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Word for Today:  October 26

The Kingdom.

“Religious” thinking (this is always a big problem) has removed the Kingdom from where it really is to where we think it is.  When we think of “heaven” we think “far away.”  We think “eternity.”  We think “after we die.”  We think “sometime in the future.”

The devil sees to it that we think wrong about the Kingdom and where it is.  Because he knows that when we find out the Truth, he is doomed.

The Kingdom is in (or within) every believer.   If you are a believer, the Kingdom is inside of you.  Jesus said the Kingdom of God is “within” or “inside” of you.

Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within (entos:  within, inside) you.”  Luke 17:21

Now, just what is in the Kingdom?   What is there?  What is inside of you?

• Life
• Health
• Peace
• Joy
• Power
• Success
• Prosperity
• Boldness
• Love
• Faith
• Forgiveness
• Patience
• Strength
• Soundness of mind

In fact “all things that pertain to life and godliness” are in you. (2Pet 1:3)   It is all there.  It is inside of every believer.  It came at the time of your conversion.  It is the Kingdom of God and it has come.  It is the Answer to the prayer Jesus prayed in Matthew chapter 6.  It will function when you let it.

All Kingdom resources are in you.

Word for Today:  October 24

Worship God.

Come before His presence.  Stand in Awe of His Glory and His Goodness and His Power.  Be still.  Listen.  Wait.  Be quiet.  Weep.  Tremble.  Fall on your face.  Bow down.  Kneel. Worship God.  Get lost in God.  Get “caught up” in God.  Stand before Him.

When the Glory filled the temple in the OT the priests could not minister so powerful was the Presence of God.  On the Day of Pentecost in Acts, the saints who were filled with God staggered as drunk men and spoke in unlearned languages.

All around them people knew that something supernatural had taken place.  Some were amazed.  Some were confounded.  Some marveled.  All were moved by the awesome Presence of God… They Worshipped and God responded.

I walked into a convention center filled with over 1000 people over 40 years ago and was met by an overwhelming Presence of the Holy Spirit.  Those present were mesmerized in True Worship.  They were singing in the Spirit.  They were praying in the Spirit.  Some were standing with uplifted hands, others were kneeling…. They were weeping and rejoicing and dancing and many were prostrate on the floor laying at the feet of their Glorious God.

They were as one and they all were literally “drunk with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2).  It was the most moving and emotional meeting I had ever experienced in my entire life.  It was at that moment God let me know I could have More of Him than I had ever received.

This revelation came in the atmosphere of True Worship.  I remember rushing to the altar for prayer.  I remember a saintly Episcopalian Rector who laid hands on me and gently prayed for me.  I was literally flooded with the awesome and Real Presence of the Holy Spirit… and my life (and ministry) was forever changed.

Life, God-Life, has it birth in the Womb of Worship

Word for Today:  October 23

Jesus’ self-emptying.

(Jesus) Who existing in the Form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation (Kenoo) and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross…  Phil. 2:6-8

Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel…  Isa. 7:13

The Kenosis of Jesus is a Foundation Truth that many have failed to grasp.  Kenosis or “self-emptying” simply declares that Jesus willingly “emptied” Himself of His God Characteristics and condescended to the stature and state of a man… a human being… born of a woman… and came to earth to live and die as part of God’s Plan to Redeem Man from Adam’s failure.

Jesus laid down and left in heaven certain characteristics and privileges He exercised as God.  He willingly emptied Himself of His God Form… His God Power… His God Knowledge… His Eternal Life.  He became subject to sickness, disease, death, failure, sin and any and all human liabilities and limitations imposed by Adam’s sin and failure.  The Scripture tells us that:

He was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin… (Heb. 4:15)

Jesus willingly and obediently subjected Himself to the possibility of sin and the possibility of failure when He put off His God Characteristics and took on Himself the form and limitations of humanity.

But He was Victor over temptation.  He was Victor over sin.  He was Victor over every human weakness.  He was Victor over all…

Even death and the grave

Word for Today:  October 17

Confrontation.

And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this?  Mat. 21:10

And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. Mat. 21:11

Praise rang out.  Crowds gathered.  A parade took place.  Rejoicing was everywhere.  The King had come to town.  This was a divine convergence of time and eternity.

In time, God foreordained that Jesus would enter into the sphere of human existence.   In eternity, God planned for the redemption of the fallen human race.  And now, time and eternity came into a divine convergence…. they meet.  They intersect.  They collide.

I believe we are at a similar place.  Time, today, is converging with eternity.  Just as Jesus came “in the fullness of time” we are coming into another fullness of time and it will shortly blend in with eternity.

The temporal is about to become eternal.  This is why this moment is so crucial.  This is the reason the anointing is mounting and the glory of God is rising.  This is the reason behind Revival.  This is the reason behind our Praying.  Our Intercession.  We are at The Place.  We are in The Time.  There is once again a Divine Convergence of Time with Eternity.  We are There.

A Contemporary Confrontation with God

Word for Today:  October 16

Faith and facts.

Truth, which is activated by Faith, is more powerful than Facts.  Facts are activated by reason.   Faith was present before Facts existed.  Faith gave birth to facts.  The Faith of God produced the Fact of Creation.  Faith always takes precedence over facts.  Truth has more power than Facts.  When the Word (Truth) is mixed with Faith it becomes Revelation.  It becomes Wisdom.  It becomes the primary force that functions in the Spiritual World.

Truth is Spiritual.  Facts are natural.  Truth is “unseen” Facts are “seen.”  Truth is understood by Faith, Facts are understood by Reason.  Truth is the functioning force in the unseen Spiritual World; Facts are the functioning force in the visible Natural World.  What we believe and how we believe determines which “World” we live in.

When we Believe with the Heart… we are making a decision to live by Faith.  By trusting God.  Living by Revelation.  By the Rhema Word.  By understanding.  By KNOWING.

This enables us to discern the difference between the Truth and Facts.  When facts contradict Truth we disregard the facts and choose to believe the Truth.  And we continue to believe the Truth until the Truth becomes a fact.

Faith creates facts

Word for Today:  October 14

Behold Jesus as a Perfect Man

ALL the miracles that Jesus performed while He was on earth were performed by a Human Being Full of the Holy Ghost and Power.  What He did… we can do.  What He accomplished as a Man, we can accomplish as men and women full of the Holy Ghost and living in that anointing.

He spoke to storms and they stopped.  He spit and made mud from it, put it on blind eyes and they were opened.  He confronted demon powers and they feared and trembled and begged for mercy.  He touched crippled and broken bodies and they were made whole.   He spoke healing to the sick and diseased and they were healed.  He received sinners and had mercy on the guilty.  He loved the unlovable and had compassion on the masses.  He raised the dead… cleansed lepers… resisted the devil… opened graves… interrupted funerals and restored the dead to their families…   He made wine out of water… friends out of enemies… peace out of confusion and torment… joy out of sadness and Heaven out of hell…  And then He told us that:

greater works than these shall ye do; because I go unto my Father… John 14:12.

Jesus is our Example.  Jesus is our Pattern.  Jesus is the guarantee that we can overcome the devil and take dominion over the powers of darkness.

What He did… we can do

Word for Today:  October 13

Jesus is not Who most people think He is.

I have tried to notice some characteristics in the Life of Jesus that probably would not be accepted in the life of any preacher in our society today.

• He was Radical.
• He was Outspoken. He pulled no punches.  He shot straight and true.  He did not “beat around the bush.”
• He was transparent. Who you saw was Who He was.  No pretense.  No hypocrisy.  No make-believe.  No disguise.
• He was non- religious. He did not run with the ministerial crowd.
• He was fearless.   He did not mince His words.  He did right with no fear of possible consequences.
• He was an iconoclast. A Non-conformist.  He kicked over sacred cows.  He violated traditions and He shattered customs.  To the religious world, He was a troublemaker.
• He was controversial. He took sides with the underdog and He challenged the respected.  He fellowshipped with the sinner and the profane.
• He embraced the simple and rejected the complicated.
• He spoke so little children could understand and confounded the wise with Wisdom and Truth.
• He was Uncompromising. Even when He could have won friends in high places and ultimately saved His own life, He refused to compromise.
• He was Anointed. And this is what drove Him to the Cross… His Anointing.  He was and is “The Anointed One.”  The Messiah.  The Christ.

He is the Christ.  The Son of the Most High God.  The King of kings and the Lord of lords.  The Alpha and the Omega.  The First and the Last.  The Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.  He is the Bright and Morning Star.  He is the Great I AM.

And He is Lord of all

Word for Today:  October 12

The Seed of God produces the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God is in the Seed of God.  Just as the oak tree is in the acorn, the Kingdom is in the Seed of God.  Just as the apple tree is in the apple seed, the Kingdom is in the Seed of God.   Just as the corn stalk is in the grain of corn, the Kingdom is in the Seed of God.  Just as the mustard tree is in the mustard seed, the Kingdom is in the Seed of God.   The Seed of God is the Word of God.  Therefore, the Kingdom is in the (Seed) Word.

 Fear not little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  Luke 12:32.

God pleases to give us the Kingdom and He gives it to us in Seed form which is the Word.  What is the Kingdom?   (Basileia) The Kingdom of God is the Rule of God, the Realm of God and the Will of God.

Jesus said when the Gospel of the Kingdom is preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, then shall the end come.  (Mat 24:14)  We have the Seed.   We have the Seed of the Kingdom of God.  Now, where is the Seed located?

It is where we choose to put it.  If we choose Jesus as Lord, God supernaturally places the Seed of the Kingdom in us.  If we have not chosen Jesus as Lord, the Seed of the Kingdom remains outside.

And ye have not His Word (Seed) abiding in you: for whom He hath sent, Him ye believe not… (John 5:38).

But if we are saved, it is IN US.

 …because ye are strong, and the Word of God   (Seed of God) ABIDETH IN YOU, and ye have overcome the wicked one.”  I John 2:14.

If the Seed of God is in us then the Kingdom of God is in us.

Neither shall they say Lo, here!  or lo, there!  For behold, the Kingdom of God is WITHIN you.  Luke 17:21

Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us… Eph 3:20

Anything, everything and all things that God has is in the Seed.  If you are Born Again the Incorruptible Seed is in you.  I Pet 1:23   Therefore, Anything, everything and all things that God has is inside you in seed form.

Remember… the tree is in the seed.  The seed will grow and produce IF the ground is right and if the environment is right.  The devil and all the powers of darkness cannot prevent the Seed from growing because the Life of God and the Power of God is in the Seed.

Word for Today:  October 11

I have discovered that there are three main problem areas in the lives of Believers.

These problem areas, if left alone and not controlled, will prevent any Christian from living and walking in victory.   The problem areas are:

• The Flesh… which needs to be crucified and kept crucified.
• The Mind… which needs to be renewed and kept renewed.
• The Mouth… which needs to be controlled all the time.

The flesh is constantly warring against the spirit.  I do not need to tell you this.  You experience it every day.  It rebels against the spirit.   It is at odds with God.  It hates the Word.  It resists the Holy Ghost.  It likes to run loose.  It demands attention.  Uncontrolled, it causes misery, guilt, condemnation, and failure.  The Bible tells us how to have victory over the flesh.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Gal. 5:16

The way to overcome flesh is to walk in the Spirit.  It is our flesh that is constantly giving us trouble.  It is my flesh that causes me the most grief.  Flesh is not sinful in itself.  It was created by God.  It is when we allow flesh to be controlled by a carnal mind and an uncontrolled will that we are tempted to sin… and most often yield to it.

To walk in the Spirit is a choice we make and it means to have our total life (spirit, soul and body) controlled by the Holy Ghost.

He is the living Spirit of the Most High God.

And He lives in you

Word for Today:  October 10

Agape is the God-kind of love.

It is characteristic of God and it is totally self-less.  It is a deliberate assent of the will… it is released by choice.  This kind of love is the underlying characteristic of God and it is this kind of love that is imputed to every believer at the time of Regeneration.  Paul said (in 1 Corinthians 13) that Love (Agape) is more important than:

• Speaking in Tongues
• the Gift of Prophecy
• Understanding (revelation)
• Mountain-moving Faith
• Giving to the poor
• Dying a Martyr

Love is an affection and not an emotion.  Love is a choice.  Love is a decision you make.  Love is deliberate.  Love is active.  Love moves from Word to deed.

• Love is not impatient but, instead, longsuffering.
• Love is not envious of others.
• Love is not self-centered, proud, haughty or puffed up.
• Love is not conceited.
• Love is not rude or crude.
• Love is not touchy or fretful or resentful.
• Love takes no account of the evil done to it.
• Love does not rejoice at the failures of others.
• Love believes the best of every person.
• Love bears up under anything that comes.
• Love endures every hardship without weakening. (1Cor 13 Amp)

The opposite of love is not hate… it is selfishness.  The most important product of the Christian faith is Love.  It has more significance and substance than anything that anyone can do, say or profess.  It is the primary characteristic of our faith and our salvation.

The incredible thing is we can all do this.  We can all choose to love.   It is not restricted to some high level of Christian achievement or some special gift from God.  The God-Kind of love is imputed into every believer and every believer has the privilege of giving it away.  And this One Thing will change everything.

Love never fails