The Kingdom of God!
Chapter 118
I received a letter from
Pastor/Prophet Hank Kunneman and what he has to say is a witness to what I have
been writing to you about the Kingdom of God. (Quote)
He wrote, "We are living in one
of the most pivotal times in history! This is a time of great victory,
breakthrough, and display of God's mighty power! But it is also a time of
intense warfare-in both the spiritual and the natural realms.
The powers of darkness are doing
all they can to prevent God's perfect plan from coming to pass.
But they shall fail! Why? Because warriors like us are rising up to push back against the enemy's advance!
While we certainly don't want to
give the enemy unnecessary attention, the Bible also reminds us that we are not
to be ignorant of the devil's schemes (2 Cor. 2:11). So, it is important that
we highlight some of the tactics the enemy might use to hinder us in our fight
against these demonic forces.
While talking about end-time
events in Matthew 24, Jesus emphasized something that is both sobering but also
very powerful. Again and again, He warns us to not allow ourselves to become
deceived! Obviously, Jesus knew the intensity of what we would be up against in
the last days as the workers of darkness continued to propagate evil.
Therefore, if we are going to be
successful in pulling down the strongholds of Satan, we need to ensure we don't
allow the evil around us to lure us into a place of deception!
Prophetically, we feel from the
Lord there must be a populace of remnant believers who will bring a fresh
emphasis to the Bible: God's Word. In order to ensure
that we are not deceived ourselves amidst this harsh season, we need to immerse
ourselves in the truth of the Scriptures with renewed excitement and zeal!
Let's be honest! We are living in
a culture of biblical abandonment. Recent studies have shown that nearly 70
percent of millennials and those younger no longer believe the Bible is God's
inerrant Word and few of these young people have any form of biblical worldview
at all!
In fact, many churches and those
who identify themselves as Christians are now adopting a deviant version of
Christianity that is opposed to biblical truth. Many pastors are rarely
preaching from the Bible or have even stopped completely, instead, they give
their congregations culturally acceptable "self-help" coaching that blurs the
lines of the hard truths woven throughout scripture. All of this is alarming,
to say the least!
One thing that living in a
landscape like this should tell us is that we need to create another awakening
that emphasizes the power and truth of the Scriptures! We are in an era where
we must defend the Word of God with magnified effort!
Consider the countless
distractions that can easily pull us away from our time reading and studying
the Bible! No doubt that life can be busy, but we must be proficient soldiers a
wielding our spiritual sword-which is the Word of God! (Eph. 6:17)
Not only must we schedule time in
our Bibles, but we also need to learn how to cultivate the seed of the Word
inside us until it bears evident fruit! Without this skill set, we will find
ourselves among the many believers who are disillusioned because they don't
immediately or always receive the answers to their prayers or breakthroughs in
their lives that they seek.
Let's focus for just a moment on
Jesus teaching about the parable of the sower in
Mark chapter 4. It provides us some clues that will help us avoid the traps
that prevent the seed of God's Word from developing into a full harvest in our
lives. This applies to financial situations, health concerns, our personal walk
with God, family challenges and more.
Jesus said: "Know you not this
parable? How then will you know all parables?" (Mark 4:13) In other words, if
you understand the truths embedded in this parable, and apply them, you will be
empowered to unlock all the benefits that the Kingdom of God provides.
You may recall that Jesus divided
the individuals described in this parable into four groups. However, we want to
share them today in a way that may shed new light and help prevent us from
falling into the rampant deception and overall dismal climate surrounding our
culture right now.
Jesus said the first group are
those to whom Satan comes immediately and takes the seed of the Word from them
(Mark 4:15). They simply reject the truth. It could be the truth of salvation
altogether, or like some Christians, they are always faultfinding and
criticizing so they never truly hear what God is saying with spiritual ears and
thus, no fruit develops.
This is why we encourage people
not to offer an immediate opinion or criticisms of a teaching or a prophetic
word. Some things just need time to be reviewed, studied, and developed.
Instead, we should be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, who first received the
word with gladness, and then went back to the Scriptures for an in-depth study
to ensure what they were hearing was true. This practice is almost a lost art
among Christians today. When we take our cues from a critical and vengeful
culture, we sometimes reject what has been presented without further prayer and
study. If we want God's Word to bear fruit in our lives, we must maintain a
receptive, teachable spirit!
Jesus then describes the next
group as those who get excited at first, but don't realize that it takes time
to develop roots in what they have learned or received. (Mark 4:16-17) This can
apply to the new believer who just doesn't stick it out in their relationship
to the Lord, but we also see this within the church world. Think about how many
of us attend church on Sunday, listen to a powerful sermon that gets us pumped
and excited, but then we never work to undergird those
truths through further study and application.
What we must always recognize is
this: When you receive revelation, truth, or insights from God's Word, there
will always be a counterattack from the enemy! So, don't be surprised by it!
Jesus clearly emphasized that the affliction and persecution launched against
this group was solely because they had received God's Word and therefore the devil
attacked them as a result. Then, because the Word inside the person who was
attacked had not matured, they gave up on the Word they initially received.
Far too many believers in our
churches have become frustrated by the fact that they prayed and the miracle
they expected did not manifest. According to Jesus, those in this state may
become offended; so they quit believing as they once
did, or they turn away from the Lord altogether.
So, whenever a seed from God's
Word is planted in your heart, that is the moment for you to begin developing
that seed through prayer and study so you root system can grow and bring you to
the fruit-bearing stage. When biblical truth is presented to you, either from
your own study or through preaching and teaching, make sure you study and
strengthen your understanding and faith in it, so you aren't pulled away from
it when difficulty arises!
Jesus then spoke of those who
hear truth from the Scriptures but allow the world and culture around them to
distract them or lure them into deception (Mark 4:18-19). We are seeing this
group of Christians growing as many churches and
believers embrace a "woke" mindset and ideologies from the world. Many of our
modern-day deceptions come nicely packaged in a certain amount of truth.
But if we are going to see God's
Word be fruitful in our lives, we need to put up boundaries to ward off the
onslaught of worldly input and temptations being thrown at us daily. Much of
that which distracts our attention and distorts our views comes online via our
electronic devices. We know that you agree with us that we need to get back
into our physical Bibles and set our electronic device aside for a certain amount
of time each day!
Then Jesus described in Mark 4:20
the fruit bearing recipients. This is the group we all want to be in! So, what
is it that makes those in this group stay stable and stand strong amidst trials
so that they eventually see results?
First, we see that they kept a
soft, teachable spirit. Then, they put in the significant time needed to
develop a stable root system in God's Word. Lastly, they knew how to separate
themselves from the world and its distractions, ideals, and temptations. As a
result, they were able to enjoy miracles and breakthroughs in their lives! (End
Quote)
We are in no way condemning our
brethren but if you are truly seeking the will of the Father there comes a time
when you will have to be weaned off the milk of the word and mature into
sonship. In the natural when we have a son or daughter there is a time that we
allow them to drink milk but there comes a time when we start feeding the
something that is stronger than just milk. It is the same way in the Kingdom of
God. If all you are fed is the milk of the Word of God, you will remain a babe
in Christ.
Paul had something to say about
this in Heb. 5:10-14,
"Called of God a high priest
after the order of Melchisedec. Of
whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing you are dull of
hearing. For when for the time you ought to be teachers,
you have need that one teach you again which be
the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of
milk, and not of strong meat. For everyone that uses
milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even
those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and
evil."
Satan doesn't care if you attend
your church every time the doors are opened. In fact, he doesn't care if you
allow yourself to be purified and walk the straight and narrow way. What he is
concerned with is you taking your rightful position of authority and are led by
the Holy Spirit. God said in Zechariah 4:6,
"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith
the LORD of hosts."
Those churches that deny the
power of the Holy Spirit and regulate it to the time of the early church are
denying the very power that the Lord gave to the Church on the Day of
Pentecost. Read Acts 2 carefully and notice that Jesus told the disciples to
wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit and you shall receive power
after the Holy Spirit has come upon you!
Without the Holy Spirit we are
powerless! Jesus also said in John 7:38-39,
"He that believes on
me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe
on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given;
because Jesus was not yet glorified"
There are many churches that deny that this
is for us today because we have the Bible now and all we have
to do is to obey what it teaches and it is, as I have quoted you, the
Bible that contains the teachings of Jesus that promises us the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Have a great week!
Love Dave