Shout joyfully to God, all the earth;
Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious.
Say to God, “How awesome are Your works!  Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You.

Psalm 66:1-3 NASB

A shout of victory for the Lord our God.  The raising of the voice, the shattering of strongholds.

For, out of the mouth of infants, He has ordained strength, He has perfected praise.  For out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, out of those who could not lift up their own voice, He has shattered the stronghold of the enemies that were very great.

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[N]or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God’s work—which is by faith.

1 Timothy 1:4

The church, and all the work of God, are administered by one thing only, and that is by faith.

The work of the Kingdom is administered only in the realm of faith.  While that will always involve practical works, including maintaining property and book-keeping, it is always done to maintain and to keep that which is primarily authored in the realm known by faith.

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That you may show yourselves to be blameless and guiltless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish (faultless, unrebukable) in the midst of a crooked and wicked generation [spiritually perverted and perverse], among whom you are seen as bright lights (stars or beacons shining out clearly) in the [dark] world,

Philippians 2:15 AMP

Those who teach righteousness will show as stars in the heavens for all of time. Surely, even as Jesus said that the one who breaks the least command and teaches others to as well shall be the least in the kingdom, righteousness and justice truly are the foundation of His throne.

He is the Father of lights, and His children are children of light. As we walk in the light as He Is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.

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See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Colossians 2:8 NIV

You see, we are not of this world, if we will only believe.

This world consists of the things that can be seen, can be touched, can be handled.  Hence, Paul writes of the rules and restrictions of this earthly life that we are no longer subject to, calling them, “Do not handle!  Do not taste!  Do not touch!” (Colossians 2:21).  These are the ordinances of this life, and have no bearing on the life of a Christian, having no proper benefit to any man, ultimately.

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I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

Ephesians 3:16-17, portion

There’s something about the flow of the Spirit, the intimacy of His love.  Lost in the embrace Beyond words, raptured in the embrace of His flood.

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[F]or if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Galatians 1:10, portion

Freedom is found in the lack of chains.

A Psalmist wrote, ” I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2).  When we make our decisions before God and man, do we understand that He is all that matters?

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But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:8-12

The word “minister” comes from the same word meaning “to serve”.  Hence, a minister is a servant, a ministry is a service, and to minister is to serve.  This is the same context that Paul writes that He is the servant, or slave of Christ.  As Jesus said, he who wishes to be the greatest in the Kingdom will be the servant, the slave, of all.

The position of ministry is never one of exalting oneself over another, but rather the serving of another, and being their slave in the Lord.  A minister could be viewed as someone who has something of God so that he has been designated, by God, to help other people find Him as well.  A servant, a slave, never works on his own behalf, for his own name or recognition, but only and always for that of his master, his steward and keeper.

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From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 4:17

The revival we are seeking is the “revival of repentance”.  We could say, we see a measure and we must prepare our hearts more for the coming thing that God has, but the heart of every true revival must always include a increasing draw towards holiness, from the head to the foot.

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 12:41-42

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I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”

Psalm 16:2 NAS

When we try to please the Lord from ourselves, all we have is filthy rags, according to Paul.  Jesus said that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the leaders of the Jews, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  In their pride, in their self effort, though they knew they did not fulfill all of the righteousness of the law perfectly, they held themselves as leaders of the people, hiding their own sin, and not crying out for the brokenness that was in them for the depravity of their hearts.  Though their lives seemed to demonstrate a holiness that surpassed everything else, they were corrupt, filthy, and unclean in the eyes of God.

Yet, David, years before the New Covenant, already perceived the secret of the Kingdom through the Spirit of prophecy that was on him.  He wrote, saying, there was no good in himself except for the Holy Spirit within Him. Read more…

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Galatians 6:14

The freedom from this life is the freedom from all of its desires, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  Yet, this is not asceticism, or the simply turning away from the things of the world, as if to nothing, but it is turning to a greater thing, a thing of true worth, and a thing of lasting enjoyment.

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