In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Yesterday I saw something very unusual outside my tent. Apparently, my neighbors’ chickens think the grass is greener on our side of the fence because a couple of hens and roosters flew over and set up nesting in our un-mowed tall grass. The peacocks though didn’t take kindly to this intrusion into their space and confronted the sitting hen and protecting rooster. As soon as the peacock got within striking range, the rooster jumped on him and a major battle occurred. Beaks were pecking, feet were kicking and scratching, wings were striking each other forcefully and the squawking of the peacock and rooster was intense. After a full minute the battle ended with the larger peacock walking away and the smaller rooster settling back down to protect its hen. That was an interesting way to start my day. 

This is part 2 of our lesson on “seeing God,” and I would like to begin with the words of Jesus as He teaches a little spiritual horticulture. This is what He said.  

“I am the true grapevine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in Me.” (1) 

If you have ever seen a fruit tree pruned it is quite a sight. Good branches are cut back while the unfruitful ones are cut off. If you have ever witnessed this or done it yourself, you can understand the pure in heart pruning Jesus refers to here. And it is obvious that the pruning He is talking about will cause pain. Therefore, we should expect pain in our relationship with God because as a concerned gardener He is not content with His people being fruitless. He wants our new life with Him to grow and the way it does is through pruning.  

I must say this again − God’s pruning will hurt. I have felt it many times in my own life. But I can honestly say that the increased vision of God is worth His cutting back the impure branches of our souls. 

One day Jesus told His disciples that He came to give His followers life and the life He gives will be even more abundant than they could ever imagine.” (2)  

The original word abundant really defines life in the unique kingdom of God. It means exceeding, superior, extraordinary, uncommon, more than remarkable.  

What would you give to have a life like this? God says this is the fruit the Spirit wants to produce in us. And here is how He defines this fruit – “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (3)  

If you are in the kingdom, you can be sure, God will not just let you exist there. He will prune you regularly. That is a promise of God.  

But how does pain produce a life that exceeds all expectations; is superior to any other way to live; is extraordinary, uncommon and more than remarkable? The reason is, God cuts away the characteristics that are not love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  

As His pruning removes the things that get in the way of the abundant life, a new way of living begins to emerge, and it does so with a new vision of God. 

Remember, God doesn’t just violently prune His people from a distance. He partners with us through His Holy Spirit, helping us “know and understand Him” all the way through His pruning. Listen to my favorite Bible passage about this. 

“For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man. Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” (4)  

This is one of the astounding aspects of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the partnership God wants to have with His favored ones. Our greatest enemy is not Satan and his domain of darkness. It is our fallen corrupted freewill. This is where Satan tries to influence us, but this is where the Spirit of God partners with our spirit to create a new way of thinking and therefore restructure a new way of living.  

The goal of God’s intervention into our lives is to transform our way of thinking so He can change our way of living to be exceeding, superior, extraordinary, uncommon, and more than remarkable. And the greatest way He does this is through increasing our vision and understanding of Himself.  

This education and transformation process cannot come from any school. It only occurs through the Spirit of God interacting with our spirit “not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” (4) The original word “combining” means two things are jointed together that do not belong together. And those two things are God’s Holy Spirit and our transgression corrupted spirit for they certainly don’t belong together. But more on this in the next lesson. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – When God prunes, He reveals Himself to us so we can understand the remarkable things He wants to freely give us and enjoy a life that is exceeding, superior, extraordinary, uncommon, and more than remarkable. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I don’t normally like to start a lesson like this, but I need to warn you ahead of time that today’s lesson is going to hurt. And that’s ok because along the way you will learn, pain can be your friend when you understand how God uses it.  

The next attitude Jesus talks about will at times greatly challenge your relationship with Him while at the same time take you deeper into an understanding of God, and His ways. Here is what Jesus said.  

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (1)   

I think it is best to start with the reward for being pure in heart, which is to “see God” because this benefit brings purpose to pain and suffering. Without understanding this, our trials and tribulations will only be miserable.  

The significance of what Jesus said here can turn our struggles into riches beyond measure. So, let’s start with what it means to “see God.” The original word see means to perceive with your mind, to become acquainted with someone or something through experience so that you can discern, recognize and understand clearly.  

Notice this “seeing” is in your mind and not with your eyes and that it comes through experience. This is extremely important because Jesus said it is the pure in heart who “see God.”  

Since God is a Spirit, He is therefore invisible to our human eyes. So, it is obvious that this “seeing” must take place in our mind. The Bible refers to this as “the eyes of your heart.” (2) 

Now the goal of seeing God this way is we get to understand the intimate details of His character which is the reason He allows His favored ones to go through pain and suffering. And the more we understand God the difficult issues of life can then take on significance.  

As we have already learned, eternal life is getting to know God and Jesus in a deep intimate way. (3) God also revealed to us in the Old Testament that He desires us to know Him deeply. (4)  

There are many passages in the Bible that teach this because God has always wanted His human creation to have a deep, intimate, personal relationship with Him. Unfortunately, it is far too easy for us humans to be so consumed with the normal duties of life that we forget our single greatest duty: Which is, we were created to get to know and understand the invisible God by faith so our lives can be the overflow of our relationship with Him.  

Let me remind you that according to Jesus “seeing God” comes as the result of a “pure in heart” attitude. And as this word “pure” reveals, the way to understand the depths of God comes through trials, tribulation, suffering and pain, for that is what the original word “pure” means.  

We might think being pure in heart has to do with a righteous way of living, but that is not the way to think about this. The purity Jesus speaks of here is an attitude that will influence a more righteous way of living because of what you have learned about God.  

Don’t make the mistake of reversing this. Trials and tribulations, pain and suffering must precede the wonderful gift of “seeing God.” 

The story of Job in the Bible (5) illustrates this from beginning to end. God declared that Job is the most righteous person on earth, but at the end of the story we learn that even though Job was righteous, he did not understand the depths of God’s character. This only happened after He goes through some of the most challenging trials that any human has ever gone through.  

At the end of all his trials and tribulations Job then said, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eye. So I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” (6) 

I urge you to take some time and read the entire book of Job ASAP, because the question I want to ask you next can only be answered if you understand what Job went through in order to “see God.” Here is the question I want to ask you – When you know what Job went through, do you think it was worth it so he could now “see God” in an understanding way? Job thought so at the end of his struggles, and that speaks volumes.  

If God told Job about all the suffering, He would go through in order to see Him this way, I’m not sure he would have volunteered to experience all he did so he could know God more intimately.  But it is only when a person goes through great suffering that they can gain an understanding of God to this intimate degree. A person cannot know what they are missing until they discover for themselves the intimate knowledge of God gained only from suffering. 

Why is it that only those who go through intense trials and tribulations, pain and suffering gain such a clear understanding of God? It is because of the work God does when a person goes through suffering. This is the “experience” the word “see” refers to. Here is what the Bible teaches about this:  

“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”(7)   

Notice it doesn’t say the sufferer makes this happen; it is the “God of all grace” who produces this. 

As God’s favored ones we should never fear suffering and pain because we know that it will produce the great reward of “seeing God” if we surrender in gentleness and allow Him to have His way with us.  

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – According to Jesus, seeing God more clearly is worth pain and suffering; trials and tribulations. 

I hope you will join us for part 2. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. For today’s lesson I must start by telling you, I love hiking and backpacking through the mountain ranges of western America. The quietness while walking through extraordinary scenery allows the wonder and beauty of God’s creation to be experienced in ways that the busyness of normal life cannot give me. And every time I have hiked through the mountains there will always be a place where I come to a fork in the trail. The rest of my journey will be determined by which path I then decide to take. If I choose the wrong one, it may take me miles away from my intended destination. But, if I choose the correct one, the trail will take me exactly where I need to go.  

In today’s lesson we have come to a real fork in our journey of life in the kingdom. One path will bring actions of kindness to us from the hand of God while the other path won’t. Two roads, with two very different outcomes.  

But the path we choose will be determined by the four preceding attitudes. Each of these is connected to the one before it which makes our fork in the road choice much easier. Let me explain what I mean.  

Our realization of how God sees us will determine the depth of our mourning for our poor in spirit condition. If we mourn correctly, the comfort we receive from the Spirit of God will naturally cause us to surrender in gentleness and joyously welcome all He wants to do in our lives.  

If we have truly surrendered to the reign of God, we will naturally hunger and thirst after righteousness because His Spirit will be working to recreate us into the image of His righteous Son. And it is here where the fork in our journey through life in the kingdom becomes a choice concerning which way we will go. Listen to what Jesus said about this next attitude. 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”  (1) 

And this is the fork in the journey we are on in the kingdom. If we choose not to be merciful to those around us, then we can be assured that no mercy will be extended to us from God. If we choose the other path and go through life giving mercy, God says we will receive His mercy. Two paths to travel on in His kingdom that take us in different directions which will greatly alter the course of our life. 

We need to understand what mercy is before we consider the road before us. The original word for mercy is about withholding punishment for sinful actions. For example, God has forewarned us that those who sin will receive the punishment of hell after they die and leave this earth. While living here, God extends mercy to everyone by putting off His judicial punishment allowing everyone the chance to become poor in spirit and be rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.  

A truly poor in spirit person realizes they have received an incredible gift of mercy from God. And if we want to continue to receive His mercy as we travel this road of life in the kingdom, God requires us to give mercy to those who don’t deserve it.  

We regularly need God’s mercy because we continue to sin. Our flesh does not want God’s Spirit to rule in our lives so we resist His will and even fight against it at times. (2) And when we do God does not kick us out of His kingdom. The merciful propitiation of Christ has saved and redeemed us forever.  

So, what happens when we are not merciful to those who treat us badly, or tell lies about us, persecute us, insult us, and hurt us by their actions? If we choose the unmerciful path, God may withhold His merciful acts of kindness that He gives us every day. The Bible says all good things come to us from God (3) and think about this - would you really want that to stop? 

God continually lavishes His grace and kindness on us. But if we choose to not give mercy to someone who has wronged us, He will withhold His deeds of kindness from us. 

Now why would a merciful God do this? He does this because He wants His favored ones to be changed into the image of His Son. (4)  God knows if He ignored our lack of mercy and continued giving good things to us, we would never work on changing our behavior. And He loves us far too much to allow us to continue living our blindly ignorant unmerciful way of life. That is why He withholds His actions of kindness toward us when we are not merciful.  

How then should we respond to those who hurt us? We should respond exactly how God does to us – by doing acts of kindness to those who don’t deserve it. And remember, the Bible says it is the kindness of God that leads us to change the way we think for the better. (5)  

By being kind to someone who doesn’t deserve it we work together with God to help them change the way they think about His merciful salvation. What a tremendous privilege it is that we get to participate with God and give the same mercy we receive from Him to those undeserving fallen people around us. And as we do we help them see the unique character of God’s mercy.  

This is our fork in life where we get to choose to demonstrate the kindness of God to the undeserving domain of darkness world. And where else will blindly ignorant sinners ever learn about the kindness of God if His followers don’t show them? What a privilege this is to be God’s heart of mercy to a mixed up, blindly ignorant world. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – happy are those who give mercy because they will receive undeserved actions of kindness from God Himself.  

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we will look at another attitude Jesus wants to produce in us that makes the kingdom so unique. While the previous attitude of gentleness is a submissive attitude, this one is an aggressive one. It’s an attitude that pushes you to accomplish something because you want it so strongly, you feel as though you will die if you can’t get it. 

This is an attitude of intense desire for righteousness. Listen to how Jesus described this.  

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (1) 

As you can see this fourth attitude of intense desire for righteousness also brings you the happiness that Jesus referred to in the previous three attitudes.  

One thing about life in the kingdom, it doesn’t work the way life does in the domain of darkness. Strong passions in that world can be ugly and out of control while this intense passionate attitude to be full of righteousness brings true happiness. In fact, Jesus says this passion will cause you to be “satisfied,” which is unusual for our normal human passions. They seem to never be satisfied. 

When you connect this “satisfied passion” to what Jesus wants those in His kingdom to hunger and thirst for, you have got to wonder − how can a transgression corrupted sinner, enslaved to sin ever be satisfied with righteousness? Only a kingdom this unique could produce this type of contentment in its people.  

The original words for hunger and thirst really do mean to intensely want this so much that you feel as though you will die if you can’t get it. You can certainly see why this is another attitude that can only come from the Holy Spirit because no poor in spirit human could ever desire righteousness like this. We are incapable of producing this passionate attitude therefore we are in need of applying faith and believing to this promise if we ever want to experience what Jesus said here. And that is right where we must always be with God, because without faith it is impossible to please Him. (2)  

What would this look like if someone were to passionately hunger and thirst after righteousness this much? It would look like the life of Jesus. So then how is this even possible?  

We have an idea of this through the world we live in. Everyone is familiar with the idea of cutting and pasting. Computers have brought that phrase regularly into our vocabulary. This is what we need to think of when considering this attitude of hungering and thirsting. The only way this is possible is if Jesus pastes His desire for righteousness into our unrighteous soul, which is exactly what He did when He gave us His seed causing us to be born again.  

Because those in the kingdom have the righteous seed of Jesus living inside them, they can hunger and thirst for righteousness anytime, anywhere. But this is not just actions of righteousness, this is the very essence of God, that we crave which is why the Bible says, “Put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (3) 

So then how do we put this new righteous man on? I assume you got dressed today. What you did to put your clothing on is what the words “put on the new man” actually mean. You literally get dressed with the righteous seed of Christ God gave you for being one of His favored ones.  

When you were thinking about getting dressed today you paused to consider what you wanted to wear. That is very similar to how you get dressed with the new man.  

If you think about the day ahead of you, there is probably some situation that will be a challenge for you to respond with a righteous attitude. Maybe you will be working with someone who seems to cause you an enormous amount of stress. It also could be you must do something today you don’t want to do and even as you think about it an attitude of frustration is already forming inside of you. Things like this occur regularly in our lives.  

And this is why God says to “put on the new man which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” In other words, God wants us to respond to life through the new man He gave us rather than our old domain of darkness freewill. And the only way we will do this is if we consciously take the time to mentally choose by faith to do the actions of believing and put the new man on.  

If you have become one of God’s favored ones then you have the new man inside of you that comes from the seed of Christ. But the language used when God says to put on the new man means this is something you must consciously do, as often as is necessary every day.  

You can understand the need for this because what clothing you put on this morning may not be appropriate for something you want to do later in the day, which means you will need to change your clothes based on the situation you have before you.  

That is exactly how you must learn to function with your new man. Different things that come into your life should cause you to pause and get redressed repeatedly, throughout the day. And what will drive this redressing is the attitude that hungers and thirsts for righteousness because your new man doesn’t want to respond to life with unrighteous behavior or bad attitudes. Your new man craves to respond to life righteously. 

What a unique way to live but this is how God wants those in His kingdom to live and remember; His ways are not our ways. And this intense passionate desire for righteousness proves it.  

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – don’t walk around spiritually naked, put on the new man which hungers and thirsts for righteousness before you take on the challenges you face today. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

-------

Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today’s lesson will be part 2 of the gentle attitude Jesus wants to produce in those who live in His kingdom. I would like to start by asking a question. How important do you think this gentle attitude is? Here is my answer to this question - everything wrong in this world is the result of us humans not having this attitude of gentleness. So, I would say this makes it essential to life.  

I would like to take you back to the day God created humans where we can learn a lot about being gentle from the first day of Adam and Eve. Here is what the Bible says about this.  

“God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them. ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on earth.’” (2) 

We need to understand this word blessed for everything about God’s intention for the gentle attitude flows from this word. The original word means to kneel in respect and honor to someone you recognize as superior. But this is far more than physically bowing down because anyone may bow to a king while completely not respecting them.  

This word blessed is focused on the heart kneeling to God in a respectful and honoring way as the result of recognizing Him as far superior to you.  

When God first created Adam and Eve and breathed life into them, they would not have known what their new life was all about. So, the first thing God does is establish the way He wants their relationship with Him to work and what their role in this world is. As you can see, humans were to populate the world, rule over everything in it while honoring, respecting, and submitting to God as their creator. 

There are many uses of this word blessed throughout the Bible that add even more meaning to this word. For example, when Abraham sent his servant to go back to his homeland and find a good wife for his son Isaac. The servant rode on his camel, which was the typical way to travel in those days. When he arrived in Abrahman’s homeland the Bible says the servant “kneeled” his camel and then went over to observe some women as they drew water from a well. (2) The original word translated “kneeled” here is the same word translated blessed.  

When the master of a camel kneels his camel, it will sit in that position until the master comes back and raises it up. What an important lesson to learn concerning our blessed or “kneeled” relationship with God our Master. 

Another very important usage of this word is when God told Abraham that one day in the future the promised Messiah would come from his seed and He would “bless” all the families of the world. (3) This “seed” was a prophecy referring to Christ. (4) And this prophecy explains that Jesus would restore all the families of the earth to the original blessed relationship with God so they could once again relate correctly to God and function in the world the way they were first created to. 

This “blessed” attitude is the same as the “gentle” attitude that Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes. What we learn from all this is Christ came to restore us fallen humans back into the original relationship we were meant to have with God so we can also rule over our world correctly.  

It is only when a person surrenders in respect and honor to God that the purpose of life can be experienced. 

This is why the gentle attitude is so important to all that God wants to do in our world. Remember, this can only take place when someone is rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. (5) 

I hope you can see why the kingdom is so unique. There is no other way for us fallen humans to become what God originally created us to be without the powerful reign of the Holy Spirit inside us.  

With these first three attitudes God allows His favored ones to inherit the kingdom, to be comforted by the Holy Spirit, and now Jesus said the gentle get to inherit the earth.  

What earth is Jesus referring to that the gentle inherits? He is not talking about our present earth ruled by the domain of darkness, for who wants to inherit a world always opposed to God’s will? The earth that Jesus is referring to is a new earth that the Bible says He will one day in the future create after He destroys the earth we live on. (6) This new earth will never have opposition to God’s reign.  

Our world has never been without resistance to God’s will because as perfect as it was when first created, Satan and his demonic followers were cast out of heaven down to this earth because of their rebellion against God’s will. Their domain of darkness influence in this world substantially influenced human freewill to make wrong choices.  But it also opened the door to the amazing wonder of God’s grace.  

If you remember, God’s grace means He gives us what we don’t deserve. We fallen humans certainly do not deserve to be restored to the righteous way we were originally created to be, but God does things no one would ever expect Him to do. And one of those gracious things He does is restore the attitude of gentle surrender in His favored ones.  

This is why the kingdom is so unique for it is only when someone surrenders to God in respect and honor that we can become what we were meant to be. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – this attitude of gentleness is the very foundation of everything God wants to restore in our lives. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. As we look at the uniqueness of the kingdom, we also need to examine the attitudes that Jesus wants the people in His kingdom to have. The passage we will be looking at is referred to as the Beatitudes.  

We have already looked at two of these attitudes; one in Lesson 4 about the necessity of becoming poor in spirit if we want to inherit the kingdom. And Lesson 5 about mourning for our poor in spirit condition so the Holy Spirit can comfort our sorrow. 

These two attitudes should naturally be produced by our transgression corrupted sinful man. The next several attitudes Jesus talks about though are the result of the seed of Christ in us and the fruit that comes from the Holy Spirit.  

Our natural man does not possess the ability to produce these attitudes. It has fallen much too far.  But, since the people in God’s kingdom are reborn with the seed of Christ, a new attitude can now be expected.  

Those in God’s kingdom have the powerful and righteous Spirit of God living and ruling inside them and the Spirit is not shy about what His role is. He actively works to grow us into people who reflect the uniqueness of God’s kingdom to this dark world we live in.  

Life in the kingdom is a continual process of learning how to live this new life God gave us and it all begins with the third attitude Jesus teaches which says, “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”(1) 

Sometimes this word gentle may be translated as meek. It is too bad we think of meekness or gentleness though as a wimpy, quiet way to live because this couldn’t be any further from the truth. The original word for gentle is an attitude Jesus said He has (2) and it is also a fruit of the Spirit. (3) And there is nothing wimpy and quiet about Jesus or His Spirit.  

We often see Jesus exhibit superior character strength such as when He saw the Temple overrun by charlatans trying to squeeze money out of the poor. Jesus single handedly overturned all their tables of merchandise and threw the greedy sellers out of the Temple. (4) And while being beaten, whipped and crucified Jesus never cried out in pain. But He warmly spoke to His disciple John in the middle of His suffering about caring of His mother Mary. (5) 

There was nothing about Jesus you would ever refer to as wimpy. And remember, this strong character attitude He wants those in His kingdom to have.  

The original word gentle is a descriptive word focused on our relationship with God. It means we surrender to the reign of God’s Spirit letting Him have His way with us without fighting or resisting what He wants to do in our lives. And we are to do this joyously with whatever He wants to do in you. 

 As you can see, gentleness requires a significant attitude change for us fallen humans, because God says our natural man fights and resists whatever the Spirit is trying to do with us. Listen to how God describes this. 

“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” (6)  

The flesh is our freewill, and God says our flesh does not like His Spirit ruling and making decisions for us. He will fight it tooth and nail. But remember the Spirit is the powerful reign of God and our human spirit has no authority over Him.  

So then, how is it we still find ourselves doing things the Spirit doesn’t want us to do as the Bible says? The way this happens is when we just naturally make our own decisions without considering how the Spirit wants us to respond. And yes, God does allow this.  

Listen to what God says concerning how He wants us to do this. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (7)  

First off, this is a promise of God so then whenever we do something our flesh wants it means we are not walking by the Spirit. Instead, we are responding to life from our natural flesh’s freewill.  

Living in the kingdom is a uniquely different way to live because the attitudes that God wants His favored ones to have only come when we have an attitude of joyful surrender to the reign of the Spirit. It is the Spirit of God that naturally has this gentle attitude of obedience to doing what is right. We certainly don’t.  

Surrendering to the Spirit’s reign allows the new seed of Christ to grow within us. One of my favorite passages about this says,  

“By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His glory and excellence. And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” (8) 

Once again, it is impossible to live the way God wants us to without His powerful invisible Spirit. This means we must apply faith and believing to His promise of living in the Spirit. When we do, God is greatly pleased and will do everything to support us just as He said He would in the Old Testament. Listen to this.  

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” (9) What a special promise God makes to His favored ones. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – Being transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son opens a door to a whole new way living. 

I hope you will join us next week for part 2 of this challenging new way to live.  

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. The uniqueness of the kingdom that we will look at today is a response from Jesus to another question from His disciples concerning which one of them did He regard as the greatest. This time their question comes from an argument they were having about this. It doesn’t appear they learned anything from their last lesson about greatness. I think it is safe to say His disciples struggled with their egos. This time Jesus will cut a little deeper though with His teaching and in the process reveal more about Himself when He does. 

When you read the books of the Bible called the gospels, which are Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, one thing that stands out very clear is that the disciples were very human. By that I mean they were just like us – full of self-righteous pride and very ignorant when it comes to the ways of God. 

One thing I find fascinating is these same self-righteous, full of pride, ignorant people were the very ones God used to preach the good news of the kingdom to the world. But, because of their obedience, and dedication, even against strong opposition, we are still talking about the kingdom of God today.  

Because they believed what Jesus said and through the power of the Holy Spirit that lived inside of them, these very flawed human disciples, changed the world.  

So, there is hope for us because we are no different than they were. We can also be Christ’s ambassadors and plead with those in the domain of darkness to come back to God. And maybe God will use us also to change our world. 

Let’s look at what Jesus told His disciples when they once again posed this foolish question concerning greatness to Him.  

“Then they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them. Jesus told them, ‘In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called friends of the people. But among you it will be different. Those who are greatest among you should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! I am among you as one who serves.’” (1) 

One thing that separates Jesus from the rulers, bosses, and kings throughout history is Jesus lived exactly what He taught. And He didn’t just live as an example – how He lived was really who He was. 

Remember, the King of the Kingdom is the image of the invisible God in a human body. (2) Yet, He said He came to serve His creation, not rule over them with an iron fist.  

As God, He certainly could have ruled that way for Jesus is – by far – the most powerful being in the universe but He is also the humblest servant who ever lived.  

Those two concepts are contradictory in the world of the domain of darkness, but they are the way of life in the unique kingdom of God’s beloved Son. 

I love the question Jesus asked His disciples in His response to them, “Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? When Jesus answered His own question and said, “It’s the one who sits at the table, of course,” He showed that the world hasn’t changed in two thousand years because that is still the way it is today. Those who serve receive very little honor. 

Can you imagine what the sudden infusion of kingdom truth did to those self-righteous followers when He responded, “That is not how it is here. I am among you as one who serves. They had seen Him do miraculous things that only God could do, yet He said He came to earth as a lowly servant.  

Those same words Jesus said to His disciples should also speak loudly to us. We may not argue outwardly with our friends about who is the greatest, but we do it in the quietness of our minds as we think of ourselves at least better than most other people. It seems we are always trying to elevate ourselves to a higher position on the pole of greatness and that is not the way it is to be in the kingdom of God. 

I also like how Jesus started His response to the disciples when He said, “In this world the kings and great men lord it over their people, yet they are called friends of the people.”  

Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. We still call those who lord it over us “friends of the people.”  

The powerful and rich are not shy when it comes to taking advantage of those “below them.” Yet we love to call those regarded as wealthy or important as, “friends of the people.” Especially if they have ever simply appeared friendly in front of a crowd of people. It obviously doesn’t take much to be considered a friend in the domain of darkness. 

According to the King of the kingdom those who are greatest should take the lowest rank, and leaders must be like servants. Jesus is the greatest person who has ever lived on earth, but the majority of those in the world today don’t consider Him a “friend of the people.” And that’s probably because He was poor and came as a lowly servant. 

No, it’s not the kingdom that is upside down; it is the domain of darkness that is all messed up. The kingdom is how things were meant to be and would have been if sin had not affected our ability to make choices in harmony with God’s will.  

We are so fortunate though that God had a plan at the beginning of the world to correct our flawed way of thinking back to the way it was supposed to be when He sent His Son to tell us about the good news of the kingdom (3) and demonstrate that servanthood is the way to greatness in His kingdom.  

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – you will never see things the way they were meant to be until you understand that greatness is a lowly servant.    

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

 Good morning and welcome to another lesson from the tent. It is cold this morning. And I suppose it should be because this is our winter. But the air today has a strong chill to it, and I just happened to be waiting for another control board for my pellet stove because a lightning strike burned out the other one. So, it is going to stay cold today. Such is life in the tent – there is never a dull moment here. 

This week’s lesson is titled “It’s upside-down.” Once again it is about something Jesus said. As you should have learned by now, whenever Jesus speaks, His words seem to describe something in a different world. But there is a good reason why, because He is always talking about the good news of the kingdom and the kingdom really is a different world. Here is what He said. 

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, ‘Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (1) 

Jesus told us that the least significant person in the kingdom is greater than anyone naturally born of a woman and now He adds a little more to this by saying the greatest in His kingdom is someone who humbles themself like a child.  

Life in the kingdom is truly upside down compared to the world of the domain of darkness. And if we take this to its natural conclusion, once again we need to radically change the way we think about greatness in the kingdom. 

So, what does Jesus mean that we need to humble ourselves and become like a child? To help us understand this let’s begin by comparing this concept to the way things are in the domain of darkness. To be considered great in that world someone needs to be bigger, better and have more. For example, your education must be from a bigger, more well-respected college than your peers. That will make you better educated and therefore smarter. And this should give you more money, more respect, and certainly a whole lot more stuff. Bigger better and more. This is the world of greatness in the domain of darkness. 

And then comes along Jesus who sets a small child in front of Him and tells all His followers that greatness in His kingdom is determined by humility. The original word humble means to be ranked below others who are honored or rewarded; it’s a condition of low degree; you are to have a very modest opinion of yourself; and to squash one’s pride.  

To Jesus, greatness doesn’t look anything like what it does in the domain of darkness. Mom and dads, can you imagine raising your children – purposely – to be someone ranked lower than others; to be thought of as lesser than their peers; to have a modest opinion of themselves; and to squash their pride?  

The contrast is enormous, but then again, we are comparing this world run by Satan’s powerful right to make choices and our fallen, defiled freewill – to a world run by the righteous reign of God. The kingdom of God’s beloved Son should be completely different; its foundation stands upon righteousness and holiness not greed and arrogance. I find myself often going back to something God said in the Old Testament that helps me keep a right perspective of greatness and humility. Listen to what He said.  

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” (2) 

That is why the kingdom of God is so uniquely different than the world of the domain of darkness. God does not think like everyone in the domain of darkness does. His ways are much greater. There is just no comparison to how He thinks and acts and that is another reason the kingdom is so unique.  

This is also what makes the kingdom such good news. The domain of darkness world we live in is not a nice place. Far too often the wealthy get rich on the backs of the poor. Beauty is only measured by physical looks. Honor is awarded to titles regardless of character. Status is determined by popularity no matter how absurd someone’s life may be.  

This is not so in the kingdom of God. Childlike humility is the way to greatness. In the domain of darkness no one sends their children to school to learn how to be ranked lower than others. 

Are you beginning to see why the kingdom is upside down from the normal world we live in? So, how does someone become like a child? It begins by being truly poor in spirit. Jesus said you must become like a child if you want in the kingdom and He also said if you are poor in spirit, you inherit the kingdom. If A equals B and B equals C then A equals C. That is just common sense. If poor in spirit and becoming like a child both get you into the kingdom then becoming like a child is also like being poor in spirit and vice versa. 

As we learned in Lesson 5, “How To Become Favored By God,” what God wants from us is we must have the right perception of ourselves, and that’s according to how God sees us not how we see ourselves. Jesus doesn’t tell us we need to become better to be the greatest in His kingdom. He says we need to become insignificant, like a child no matter how great you are thought of in the domain of darkness. God’s ways are truly not our ways.  

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – if you want to become great in God’s kingdom, become someone unimportant in the domain of darkness. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

-------

Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another lesson from the tent. Today’s lesson is going to take us further into the authority of Christ the King. Last week we saw Jesus heal a paralyzed man and forgive His sins – two things that declared His authority as all those who witnessed this found out. (1) 

Today we will see Jesus take His authority and power to another level. This time He is going to reveal His authority as absolute power. And when He does, we will see that mankind’s greatest enemy is no match for the powerful authority of God and His kingdom. 

What we learn today is worth more than all the riches in the world, because the reign of God can do things that even the greatest wealth cannot do, which is squelch Satan and his angels.  

Let’s contrast Satan’s limited power with Christ the Kings ultimate power. Satan can control the weather. He can cause large groups of people to kill and destroy other people. He can cause sickness. He can influence someone to murder another person. (2) He can influence people to not believe in God. (3) He controls entire governments. (4) He can even completely take over a person and turn them into an uncontrollable monster. (5) As you can see, Satan and his fallen angels can do things we humans cannot come close to doing. 

But let me show you the powerful authority of Christ and how insignificant the authority and power of Satan is against the King of this unique kingdom. Listen to what Jesus once said after He cast out a demon. 

“If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (6)  

If you have ever had a bugger on your finger, you know it is a nuisance, but a mere flick of your finger will cast it away. That is all Jesus said He needs to do to cast demonic beings out of people. God’s authority is so much more powerful than Satan’s. In fact, Satan’s power and authority are nothing more than a tiny nuisance to God − something that can be cast away by the mere flick of God’s finger.  

Here is another instance in the life of Jesus that demonstrates the absolute authority of Christ over Satan. One day Jesus and the disciples were traveling in a boat to the other side of a large lake. Those who earn their living on the water as several of the disciples of Jesus did, have a great respect for storms, but are rarely ever intimidated by them. On this day though, such a large storm came up that even the experienced fishermen were afraid their boat may capsize, and they could drown in this powerful storm.  

Where was Jesus you might ask? He was lying down in the back of the boat asleep because He probably was exhausted. The disciples woke Him up and said to Him, “Don’t you care that we are about to perish?”  

That shows how bad this storm really was because these experienced fishermen were scared for their lives. Did Jesus care? Of course He did, but we can learn much from how He responded. He rebuked the storm and said, “Hush, be still.” And when He did, this powerful storm instantly stopped and the wind and waves became calm. 

The fact that the Bible says Jesus rebuked the storm means this storm was brought about by Satan and meant to destroy Jesus and His disciples.  

After this Jesus said to His disciples, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The response of His disciples shows how amazing what Jesus did because they now became afraid and asked, “Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him?” (7) 

Be sure to catch what I say next. This same powerful authority that Jesus displayed over demons and this storm now reigns inside God’s favored ones.  

To illustrate this amazing truth even further listen to what Jesus told His disciples just before He was crucified. He said, “I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (8) 

These same disciples were in the boat when Jesus told the storm to “Hush and be still,” and they had also seen Him cast out numerous demons by a mere flick of the finger of God. But they had to wonder how life could be better if Jesus left them and went back to His Father in Heaven.  

The reason this is true is because, in God’s plan the Helper, who is the Holy Spirit would not come to live inside them until Jesus was crucified, went back to heaven where He would then send the Spirit to live inside His favored ones. 

Here is a question for you, would you rather have Jesus driving in a car with you or inside of you? How you answer that question will make all the difference in how you deal with the storms of life that you encounter. 

Because of the domain of darkness, storms occur in everyone’s life. And I am not referring to weather storms. I am speaking of those things that cause your life to feel out of control and make you feel helpless.  

During these times you may find yourself desperately wanting Jesus to be standing right next to you and yet, Jesus said it is better that He leaves and goes back to heaven so He can send the comforting Holy Spirit to live inside of you.  

What I am about to say next is not meant to be disrespectful, but it is challenging. The Spirit of God living and reigning inside you is better than having Jesus’ walking next to you. That is something we need to apply faith and believing actions to, because that truth makes the kingdom more than unique. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – God’s authority is the greatest power in the universe, and it lives and reigns inside those in His kingdom. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

-------

Produced by Dereck Bradley

Contact us at [email protected]

In this section I would like to point out some of the amazing concepts of the kingdom that make it unlike any government, culture, kingdom or religion that has ever existed. Once again we will have to apply faith and believing to these special characteristics that make the kingdom so unique, because as you will see there is nothing like the invisible kingdom of God in this world. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I love today’s lesson. It has always held a special place in my heart because of what Jesus did to teach about His authority.  

Far too often when we read the Bible, we do not approach it with an expectation of learning something that will challenge our way of thinking. And do it in such a way that how we view the world from then on will be significantly different. Such is the uniqueness of the kingdom that is taught in this moment in the life of Jesus. 

It is still early in His ministry, but He has already performed enough miracles that the crowds following Him are so large it made it difficult for Him to travel in cities and teach about the good news of the kingdom. 

On this particular day He had returned to His home where a large crowd of people had gathered so that there was no longer any room to get through the door to see Jesus. 

Suddenly, four men appeared, carrying a paralyzed man on a wooden bed and because they could not get to Jesus, they decided to tear open the roof and lower their friend down through the opening. (1)  

When Jesus saw the faith of these men He immediately said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (2)  

The Bible doesn’t record how these four men responded but it does let us know how a group of religious teachers felt about it. They were confused and extremely bothered that Jesus forgave this man’s sins saying to themselves, “He is blaspheming, for only God can forgive sins.” (2) 

Jesus knew what these religious teachers were thinking and immediately said to them, “Which is easier to say to this paralyzed man. ‘Your sins are forgiven; or get up, and pick up your wooden bed and walk?’  (2) 

Obviously, these religious teachers had not yet radically changed the way they thought about the kingdom reign of God.   

The King of the promised kingdom was standing right there, and His miraculous actions had continually proved it, for no one can forgive sins but God alone and no one can make paralyzed tissue cells to suddenly become normal just by saying, “pick up your wooden bed and walk.” That is absolutely impossible — unless you are “the fullness of God in a human body” as the Bible says about Jesus. (3) 

Throughout history Jesus has always been considered a good man. No one has ever doubted that. But people often struggle with Jesus being thought of as God just as these religious teachers did. But when you see so many of the things Jesus said about Himself, if He is not God, then He is not good either, but a great pretender and deceiver.  

And this is exactly why Jesus asked these religious teachers, “Which is easier to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven; or to say, ‘Get up, and pick up your wooden bed and walk?” (2) 

I ask you the same question. Which do you think is easier to say? Anyone can say your sins are forgiven and who would know if they really were? But, if you say to a man who is paralyzed, stand up, pick up your wooden bed and walk; if he doesn’t, you will quickly be exposed as a fraud. And everyone around you will also know you do not have the authority to forgive sins; therefore, you will be exposed as a charlatan.  

That is why Jesus looked directly at these religious teachers and said, “But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (4) He tells the paralyzed man to get up and walk. By doing this, He put His authority to the test right then and there and when the paralytic got up and walked it proved Jesus had the right to do what only God can do, which is forgive sins. 

Two thousand years later most people still agree that Jesus was a wonderful teacher and a good man, but at the same time they deny He is God. If He is not God, then He cannot be good if He pretends to forgive peoples sins. Either He really is God, in a human body as this incident reveals or He is not a good man, but a charlatan.  

The word “authority” used by Jesus in this story means He has the powerful right to do whatever He wants to do. And His authority, as He demonstrates so often is unequaled. He can forgive sins and He can tell paralyzed cells to become normal − and they will. His authority is greater than anything in the universe and it abolishes the belief that He is just a good man and not really God.  

As we learn here, if Jesus commands something to occur, it will happen as in the case of this paralytic. 

This is another reason that makes the kingdom of God’s beloved Son so unique. There is no authority in the universe that comes close to the authority of God’s Son. His is special and it is this powerful authority that reigns inside His favored ones. 

What does that mean for His followers? It means that the power of God that did all those miraculous events in the Bible lives inside of you. Does that mean you can do everything that God can do? Of course not because You can’t do anything. But, the Holy Spirit can, because He is the Spirit of God. They are one and the same.  

That is one of the most unique aspects of the kingdom there is – the King who reigns over the kingdom is the most powerful being in the universe. And He reigns over His favored ones from inside them. But make sure you get this; He never uses His power foolishly to satisfy our corrupted freewill. He always uses it to accomplish His righteous purposes here on earth. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – The authority of Christ is the greatest power in the universe, and it proves He is truly God. 

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