Live Kingdom, Now!

IT’S TIME TO PRAY!  SPEAK TO GOD !
*Length of time does not matter, just talk to God in the Name of Jesus.*
Then get into the Word for the day.

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www.biblegateway.com
Mark 9 (NKJV)

:1 Kingdom of God
1 And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.”

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Do you know that you don't have to die to see the Kingdom of God present with power?  Do you know you can see the Kingdom of God now?  Jesus wants us to see it now!  He says it to the disciples above even, "some won't taste death"- meaning they will still be living.

"How?" some of you are asking...

Well, I don't believe that Kingdom can be completely taught and understood in just one email/blog post.  This is why we read the Bible every day; to learn more and more about the Kingdom.

By no means do I know everything about Kingdom, and I will never imply that I do.  But I am confident in the Spirit of God, that I can share with you some of the basics to start with.  As we continue to seek, and gain more wisdom from the Word, I am assured that we will all grow in our understanding.  Today I will share with you what I do know and what I do understand, in regards to living the Kingdom here on earth.

For some of you, this may be very basic- but we can all benefit from going back to basics.

• First we have to change our thinking!

 - We are all heavily influenced with wrong thinking because of the sinful world that we live in.  We bring these wrong ideas to our faith and end up living incorrectly due to our incorrect thinking.  We have to think Kingdom, for Jesus is a KING!  He is not a president, He is not one of us, He is KING!  And He needs to be respected as such.

• Second we have to understand what a Kingdom is?

-Most of you are American and therefore have never lived under a king/queen.  Therefore, we are very far removed from the understanding of how a kingdom works.  Myles Munroe is a great resource for Kingdom (and Purpose); I recommend checking out his written works in your spare time.  As for now, I will use his words in describing what the Kingdom is:  

"The Kingdom is not a democracy, it is not a religion and it is not a republic."

Ok, so what is it?-

"A kingdom is a culture.  It is the governing influence of a king over HIS territory, impacting it with HIS will, HIS purpose and HIS intentions; producing a citizenry of people who reflect the culture of the king and manifest in the nature of the king."

• Third, a king has absolute authority!

-We look at authority as a bad thing, because it has been perverted, misused and abused.  But authority is a good thing.  The one in authority is called to make decisions that will protect and benefit those that they have authority over; not hurt/harm them.  Humans get this wrong all of the time.  But God doesn't!  And Who is our Protector?

• Fourth, know who our King is!

-Who is the King of Glory?  Who is the King of kings? Who is the LORD of lords?  JESUS!!!!! (Revelations 19:16)
What is the nature of God?  It is His Glory.  God desires that His Glory be reflected in each one of us NOW!  God wants to fill the earth with His nature, His Glory.

• Fifth, who are the citizens?

-Yup, that is you and me.  If you are born again, you are a citizen of the Kingdom of God.  Awesome right?!? 

-Being of the Kingdom we are affected by the mind of the King, this is why Jesus prayed, "Thy will be done."  Not our will, God's Will!

- We are not independent of the King (God), but DEPENDENT on Him.

-We don't own anything.  Everything we have is God's!  We are simply the caretakers and partakers of the inheritance that we have been given.  So a different outlook on care should be settling into our minds right about now.

-We have rights! You only know Your rights from knowing the Word.  From the Word comes amazing lasting confidence.

-There is law.  God's Word is law.  We don't get to vote on it, debate nor veto it.  It is law and created to be respected and obeyed.  We have to start to see the law as our culture and not things that we're forced to do.  And remember law is there to protect us, it gives us life (doesn't take it away) and it provides increase!

-We pay taxes- THE TITHE!  "Giving is not possible until after you tithe."   Tithing is so important.  What happens in this world when you don't pay taxes?  We are breaking the law, when we don't pay the taxes we owe.  We're breaking the law of God when we don't tithe, there is penalty in not tithing.  Which we will most definitely go into more details, at another time.

- As citizens, non-citizens should look at us and see what Heaven is like.  This is what God is developing in us now.

So in answering the "How do we see the kingdom of God present with power?"  It's simply by living and allowing the Holy Spirit direct our morals, our decisions, our concept of life, how we respond to others; absolutely everything.  We should experience the Kingdom of God with one another.  Unbelievers should see the kingdom through us.  We're in the world, but we're not of the world- our citizenship is in heaven.

There is so much more to learn!  I don't even want to stop typing because it is so exciting and providing revelation to me as I type!  God is so good!  But  I'll stop with these basics; with them we should definitely begin to read, receive and implement the Word with new eyes. I think it may even change the direction of  TGN.  God wants to reveal great things to us and through us.  God is King, King of Glory, King of everything.

I want to share a quote that the TGN Life Group read recently from Corrie Ten Boom.  A wonderful quote that I believe can help us all today, tomorrow and the days after that: "Worry about what I do understand in the Bible and do not live by." So many of us concentrate on the things that we don't understand, that we don't apply what we do understand to our lives.

Ask for God's direction in getting it right.   You have to know who the King is and how the King operates to start off on the right foot.  You know Who the King is- JESUS, and with Your daily individual time with God, TGN and other Bible resources-little by little we will all learn more, and mature in the Kingdom of God, in the Name of Jesus.  For YOURS, is the Kingdom of God; and it is YOURS NOW!

The Kingdom of God is within (or among) you, is approached through understanding and entered through faith, spiritual rebirth, and doing the will of God.

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Daily Prayer:  Heavenly Father, Your Kingdom is amazing, wonderful and larger than life.  Help each of us to honor our citizenship in Your Kingdom.  Continue to teach us Your laws and ways.  Continue to show us how to implement them into our daily lives.  Holy Spirit, thank You for Your anointing, thank You for making this all so real, personal and relevant.  I pray that everyone who reads Mark 9:1 today, receives Your insight on the Kingdom.  God, Your Name is Holy; may Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven.  Give each of us our daily bread, the exact Word we need to guide us through our day.  Thank You for providing for our every need, we don't even have to ask- it's in Your nature to provide.  Forgive each of us our sins, as we all learn how to consistently forgive all who have sinned against us.  Guide us away from temptation, fleeing from temptation- not playing around with it; and deliver us from evil.  For the Glory is Yours and we're thankful to be blessed with Your magnificent Glory.  In the Name of wonderful Jesus.  Amen (Luke 11)



Resource: Dr. Myles Munroe (appearance on Benny Hinn) 2008
biblegateway.com, NIV Women’s Devotional Bible- Classic Edition, Life Application Study Bible.