The Kingdom of God!

 

Chapter 71

 

 

 

This week and next week can be very difficult for some people because we are all a little out of our routines with work, leisure, down time that we may not be used to, sickness, family members that are at distance, or have passed and more. So, this Christmas season it's good to remember the very first Christmas and where the tradition of gift giving began among Christians. You never came into a King's Court without a gift. In this case, gold frankincense and myrrh. That humble court, the first Christmas, and a King as well as Priest, was born of a virgin, as foretold in the Old Testament, from the House of David. This was a very special day because Jesus is the Messiah!

 

This is a grand high Christian Holiday of our faith. We will celebrate it with a traditional meal and a few gifts. This year our own family gathering is complicated because of so many extended families and a recent hospital stay for a major surgery. So, we came together at our house on Thursday evening and celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savor with a prayer and a fabulous meal which our granddaughters help prepare and everyone brought a dish and we had a wonderful time sharing with each other.

 

The story of the first Christmas appears in the Bible New Testament. In Matthew and in Luke. The Christmas Story is a time to remember, time to wonder and ponder. May the very best happen for you this Holiday season and throughout the coming year.

 

Isaiah 9:6 says,

"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 forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

 

This is a very powerful prophecy the Lord gave to Isaiah and it continues to be expanded, even in our lifetime. The Lord inspired our founding fathers to establish the government of the United States of America with judgment and with justice for all mankind. Today, Satan has infiltrated the minds of those who don't know the Lord and His Kingdom and could care less about the principals of the Lord. They have been very successful by infusing the media with those who are not interested in the truth but are willing to twist and distort the truth so it will not be recognized by the people.

 

Many of our people have fallen into this trap and have bought into the lies which are being expounded by the media. Not only that, but they have infiltrated every aspect of our culture to distort the founding principals of our constitution.

 

I want to share again with you the description of Leviathan that the Lord gave to Job. Job 41:28,

 

"Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair."

 

A similar description is found in Rev. 12 which is a spiritual description of Satan as a dragon.

 

" And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born."

 

The Lord designed things in this world to be a shadow of what He wants to reveal to us in the spiritual realm. Here He uses a crocodile and a dragon to illustrate what the spiritual application is. If you have seen movies of a crocodile then you know it will hide under the water and you won't know it is there until its eyes come above the water. A crocodile will lock its jaws on an arm or leg and pull the victim into the water and twist and twist it until the arm or leg comes off and then will attack the body and kill it with its powerful jaws.

 

One of the characteristics of this principality that is running rampant in our nation, is twisting. This spirit, which is prevalent in our national government and the news media, will manifest itself by twisting the words to mean the direct opposite of the speakers meaning. You only have to turn on the news and watch what is actually being said and then listen to how they twist their words to tell you what they want you to believe!

 

This spirit will sneak up on you if you are not careful. The first thing it will do is to convince you that what it is saying is the truth and once convicted you will find yourself absolutely unteachable on that subject and will find anger and hatred rising up in you! Along with this spirit is a lying spirit and the spirit of pride. The Lord said in Job 41:34 concerning this spirit,

 

" Nothing on earth is its equal, a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud."

 

 

David said in Psalm 56:5, (NKJV)

 

"All day they twist my words; All their thoughts are against me for evil."

 

If you try to correct someone who is opened to this spirit it is almost impossible to convince them otherwise. When this spirit gets control of you it moves you into an angry conviction. Your mind is locked up and you don't want to hear the truth! This spirit is very allusive! However, if you can catch it in a moment when you are filled with toxic thoughts, anger, wrath, and hatred and a since of violence toward somebody or something, you will know that this is not coming from the Holy Spirit. Knowing that, then you can take authority over that spirit and cast it out of yourself.

 

Jesus did something that was quite out of the ordinary when He was talking to Peter in Mark 8:31-33, (NKJV)

 

"And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

 

Jesus recognized this spirit using Peter to rebuke Him and He cast it out! Once you understand the influence of this spirit you can break its power in you! However, this doesn't stop this spirit from coming back to you if you open the door for it by dwelling on the circumstance that caused you to allow the spirit to come into your thoughts. Peter said in 1 Pet. 5:8, (NIV)

 

" Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

 

We must be very careful what we listen to and allow to come into our mind. Paul said in Phil. 4:4-8, (NIV)

 

" Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is nearby. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things."

 

This spirit, much like the crocodile, will hide behind lies and untruths until the truth is revealed. It will then come out of hiding and defy anyone to attack it. It is very strong and very hard to defeat because it has fortified itself in lies and untruths. Jesus said in John 8:44 concerning the devil,

 

"You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

 

Not only that, but he has convinced the world that he is the one telling the truth. This is what is happening today. He has convinced the world that what the Kingdom of God stands for is a lie and that the kingdom of darkness is the truth. We, the Church, have allowed him to do this because we were tied up in saving souls and building our own kingdoms and fighting one another.

 

So, now he has convinced himself that he once again has won the victory over Christ and His Church and has even convinced many Christians that he is right on so many things. Isaiah said to the Lord,

 

"Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that has cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?" 

 

 However, the Lord told Isaiah to say this to His people in Isaiah 51:17-23, (NIV)

 

"Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger. Among all the children she bore there was none to guide her; among all the children she reared there was none to take her by the hand. These double calamities have come upon you" who can comfort you? ruin and destruction, famine and sword" who can console you?

 

Your children have fainted; they lie at every street corner, like antelope caught in a net. They are filled with the wrath of the LORD, with the rebuke of your God. Therefore, hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine. (but with the Holy Spirit) This is what your Sovereign LORD says, your God, who defends his people: "See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger; from that cup, the goblet of my wrath, you will never drink again. I will put it into the hands of your tormentors, who said to you, 'Fall prostrate that we may walk on you.' And you made your back like the ground, like a street to be walked on."

 

Every since our election in 2021 the Lord has been saying to the Church, "Awake Oh Israel, put off thy slumber for the truth shall set you free, for out of Zion (which is the Church) comes thy deliverer in the year of Jubilee!" 2021 has been a year that the Lord is shaking the Church out of her slumber and telling her to put on her armor and take authority over the evil one. We can do this because greater is He that is within us than he that is in the world. Paul said in Eph. 6:11-13,

 

""Put on the whole armor of God, that you 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 armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

 

We, as the Church, have been taught to just pray and if it be the will of God, we will get our prayers answered! However, that is not what we have been taught in the scriptures. John said in 1 John 5:14-15,

 

"And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him."

 

So, let's find out what His will us is concerning our nation! His will for us is that we not only pray but that we do something about the situation we find ourselves in. We know that what is happening in our nation and this administration is not the will of our Father! So, most of the Church will go to Him in prayer and ask Him to do something about what we are faced with. That is the thing to do, but we must be willing to be the vessels that He choose to accomplish this. Not just sitting back and saying, "Well, if it is the Lord's will!" Jesus said in Matt. 28:19, (My paraphrase along with Mark 16)

 

"You go and teach all nations whatever I have commanded you and I will be with you and work with you to get the job done!" Paul said in Phil. 2:13,

 

"For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

 

In Isaiah 42:1-9 (NIV) the Lord God makes this statement about Jesus,

 

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets."A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope."

 

This is what God the LORD says" the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:

 

"I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."

 

This of course is talking about Jesus; however, it is also talking about the Body of Christ and Jesus is the head of this body of whom we are all members. In 1 Cor. 12:12-14 Paul wrote this,

 

"For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also, is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many." 

 

My Christmas message for you is summed up by what God said in Isaiah 61, (NIV)

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion"to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins to and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so, you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them."(Does this sound like the United States that we all know?)

 

Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed." I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations."