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Major Kingdom/Apostolic Articles
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Entering The Kingdom With Brokenness - Ron McGatlin
God is seeking to birth His people into the kingdom of heaven lifestyle. There are multiple spiritual birthing experiences as we move from glory to glory. Who we were in the past season is not who we must become in the emerging kingdom of heaven emphasis age. The limitations of the close boundaries in the womb experience of the church emphasis age are being removed as we pass from the womb, through the birth canal of traumatic experiences into the limitless glory of kingdom of God living. Along with the removal of boundaries comes a new exposure to further realities of kingdom living. The hidden desires of being someone of significance and the deeply embedded anger and depression of past experiences must be removed as we pass through the birth canal from the womb of the church age to the glory of the kingdom of God age.
Innocence and purity - the beauty of holiness in the kingdom of God is produced by a process of purification. Increased heat is required to further purify precious metals. Deeply engrained negative character qualities which may not be visible to us as we look into our own hearts are today being revealed and we are being changed. We are, in a sense, being "born again" again. Many are experiencing a further birthing experience as they are being transformed through much tribulation.
1 Pet 4:12-14: Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
Acts 14:22 .... "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God."
Many ministers are currently enduring serious situations and circumstances - heartbreaking experiences that suddenly impact life - serious difficulties that often have no resolution and must be endured. In many cases there is a compounding of multiple events over a period of time that are serious and painfully devastating.
Many things may pass by our thinking as we search for answers and seek to sustain ourselves and others. Reasoning runs out and is incapable of bringing understanding and change to the situation. Prayers for the difficulties to go away seem to be powerless and we are left to endure.
Though we may not understand the cause nor be able to find a solution, the experience is changing us. When our resources are depleted and our strength is spent we are left with deep brokenness. In our weakness we fall upon the Rock in utter dependence on Christ. No longer able to fix things ourselves, and unable to talk God into doing it, we are broken and become completely dependent upon Him.
In our brokenness His love pours into our hearts and flows out to those around us like never before. Weeping and even wailing come forth in the pure presence of His sweet life giving sustenance of love. When we think that He has abandoned us and life has turned dark, the light of His pure love reaches us and flows like a river into our lives changing us forever. In brokenness our values and priorities are greatly changed. The things of building and doing become of little value and the reality of being in His presence becomes preeminent.
Love flows through us and we loose all of our reasons for rejecting one another. It is no longer such a problem that we don't think alike an don't teach the same way. The only thing is the great love that we feel flowing toward our brothers and sisters. There is a melt down of all the little annoyances we once found in each other. In our brokenness we discover the greater level of love that is changing the church and will change the world. Thank God for brokenness even if the pain and frustration may seem unbearable as we are being broken.
Col 1:27: To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Intimate fellowship with God through deep loving communion, intense worship, powerful praise, and great adoration coming forth in renewal and revival are connecting believers with the intense flow of the passionate love of God. The presence of God in corporate gatherings as well as in the prayer closet is leading to brokenness and the collapse of the old religious and human strengths. Deep love for God leads to deep commitment to living only for Him. The abandonment of our own will and ways leads to the reality of His will and ways in us. We become dependent upon His guidance and His strength by the Spirit of God that floods our lives.
The very Spirit of Christ is being formed within - His character and nature is being developed by the Holy Spirit within those who are experiencing this great move of His love. No longer are we seeking to be like Christ and to follow His example. Christ is now being formed in our emptied hearts and He lives a holy life in our bodies. Collectively individuals in whom Christ is living become the true Body of Christ on earth. No more hypocrisy, no more striving and failing to live holy lives. The purity, innocence, and joy of Christ is poured from us as His awesome love flows from us. Many believers now are receiving the vision of truly becoming a part of the real Body of Christ on earth.
We are being birthed into the fulfillment of the hope of glory - Christ in His people - the kingdom of God. The kingdoms of this earth shall become the kingdoms of our God as Christ again rules and reigns in His Body.
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