Have you praised Him today? Have you thanked Him?
When my son thanks me for buying him something, it gives me so much joy I just want to give him more.
We being in His image… think about it. Get your Father’s attention this day. Thank Him for waking up, thank Him that your heart is beating, thank Him for the car starting up- and if the car didn’t start up- thank Him for all the days it did.
This is a short one- but I’m just in the mood to thank Him. With every breath praise ye the Lord!
Many will read this title and think they know what this post is about- but most will be wrong. The question I ask is not about Heaven or Hell but about Heaven or Earth?
So where are you going? I think I need to clarify this question some more. I ask this question in the sense as when you get ready and head for the door and your wife, husband or family member asks “Where are you going?” This question implies ‘You know you belong here so why are you trying to leave here?’
Christianity has become a “Ready to Leave” mindset- so I ask again “Where are you going?”
Actually this does not only apply to Christianity but to many other religions. The Muslims who sacrificed their lives on 9/11 did it because they thought they would leave earth and go to heaven. Many Christians believe they get saved so that when they die they can leave earth and go to heaven.
The bible consistently points to God’s purpose in placing humans on earth in order to impact earth with the culture of the country of heaven until earth becomes just like heaven. Is this false doctrine? Look what Jesus taught the disciples when He was asked how to pray.
So if God is so purposed in putting us on earth- why are we trying to leave so bad? Why did He not keep us in heaven to begin with since we came out of God. (John 1) If that’s, where most believe, our ultimate goal is?
Why did David say “the heavens are the Lord’s but the earth He has given unto man”?
Why did Daniel see in the end times the Saints with a kingdom where they would rule forever?
Why did Jesus pray to the Father about the disciples “Do not take them out of the world but leave them in the world”?
Why does the New Jerusalem city come ‘down’ from heaven to earth?
Why do the meek inherit the earth… and not heaven?
Why if God wants us in heaven so bad does He make a new earth?
Religion makes us lazy cowards and that’s not a kingdom mentality. God put us here for a reason. He heals your body naturally and supernaturally because He so committed to His purpose. He HAS to have you on earth in order to use you- so maybe the question should be-
Why do you not want to be used?
We pray “God use me!” then we say “Lord, hurry and come and take me to heaven.” How confusing is this- God’s thinking ‘Well which is it!?! Do you want to be used or leave earth?’
Study God’s word. Does your prayers and beliefs line up with the kingdom of God?
So how is life currently looking?
Are you above or beneath? Are you the head or the tail? Are you the lender or the borrower?
If your apart of the colony of the kingdom then you’re supposed to be above, the head, and lenders only… ONLY!
So- if you’re in the kingdom and you’re not above, the head and lenders only- Get ready for change- because your status is illegal in the kingdom so something has to change.
If you don’t expect that- don’t expect anything to change. If you expect to be broke, enjoy being broke. You activate your faith for what you believe. But my prayer is
“LORD, LET THY KINGDOM COME, LET THY WILL BE DONE- ON EARTH- JUST AS IT IS IN HEAVEN- THROUGH ME AND IN MY LIFE.”
How busy are you? How much more can you fit in your agenda each day? It may feel like you barely have time for a restroom break- no need to even consider adding to your day.
It’s amazing though what happens when we line up with the kingdom. When me and my wife turned to the Lord we didn’t think we had enough money to buy even a box of Nutty Bars at the store- let along pay tithes. But we knew it was the law so we followed it- even if it meant having the power turned off. All of a sudden we had more money than before and were able to pay extra on our debts. (Which is another kingdom culture- being debt free)
There is always a resistance to kingdom culture. When someone starts trying to have the Word manifest in their life, the enemy comes against it. He knows once you understand a benefit of the kingdom he cannot hold you back from that anymore because after all- culture is just normal- your lifestyle- it becomes a right. But satan also knows that activation of these rights in your life is a product of belief. You have to believe that you are supposed to live debt free, or be in good health, or prosper as your soul prospers.
One of the things I want to focus on in this post specifically is your work. One of my favorite quotes by Dr. Myles Munroe is “Your job is what they hire you to do, your work is what you were born to do. You can be fired from your job, but you can never be fired from your work.” Your work, which is your purpose, is what satan fights against the most. He sidetracks us by thinking it’s just about keeping you out of heaven. What he really doesn’t want is God’s purpose being revealed in His children and the kingdom of Heaven being manifested in the earth. If you get saved and you die and go to Heaven (by the way we’re coming back to the earth) then that affects just you. However if you get saved and seek out God’s purpose for you and you spread your seed, your gift, your work- then you ultimately affect tens of thousands, millions or even billions of lives. So which of these scenarios impacts the earth with the kingdom? See to carry out God’s purpose in your life is to “BE A PRAISE” to God.
Now for the resistance to your purpose. The enemy will try to keep you so busy and overwhelmed that you feel you don’t have time to do anything else. No time to work on starting my own business- I’m busy enough with my job. I can’t go to school to further my education- I don’t have the monetary resources or time. Can’t work on my dreams, I’m too busy with reality.
Listen to me- Life is more than just keeping a job to pay bills, adding to your savings, so you can retire and die. If we think we have to keep a job or we will not eat- we missed a kingdom concept.
Matthew 6
26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
So the enemy keeps us preoccupied with trying to provide these things all of our life and keeps us from our real purpose. There is a WORK that is inside of each and everyone of you that God wants to bring out of you. God doesn’t make anything without a purpose- it’s there. The thing is we have to work out purpose. We say “God has great thing’s in store for me” but we don’t work towards it. We say “The Lord has a better tomorrow for me” but our lack of work shows a lack of faith. After all if it’s already been established- might as well work on it.
If I was cooking and I realized I was missing an ingredient, and I called a neighbor to ask them if they might have it. They tell me “sure, I’ll be right over.” I don’t sit on the couch and worry, fret and cry thinking “Are they really coming with the ingredient? I know they said they were- but will it really happen? What will I do if it never gets here!?!” Noooo- I continue on with my recipe and prepare as if I already have the ingredient in my cabinet because it’s on the way. Why waste time waiting for everything to be here when I know it’s coming? Isn’t God more faithful to His word, than another person is to theirs? So why do we show more faith in people’s promises than to God’s? IF HE SAID IT’S YOURS – IT’S YOURS! Start working as if it is. This is active belief. It’s showing faith through works. Because without works faith is… (James 2:26)
So work it! Work out your gift. Don’t let the enemy remind you how hard your day was when you get home. Be about your work. The job is temporary- your work is permanent. So why let the temporary keep us hostage from our work? God gave you the job, so do it- do it well (after all you are a kingdom representative)- But when you get home get busy on your work. Remember the enemy wants to keep you busy, or tired, or overwhelmed- this is all overcome by reading of God’s Word and prayer. Remember this is the same as knowing and understanding the laws and promises of the kingdom so you will know your rights- and then bringing your petitions to God’s courtroom and presenting His evidence- so you know you’re going to win.
Look at this scripture…
Ecclesiastes 11
6) Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well. (NIV)
Whew! Work it! One of them is guaranteed to succeed…(I could shout right there.) One is guaranteed to prosper you- but it might even be both! What a blessing. His word says “you don’t know WHICH one will succeed” So something is going to succeed. But let’s not shout before we understand the key. Sow your seed in the morning, so do your job God has given you- and at evening don’t let your hands be idle, so work on your purpose. Eventually the work will out perform the job and you’ll have to quit your job to do your work. How awesome is that? Man I love the kingdom!
So don’t be lazy, don’t get tired- Get to work! Seek out your purpose- you will never be happy, never be fulfilled until you find your purpose. Seek out purpose, seek it out daily- then WORK IT!
Who are you supposed to be?
What’s keeping you from becoming?
What’s stopping you from being?
Sometimes we think people decide who we are, or at least we act that way. We don’t take risk because of the fear of criticism. Because if we fail at trying, then maybe it would mean we are not who we thought we were. But that’s not true.
The enemy doesn’t want you to realize who you are. If you realize then you might discover something that would save millions of lives and that would be more purposes that could be fulfilled. You might discover some new way to grow crops that is healthy and causes people to live longer lives and the devil would have to deal with them on the earth that much longer. But being successful is the product of many failures. It’s diligence and perseverance that brings the fruit. Look at this scripture the Lord brought to me this morning.
1 Corinthians 2:8
Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
If they had known who He was they would not have treated Him the way they did.
So don’t worry about those around you- what they say, or how they treat you. If they knew what you were going to become they wouldn’t do it. If they knew who you were they’d follow you for the leader that you are going to become. Jesus didn’t let them persuade Him. He knew who He was and what He was here to do. Find out your purpose- you have one! We all do.
So I challenge you- seek purpose everyday until you find it. Then once you have vision, TAKE IT! You might have to hear some things you don’t want to hear, you may have to push on even though the balance is tipped against you- but be diligent.
When the odds seems against you, your coworkers are negative, or even if family and friends seem doubtful, just remind yourself with this saying-
“It’s OK, If they only knew who I was… -But they’ll find out”
I know it’s a simple title, but it is something we really need to realize whether we give enough attention to or not. Let’s look at some definitions.
These definitions come from Dictionary.Com
I really love the second one- “the cultivation of a particular branch of learning.”
A farmer will cultivate his crops in order to promote growth in them. He will give much labor and attention to them in order to get the best result. Can you say you cultivate your self for the kingdom? Do you give much attention to who you are supposed to become?
You know I’ve never met a wealthy person who got rich by being lazy.
Proverbs 10:4
Lazy hands make a man poor,
but diligent hands bring wealth.
Do you think “Being wealthy is ungodly!”. That’s not what God says. It’s in the bible! So this scripture needs to be looked at two ways: Physical wealth (money, property, assets)- and most importantly mental wealth (knowledge, wisdom, understanding).
Remember lazy hands make you poor -in every area- but diligent hands bring wealth -in every area-. If you are diligent in your studying you are GUARANTEED to be wealthy, and not because God likes you… Think about that. You are guaranteed to be wealthy because it’s God’s word and remember a king is bound by his decrees.
God spoke these things for our benefit, but so many times we choose to let them work against us. How? By being lazy. Waiting for God to do a miracle. Expecting God just to MAKE you smart, make you intelligent, make you rich. That’s not what God said in his word. Where do we get these concepts?
Read God’s word, study it, and make it work for you. Citizens know the laws and benefits their country provides- yet we choose to ignore the laws of the kingdom of God which are the most rewarding benefits any country has ever provided for any citizen ever! So study-study-study! Cultivate your mind with knowledge of God’s word.
God will reward those that diligently seek Him. He will reward your efforts of diligence in every area of life if you understand this concept and put it into practice. You will ‘do a little thing for a long time’ and then BOOM! God comes gives you a supernatural increase in that area of study. We’ve all had it happen. We’ve worked hard at something and then all of a sudden we get a boost in a short period of time that reaps more results then all the work we had done up to that point. That’s called a Breakthrough! Remember- one plants, one waters, and God gives the increase. He’ll give you an increase in your job knowledge, your skill of expertise, your business, your relationships- everything! You just have to show you mean business and put forth effort. God will give you such an abundant increase because He wants people to see you and see what it’s like to be in His kingdom. God wants His citizens to represent what it’s like to be in the kingdom of God.
Study – Study – Study – Cultivate – Cultivate – Cultivate and watch the Lord work!
You ever heard that phrase?
I’ll give you an example. A psychiatrist is working with an individual trying to figure out why someone is depressed a lot. The patient gives them a background of their child life and from this story the psychiatrist draws the conclusion, based on his education, the root of their depression. When the patient says how did you figure this out? The psychiatrist says “It’s textbook.”
What he means is that the persons life, stress, job, family history, or other determining factor is a very common scenario that causes these feelings. It is so common that it was put in a textbook to teach other aspiring counselors so they would be able to recognize this pattern.
I was recently talking with a friend and they were sharing with me how sometimes people make them feel when they act a certain way towards them, or say certain things. It bothered them and they would catch themselves thinking “Why is God letting me be treated like this?”
I told them one of the reasons they feel the way they do- is because they are caught unaware by other people’s actions or behaviors. And this goes back to their preparation for the day. How did you start your day today? It is so important to start off our day with prayer. Communicating with the Father in heaven over the day. The days events, happenings, and works. Who knows what the day has to offer better than the one who made the day. Yet we go into our day blindly- ‘hoping’ for the best. Look at the “Lord’s Prayer”.
“Our Father, who art in heaven- hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done- on earth- just as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread…”
This is a model prayer. Jesus was teaching the disciples how to pray. He told them to call on the Source. Where is the Source? In heaven. Then pray for His will to be done in the earth- JUST AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Then He says to pray for daily bread. This is not talking about food- but everything you will need for the day. It is so important to prepare for the day and ask God to give everything we will need to do His will and carry out His purpose and work in that day.
Why do companies have meetings? To make sure everyone is on the same page and carrying out the same vision for the business. I’ve never seen an “effective” business hire a manager and say “Just go out their and see what you can do to make us some money.” They train them, give them instruction, teach them the vision of the company- so they can carry out the companies will.
So why do we go about our day and never get in touch with our… can I use the term “Heavenly CEO”? The one who has the vision, the plan, the purpose. We need the ‘daily memo’ so we are not caught unaware. When an employee acts irrational- a good manager is not lost for what to do next? He doesn’t say “Why is my company letting this happen to me?” No, he’s been trained. He’s been made aware that this can happen. He’s been made aware of employee issues. He’s not surprised when these occurrences happen.
It’s the same way with God. Many times we have those people that come up and act in a disrespectful way to us. Our initial response would be “What did you say to me BOY?!?” Because we were caught unaware.
But God is saying “If you had come to the meeting this morning, you would have got the memo.”
See if you are in daily communication -(prayer)- with the King- then you are able to go about the day being about the business of the Father. (Sound familiar? -Luke 2:49)
Pride is then not a factor- because you are ‘working’. And a threat made towards you is really towards the kingdom. You were ready, trained, prepared for that day’s agenda. So now you don’t take offense and are able to be effective because you were looking for it. You’re not caught by surprise because you were prepared in the meeting this morning…prayer. You were trained, instructed, and prepared- so you were able to recognize the situation when it come up. It’s no longer a “What am I going to do” moment; It’s textbook!
Start your day off with God. He will prepare you for the day. He will even tell you what to say.
Luke 12:12
For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
Try it. You can always go back to your old ways, which are working so well…
Starting each day with communication (prayer) with the home government (heaven).
Now that’s kingdom!
You were born for a purpose. You were created in the image and likeness of the Father in heaven for a reason. God created you with the intent on making you a ruler on earth. You were born to dominate the earth. So why are we letting life dominate us? Why do we continue to live in sin? We are out of order. It’s time to return to the natural order of things. The way God originally made it. The way He originally intended for things to be. Ruling under His authority. Carrying out His will. Return to the Creator’s natural order for your life!
What if we were concerned more about our relationship with God than our relationship with people? We seem to have this backward most of the time. We spend hours with people and very little with God.
If we looked at the kingdom for what it is, the government of Heaven, than we would want to stay in right standing with our home government. We would want to keep our relationship with the government healthy. After all if you are not getting your intelligence daily from the government- what do you know?
We are after all ambassadors for Christ…
Every year, around January 1st actually, we have this practice we usually do. We see a brand new start, a fresh outlook, a renewed zeal for doing something in our lives. You may have called this a “New Year Resolution”. It’s an amazing thing actually. We have many days we wish we could do again, and we could really just restart the next day-and let it be a brand new day- but many times we carry over yesterday’s hurts and failures over into the next day and continue to let them control our attitude and outlook.
But there is something different about a ‘new year’. I can’t explain it but, even those who usually drag each ‘let down’ with them day to day are able to get the feeling that they have a fresh start finally. There isn’t a difference from December 31st to January 1st in weather, circumstances, situations, length of days, or anything that is dramatic or observable. It’s just a change in our mindset. So we can actually control this mindset thing.
But, let’s talk about goals for a moment. It’s great to have a feeling of a new start or a new beginning, but what happened to the resolutions of the previous year? There must be something that triggered us to be so anxious for the new year to come so we could start over… right? If we fulfilled all of our resolutions from the previous year we would feel… AWESOME… yea? So somewhere during the year we must have lost our way to meeting our goal. And every year we wind up missing the goal and putting all of our hopes and aspirations into the next year. So we have to change something in our ways in order to get the desired result.
[Related Story]
Dave Ramsey on one of his radio shows was talking about a time when he had a new years resolution to workout. He hired a trainer and was excited to get started. But during his first day he and his trainer had to wait longer than normal wait times to get on a machine. It slowed the process down a lot. The trainer told him not to worry, they would all be gone by Valentine’s Day. And he was right.
So what caused them to give up? Well, I have a theory and I also have a truth.
[Theory]
We have something in mind we want to do- we fail early and spend the next 9-10 months waiting for the next year. So that’s 2 months of success and 10 months of procrastination. The next year comes and we are so unhappy with last year’s results that we try again but we try to go even bigger because we want to make up for lost time. This ends in failure most of the time again. I call this “resolution debt”. The feeling we owe for time missed or opportunities that have passed.
[Truth]
The most important thing we can do though is something very simple. It’s actually more important than working towards the resolution itself. When you have something you want to achieve you need to set a… goal for your… goal. Setting a number goal gives you something to work for. It makes you push harder, faster, and do whatever is necessary to get there when you can see you are closing in.
[Example]
You say “I want to read more books this year”. OK, good luck with that. But if you say “I want to read 2 books a month”. Well now you have something to work for. See if you don’t set a number to reach you will end up doing what the rest of the resolution imitat…, ummm setters,do- you will procrastinate. You will ‘feel’ behind the first month and decide to catch up the second month, but then it’s gone too until your “resolution debt” is so overwhelming you give up until the next year.
It’s time to set numbers to those desired results- after all that’s what will make it a result to be desired.
Now let’s see what the kingdom’s position is on this, shall we?
{Exodus 26}
Here is God’s instruction to Moses on the building of the tabernacle. Read it and look at the specific plan God has to see a ‘desired result’. This is very important, as you actually see this from God throughout the bible. He is very clear. You never see God say in this chapter “I want some curtains!” No no no- he is precise in his thinking. He says in verse 8:
8The length of one curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: and the eleven curtains shall be all of one measure.
Precise!
God also shows us how important it is for us to reach goals- and what to do to prevent from being stopped.
{Phillipians 3}
13Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
So He says to forget the past, and keep your eye on the potential. You can never birth the potential inside of you if you are constantly looking to the past .
{Hebrews 3}
14For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;
WOW! This is so important- you can’t lose momentum. Believe me, when you set a goal the devil is going to want to come and mess it up. It doesn’t matter what the goal is. He knows you were made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26) and he wants to see you fail- not achieve goals. Because when you do, you’re acting just like your father!
I have so many other scriptures I could reference (James 5:11, Hebrews 6:11) but I have two more I definitely want to get in your mind.
{2 Corinthians 11}
15Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
This is so true- sometimes we think it’s going to be easy getting results, but it is hard work but soooo worth it. You might just get more out of the journey to the result, then you do from the result itself…
…and one of the most important scriptures I believe to this is…
{Genesis 11}
4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven;
Now this one is so good. These people set a goal with a specific desired result (heaven). They were working against God though- so let’s see what God says…
6And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
God even recognizes the power he has put in us when we set our mind to something. It’s just a kingdom law. God made it this way- and so the king had to put an end to the rebellion. So the mind is a powerful thing. The tongue is also a powerful thing. (James 3)
So think of some desired results you want in your life. (1 month goals, 6 month, 1 year, and 5 year) Then layout numbers to these goals. (Example: I want to lose 8 LBs within the next 30 days) Then go for it! Set sub-goals on the way there if it’s something big you are working to achieve. This may be how many calories to take in, or what you need to do in order to have your degree in 5 years. Just Do it!
Now write those goals down on paper so you have to look at them everyday and face the reality of how you are doing. Also speak the goals out loud. (Remember there is power in the tongue) Be so committed to what you want to achieve that it doesn’t matter what people think- you tell everyone what’s going to happen. That is exercising dominion over your life! That’s kingdom!
