Posted: 09/07/2006 at 3:53pm | IP Logged

Kingdom Growth Guides PART 3  (#024) thru (#031)

Posted: 09/07/2006 at 6:27pm | IP Logged

Living The Kingdom of God Lifestyle
Journey From Religion to Relationship

Growing in the gospel of the kingdom

THE GREATEST MYSTERY (#025)

There are great understandings from the Word of God. There is wisdom far beyond man’s ability to comprehend, thoughts that are much too great for our minds to think. There are mysteries too deep for our mentality to embrace, and revelations too high to fit into words. Yet, the Spirit of God relates to man’s spirit things hard to be understood and even harder to be spoken. Sometimes they are more felt in the depth of our inner being than understood by our mind. They are spiritual things communicated from the Spirit to the spirit in spiritual ways, comparing spiritual things to spiritual things.

There are deep, hidden mysteries of the wisdom of God that are only revealed through His Spirit.  

1 Corinthians 2:6-10,12-13: However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages of glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 

But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit Who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 

Sometimes the best we can do to communicate spiritual things in natural language is to speak of a parallel natural thing. Jesus taught the greatest concept of the Bible, the kingdom of God, from heaven, on earth, with many parables of natural things. The kingdom is the preeminent teaching in the Word of God. All other teachings and understandings in the Bible relate to and are in some way a part of the great concept of the kingdom of God / kingdom of heaven. 

Within the kingdom there is one greatest of all kingdom principles, one greatest spiritual mystery law, one greatest of all kingdom concepts that saturates the entire kingdom and every other principle or law of the kingdom. It is the force that draws and holds the kingdom together, the glue that bonds the kingdom into unity. It is the motivation for every work in the kingdom. It is the power that causes all other kingdom principles to work. It is the root of righteousness, obedience, peace, and joy, the reason for the cross, the resurrection, and Pentecost. It causes purity, purpose, production, prosperity, contentment, and faithfulness. It causes men to become faithful servants and stewards. It can change a harlot or adulteress into a purified bride. It is the source of grace, mercy and forgiveness. 

This greatest thing in the kingdom can easily be named, but cannot, with man’s words, be easily explained. It must be experienced and felt Spirit-to-spirit. The most passionate, intense, and pleasurable natural experience cannot equal it. We can see and say what it does. But what it is or why it is, goes beyond human natural understanding.

The greatest mystery law, principle, concept, understanding of the kingdom, the predominate force and most significant factor in the kingdom of God is THE LOVE OF GOD. 

Without the love of God, there would be no salvation for mankind. Jesus would not have come to earth. There would be no cross, no resurrection, no indwelling Holy Spirit, no righteousness, no peace nor joy on earth, no forgiveness, no deliverance, no healing of the heart, no real reason for living, no relationship between man and the living God, and no drawing force establishing God’s kingdom on earth. Apart from the love of God, there is no kingdom of God from heaven on earth. Yet, who can describe what the love of God is?

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” 

Matthew 22:36-40:  “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”  

The number of those who really know the love of God in a personal, intimate experience is increasing. Many may be heard to voice a desire to know God and to know Him better. To know God is to know love. God is love. The spiritual union and intimacy of knowing (experiencing) the love of God is the greatest fulfillment in life. Earthly accomplishments and human desires all fade into the distance. Life’s highest highs pale in the rapture of experiencing God’s love. There is nothing one would not do, nothing one would not give, to please Him. The only fear is the fear of disappointing Him. The heart’s greatest desire is to hear His voice, to do His bidding, and to be pleasing in His sight. 

The intense love between a man and a woman is a natural parallel to the love of God. In the Bible, the Song of Solomon is an expression of spiritual love in natural terms. Anyone who has truly been in love with someone knows to some degree the feelings of loving God. A man in love will do anything to be with the woman he loves. When they are apart, a deep aching and longing fills his chest. Only embracing her and pressing her against his chest will stop the ache and fill the longing. Her every characteristic, even her flaws, seem intensely beautiful and desirable to him. He will look deep into her eyes and say, “I will change the whole world for you. I will climb the highest mountain, defeat the fiercest enemy for you.” They kiss and she melts in his arms and replies, “I am yours forever. I will serve you with my whole heart; only, please, never leave me nor forsake me.” He promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

The world may have difficulty understanding why one in love with God will leave the activities and things of the world to be with Jesus. Religious people, with their rules and strife, may demand for the person in love with Jesus to be more involved with their religious activity. They may never understand why their ceremonies mean so little to the one who is personally experiencing the loving presence of God. 

The love of God is love from God and love for God. The love of God flows toward us from God through Jesus. The Holy Spirit in us produces love from within us that flows toward God through Jesus and we feel intense love from Jesus, and we feel intense love for Jesus. We are passionately and desperately in love with Jesus. 

LOVE PURIFIES  

Jesus' love motivates us to purity. Our desires are to be, to have, and to do according to His will. No other needs can drive us. He is all we need. His will and ways are always righteous obedience to the Father.

This greatest mystery of love can change harlotry to purity. The love of Jesus can change a rebellious, adulterous bride into a faithful, purified bride without spot or blemish. Jesus, by the love relationship, becomes one flesh with His bride and is manifest in her so that His life becomes flesh on the earth. As His presence appears within us and is revealed through us, we become as He is; we are purified.  

Ephesians 5:25-27,29-32: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 

1 John 4:7-9:  Beloved let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

1 John 4:12b-13, 16,19: If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. We love Him because He first loved us.

Paramount Transformational Power

There is no power greater than the power of love. Nothing else can transform the world. No other power or force can overpower love. Nothing can neutralize the inherent power flowing within love. Every work of evil in man can be neutralized by love. Nothing can conquer love and there is nothing that love cannot conquer.

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Every aspect of man's life in the world can be transformed by love. Every burdensome weight and stressful oppression of man can be fully relieved by love. In a very practical and real way, the love of God in a person will transform his or her life. The love of God in a large number of people will transform areas of the world. The love of God in all people will transform the entire world. In a real and practical way, the world can be transformed into the kingdom of God.

It is impossible to abide in God and His love and not be a transforming agent in the world.

Unlove is the absence of God and His love. Life in the fallen world is based in unlove. Every aspect of natural man's life in the fallen world is guided by the ways of unlove.

Mankind is designed to abide in God and His love, and God in him. Great emptiness characterizes the lives of people whose inherent need for God’s love is unfulfilled. The neediness in mankind can never be fulfilled without love. The desperate need for more and more of something to fill the emptiness leads to competition, greed, strife, fear, pride, and every negative, stressful, destructive force known to man. The entire world becomes filled with strife. War is everywhere and every person competes against others. All of the problems of the world stem from this basic lack in mankind.

Husbands and wives fight and divorce. Employees strive against and deceive employers. Employers exploit employees. People climb over one another in a competitive effort to attain a higher position. Customers strive with merchants and merchandisers take advantage of customers. Law enforcement fights with criminals in an attempt to enforce thousands of laws enacted in an attempt to control the deceit and violence of the people. The whole world becomes a battlefield. Everything in business and all of life revolves around trying to get more while giving the least possible to get it. Even the highest of charitable human motives are mixed with hypocritical values of "What's in it for me?" All this and much more exist because of the lack of love abiding in mankind.

Do you see how God's love in man can alleviate all need and stop all strife of the world? No more wars, no more crime and, eventually, no more sickness, no more disease. Some would say, “Yes, but it is not possible for man to love and live this way,” and they would almost be right. Until Jesus came, man had failed to abide with God in His love. Christ Jesus did what others did not do and lived as one with God in the Holy Spirit. The GOOD NEWS is that Christ Jesus can now live in people by the Holy Spirit. Thus, the potential now exists for all to have Christ's life abiding within. Through Christ all can now abide in God and His love. We can now bring the paramount, transforming power of God's love into practical reality in the world through Christ in us by the Holy Spirit. Christ in His people can destroy the works of the devil.

1 John 3:8: For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.   

The greatest mystery of the kingdom of God is the transformational power of love. The world has already been greatly changed by the love of God expressed in the cross of Christ Jesus. No other person in all of our world’s history has had as great a transformational effect as Christ Jesus. Now, the LIFE OF JESUS is set to transform every area of life in the world. Through Christ Jesus living in them individuals are transformed. By LOVE, individuals filled with Christ Jesus by the Holy Spirit, can transform families, businesses, schools, media, cities, nations and the world.

Keep on Pursuing Love
It Will Never Fail,

Ron McGatlin

http://archive.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

Posted: 09/07/2006 at 6:28pm | IP Logged

Living The Kingdom of God Lifestyle
Journey From Religion to Relationship

Growing in the gospel of the kingdom

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION (#026)

Business is a primary foundational part of the kingdom of God. The foundational principles of Babylonian-style business are opposite to the New Jerusalem kingdom of God business principles. All productive enterprise in the world can be qualified as either business or ministry. Almost every mature adult is involved in business. Some may own businesses, others work at jobs in businesses, others do the business of managing a household or family and everyone manages the business of his own personal life.

In the kingdom of God, both ministry and business have exactly the same basic foundational purpose. What we each do with our lives involves business/ministry. Before we consider how kingdom business is to be done we must consider God's purpose for our involvement in business or ministry. In the kingdom, the primary purpose of business or ministry is to serve God by providing for the needs of mankind and the world around us.

Kingdom business or ministry is caring for God's people and managing the resources of His earth.

God's love is the primary motivational force of all kingdom business and ministry. Through love, people serve one another.

The love of God will cause us to lay down our lives for our brothers. We will seek to provide for our brothers’ needs. Jesus’ love coming forth in us will cause us to serve one another. We become humble servants and not proud rulers. We keep His commandments to love God and love one another.

Galatians 5:13-14: For you brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love - serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

In the kingdom both ministry and business exist for the primary purpose of meeting needs. The only distinction between ministry and business is the type of needs met.

Ministry generally seeks to meet spiritual needs of people. Business is focused mostly on meeting physical needs. However, there is much overlap and both may meet mental and emotional needs. All areas of kingdom enterprise are important to God.

The desire to serve stemming from love is the foundation of kingdom enterprise. We serve Jesus as we serve mankind by providing for peoples’ needs. We are able to do a good job of providing because love has ordered our lives. Love brings unity and cooperation that enables greater production. We are to do good to all people but especially to the people of God.

Gal 6:10: Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

In the parable of the sheep and the goats, the only factor considered by the Lord when dividing the sheep from the goats was whether an individual had provided for the needs of the brethren. Those, who had provided for the needs of the brethren, were told to “come inherit the kingdom” (Matthew 25:31-46).

No one can provide food for the hungry or clothes for the naked unless they first acquire food and clothing. We cannot supply what we do not have. Someone must grow, transport and process food; one must obtain fiber, process it into cloth, and then sew it into clothing. Or, one must, through production of some sort, obtain money to pay others for food and clothing. Obviously, the sheep in the above parable were involved in industry--the production and distribution of goods and services.

The kingdom principle Jesus is teaching here is greater than just giving away some of our surplus to the needy. The principle is that, because of the love of God, we desire to serve and because of the gifts and power of God working with us, our lives become productive. We become highly productive in business activities of manufacturing, farming, building, education, transportation, processing and a myriad of other enterprises providing for the needs of people. This concept is hard for most people living in heavily populated areas to grasp. In the modern setting the importance of what our production does for others is sometimes lost because of a disconnect of seeing the end use of what we do and how needs are met by our labors.

For a moment, imagine life in a small, godly, frontier village that has no access to outside provisions. The people of the village would all know one another and care about the well being and the needs of each other. The different people would develop their God-given gifts into various skills to help supply the needs of the people of the village. Someone might be adept at growing certain needed food or animal feed items. Someone else might become good at raising and providing poultry products and others beef or pork products. Someone else might be a dairyman and provide milk products to their neighbors. Someone else may be good at cabin building and woodworking, and another at blacksmithing and so on. When a need in the village arises, someone will seek to meet that need for the people. Working together, they will provide for one another and will be happy to trade the produce of their skills and labor for the produce of others to meet their needs and the needs of the others in the village.

In this small village no one tries to get rich at the expense of others and no one seeks to hinder or harm another. Loving concern for one another causes industrious activity (business) producing goods and services to meet needs. The love of God brings order and cooperation. Now, expand the view in your mind from the small village to nations and then the world and God's plan for business in the kingdom begins to come into view.

The more our love leads us to provide for the needs of mankind, the more we will reap. The law of sowing and reaping never fails. The more we provide, the more we will receive. Our needs will be provided for and we will have more to use to provide for the needs of the brethren and the world. As we grow in the business of producing and providing for the brethren, more people are required to help with the enterprise. This means productive employment for more people. Jobs are created and people join together to work in the enterprise of providing for peoples’ needs. All this comes from the root of love that causes a desire to provide for the needs of people and the planet.

The sheep that serve by meeting the needs of the brethren inherit the kingdom of God quality of life (true prosperity). The goats that do not serve by meeting the needs of the brethren have only continuous punishment (real poverty).

The thing that divides the sheep from the goats is the love and life of Christ Jesus in the sheep. The sheep inherited the kingdom of God because they produced. They became productive kingdom servants/rulers as they met the needs of the brethren. Love motivated them to cooperate with and serve the brethren. The goats were motivated by unlove to use what they had only for themselves. The goats do not enter the kingdom. They are separated from God's heavenly blessings in this life.

Life is the presence of God and serving His purposes. The kingdom of God lifestyle is abundant life, eternal life, now and forever. Death is separation from God and His purposes.

The Babylonian system has perverted the purpose of business in the minds of most people, including Christians. The perverted purpose of business has also infested ministry. Love is not involved in business in the Babylonian-patterned world. Unlove is assumed in all business transactions in the Babylonian world system. Need and greed are the primary motivational forces behind business and work.

The primary purposes of business in Babylon is to meet personal needs and gain personal wealth. People in the Babylonian system work at a job to get money and normally give little or no thought to what the job they are working at does to serve God by meeting the needs of mankind and the world. Generally, work is a tiresome dread for them because they are doing something that they don't want to do but must do to get their paycheck. They have become as harlots--selling themselves to provide for their needs and wants. For the most part, this is considered normal in Babylonian-style business.

Christians caught in this system may believe it is God's design for them to work at their jobs to get money and that church and church-related things represent their only opportunities to serve God. They also may believe that paying a tithe, plus some offerings, from the produce of their labors satisfies God and makes it all acceptable. Being a good slave and obeying your master is commendable and about the best that can be done in Babylonian captivity. Even in captivity, being a good servant can lead to ruling. God can bless those who remain faithful to Him even in captivity. However, we all need to know that in the kingdom work and business are a vital part of serving God.

God is not leaving His people captive in Babylon. God is delivering us into His marvelous, heavenly kingdom of light and love. We are learning the ways of New Jerusalem in every facet of our lives, including our families and businesses.

The greater principles of kingdom life and business found in the Bible are becoming more ingrained in the hearts of God's people as we continue to move toward the kingdom of God life on earth.

Money and wealth are viewed and managed in a very different manner in the heavenly kingdom lifestyle than in Babylon.

In Babylon, money was diligently sought after to meet needs and then to fulfill desires for more material things and social status. Whether through working at a job or owning a business, the people sought to accumulate money and the things it would buy. Seeking money or seeking to meet our own needs was never God's perfect design.

Jesus brought forth much teaching on kingdom order because it had been lost through the ages of Babylonian-style rule. Seeking to meet our own needs and to get more stuff created a greater stress on people that God ever intended for mankind to experience. In seeking money we become the servant of money. Jesus clearly spoke God's instruction as He explained the kingdom way. In God's order, we seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness and things are added to us.

Mat 6:24,32-33: No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

The concept of seeking the kingdom and God's righteousness has been very misunderstood and misapplied by most Christians. Seeking the kingdom first has been viewed largely as doing religious church-type things, which were considered holy. "Secular" type things, such as work and business were considered unholy. In the Babylonian system a false distinction has been made between holy and secular. Secular is not the opposite of holy. Profane is the opposite of holy. Both business and church things can be holy or they can both be profane.

The kingdom of God includes all of life and all is to be holy (set apart to God). Seeking the kingdom means seeking God's rule for all of life. And seeking His righteousness means seeking His purposes and order in all things. Righteousness is His right way of being and doing. It is being in perfect alignment with His instruction and desire. If we seek first the kingdom and righteousness, then "all these things" will be added because we will become productive and useful servants in meeting the needs of mankind and the world around us. This is not a magic or supernatural thing. It is a basic reality of natural kingdom life. Our treasure really is where our heart is.

There is contentment and excitement in serving God with our whole lives and doing things His way. Whatever our service or work happens to be, it is rewarding and easy to do with our whole hearts. Not at all like the burdensome, worrisome striving of seeking money. What we chased after and could never have enough of comes to us when we stop seeking it and start seeking the real kingdom of God and His righteous way of doing and being.

We know the Lord is our source and strength. Love motivates us to serve more, but it also causes us to be content with what we have. Our contentment does not rest in what we have, but in Who we have. 

Philippians 4:11: Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. 

Hebrews 13:5: Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Covetousness and self-seeking is the desire for and reaching for more than I already have. Materialism is one of the most common idols in the Babylonian system. It is important to understand that wealth and material things are not inherently evil. Money is not the root of evil. The love of money is the root of evil. Having wealth is not evil. Receiving profit is not evil. However, it is wrong to seek wealth or money rather than seeking the kingdom of God and trusting Him to meet our needs.

Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” 

1 Timothy 6:5-8:  ...useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

Godliness + Contentment  =  Great Gain.   

Godliness  (God-seeking, God-serving) is righteous obedience to God, which aligns us with His universal laws and purposes. Contentment is not desiring more than I already have.  

Those who seek after money can never keep or enjoy wealth.    

1 Timothy 6:9-11: But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.  But you O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 

James 5:1-3: Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

Who are the rich people that these miseries are coming upon?

“Rich” is a relative term. A brother in one of the developing nations would consider many of you reading this rich. If you ask a man with one million dollars, “Are you rich?” He would probably say, “No, I’m not rich at all,” and would point toward the man with more and say, “He’s rich.”  A rich person is one who owns any amount of wealth that is not given over to God’s control for His use. 

Garments that are being worn do not become moth-eaten; gold and silver coins that are being used do not corrode. Riches that are being used to meet the needs of mankind will not destroy the one who possesses them. If our lives are wholly given over to God’s control, all of our possessions will be His and will be used in His kingdom. In a very real sense, no matter how much God has placed in our possession, we have no riches. They all belong one hundred percent to God.

We do not seek wealth. We become wealthy while seeking to serve. We do not hold back any part for ourselves. However, because of our obedience, He will give us a portion as our own to enjoy. He will give us the power to eat of it and to rejoice. We must seek His direction for His goods at all times. We must not take it upon ourselves to keep some of His wealth for ourselves.

Luke 18:24b: “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.” 

Ecclesiastes 5:10,13: He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.

Only the God-seeking, God-serving person can enjoy wealth.

Proverbs 10:22: The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it. 

Ecclesiastes 5:19: As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor- this is the gift of God. 

1 Timothy 6:17: Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 

God desires for His people to possess and manage His earth with all its abundance for Him.

We must be managers of God’s goods and not owners.   

God gives a portion of His creation into our hands to manage for Him. We grow in wealth as we do a good job of managing what He has given us to manage. God adds more to us as we become faithful and wise managers of the portion He has placed in our hands. If we do not manage it well, it will be removed from us and given to one who will manage it in accordance with God’s heavenly kingdom wisdom and instruction.

Luke 19:12-13,16-20,22a, 24-26: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’

“Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’ 

“And another came, saying ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief.’ And the master said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant.’  And he said to those who stood by ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas’. But they said to him, ‘ Master, he has ten minas.’

“For I say to you, that to everyone who has more will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Matthew 25: 14-l 5, 19-21, 24a, 25-26a, 28, 30: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.

“After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘...and I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’  But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant...’ Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.   ...And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

We are given the Master’s money to do business with until He calls for it. If we manage His money in alignment with kingdom principles, we will have a good report at our accounting time. The most profitable way to do business is according to God's instruction and in accordance with His kingdom principles.

There are many principles to be considered and there are always balancing principles in God’s kingdom. We must seek God's direction by the Holy Spirit. Principles are like “road signs” to assist our hearing and provide valuable understanding.  But we must hear God’s direction.

One of the major principles is to use money to do good. If we put money to work creating activity (commerce, industry, etc.), which will put people to work meeting each other’s needs, then we are headed in the direction of kingdom prosperity. We will do more long-term good by this type of investing, than we would have done by giving away all the money to meet an immediate need.

What we do with the money we have is more important than how much money we receive. How we use what we have today determines what we will have tomorrow. Many of us have not understood that God gave us money to use to do business. We erroneously thought it was all for us to use for our own desires and needs. We have thrown away our financial future by increasing our lifestyle just because we had more money. We have used money to make us feel better. Babylon’s business pattern is to “get all you can, and can all you get”.

Do not serve money, but serve God with money. Do not hide it or consume it.  Do not give it away if God has not said to. Use it to do kingdom business that meets needs. Seek God’s direction and further understanding of His principles about how and where to do business.

If we diligently use all God has given us to serve Him by doing business, we will be given more. It will be added to us. All that we possess should be available to be used to meet the needs of mankind, and especially those of the household of faith.

Man has three basic areas of need: those that relate to his spirit, those that relate to his soul (mind, will, and emotions), and those that relate to his body. Anything that God leads us to do with the resources He has given us to meet needs in any of these three areas is doing business. Whether it is preaching the Word, growing potatoes, or teaching physics, if it meets the needs of the brethren, it is doing business in the kingdom of God.

Ask God, How does what I do meet the needs of mankind? And what can I do better to add more value to mankind?

Start with what you have. A warm smile and an encouraging word can meet a need in a person’s soul. A prayer and a thought from the Word can meet needs of the spirit of a person. Doing that extra amount on the job with a good attitude can meet someone’s needs. Cooperating with the boss and speaking a good word about him can meet more needs than complaining and giving a bad report. Consider what you have, what is in your hand, what gifts and talents you have. Then, ask God how they may be used to meet the needs of others.

Would investing that extra $25 in someone’s kingdom business or ministry help meet their need for capital so they could meet more needs? Could contributing your talents and abilities to help a ministry or kingdom business meet needs? Could improving your own skills enable you to meet more needs?

In Babylon, people go to school to get more education so that they can get more money, so that they can have more power and more things they want. In the kingdom, we sharpen our tools by getting more education and training so that we can meet more and greater needs of others. The more skilled we are, the more we can do. The more we do, the more we will be blessed in return. The more we are blessed, the more we have to use. Love causes us to make the best we can of ourselves and of what we have.

Two dimensions of meeting needs

There is more than one dimension in meeting needs. There is both quantity and quality. You can meet a little need for a lot of people, or you can meet a great need for a few people. Manufacturing chewing gum can put a good taste in millions of people’s mouths; doing brain surgery can greatly impact a few people. The total amount of value added to mankind could be the same in either case. So, if you can’t do something big, do a whole lot of the little things that you can do, while at the same seeking to improve your skills so that you can do more.

Loving-kindness In Kingdom Business

Loving-kindness in kingdom business replaces pretended affection and pandering in Babylonian business operation. In Babylon, most customers expect to receive an offer of help or service by a businessperson. Underlying their question, "Can I help you?" is their real thought of, "Can I get some of your money?" Customers do not expect a businessperson to really care about them beyond what they can get from them. Once people learn that in the kingdom, the businessperson really cares about them, and not just about their money, they develop a whole new attitude. If they know that you really care, they will trust you with their business. Whether we are supplying a spiritual need or a physical need, love will cause us to really care about others’ needs and well being. Loving-kindness cannot be faked in the kingdom of God. A phony will be spotted.

Love cares about fellow workers, including the boss. Love causes employees to feel a great sense of security and loyalty because they care about one another and know the boss cares about them and has their interest in mind. Love cares about the quality of product or service being provided. Love is the key to increased productivity, quality and efficiency.

The essence of God’s love permeates every aspect of kingdom-life. The thirteenth chapter of 1^st Corinthians draws a picture of what love is. It teaches that, no matter how great our gifts or works are, they are meaningless without love. Love makes it happen and keeps it in order in the kingdom.

Love is the greatest mystery in the world. There is no other force or power in the world as great as love. Love will cause us to give up our very lives. Only after love motivates us to die to our self-focused life, can we know resurrection life. Just as Jesus gave up His life for others and was resurrected to a far greater life, we will experience a far greater life now on earth as love motivates us to selflessly serve. The Babylonian-style world cannot comprehend the value of the love of God. It is a mystery to the people of Babylon.

Keep on Pursuing Love
It Will Never Fail,

Ron McGatlin

http://archive.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

Posted: 09/19/2006 at 3:36pm | IP Logged

Living The Kingdom of God Lifestyle

Journey From Religion to Relationship

Growing in the gospel of the kingdom

THE SECOND GREATEST MYSTERY (#027)

Can I really be transformed into a pure and holy kingdom builder? Can I really be a part of bringing forth the kingdom of God to actually change the world? Do I really have a part in this or is God going to do it all without any human involvement while I continue to battle personal needs?

The second greatest mystery of the kingdom is only overshadowed by the first greatest mystery, which is LOVE. The first greatest mystery is the source of the power that causes the kingdom to exist, to be ordered, and to be held together. The second greatest mystery is the means by which the kingdom from heaven is implemented to function and grow into the earth.

If we receive the revelation of this second greatest mystery, we will have the ability to bring forth the fruit (production) of the kingdom of God in our lives and into the world. All things will be possible. We are about to uncover the practical, spiritual kingdom principle that is the spiritual mechanism to bring forth the will and plan of God into our lives and into the world. This principle is man's part in establishing the kingdom of God from heaven on earth.

For a number of years, I lived a “back to nature” type of lifestyle. I lived in a log cabin, grew vegetables and fruits, and raised chickens, cattle, and hogs for food. I would go out to the garden and gather sweet corn, onions, tomatoes, green beans and dig some potatoes and gather other tasty vegetables. Earlier in the spring I had planted the seeds for these vegetables in the soil of my garden. Before planting the seed, I spread manure on the soil and tilled it. I planted the different kinds of seeds where I wanted them to grow. I chose the seeds and planted them, but I did not grow them. The soil grew them. (Here is the mystery.) I cannot explain how the seed became a growing, producing plant; nor can I explain how the soil grew them. But, I could go into the garden at harvest time and gather the fruit.

Jesus said the kingdom of God is like my garden. He said the heart of man is the soil that can “grow” the kingdom of God seed. Previously, from the parable of the sower, we have seen the heart-soils that could not grow the kingdom seed to fruition--the hard-pressed wayside soil of the wounded and hardened heart, the stony soil of our fixed preconceived convictions, and the thorny soil of caring for the things of this life. Hopefully, we have each dealt with these conditions in our own lives. Now, we must receive the greater hidden light--the revelation of the production of the kingdom of God now on earth through the good heart-soil. This is a very important principle and is the intended focus of this key parable. Understanding this parable is fundamental to understanding all kingdom parables.

Mark 4:13: And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?”

Matthew 13: 8-13, 16-18, 23: “But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear let him hear!”

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. Therefore hear the parable of the sower: (When anyone hears the word of the kingdom...) But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word (of the kingdom) and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

Mark 4:20: “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold some sixty, and some a hundred.”

The above verses that you just read contain one of the greatest hidden mysteries of all life. This great secret is meant to come to light. All hidden mysteries in the Word are to be revealed. Please give great heed to your hearing at this point. Please do not regard these scriptures lightly. Pray for revelation and meditate these verses. Wait upon God, and do not let the powerful truths get by you.

You must have an ear to hear. Not everyone will hear the great mystery hidden in these parables. Only the good soil, the emptied, healed, purified, humble heart will clearly hear it.

Many great men of God from the past have sought to know and hear these mysteries and could not. The time is now for those who are pure in heart to hear. If there are yet needs and impurities remaining in your heart, the great impact of this revelation will not appear to you. If, however, your once-hardened heart-soil is healed, freed from rocks and thorn bushes, you may hear and continue to hold onto the powerful understanding of the production of the kingdom of heaven on earth. Nothing will be impossible to you.

Mark 4:21-25: And He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

And He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear more will be given. For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The mystery is revealed only to those who are entering the kingdom.

Luke 8:16-18: “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”

Prophets and angels desired to hear the great mystery of the kingdom in this parable. If you are purifying your heart by the revelation (manifestation) of Jesus Christ within you, through the Holy Spirit, to the sincere love of the brethren and are receiving the incorruptible seed, the Word (rhema) of God, you may hear and understand this great mystery.

Peter 1:10,12,13b,20b: Of this salvation (deliverance) the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you,...To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven things which angels desired to look into.

“...rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation (or manifestation) of Jesus Christ... manifest (or revealed) in these last times for you. (“Christ IN YOU the hope of glory.” Col. 1:27) (“...when He comes (or appears), in that day, to be glorified IN His saints...” 2 Thessalonians. 1-10a).

Jesus is the Word of God and the Truth. He is the Seed of God, sown in our heart-soil, producing the life of Christ Jesus in us, ruling and reigning with us now.

1 Peter 1:22-23: Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in the sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God, the express image of the Father sent out from God. He was the original mind of creation. It was through Jesus that all creation was made and by Him all creation continues to exist. Jesus, Who is in His saints, has authority over all creation.

John 1:1-4,10: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

Colossians 1:16-17: For by Him (Jesus) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.  

Jesus became the seed, the Word from God, sown into the hearts of men and is reproducing His life in the lives of His people through the Holy Spirit. Jesus, living in us now, will produce the plan and rule of God on earth. Jesus in us has all authority over creation. Jesus, planted in the soil of the heart of man, can grow into the abundant, fulfilling, powerful, and peaceful kingdom of God life. Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, can enrich our heart-soil with the supernatural, spiritual nutrition of the powers of creation.

The heart soil of man under Jesus’ control is the creation center for God on Earth. God can bring forth anything He desires on Planet Earth through the Jesus-filled child of God. He need only plant the seed of His desire into the yielded, cleansed, and prepared heart of a man or woman, and the natural growth processes will of themselves grow His plan into the earth.

A seed is a living pattern that grows. Only in recent decades have scientists begun to learn about genetics. It is known that every living organism has something called DNA or genetic coding, an extremely complex series of chemical coding that completely describes and determines the organism. Millions of different genes in different arrangements determine what the organism is, what it will look like, the coloring, potential size, intelligence-level potential, and every characteristic for each individual. A complete living pecan tree is within each pecan. Somehow in the meat of the pecan, which we may choose to crack and eat, is the whole living pecan tree with all its characteristics coded genetically within the seed.

As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. A word from God is a spiritually, genetically coded seed. It is living and completely defined within the seed or word. As the life within a natural seed is dormant until the seed is planted in the soil, so also a word from God to us is dormant until planted in the soil of our heart. A word from God is a seed (a living pattern that grows). God furnishes the seed; that’s His part. Man’s part is to plant the seed in good soil. The seed is a word. A word is a vision, picture, thought or an idea for changing creation to conform to God’s desire. A seed is a living design from God for changing the earth and things on the earth.

God speaks (sows) His word into the heart of man through the receiver in man’s heart (the ear to hear). Thus, a word (seed) from the spiritual realm is received into the physical realm. If believed (received and planted) into the heart-soil of man, it can sprout and grow into the physical realm.

THE EARTH EGG

In addition to growing a garden, I also raised chickens. I would gather eggs and select some to put in the incubator. The others were taken to the house and put in the refrigerator to be eaten. When I cracked the eggs to put them in a cake or perhaps to scramble some for breakfast, a shapeless glob of clear matter with a round yellow part in the center would fall out. The glob had no form and, apparently, no life in it. If, however, that same egg had received a seed from a male chicken and had been placed in my incubator or brooded over by the female chicken, it would have taken on form and identity and become a living, breathing, baby chick, with all kinds of intricate systems for life. It would have eyes to see, a little beak to peck with, dainty feet to walk with, tiny toe nails to scratch with, and even a built in peep-peep.

The chick will grow to be like his father who supplied the seed and his mother who supplied the egg. (Male and female he created them). The egg is a mass of raw material waiting for a seed to define it. If the seed came from a large, black rooster, the genetic coding would probably cause the egg to turn into a little, black chick, which would grow into a large black chicken. If the rooster had been a small, red one, the chick would probably become a small, red chicken. The earth and all it contains are like the egg. Without a defining word from God, it is a formless glob. When God speaks a word, a multitude of spiritual, genetic coding is released to bring form and order to the glob of creation. The male part of creation is God’s part (the genetically-coded, spiritual seed); the female (wife) part is our part (the good soil).

The earth was without form and void. It was like an egg. The raw material was there; but it had no specific shape or form and no identification. An egg is just a mass of runny, white stuff and a glob of yellow matter. You may have had one this morning for breakfast splattered out and then fried or scrambled. The earth, like an egg, was brooded over by the Holy Spirit then GOD SAID. The word of God (the seed) came, and the earth took on form and intricate systems of life. Multitudes of spiritual, genetic coding came forth as God spoke forth creation.

Genesis 1:2-3,6,9,11,14,20,24: The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering (or brooding) over the face of the waters. Then GOD SAID, “Let there be light”, and there was light. Then GOD SAID, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Then GOD SAID, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together in one place, and let the dry land appear.” ...Then GOD SAID, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth.” ... Then GOD SAID, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night.’” ... Then GOD SAID, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind.”

Are you hearing the mystery?

What is planted in the hearts of people is what will come forth in their lives and the world. This is what determines what our lives become in our lifetime. This is why one person may be able to overcome extreme obstacles and achieve great and noble accomplishments. While another man with equal or greater potential cannot seem to accomplish anything of significance in the kingdom. Regardless of how hard he tries, he is unable to overcome and unable to be powerfully used in the kingdom of God.

The answer is not more intelligence, better education, better breaks, noble birth, mere chance, harder work, devious scheming, fate, or any other natural circumstance. Who we are by birth, where we came from, and what breaks we get are not the primary factors that will determine our production in the kingdom. The answer will be found in the revelation of the mystery of the natural growth of a thought (idea, word) in the heart. It is what we hear. What we really listen to and believe will shape our life and affect the world around us. The thoughts (words) that we receive and allow to remain in our hearts will create who we are and what we do, which will determine our ability to overcome and fulfill our God-given destiny in life.

We do not have to know how it works. We do not have to know how it will be done. But, we must listen to, hear and believe what God is saying. Then the goal He has for our life will grow into being. “...for it is God Who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

Who can know how a glob of clear matter in an egg can become a living, breathing being with instincts, intelligence, and personality that can hear, feel, smell, taste, and see? Consider all the tiny organs, nerves, blood vessels, etc., that must be perfectly formed to sustain life. By some miraculous process, the DNA of the seed defines all these things and in only 21 days of brooding, the transformation is complete. How does the tiny heart begin pumping? What turns it on or starts it up? If you will tell me exactly how all of this happens, I will tell you how a word planted in the heart of man can transform the things of earth.

When we speak of a word, obviously we are not just talking about letters arranged together on a page. A word is a thought, an idea, a vision, or picture. A vision or dream may contain a series of pictures with many thoughts and feelings. When God spoke all growing and living things into being, He had to express an immeasurable amount of minute details. Everything was defined in what He said--the spiritual DNA or genetic coding emanating from Him. A word, thought, idea, or vision is a seed. It has the power to define life and grow into the natural world. A word is alive and potentially very powerful if received into the heart. The seed must be planted in the soil or in the egg. The Bible calls this process of receiving and planting “faith”.

After God completed the work of creation and placed all the universal laws that govern it in place, He created man in His image and gave man dominion on earth. Man has the supernatural creative potential to grow whatever seed is planted in his heart-soil into being in the world.

Every work or accomplishment of man begins with a thought, an idea. Every great building in our vast cities of today began with a thought. Every great church, ministry, business, or any other work of man was, at one time, a seed or word. Without a doubt, every invention, scientific discovery, or work of art began as a thought, an idea - a word. When the seed (vision/word/thought) that is planted is from God, the result will be God's plan growing into the world and the kingdom of God being established in the world. If the seed is from another source, another kingdom will grow into the world.

Jesus, the greatest miracle worker, once said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do.” Where and how did He see the Father doing things? The Father is Spirit. Jesus was in a natural body. He saw by the Spirit within Him. He heard and saw words, visions, and ideas from the Father by the Spirit.

The second greatest mystery/principle is receiving the seed from God and growing it into our lives and then into the world through the creative power of our heart-soil.

The second greatest mystery/principle is FAITH.

Keep on Pursuing Love

It Will Never Fail,

Ron McGatlin

http://archive.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

Posted: 09/23/2006 at 9:25am | IP Logged

Living The Kingdom of God Lifestyle

Journey From Religion to Relationship

Growing in the gospel of the kingdom

NATURAL SUPERNATURAL GROWTH (#028)

In the kingdom we cannot build a life, a business or a ministry. We cannot build the kingdom of God. Everything of the kingdom of God must grow from a seed from God through a supernatural natural growth process. We must receive good seed in good soil and let the earth grow it. Indeed, this is a great mystery.

We will become what we hear and believe in our hearts.  “As you believe, so be it unto you.” “Your faith has made you well.”  “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” “With God all things are possible.”  “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  

Again, natural things are often pictures that can be used to show us spiritual things. Consider the natural growth process of a stalk of wheat that begins with a dormant seed. The seed placed in good soil sprouts and soon grows roots below ground and a small green blade breaks through above ground. The green blade grows and becomes a stalk. Then, a head begins to form on top. Next, the grain begins to grow in the head. The mature seeds in the head are seeds like the one that was planted. The seeds left alone will dry and eventually fall upon the ground and begin the process over again except there are a multiplied number of seeds.

A seed (word, thought, vision) planted in our heart-soil becomes a belief as it sprouts. The belief becomes a conviction as it grows a blade. A conviction becomes our attitude as it grows a head. Our attitudes become our actions as the full grain in the head becomes seeds (words & actions) sown into the world to sprout and grow into the natural world.

This is the supernatural natural process of bringing the desires and plans of God from heaven into the natural world. By this process, spiritual seed/word/vision from heaven becomes natural reality in the world. Through this growth process the world can be changed to become as it is in heaven.

Mark 4:26-32: And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

And He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

1 Corinthians 3:6: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

Psalm 127:1-2: Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep.  

The heart of man is God's spiritual/natural interface. Spirit God and physical earth meet in the heart of man. Two realms meet heaven and earth connect in the heart of man.

The pure heart of man is like a fruitful garden. It receives spiritual seed from God and grows it into the natural world. (The earth yields crops by itself.)

The soil must be moistened and protected by the life giving brooding of the Holy Spirit. 

The pure heart of man is God’s production center on earth that fills the world with God’s plan and rule. Only the pure heart of man is the wife of God capable of intimately relating to Him, receiving seed from Him and giving birth to God’s plan and rule into the earth. If we love God and intimately relate to Him, we will receive His seed and become pregnant with God’s plan. If, however, we love another god, its seeds will be planted in us.

Things in the world are changed through the process of the seed and natural growth.  We cannot change our character and actions by trying hard. Trying to stop doing something we want to do, or trying to start doing something we do not want to do will not make permanent changes. We must change what we hear, what we think and what we believe. We must receive new seed that will grow and change who we are and what we want to do.

Luke 8:15: But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience (endurance). 

Patience is required to reap a harvest. There is a space of time between the planting and the production. Our part is to patiently wait for the harvest and to care for the soil and the growing seedling or plant. There is nothing we can do to make the seed have life. God puts the life into the seed, and He causes it to sprout and grow. We can and must, however, provide the proper atmosphere, nutrients and care for the seed to grow to fruition.

This means holding on to the idea or vision even when we cannot see anything with our natural eye that indicates the idea is growing. The larger the idea or vision the longer the gestation period. A large work like a large animal or plant takes a much longer time. A chicken is birthed in only three weeks and is fully-grown in about twelve weeks. A human baby is birthed in nine months and takes about twenty years to be reach maturity. You can grow a radish in the garden in a few weeks; an oak tree will take many years. The vision may be lost if we abandon it. Many worthy works planted by God in the hearts of men have failed to come to fruition because they were prematurely abandoned. If a brood hen sitting on eggs leaves the nest even one day too soon, all the chicks in the eggs will be lost.

The seed planted in the soil dies and is reborn a living plant. This eliminates any potential of human effort adulterating the pure supernatural natural growth process. The temptation is to abandon God's plan during the time of the death and rebirth transformation.

John 12:24: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.

Just as a natural gardener works to care for the soil keeping it loosened so that it does not become too hard for the seed to grow, we must keep our heart-soil tender by forgiving and receiving healing for all offenses that can press down and harden our heart. The soil must be kept moist and the temperature in the proper range by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We must keep the weeds of useless words (bad seeds) out of our soil. Useless, negative words or thoughts will grow weeds that rob nutrients from the good seed and prevent them from growing properly. 

We must not only allow time for growth, we must also allow space. Seeds that are going to produce a large plant will require more space in the soil of our heart. Planting too many seeds in too small a space will cause them to grow improperly and bear little or no fruit. After the plants are up and growing, it may be necessary to remove some of them in order that there will be adequate space for growth. With some plants, it will be necessary to prune or trim the limbs to provide space on the plant for good fruit to grow. 

Keeping the weeds out means taking every thought captive. We must remove the thoughts that would hinder the growth of the growing vision. Negative thoughts of doubt, worry, and fear will choke the vision. The enemy of the vision will always attempt to plant the seed that “you cannot do it”, or “you are just not capable enough to do whatever God has said.” He is exactly right. We cannot do it. We are not supposed to be able to do it. God does it!  We must hear, believe, and obey what God tells us to do next. The earth brings forth the crop by itself. 

Thinning the plants means that we may need to lay down some really good ideas in order to concentrate on the more important vision. Our heart-soil just is not big enough and enriched enough to bring forth all the good ideas in the world at one time. If there are too many ideas or visions in one heart, none of them will grow well.

Trimming and pruning branches means cutting off excessive or wild growth of the vision. Too many branches on a fruit tree may cause the fruit to be small and may cause disease because sunlight cannot enter. Branches that are too long or improperly shaped may break when the fruit nears maturity. We may need to limit parts of the idea or vision as it grows.   

We are the manager of our garden. What we choose to hear and believe, what and how we think, are the seeds that will produce our life and affect change in the world. Bad thinking always produces bad life. Quality thinking always produces quality life. The difference between the man who tries hard but always accomplishes little in the kingdom and the man who is of much valuable service is what each hears and believes. In other words, how they manage their gardens.

All the seemingly unrelated negative events that consistently happen to the unproductive man are the product of bad seeds growing to fruition. All the seemingly unrelated doors of opportunity and blessings that consistently come to the productive man are the results of good seeds. Nothing happens until somebody believes something.

Remember “the earth yields crops by itself.”  We cannot make growth, but we must care for the soil, thin and trim the plants, protect the seedling from a hostile environment and predators, pull the weeds, shoo off the birds, and above all, keep the soil moist with the presence of the Holy Spirit through prayer. Communing with God in prayer and meditating the word (thought, vision, seed) in the Holy Spirit is the process by which the natural growth and eventual harvest will come.

Prayer and meditation is speaking to and hearing God. Speaking to and hearing God does not only involve audible words. Communing with God also involves speaking and hearing by pictures and feelings. It is seeing and feeling what God is saying as well as praying visions and feelings to Him.

Prayer and meditation is experiencing in the spiritual realm what God desires to bring into the natural realm.

To intimately commune with God, one must come to a place of inner quiet where the thoughts and distractions of the world can be silenced. Close your eyes, quiet your soul, and seek to enter into the presence of the Father. Ask God what He wants to do with your life and wait quietly before Him. When you have a clear word, a vision from God, meditate it in your spiritual mind. Look at it. Understand it. Get to know it. See it happening. Feel how it feels. Then pray the vision back to God. With the vision in your spirit, go to Him and ask Him to give you the vision He has shown you. Daily continue praying this way. You will find that the vision will change some. It will become more detailed with a little more of this and a little less of that as God continues to clarify the vision in you. 

You are now pregnant with the word from God. The vision is now alive within you. Allow yourself to become excited as you feel the first movements of the living vision within you. Original creation is beginning to be reshaped as the vision in the spiritual realm begins to impact the physical realm. All over the world things may begin to move or adjust in order to set the stage to bring about the vision that God has placed in your heart as a seed. 

Next, begin to speak the vision out loud into the earth. Share it with those who can hear. Let your passion for the vision come forth as you speak it to others as God directs. You may need to begin writing it down or sketching it out on paper. Don’t be alarmed if the vision is a thousand times greater than you think possible. Remember it is God’s baby; He will bring it to birth.

Be faithful to pray the vision and be ready to take whatever next step the Lord shows you. Wait and watch for the opportunities and circumstances that in time will appear before you to birth the vision.

GOD’S PRODUCTION

Man is made in the image of God to have dominion in the earth. God blessed man to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it and to have dominion. It is God’s desire that the earth be ruled according to His heavenly plan and pattern. Man has the potential to grow the seed of God, or the seed of the enemy. Only man has the God-given position to rule in the earth. Only man has the potent heart-soil that is the interface between the spiritual realm and the natural realm.

Genesis 1:27-28: So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

After our hearts are seeded with the plan of God, we then become seeds sown into the world to bear fruit--to bring forth the plan of God on earth.

We are at the end of this age. The good news of the kingdom is being preached; the rule of God is coming forth on earth; and pure hearted sons of God are bringing forth the plan of God on our planet now. The sons of the wicked are being removed from the kingdom of God and cast into fire. They will repent and be purified or continue in the fiery judgment of God. Then, the pure hearted sons of God, bearing His plan, will shine forth on Planet Earth.

Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43: Another parable He put forth to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’

“He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

He (Jesus) answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels.

“Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

The first soil is the heart of man in which the seed of God’s plan is sown. The second soil is the field of the world into which we are sown to produce God’s plan, which was sown into our heart. The field of the world is also sown with those who have had their hearts sown with a different, conflicting unfruitful seed.

We are to keep the tares (weeds) from growing in our heart-soil. However, the scene has changed in this parable. We are no longer looking at the soil of our heart but at the soil of the world. God, by his angels, will remove the tares from the world. They are allowed to grow together for a season. The tare is a plant in the kingdom that does not produce good fruit.

Thank God for the purifying fire we are coming through. Our hearts are being cleansed and healed to become good soil that will receive good seed and become fruitful producers in the kingdom of God.

We cannot change our lives by changing our actions. We must clear the land of our heart and plant the word (plan) of God. We must change what we hear and what we think. This will change our attitudes and actions, which will change our lives and destiny.

In the kingdom, we are not controlled by our circumstances. Christ living within us by the Holy Spirit is in control.

Jesus experienced the fullness of creative power from heaven flowing through Him. Few people if any since then, have fully experienced the creative power of the kingdom of heaven flowing through their lives into the world. Those who have come close have produced significant accomplishments with God.

Someone once said, “The man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.” My own experience parallels that of every other man who has heard and employed this mystery. It is not possible to share with you the miraculous, overcoming experiences of my 75+ years of which over 55 years were spent seeking to serve the Lord. They would become other books of many pages. In this work, I have sought to provide the reader with the foundational core of truth and wisdom resulting from my experiencing God and His word. For illustration’s sake, let us take a brief peek at a small window of experience. By no means will we set the stage or give the background or complete story. We will only take a window peek for illustration.

In the late 1960s, after beginning to hear the mystery of “as you believe, so be it unto you,” I began to prosper and to be used in giving. Through a series of changes, I had left my first miraculously prosperous job experience to manage a very small, industrial instrument sales company.  Everything about the small company was minimal and poor. There were two employees. One was a middle-aged, Native American lady who wore the same pillow-tick, sack dress most everyday, ate a whole onion for lunch each day, and had a teenage son who slept in a coffin. The other employee was a young, alcoholic man who had the top of his left ear bitten off in a bar fight. The previous owner/manager smoked cigars and spit on the floor. Total sales for the first month were about $11,000 at about 20% gross profit. That is about $2,200 before wages and overhead, which left nothing for me.

There was no doubt, however, that God had put me there for a purpose. At this season, my life was to be dedicated to giving money for the work of God in the world. God made it clear to me that this was what He desired to do with this business endeavor. As I prayed, God began to give me visions of how the place and the business could be cleaned up and rearranged. I would see the changes in my heart by the spirit. Later, I could see that what I had seen in the spirit, had come to pass and was functioning in the business.

I would ask God, “What do You want to do in sales this year?”  I was usually shocked as He revealed to me an amount that seemed, to my mind, far too great for the business to accomplish. Yet, I had come to believe that God could do what He said. Therefore, I would take a piece of paper and draw a graph representing the increase God had said. At this point, I had no idea how this tremendous increase could occur. As I prayed, I would take that line on the graph to God and ask Him to give me that. I would meditate before Him the vision of that increase coming to pass. I let myself feel what it was like to actually experience the increase happening.

After only a few months, the Lord gave me the little company. I purchased it on time payments without any money. Suddenly, for the first time, I found myself totally responsible for a business and God began to reveal the vast unlimited potential of the situation. The whole world was a potential marketplace. All the products of the world were potential goods to be marketed. There was no one over me to say it could not be done. The only limitation was what God said, and what I believed.

I am convinced that most men have never really touched the potential of their lives. Most of us experience only the smallest fraction of what God would like to do with us. We have been so planted and trained with the limitations of natural thinking and dependency upon our natural selves that we have rarely touched the vast, unlimited, spiritual realm of ruling and reigning with God. God will do anything in and with our lives that He says and we believe.

As I continued to pray and meditate the vision before Him, God would give me creative ideas and specific instructions for the next step. One example of these ideas was the printing of a catalog. No distributor of industrial temperature and pressure instruments had ever printed their own catalog. All the distributors used the manufacturers’ printed material. We printed our own stock catalog, listing and describing all of the particular items that we carried in local inventory. We did all the photography, typesetting, and layout ourselves in our small office. It was a new experience; none of us had any experience in such procedures. There were some, who worked on the little, blue catalog, that were so proud of it that they did not want to give them away to customers! The idea worked and grew. The next catalog was the size of a telephone book and brought together a product mix that could not be had anywhere else.

Soon the Lord directed other divisions of the corporation and expansion into branch operations over the southwest United States market area that we served. We were among the first in our field to use toll-free, long distance (800) telephone service for incoming sales calls across the nation. In only three years, God’s little company had become a multi-million dollar corporation. We sought to employ only maturing Christians. Some actually got saved in the employment interview and went on to spend much of their working life serving the Lord in the company. Not only were significant amounts of money flowing through me personally into the work of God; but also, many of the employees regularly gave to churches and other ministries. Many were very thankful to have a place to work where Christian values and morals were the norm.

I was never qualified to do this work. I had only a high school and some Bible college education. My work experience had been mostly in route sales, selling milk or bread on a commission basis. I had worked exceptionally hard to earn commissions to provide for my five children. There was nothing in my background that said I could do this thing. But God said it and I believed it.

It takes courage to hear God and obey what He says. I can recall occasions when God would tell me something to do. Sometimes it did not seem to make much sense according to the facts, as we knew them at the time. It was even more difficult for some of my business associates to accept some of the actions. Later, some of them came to me and said something like, “How did you know these things were going to happen?” The seemingly unreasonable actions we had taken earlier all made perfect sense as new developments occurred; and, we were sitting in exactly the right place at the right time to benefit. I would simply reply, “I didn’t know. I was just obeying God.”

Everything God does in the kingdom begins as a seed planted in the heart of man and grows into the world through the natural supernatural growth process. The work of the kingdom of God on earth can be hindered by unbelief and doubt. The work of the kingdom cannot be stopped if the seed of God is planted in an obedient heart of faith and trust in God.

Intimately relating to God and faithfully serving Him in the world allows us to see and hear His plan in heaven by the Spirit and plants it in our hearts. The God-given enthusiasm for the plan causes us to begin to speak it forth into the world; and, eventually to see it come forth into the natural world by supernatural natural growth. This is the creative process of God that will bring forth the will of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Keep on Pursuing Love

It Will Never Fail,

Ron McGatlin

http://archive.openheaven.com 

basileia@earthlink.net

Posted: 10/09/2006 at 8:22am | IP Logged

Living The Kingdom of God Lifestyle
Journey From Religion to Relationship

Growing in the gospel of the kingdom

UNIVERSAL RECIPROCITY (#029)

Universal reciprocity can be viewed as The Universal Bank in Heaven. It is the only completely secure bank. All other banks can fail, but our deposits are secure in God’s bank. Just as a natural bank is a place where we deposit our money or treasures until we call for them, so the bank of heaven is a depository for our treasures until we call for them. The enemy would like for us to believe that we cannot make withdrawals from the bank of heaven now, that we must wait until we die and go to heaven to have any use of our account in heaven. That same enemy desires that we believe everything about heaven pertains to only the future, and not now. This would be like a bank forbidding us the use of our checking account. Yes, we are to lay up treasures in heaven, not on earth. But where does Scripture say that we must die and go to heaven to before we can access them?

We are being used of God in the business of ruling and reigning on earth with Him. We are God's earthly managers bringing forth His will on earth as it is in heaven. God's universal laws govern the working arrangement between God and His earthly managers (mankind). As good managers of God’s assets we are instructed to lay up treasures in heaven by faithfully and obediently managing our lives and all He has put into our hands. We are clearly instructed not to gather treasures on earth for ourselves.

Matthew 6:19-20: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Meeting needs of mankind and the world around us makes a deposit in our account in the universal bank in heaven. We are God's possession and all that is in our hands belongs to Him. Our personal accounts in heaven are His riches reserved for us. When we have need, God supplies all our need according to His riches in glory.

Philippians 4:17: Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.

Matthew 19:21: Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

1 Peter 1:4: ...to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.

Phil 4:19: And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

SOWING AND REAPING

One of the major banking laws governing business activities of the “Universal Bank in Heaven” is the universal law of sowing and reaping. In the realm of physics, this law may be expressed as the law of cause and effect. Isaac Newton said, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  In the realm of finance, one might refer to it as the law of investment and return. A preacher might express it as giving and receiving. The farmer would speak of planting and harvesting. In any case, the law always involves a costly sowing process. We must take what we have and plant it. We may desire to consume it, but we know there will be no harvest if we do not plant.

Psalm 126:5-6: Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Galatians 6:7-l0: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

We will reap what we sow, if we do not lose heart. We must patiently wait and remain until harvest time. All sowing requires a period of natural growth before harvest. If we, for any reason, lose heart and leave or quit before the harvest time, we will miss the harvest. It may be wasted or another may gather the harvest we planted. Man does not decide when it is harvest time; the crop does. We must be available and ready to put in the sickle immediately when the harvest time comes.

No one can reap until someone has sown. To look for a harvest without sowing means that we are looking to receive from what someone else has sown. This is like borrowing and must be paid back. The account books will be balanced. To continue to borrow (seeking to reap without sowing) will put us further and further in debt and into the bondage of lack. It’s much the same as if we continued to borrow money from a natural bank, but made no payments. We are given an original inheritance in our account but if we never use it to do good, we make no deposits. Our inheritance will soon be gone and we will have nothing in the universal bank to draw upon.

We are to sow (doing good) to all, but especially to those of the household of faith. The more we can do to really meet the needs of God’s people and all mankind, the more we will reap. Helping to provide food for people by farming, processing, or distributing, is sowing. Using what we have to manufacture and distribute or otherwise provide clothing, clean water, adequate housing, transportation, medical services, and so on are forms of meeting needs. Mankind’s greatest need is to be rightly related to God. Preaching and teaching the Word of God, bringing forth the ministry of Jesus by the Holy Spirit to save, heal and deliver is a major area of meeting human needs. The more we do to establish systems or provide resources to accomplish these things, the more we will reap.

2 Corinthians 9:6-12: But this I say: “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: ‘He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness remains forever.’” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God.

Hebrews 6:10: For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.

Becoming Better Managers

Who can meet more needs for mankind, the skilled or the unskilled, the diligent or the slothful, those with Godly wisdom or the unwise, the one who cares for others or the one who cares only for himself, the one who receives wise counsel or the one who listens only to himself, the one who labors or the one who talks idly? The one who meets more needs is making more deposits and subsequently will reap more from the Universal Bank in Heaven.

It is not necessary that men know the good we do. The return does not depend on men. It depends on God and His accounting and reward system in Heaven. We will be rewarded openly for using that which we have to meet the needs of others in secret. Prayer and fasting makes a deposit in the Bank of Heaven. Anything that meets human need, especially the needs of the brethren, makes a deposit.

Matthew 6:1-4,6,17-18: “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in Heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what you right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” “But you when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” “But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.”

Giving to a person or an organization that is meeting human needs makes a deposit. Investing in a company that is meeting human needs makes a deposit.

The amount of return is based on the net value produced. It costs something to maintain our life and any system of endeavor. The net product is what is left of the value we added after subtracting the value that we consumed or used.

There is positive and negative sowing. If we do good to one person but take away from another, the value we added to mankind is lessened by the amount of negative we sowed. If we go out to help the world but offend our own children, we may take away as much or more than we deposited. The net value added to mankind is our deposit in the Bank of Heaven. If we have not been giving to God by adding value to mankind but have been consuming all God has placed into our hands, we have been robbing God - robbing the bank of heaven.

Malachi 3:8-9: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me!  But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’  “In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation.”

Jesus said that when we give to the brethren, we give to Him. We give to God by giving to others. Our gift to an organization is a gift to God only if the organization is meeting people’s needs.

Malachi is a transitional book. It is the last book of the Old Testament and in part speaks into the New Testament. The tithe was God's instruction in the old covenant law that does not transcend into the kingdom. In the new covenant we, and all that we have in our hands are God's. We are to administer it according to His instruction. In the time of the old covenant, they did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide and empower their lives. Basic laws and rules and the words of the prophets were the Israelites primary forms of direction. There was no potential for them to all become priests and kings as in the new covenant. Rather, God appointed some to be priests and sent prophets to anoint some as kings.

In the kingdom our lives are about giving and serving God by serving His people. We are to be hearing and obeying God's desire and direction as to how and where we give or serve. In so doing, our treasures are stored in heaven to be drawn upon as needed to provide for meeting more needs in obedience to God's direction through the Holy Spirit.

There is no room in the kingdom for greed and covetous practices such as have perverted the ways of people, including many Christians, in past centuries. Failure and depletion of available provision comes from the disobedience of keeping back for ourselves what God has given us to invest in meeting needs, which is the business of kingdom management.

Keep on Pursuing Love
It Will Never Fail,

Ron McGatlin

http://archive.openheaven.com
basileia@earthlink.net

Posted: 10/09/2006 at 9:43am | IP Logged

Living The Kingdom-of-God Lifestyle

Journey From Religion to Relationship

Growing in the gospel of the kingdom

THE THIRD GREATEST MYSTERY (#030)

Everything God is doing, has ever done, or ever will do, is good. God never has done anything bad and never will do anything bad. Because God is good, there is hope. Hope is the essence of believing in God's goodness; it is the light for the future and the beginning of joy.

If, for any reason, we think we have seen God do something bad, we are wrong. Our perspective is not in order. Our goals are not God’s goals. Our purpose is not God’s purpose. All things that God does are good and work together for good to those who are in line with His purposes.

Romans 8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Our extremely limited view from our human position in life can give us a false perspective of good and bad. If we understood the full scope of God’s plan and the eternal perspective of a given situation or circumstance, what may appear to our limited understanding as a very bad situation could be seen as good.

As an example, the Bible records many incidents of entire nations of people, including women and children, being destroyed by God or at His direction. From our natural, human perspective, we may view this as a very bad act of God. However, if we understood the full impact that sparing these nations would have upon the plan of God and His people in the future, we would see the love and goodness of God in the act. The continued multiplication of an evil tribe could have had a devastating effect upon millions in the future. Only God could know how sparing them would have a future tragic impact upon the world.

One error often made by modern day Christians is to ascribe to the devil every act that appears bad to them, and to accept every work that appears good to them as from God. To blame the devil for every act that we consider to be bad is foolishness. To do so, one must esteem the devil equal with God. The devil can do nothing to mankind that is not allowed by God. Everything God does is good. It is man that releases evil and judgment by his sin. God would not be good if He did not judge sin.

Only God can see the astronomical myriad of all events, their impact upon mankind and His entire plan for the world. In the full scope of considering all things now, in the future and eternity, only God can accurately determine what is good and what is bad.

Job 2:10: But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

2 Corinthians 1:18-20: But as God is faithful, our word to you was not “Yes” and “No”. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who was preached among you by us - by me, Silvanus, and Timothy-was not “Yes and No”, but in Him was “Yes”. For all the promises of God in Him are “Yes”, and in Him “Amen”, to the glory of God through us.

God is only positive. There is nothing negative in Him at all. If God did not provide judgment or chastening for man’s evil actions, but instead rewarded man with health, prosperity, and good fortune for his evil deeds, He would not be a good God. Everything God does is positive in that it all moves toward His ultimate plan. All systems of creation are designed by God to arrive at the ultimate goal He has in mind, which involves peace on earth and good will toward men in the kingdom of God on earth from heaven.

Man is given dominion on the earth, but he will not prosper in his journey until he moves into the plan of God. Hence, even the lack of prospering is good, because it brings the out-of-order person or tribe toward order with God’s plan.

God has only good in mind for mankind. God’s plan is the beautiful, New Jerusalem lifestyle of peace and glory. God has no negative plan for man. His ideas are 100% perfect for man. He planned neither sickness nor disorder of any kind for man.  

It is man who decides to come up with another plan. Man decides to disobey God and eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which is seeking to know what is good and bad from his perspective. Rather than obediently partaking only of the tree of life, which is seeking to hear from God, from His perspective. Man’s alternate plans are not good for man and lead to God’s chastening to bring man back to God’s plan. The results of man seeking his own plan rather than God's are built into God’s system of universal law and lead toward death, which is separation from God and His benefits. Even God’s chastening is positive and gives us hope of attaining God’s plan.

Ezekiel 18:20a: “The soul who sins shall die.”

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Hebrews 12 5b-6: My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord; nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.

1 Corinthians 11:31-32: For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Hebrews 12:11: Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

God is able to deliver the righteous and protect them from the judgment of the unrighteous, as He did with Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. But even Lot was affected by the evil of the land. He endured serious vexation and torment of soul because of the corporate living apart from God’s plan.

2 Peter 2:4-10: For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed with the filthy conduct of the wicked (for the righteous man, dwelling among them, vexed [tormented] his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) - then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of  uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed; they are not afraid to speak evil of glories (dignitaries).

Although the righteous are delivered, they may yet endure oppression because of the evil around them. Collectively, man is tied together in families, communities, nations, and the world. Each individual will bear, to some degree, responsibility for the life decisions of the whole. Everyone in the U.S.A. will be affected by the cost of major diseases such as AIDS and the high cost of immorality. Although the disease of AIDS was birthed in sexual perversion, less guilty persons may contract the disease and suffer, simply because we are tied together. We are foremost affected by our own life decisions; secondly, we are greatly affected by our family; and, decreasingly, less affected by our community, nation, and world.  The whole world is in some way affected by every person’s decision not to live according to God’s plan.

Conversely, the entire world is in some way affected by our decision to live according to God’s plan. We first have the most effect upon our own life; secondly, we have a great effect upon our family; and decreasingly, have less effect upon our community, nation, and the world. But, we do have an effect on every person in the world.

The violent destruction of all the people including the little girls and boys in Sodom and Gomorrah may seem to us like a very bad act of God. Yet, it was good and not bad in the full scope of the world, mankind, and eternity. God was responsible for the actual act of raining fire and brimstone, not the devil. Man caused it to happen by accepting the devil’s alternate plan and leaving God’s plan. The bad part was man leaving God’s plan. God, however, was good in destroying those who did. We cannot know the future death and devastation that could have been caused to the people of God by not destroying these cities and allowing them to remain and multiply. If God had rewarded them with prosperity, posterity, and longevity, He would not be a good God.

Rom 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 106: l: Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!  For his mercy endures forever.

God is good and His mercies endure forever. The mercy of God is available to all. His chastening will cause us to turn to His mercy. His grace can then empower us from within to live in His pattern and plan. Then, we can participate in His beautiful holiness and peace. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Thank you, God, for your goodness! And thank you, God, for loving us enough to cause us to change! Thank you for our great hope for the future and our great joy for today!

Happiness is in God.

Even the darkest night can be endured with hope. Because God is good, hope continues until morning. Hope gives peace in the dark night and joy in the bright morning.

Psalm 30:5b: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Psalm 34:19: Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers him out of them all.

If God were not good, hope would not exist in the darkness of trials and difficulties.  Rejection, persecution, and affliction would overwhelm and defeat even the righteous in the dark night.

Happiness is a pleasurable state of mind. The world seeks to produce happiness through an arrangement of external circumstances to stimulate pleasurable feelings and emotions. Real happiness comes from within from God, Who is real happiness.

To seek to be happy apart from love, faith, and hope is futile. The one who knows God’s love personally is not at all dependent upon circumstances for peace and joy. Rather than being overcome by circumstances, he will impact and overcome the circumstances with his inner peace and joy.

Praise is the embodiment and expression of love, faith, hope, peace and joy. As we praise God, we reflect and express positive, affirming, gratifying love and life to God. As we praise His children, our brothers and sisters, we praise God Himself and flow life and edification to the person.

Matthew 25:40: “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

God inhabits His praises. God is in praise. Praise comes from God within our heart as He produces love, faith, hope, peace, and joy. Where there is no reality of God within, there is no real praise. There is nothing negative in God. There is nothing negative in praise. And there is no praise in negativity or criticism. WE CANNOT PRAISE GOD AND CRITICIZE HIS CHILDREN! Criticism and negativity destroys hope. It is not ever of God and will always defer hope, which leads to sickness and death, not well being and life.

Proverbs 13:12a: Hope deferred makes the heart sick.

Proverbs 17:29a: A merry heart does good, like a medicine.

The positive force of praise cannot be faked. It must come from a pure, sincere heart in which love, faith, and hope has done its work. One may speak and act words of praise with a negative, critical heart; but the words will come out only as phony, cheap flattery. The words will still carry the sting of death and will not edify. It is futile for a person or group to seek to enter into high praises to God without first experiencing true repentance, cleansing, and healing.

There is nothing on earth more beautiful, gratifying, and fulfilling than to enter into true praise and worship with an assembly of pure-hearted children of God. God does inhabit His praises.

The Three Greatest Mysteries of The Kingdom of God

1 Corinthians 13:13: And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

LOVE, the greatest mystery, produces righteousness.

FAITH, the second greatest mystery, produces power.

HOPE, the third greatest mystery, produces peace, joy, and PRAISE.

Psalm 150: Praise the Lord!  Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty firmament (expanse of heaven)!  Praise Him for His mighty acts. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!  Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals. Praise Him with high sounding cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

Happiness is praising and worshipping God with our whole heart, our whole life, in all we do or say every hour of every day.

Keep on Pursuing Love

It Will Never Fail,

Ron McGatlin

http://archive.openheaven.com

basileia@earthlink.net

Posted: 02/12/2008 at 11:25am | IP Logged

~>KINGDOM BOOKS Free Download PDF<~