The Kingdom

The ministry of the Church is to “Whomsoever will” -  Revelation 22:17
The ministry of the Kingdom is to “He that overcometh”  - Revelation 2:26-27

The message of the Church leads to “Heaven.” - 2 Peter 3:13
The message of the Kingdom leads to “The Throne.” - Revelation 3:21

The desire of the Church is “Jesus abiding within.” - John 15:4
The desire of the Kingdom is “Jesus taking His place as The Head of His body.” Ephesians 4:13-15

The testimony of the Church is “I have Jesus.” - Romans 8:38-39
The testimony of the Kingdom is “Jesus has me.” - Galatians 2:20

The Church operates through “Grace.” - Ephesians 2:8-9
The Kingdom operates under “Government.” - Revelation 11:15

To enter the Church, we need “A message of salvation.” - John 3:16
To enter the Kingdom, we need “A message of preparation.”  - Matthew 25:1-4

Lord I Give You My Heart - Hillsong United

Translated

“He has delivered us from the authority of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love” Colossians 1:13

We are no longer under the authority of darkness. The enemy tries to keep people in darkness, and he has authority to do that because people belong to him. But we are the Lord’s; and hence, the enemy no longer has any authority over us to keep us in darkness. God has already translated us out from the authority of darkness and has transported us into the kingdom, power and authority of the Son of God’s love. So all we need to obey is the Son of God’s love.

Glory

2 Corinthians 3:18 (KJV)

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,

are changed into the same image from glory to glory,

even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

We are changed into His image from glory to glory.

The glory will not only become a witness outwardly but also an inner deliverance.

It is here that a divine exchange takes place and we are given and receive the desires of our heart.

His desires. We behold the glory as in a glass. The glass has two functions. 
First it is a filter that allows us to behold the glory. Its second function is as a mirror. 
So when I am beholding the Lord my life becomes as a mirror and reflects His life. 
We become a witness unto Him as our life begins in an ever increasing measure to reflect and reveal His life. 
We are increasing our capacity to behold and retain the glory of the Lord as we spend time in His presence.

Some are saying that we need to repent so we can enter His glory. That is wrong. His cross

has made a way. The veil has been rent and now we can behold His glory with unveiled faces.

Without the glory we can’t really repent. Repentance is an issue of the heart and it has to be given.

We only truly repent when we come into the presence of the Lord. When we come into the

presence of the Lord the glory becomes like a mirror and we see ourselves and then we can

truly repent and be creatively changed and that repentance releases a greater glory and a further

repentance….so it goes on and on…from glory to glory. He is getting us ready for a release

of His glory like we have never known. We are being dealt with by the Lord in ever deeper levels

of repentance. There is an enlargement within the inner depths of our being. We are being changed.

The glory reveals our need and then comes the repentance and the burning up of the wood, hay and

stubble in our lives. Without the glory that we see ourselves as “rich and in need of nothing”. In His

presence we see our real need. I council you to buy me gold ( His nature ), tried in fire (His glory).

Isaiah 60:1King James Version (KJV)

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.

All Things New

As we continue in our times of communion with the Lord, our perception and understanding of spiritual things will increase. We will become aware of an ever expanding spiritual capacity and desire to respond to Him, and we will place a greater value upon His abiding presence, and His workings within our lives. From day to day, we may not recognize this progression into increased spirituality, but nevertheless, it is taking place. At some point in time, we will come to know that we are not what we once were. We may not understand how we got to where we are, but we will know that we have made progress.

Today there is Hope

Hebrews 3:13: “But encourage yourselves each day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” 

This is an exhortation given to us by the writer of Hebrews, but as a matter of fact, it is the Holy Spirit of God who is exhorting us today. Both to encourage us and to warn us. He wants to encourage us to go on according to His will, and He wants to warn us against anything that may deter His will. Today is the gift of God and our time of preparation on earth is very short. But thank God, every day is given to us by God. There is a purpose for God allowing us another day here. That we be matured. He cannot come back to receive a bride that is not mature. He wants to mature each one of us for Himself, and in order to do that He gives us time. Time is used by God to do His work. Every day is a blessing of God because as long as it is today, there is hope. He wants us to be ready for Himself. As Moses said in Psalm 90: “The life of a man is seventy, and if he is strong he may reach the age of eighty.” For that reason he prayed that God would give us wisdom to know our days that we may use every day to accomplish God’s purpose. So today is a very important day. It is a day of hope, and it is a day of encouragement for us to use every day for God's Glory. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Veil was Rent

He was Crucified and the Veil was Rent  

Then the Lord Jesus went to the cross and in His body He bore our sins. He died for us that we may live. This is the way of our Lord Jesus. And the Bible tells us that He is our forerunner. In other words, He has gone before and opened the way for us. It is a new and living way that was opened through His own body. When our Lord Jesus was dying, He said, “It is finished!” The work was done. At the same time He was being crucified outside of Jerusalem, the heavy veil that separated the holiest of all from the holy in the temple was rent from top to bottom. In other words, the way to the holiest of all was open through the veil and that is His body. So the Lord Jesus is our forerunner. He has gone before us and opened the new and living way for us. And it is the way through His own body and it is practical. And because He has gone back to the throne after opening this new and living way for us, He is now calling us to follow Him, that we may walk in that new and living way.  

Let Your Light Shine

There was something different about the atmosphere that surrounded the apostle Peter. He once stood in fear in front of a servant girl, denying that he ever knew Jesus (see Matt. 26:69-70). His lifestyle changed quite dramatically after he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. People not only were healed when he prayed for them, they just seemed to get well when they were near him. The stories of these miracles spread until finally someone noticed his daily routine...he walked to the temple to pray. So they brought the lame and diseased and lined them up along the side of the street so that as he walked by they could be healed by his shadow (see Acts 5:15). It was actually the Presence of God upon him, for the anointing is a person. The hope was that his shadow might fall upon them and they would be healed. Shadows have no substance. The shadow was merely the point of contact for their faith. Yet miracles happened with some measure of consistency for the people to develop this pattern.1

Jesus was known for healing people with and without prayer. In fact, there were times when it looked as though He was not involved at all in the miracle that happened through Him. From the Gospel records, it seemed to have started when one very sick woman saw the potential of a moment and thought if she could just touch His garment, she would be well. She sensed something was available through a touch that was completely unseen. It had not been done before. Neither was there a record of this process ever being included in Jesus’ instructions for “how to get your miracle.” He never even implied it was possible. She watched Him work and came to the conclusion that He carried something on His person that could be accessed through touch.

There’s no question that faith was at work in her heart. But rarely, if ever, does a person in her condition become aware of their faith. The focus was not on herself. It was on Him. As a result, faith was her normal expression. After touching Him, she found out that her perception was true, and she was healed (see Luke 8:43-48).

The story of that one miracle spread until people everywhere realized that this was a legitimate way of being healed—just touch any part of His clothing. It eventually became the goal of the gathering as the people were “imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured” (Mark 6:56). Imagine crowds of people, sometimes numbering into the thousands, trying to touch this one man’s clothing. The Scriptures testify that everyone who touched His clothing with that in mind experienced a miracle.

There was a time in the apostle Paul’s ministry when he graduated from miracles to extraordinary miracles. It’s amazing that the miracle realm can become so normal that Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, had to create a separate category to describe the new miracles. They operate at a higher level of mystery, anointing, and authority. This moment came about in Ephesus. The Scriptures record it this way: “God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul” (Acts 19:11). It was during this time that the miracles realm exceeded what happened with Jesus where people simply touched His clothing. Now things had developed to such a place that they could take pieces of Paul’s clothing to the sick and lame and they would be healed of disease and/or delivered of demons. A unique aspect of the biblical description is that these miracles that happened a great distance from Paul were attributed to being “by the hands of Paul.”

These stories are extraordinary. They are glimpses into the ways of the Holy Spirit. We have yet to live in what has already been revealed. I believe it also implies there are ways of the Holy Spirit that are yet to be discovered. These unusual methods reveal how He moves. None of them happened because the people were instructed to behave in such a way, nor was there any suggestion made to hint of the possibility of His presence and power being accessed through these unusual methods. People observed something unseen and responded with faith. Faith sees and responds to unseen realities. Each of the individuals involved in receiving a miracle did so by responding to what they perceived that rested upon these three, Peter, Jesus, and Paul.

This also shows us how the unseen realities of the Kingdom can be accessed through simple faith and obedience. Faith doesn't come from the mind; it comes from the heart. Yet a renewed mind enhances our faith through an understanding of the unseen. It finds its fuel in knowing ways of the Holy Spirit—how He moves. Their unique perspectives on reality, from which they drew their miracle, were not the results of years of study and prayer (which obviously have great value in our lives, but serve another purpose). They were responses to the grace made available in the manifested Presence of God through the Holy Spirit that rested upon people.

It’s time for these exceptional stories to no longer be the exception. It’s time for them to become the rule—the new norm. And that is the cry of my heart. The apostles learned from Jesus’ example that the greatest treasure was the Presence of the Holy Spirit resting upon Him.

His Glory Appears - Brooke Fraser

The Blood

In this present generation, the Lord wants to impregnate us with a deep sense of who we are as His people. This is not a time to circle the wagons; we should be in “attack mode.” This is the hour where we should run toward the enemy, pull down his strongholds, and take back the nations. One drop of the blood of Jesus is all it takes to destroy satan’s kingdom, and God wants us to receive His revelation of that blood.
He calls each of us to stand as points of contact not only for ourselves, but also for all we represent: our family members, especially those who are unsaved, our schools, and our businesses and places of employment. The Lord wants us to stand in His anointing and in this revelation of the blood of Jesus Christ. He wants us to walk in it and take it with us wherever we go.

Think Fast

Isaiah 58 lists 12 specific benefits of the fast “the Lord has chosen:”

Revelation
Healing and wholeness
Righteousness
The presence of the shekinah glory of God
Answered prayers
Continual guidance
Contentment
Refreshing
Strength
Work that endures
Raising up of future generations
Preparing for an Increase in Authority
Restoration

He has called us to fast and pray, and then to obey. 
At that point, He can release apostolic anointing into our lives, our churches, 
and our ministry in the world. With this anointing, our ministry will not be apologetic, 
halfhearted or apathetic. It will not be laced with fear, doubt, or unbelief. It will be prophetic 
and apostolic, fitted with a double-edged sharpness that comes only through the Holy Spirit. 

Light of The World

Part of the privilege of ministry is learning how to release the Holy Spirit.
Many walk their entire lives without learning to flow and minister outside
of their church meetings. When the posture of our spirit is toward the Lord then
we are conscious of His abiding presence wherever we go. We  are  salt  and  light.  
We  shine best  in  dark places!  We are to be in the world for it is there that
many opportunities for ministry will develop as we learn how to carry and
release His presence in our life. On our job, at the supermarket, on the bus.
Wherever life takes us we are to be available and sensitive to the moving of the 
Spirit. Far more ministry will take place outside of our church setting than in it
when we are awakened to the desire of The Lord to be released within our life
circumstance. It is here in the field of need that we will experience a mighty 
demonstration of "Christ in us". Our spiritual hunger will increase as we 
begin to minister to the needs of many. True ministry is one on one and involves
an ear to hear the person as well as the Holy Spirit to discern the real need.
It is here within the fields of your life circumstance that the endtime harvest 
will take place. The fields of your life are truly ripe for harvest.


Matthew 9:37 (KJV)
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, 
but the labourers are few;

Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it 
on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, 
let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and 
glorify your Father in heaven.

Matt Redman - King of Wonders

My Friend

Toward the end of His earthly life, Jesus gave His disciples the ultimate promotion. He told the twelve that He no longer called them servants, but friends. To be in the same room with Him, or even to admire Him from a distance, was more than they could have asked for. But Jesus brought them into His life. They had proven themselves worthy of the greatest promotion ever experienced by humanity—from servants to intimates. Perhaps only Esther of old could really understand what that exaltation felt like, as she, a servant girl who descended from captives, was promoted to queen. “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). With this promotion, the disciples’  attention would now shift from the task at hand to the One within reach. They were given access to the secrets in the heart of God.
When Jesus gave His disciples this promotion, He did so by describing the difference between the two positions. Servants don’t know what their master is doing. They don’t have access to the personal, intimate realm of their master. They are task-oriented. Obedience is their primary focus and rightly so, for their lives depend on success in that area. But friends have a different focus. It almost sounds blasphemous to say that obedience is not the top concern for the friend, but it is true. Obedience will always be important, as the previous verse highlights,  “You are my friends if you do whatever I command  you” (John 15:14). But friends are less concerned about disobeying than they are about disappointing. The disciples’ focus shifted from the commandments to the presence, from the assignment to the relationship, 
from “what I do for Him” to “how my choices affect Him.” 

Dividing Soul and Spirit

God loves us, and every son who follows the pattern can expect to have laid
upon his life the cross of Jesus Christ. Whatever life that remains, whatever feeling 
we may possess that keep us tethered to the independence of our natural life must be offered.
There is no death without suffering, neither can we be said to be dead, while there is still 
any part in us which is alive. This is a prerequisite for resurrection life. That death with which 
God blesses the soul, pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints 
and marrow. He who sees in us what we cannot see, knows full well where the blow should fall. 
He takes away that which we are most reluctant to give up. Pain is only felt where there is life, 
and where there is life, is just the place where death is needed. He will prove us, perhaps, by 
destroying the liberty of our soul in some area. Would we dare resist? No! Suffer all things! 
This working of the cross must be voluntary, and can only be accomplished to that extent to 
which we are willing. I see at times that every way is shut up, and that God means to accomplish 
His work in us, by cutting off every resource of the soul. There comes a time in our life…..
an appointed time that He moves sovereignly.... He has a place in His Kingdom
that we will function in throughout all eternity. He is about to perform in us something that we
have longed for but have been unable to accomplish….we may be led to a place that is not of our choosing….. 
It is in this dark place where all seems lost and lifeless….just then His life….the power
of an endless life will be released!

Hebrews 4:10-16
English Standard Version (ESV)
10 for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Broken Vessels - Hillsong Worship

Life Giving Spirit

1:8 (KJV) But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Isaiah 40:31 (KJV) But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

They that wait ....shall receive power after……you shall receive power after….there has to be an understanding of how to receive….without knowledge we perish….the Holy Spirit comes….He is that river…that river of Life….and He flows…..so when I come in tune and I begin to wait that waiting is active and I focus my attention and I concentrate that I am receiving a flow from the Throne. It is this river that makes glad the city of God.