Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I thought I would be writing about another Scriptural subject, but The Holy Spirit directed me to spend some more time speaking to last week’s message, “Are You Violent?”. As was mentioned last week, The Holy Spirit said the number one reason many Believer’s prayers or decrees are not answered or do not come to fruition is because they aren’t violent in their pursuit of the fulfillment of the promise(s). We learned the word “violent” is the Greek word, “biastes,” which means, “one who is eager in pursuit, who strive to obtain its privileges with the utmost eagerness and effort.” As I was meditating the first chapter of Mark, verses 1:14-15 stood out to me.
Mark 1:14-15
14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of The Kingdom of God,
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and The Kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Notice verse 14 tells us, “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of The Kingdom of God.” We have learned in the past the Greek word for gospel is “euaggelion,” which literally means, “God’s good news.” It is also translated, “the almost too good to be true news.” So, verse 14 speaks to Jesus’s preaching (translated “proclaiming” in Greek) God’s good news of The Kingdom of God. In verse 15 Jesus states, “the time is fulfilled.” What time is fulfilled? Isaiah 9:6-7, which speak to the birth of the Messiah, The King, Who would have the government, or The Kingdom of God, on His shoulders, and His Kingdom would increase. The King, Jesus, will rule it with judgment and justice. “The time is fulfilled, and The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Jesus ushered in The Kingdom of God to the earth. Jesus goes on to say, “repent ye, and believe the gospel.” This could be rewritten to say, “change your mind or your way of thinking, and believe the too good to be true news.” So, when reading Scripture where John or Jesus tells us to “repent, for The Kingdom of God is at hand,” it means we are to change our way of thinking from that of religion to that of Truth. We learned in a recent message that Truth is The Word believed. Jesus is urging us to change our thinking from that of the world, of religion, to that of God’s Kingdom.
What was so exciting or so revelatory to people about The Kingdom of God that Jesus spoke Matthew 11:12 stating “…Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force”? Hadn’t The Kingdom of God been around since God? Yes, but The Kingdom of God could not inhabit man until Jesus Christ entered the earth and was baptized/anointed with The Holy Spirit. At this point, as we’ve learned from Jesus, once we are Believers, The Kingdom of God is in our heart (Luke 17:20-21). What was so exciting then, and is exciting now, is what The Kingdom of God entails for a Believer: prosperity, healing, deliverance, and protection. And the ability for a Believer to operate in The Kingdom of God and receive the same results Jesus did – and more (John 14:12) – is backed by a blood covenant between God and Jesus. As joint heirs (Romans 8:17) with Jesus Christ, we receive everything Jesus received. And Jesus received all things of The Father.
John 16:17
All things that the Father hath are Mine: therefore said I, that He [Holy Spirit] shall take of Mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Notice in John 16:17 Jesus tells us God The Father gave everything that He possesses to Jesus The Son. Jesus instructed The Holy Spirit to show Believers that seek diligently (Hebrews 11:6) all the things God The Father gave to Jesus The Son. Why? Because we, as Believers, are joint heirs with Jesus, and Jesus wants us as His younger Sisters and Brothers to know all that we possess. Why? So we can believe for and receive all things in this lifetime. Yes, you read this right. In this lifetime. Why? So we can fulfill Genesis 12:2-3, as the seed of Abraham: be a blessing to the families of the earth and in so doing manifest The Gospel of Jesus Christ and The Kingdom of God. The world needs to see the goodness, grace, love, joy, and peace of Jesus Christ rather than the cold, hard condemnation and the performance-based works of religion.
Revelation 5:12 tells us what Jesus received as “all things” from The Father.
Revelation 5:12
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
The question we must ask ourselves, introspectively and truthfully, is do we have the seven “things” listed in Revelation 5:12? I don’t expect anyone to tell me they have all the things, but I do expect that some of us have some of the things. We all should have some of the things, and our goal should be to get “violent” and take all of the things. The “things” given to Jesus by The Father are from The Kingdom of God. How are the things appropriated by Believers? By believing in our hearts and confessing or decreeing with our mouths, our words, these things of Jesus belong to us and we’re taking them – we’re getting violent.
Sadly, most Believers don’t believe that everything The Father has given to Jesus belongs to them. Many of us have been taught this is only available once we get to Heaven, to want it in this world is to be greedy, and to have the “things” that belong to Jesus will distract us from living the Believer’s life. I used to wrongly believe this. My thinking changed when I got serious with God about understanding His Word. When I truly studied His Word, when I diligently sought after The Word, The Holy Spirit rewarded me with wisdom and my soul prospered. Once my soul began prospering, III John 2 fell into place.
III John 2
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
The diligent seeking of God’s Word resulted in God’s wisdom being revealed to me which enabled me to believe and confess His Word pertaining to prosperity and health. Both have dramatically improved, but I know I’m still not yet at God’s best for me in this life. This is what is exciting. Proverbs 4:18 tells us what the Believer’s life should be like as each day passes and what they have to look forward to the next day.
Proverbs 4:18
But the path of the just [Believer] is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
Each day should be better than the day before. We should see III John 2 increasing more and more in our daily life. Psalms 115:14 tells us to expect to increase more and more each day: spiritually, physically, financially, and materially.
Psalm 115:14
The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
This is the will of God, that we as Believers, increase in all areas of our lives every single day. You don’t need this in Heaven. You need it here. You’re not going to witness to anyone in Heaven. Your witness is here in this earth. Do those you witness to see the same busted, disgusted, struggling, sickly, hand-to-mouth life they are living or do they see the will of God shining through you and all over you. Can they see, like the Egyptians and the Philistines, the hand of God Almighty upon you like it was upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? This is what God expects of us in this earth.
In closing, let’s remember to “let The Word do the work” in our lives and the lives of our family, businesses, job, health, finances, possessions, ministries, etc.
In Christ Jesus,
Larry