For reasons that I will probably only fully know in the presence of Jesus, the Spirit of God seems to take great delight in using this type of spiritual technology in communicating with me from time to time. With no regard to place, time or activity, some casual meditation will turn into a huge download. Maybe you've been there. You know you have something really, really profound and something has just gotten bigger in your spirit. The problem is that you only have a vague idea of what it is you now know that you didn't just five minutes ago. And you have even less of an idea just what you're supposed to do with it.
The latest spiritual "ZIP" file for me was just over a week ago, and it came in a few segments over a couple of days. In this particular case, I was at least priming the pump by reading a book. But nonetheless, what I received from God seems almost too large for my hard-drive of a mind.
And so, I begin to unpack the file and as it has started to extract into my heart, something very real and deep is being revealed, in some ways for the first time. I am talking, to be certain, about the Kingdom of God. And with this "download", I am beginning to live in something far bigger, far more beautiful and far more powerful than I have ever experienced it to be. And, be sure of this... the Kingdom of God is meaningless to any person without its being experienced by that person!
There's a scripture in Psalm 115 that I would refer to here:
The heavens are the heavens of the LORD,Without breaking this out too much, one might suppose that the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, exists first and foremost in the heavens, which according to this scripture, are the Lord's. But when you and I think of heaven, we usually think of that otherworldly place "way out there somewhere" that is beyond the reaches of this universe. But do you know that scripture itself refers to no less than three heavens, and that the first heaven is understood to mean the very atmosphere around us? That the "heavens", which are the Lord's, might be as close as our very breath?
But the earth He has given to the sons of men
-Ps 115:16, NASU
Again, because of space, I will dispense with all of the scriptural evidence here, but suffice it to say that many biblically-recorded encounters with the Lord (Old and New Testament) happened in some manifestation within the physical properties of the environment around the (usually surprised) personalities who were objects of those encounters. And so, the kingdom was manifested, as it were, right out of "thin air"!
And the point in all of this? The nearness of the Kingdom to our hearts and lives. The revelation? Hard to put into words, but it has to do with the celebration of the wonder and beauty and vastness and grandeur and, maybe most importantly, the accessibility of the Kingdom of God!
Something has started to happen in some deep part of my soul that is going far beyond the healing of my heart I have experienced in recent years. Something about God. How big he really is. How much He is really up to in this world - in my world, for that matter. How deep and wide His touch of all people. How present He is in all of creation. How evident He is in even the secular space occupied by "ungodly" men and women. How generous and giving and expressive and compassionate and merciful and richly present and passionately affectionate He is as He touches His children. And how True His love is for us... always.
Paul wrote in Romans 14 that the Kingdom of God was righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And these are the inward workings of True Love. The outward workings are the power-manifestation of those things. Power that really does rearrange the "stuff" of our temporal world to align it with God's rule. But here's the key... the rule begins in us, and if we can merely allow the experience of His love to permeate us (something that only He can do), the experience of His Kingdom will work change in us.
It's as if you and I are "portals" through which God's kingdom comes. I have felt/seen/heard deep impressions of the power of the Kingdom at work in me the past 4 or 5 days. I have, on 3 occasions in that same interval, been used of God to pray and/or speak in Kingdom-bringing ways. And here's the thing... I don't expect that flow to stop unless I step out of it.
You can use Eastern religion terminology if you want, but that would just be acknowledging a counterfeit. Our (ancient) faith is mystical, transcendent and only meant to be lived as spiritual beings having a human experience. What the enemy has managed to do (and we do it repeatedly to ourselves even more) is relegate the spiritually-powered reality of the kingdom of God to key principles, steps and ought-to's/must-do's. We take our very essence and bury it under the weight of being nice, ethical, Bible-reading, church-going people who are essentially good citizens of our communities but legalistic, fearful and powerless participants in the reality of the kingdom.
And I have been one of us, because there have been so many lies and so much damage to my heart that I have been struggling as well just to really see it. And most of you around BCC have been engaged with me through this season, as I have tried to be "nakedly" honest with all of you as to the struggles of my own story. And you all have compassionately prayed for and stood with me, which is amazing and an incredible testimony of community, where love is sufficiently there for the "members" to shepherd the "pastor"! And all this, even as I have tried to teach and preach the substance of this very message for years now! I guess there's something to be said for "walking out" truth!
But it appears that the joy of a new season is on the horizon. And all I can say in response is, as Jesus, that the Kingdom of God has come! And it's very near to us. And it will take some significant work of God's love to uncover it, even within our own lives. But I'm tasting it now as if it were the very first time. And I can't imagine letting it go again on purpose. So... seek it until you find it. Because it's as near as our hearts and as the very air we breathe!
And when it comes, it changes everything!
Live Courageous!
2 comments:
I actually stumbled across this deeper revelation of the Kingdom in a way which God showed me wasn’t the best, but its ok. I have been so excited about what I’m learning, I had actually started to run from my own will, doing by myself, to accomplish Gods will. In doing so, I began to unravel mysteries which I almost wasn’t ready for, and nearly fell into an incredibly blinding and hard to escape web of lies. Thank you Lord for not ever giving us more than we can bear, and pulling me out. He showed me how Jesus IS in our hearts and we STILL follow him. that He with the Father, and the Spirit, and our spirit, walk together. The Trinity with our spirit, there in the spirit. As we ask for and follow his will, we are quite literally doing what Jesus said. Follow me. Stay strong fellow spirits with eyes wide open, looking always for that next step in the spirit. But I ask God for peace for us all, where we find Him and hear his will so much clearer, and don’t worry if you miss your footing, just right your footing and keep walking. Its all good.
hey people. scratch last message for now except for experience sharing. i was given a huge zip file as well,the same one, or a piece to connect to brices zip file. guys the word is its all good, just walk, dont hesitate. peace love and joy i pray in you all.
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