green apple with the red one standing out from the crowd – over a white background with reflection

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is he who keeps the law.

Proverbs 29:18

Probably no topic is more fraught with ‘divisiveness’ than the subject of ‘separation’.  The idea of being separate from another has with it the connotation of doing something better, or, by many people’s estimation, ‘being better’, than someone else.  But, that simply is what it is.

Paul pointed this out himself, even while explaining that we should be unified.  He said,

For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.

1 Corinthians 11:19

Read more…

Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity, therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the Lord sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

Deuteronomy 28:47-48

All throughout the Old and New Covenant, poverty is a part of the curse.  It is said, it doesn’t take much time of the hunger of famine to humble a man.  The same is true of poverty.

Christ’s Kingdom, Paul writes, consists of Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).  When Paul wrote of not muzzling the ox that is treading out the grain, he said that the reason was that the plowman should plow in hope (1 Corinthians 9:10).

Read more…

Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world (realm) (John 18:36).  It is a spiritual kingdom, and as such, must never be confused with an Earthly one.  To lose this distinction, even when speaking of a Millennial reign, is an error of great dimension.

The Kingdom is not constituted in books of laws, governmental seating, and minted coinage, and the like.  Yet, on the other end, it is not without potency in the physical dimension.  Consider Jesus’ life and ministry.  He said, to paraphrase, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20).  The same is true with healing.  Therefore, it was the entrance of the Kingdom which brought about the deliverance in the first place!  Somehow, the invisible, spiritual, and “ethereal” had directly, manifestly affected the natural order.

Read more…

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

1 Peter 1:8

Him who is unseen, yet known.  Him whom we love.

In Him we believe, in Him we trust, and delight with joy.

Read more…

Superlative: [O]f the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else or others; supreme; extreme: superlative wisdom.

via Dictionary.com

It is almost a wrong label to call the Kingdom superlative.  It is Beyond that.  John the Baptist was the superlative of human attainment.  A life of solitude, of extreme separateness and consecration to the Lord was his.  Jesus gave the man this testimony, and the comparison to the Kingdom.

Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

Matthew 11:11

John was a man, a prophet, of the Old Covenant, under the law and order of Moses.  He signified the demarcation point between Old an New Covenants.  As the Law came through Moses, and Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ, the exchange between the two marked the transition from the age of the Old Testament and the coming of the Messianic Age.

The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.

Luke 16:16

Read more…

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:6 NIV, portion

The Kingdom consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).  It is seen only through the eyes of faith (John 3:3).  There is a way that seems right, but it’s name is really religion. Let us consider two similar looking scenarios.

Suppose a man understands by the Word of God that laying down everything in this life is worth it, and that God is a rewarder of those who diligently pursue Him.  This is a basic truth, and whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  But, there are two ways to approach this, ultimately.

Read more…

Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Luke 22:24-30

The Church of God consists of its members (Isaiah 65:85) and it’s head is always Christ.  It is founded and supported by first our Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), and then by its foundation and pillars (Galatians 2:9).  It comprises the body and is the Lord’s temple.  It is built to house Him, and we are merely it’s building blocks.

The one with the primary glory is obviously the Cornerstone.  Yet, while the remaining portions of the temple are with varying degrees of glory, recognition, and importance structurally, they are all required.  The temple is begun with it’s corner, and not completed without it’s Capstone (Zechariah 4:7).

Read more…

He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.

Psalm 103:7

Whenever you first meet a person, all you can ever see at the outset is their outside.  You can see their works, how they present themselves, and where they choose to be located, things like that.  You can see how they permit access or do not to their life.  We know from experience that there is a whole inner world inside, but we do not see that at the beginning.

From the outside, all one could see was a white-linen fence with one gate.  To a person who was not standing at an altitude, you could see the smoke rising from within, and smell something of the incense from the holy place, but the inner workings were unknown.

Read more…

In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:3

It takes faith to see!  Faith is not the definition of being born again, but is a requirement for it, therefore, faith is a prerequisite for seeing.

Consider miracles.  Jesus said that there will be many who had done many great miracles but were not know by the Lord (Matthew 7:22).  The apostles, even Judas the traitor, were casting out devils in His name, yet not all had come to the consistent walk of faith. If the word “faith” in your vocabulary only means miracles, then something is grossly missing in your understanding of the Kingdom.

Read more…

There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.  All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.

Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.  Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways,  and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Romans 3:10-18 (except leading phrase)

Jesus came to show us His way, the way of peace.  Peace is peace with God, with men, and within ourselves.  The peace of Christ surpasses all knowledge throughout all time and is the force that calms the storm.

Read more…