last verse, on this topic, and then I will end with my closing thoughts on the video.

“Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.” Matthew 18: 23-25

This verse was also mentioned by them briefly, when talking about tithing, which was used slightly out of context again as Jesus hadn’t been saying this is what will happen to those that don’t pay their debts, but merely used as an example to show why grace should be extended.

Ok, now to sum up this video. I would like to say that overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. The kingdom concept is powerful and I agree that we should be reading our Bibles with an eye out to the fact that God is our King. What God says is not up for debate, and if He said it, it is law. We need to have full faith that our God will care for us, and surrender ourselves to him. With that being said, there was some faulty theology used here, as well as some misuse of scripture. I discussed them as they came up, so don’t really need to go into much detail here, but the financial views presented seem to be skewed. However, this is as I read it, and as I feel the Spirit leading me to interpret. I encourage you to read all of the scripture for yourself with a heart open to God, and let it speak to you. Do not blindly accept either what these men, or me, teach you. I have dug up the scripture they referenced and listed it here plainly to read. If the King James isn’t the translation you are most comfortable with, simply look at what verse was used (all were listed after the quotes) and read it in your favored translation. God gave us the masterpiece of the Bible so that we could all look and understand for ourselves. Let Him speak to you through it.

Now a huge thank you for those of you that chose to bear with me through this massive collection of words!

God Bless