In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we will look back at lesson #2 and apply faith and believing to the question; why is life so difficult? 

If you remember, we learned that our life problems come from the domain of darkness(1) which refers to the freewill of Satan, all his demonic followers and the blindly ignorant freewill of us humans. Now we need to apply faith and believing to the truth that this domain of darkness world we live in is not our friend. In fact, it is our greatest enemy. Look what God says about this in the Bible. 

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (2)  

Typically, when life is difficult or downright rotten, we immediately assume the cause to be flesh and blood humans who are responsible for it. And that usually means a spouse, a neighbor, a friend, a boss, an employee, a teacher, the president, a political party, a race of people, a cultural system or the government. This list could go on and on, but all these things are part of the flesh and blood world and not the ultimate source of what we struggle with.  

What God says is behind all our difficulties are the 

 “rulers, and powers, and world forces of darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  

These cannot be seen by our human eyes therefore we must apply faith and recognize them as being real. And if you choose not to think like this, you may as well just punch the air, for you will never strike your enemy where it will do any good. You must first recognize who your real enemy is, by faith, if you want to battle with him. 

So, by faith, you must acknowledge what God said about the corrupted freewill of Satan, all his demonic angels and their influence over our blindly ignorant freewill. It is this domain of darkness influence that is behind all the difficulties of life. Once you recognize this then you can understand your need to be rescued from this insane evil world. 

I want you to pay great attention to what I am about to say ─ there is a strong connection between Satan, his demonic followers and all humans and that connection is the right we have to make our own choices.  

The decisions we make every day are far more influenced by our personal history that comes from the domain of darkness than they are by what is taking place at any particular moment. Our life experiences are kept in what the Bible refers to as our heart, which neuroscience calls the default mode network in our brain. Every choice we make is actually more influenced by our past experiences, which far too often are the result of life in the domain of darkness.  

Satan knows this, which is why it is imperative we understand that the domain of darkness is not our friend. It is his world so faith must recognize and be aware of this. If we don’t, we will just walk through life making decisions controlled by our blindly ignorant freewill. 

So, what does it look like to apply the believing actions of faith to God’s truth that Satan’s influence over our human freewill is our greatest enemy? The first thing we need to address is the arrogant lie that we are smart enough to control our lives. Think about this ─ intelligence is measured by how it compares to everyone else. So then, who are we measuring ourselves by? It is other blindly ignorant people, and that’s not a very smart way to determine intelligence! 

The only true measure of intelligence and also right and wrong is God and His word the Bible, because neither of these has ever been influenced by the domain of darkness. This is the only source of pure truth in this world. And this is where we must apply faith and believing. Listen to how God says we need to view the words of the Bible.  

“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” (4) 

That explains how you apply the believing actions of faith to the things we have been looking at. You must be fully assured and convinced that these truths are from God and not from men. Then, if you choose to obey God’s word you can know for sure that you are making a choice not the result of your blindly ignorant freewill. 

In lesson 11 we learned about the need to memorize and meditate on God’s truth so it can reside inside of us and then influence how we think and act. Let me ask you a question; what do you normally think about when your brain is free to mull over something? If your answer is, you don’t know, or you’re thinking about some issue of life, then your mind is most likely living in the domain of darkness world instead of gaining more wisdom from God’s word.  

And that brings us to another question ─ how do you fight against the effects of Satan, and the world forces of evil over your blindly ignorant freewill? The only way you fight this is to change the way you think, by increasing the amount of God’s truth residing in your brain. We all need a new source of wisdom to draw from and that is one of the great results of being transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son – so, I hope with your decisions, you decide today to choose wisely. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing ─ the only hope you have of overcoming the influence of this dark world on your freewill is to relocate to the kingdom.  

I hope you will join us next week for part 2 of this lesson. 

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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 next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Last week we began a journey into the world of faith and believing. I didn’t mention this then, but I will now; this journey into the world of faith is not something you will ever complete while living on earth. It will always be a journey of growth because faith is a living thing.

The best way to understand faith and what believing actions should look like is for us to walk back through the nine lessons we have already talked about and apply the concept of faith and believing to each lesson.

We will do this by going back to lesson 1 where we learned that the reason we have been created is because God wants a kingdom full of people; and the purpose of life is all about determining who will be the ones He favors and get to inherit His kingdom. Let me restate the words of Christ that we focused on in lesson 1.

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are favored of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”(1)

Here is a promise made by God and so now our faith must have assurance and conviction concerning what He promised. And remember, faith must also believe.

So, what would faith and believing in God’s purpose for us to become favored, look like, in everyday life? First off, faith should cause a person to live with full assurance and conviction that becoming favored by God is truly the reason they are alive. And second, if a person has faith, then there should be an interest in learning as much as they can about the purpose for their life.

But, if a person is not absolutely sure about God’s promise, then they will have some degree of doubt, which will be seen in the degree of interest they have in His promise. If they do not have a great degree of interest in doing this, they must realize their faith has not yet come to the place where God is pleased with it. Certainly, faith has begun, but it is not where it needs to be. It still needs to grow.

All people will experience some degree of doubt on their journey to God so please don’t ignore yours. Doubt is averse to faith, so you need to do something that will help dimmish your doubt and grow your faith.

God explains how to do this when He says:

“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”(2)

According to God faith, that is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, comes from hearing the word of Christ. Now this word hearing is not just listening to something with your ears; it means you need to understand the details about what you are hearing. And that usually takes time and effort.

And the way the words of Christ make a person’s faith grow is really quite remarkable. These words are the Bible, that God says He breathed into existence much like He did when He gave life to His human creation with just His breath.(3)

Yes, He used humans to write the Bible, but God says the Bible, or words of Christ, are inspired and that means they came from the breath of God.(4) They are not just words from a human brain written down on paper like other books. God says;

“The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”(5)

This means the words of the Bible are actually alive, and they actively take part in growing your faith. I can tell you from years of my own personal experience that there is nothing that comes close to how the words and concepts in the Bible instruct you, motivate you, and judge your thoughts and intentions.

How they do this begins with you memorizing the words of Christ so you can meditate or think about them as often as you possibly can. For example, you take what Jesus revealed is the purpose of life and work on memorizing His words for as long as it takes, until you can think about them anytime without having to visually look at the words.

And then, whenever you have a few unobstructed moments, think about what these words say and what they mean. You can do this while you are driving, going for a walk, doing mundane things like chores, or working around the house.

There are plenty of opportunities every day to meditate or think about the living word of Christ. Do this, and what God said about the purpose of your life will take root in your soul, which then allows it to actively work on your thoughts, and intentions to help your faith in the promises of God, grow.

How can you be assured that your faith is growing? You will notice you are beginning to understand what God says and your desire to experience this will also increase. As it does, so will the opportunities to live out the truth of what you have been meditating on.

Memorization and meditation upon the living word of Christ is what causes your faith to grow. God tells us this numerous times in the Bible. And where once you may have been unsure, hesitant, indecisive and maybe even skeptical, the living and active word of God together with the Spirit of God living inside you will increase your assurance and conviction that will then allow you to respond correctly to the God who is and who also is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Faith and the actions of believing concerning the purpose of your life are the starting point to a lifetime journey of faith in the kingdom.

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Faith in the promises of God, become real as you meditate on what the Bible says and then respond to its truth.

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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 next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 

 Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. This is our tenth lesson and by now we have learned enough about the kingdom that it is time to apply the concept of faith to these lessons because faith is absolutely vital to everything we learn about God.  

Let me read what it says about faith from the Bible – Here is what it says. 

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen.”(1) 

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”(2) 

This gives us a good starting point for explaining how to apply faith to the promises of God that we have learned about. I would like to start with the words – without faith it is impossible to please God because this shows how absolutely necessary faith is to the kingdom of God. There is no pleasing God without it. 

And God defines faith here in some very practical terms. The first thing He says is faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Now assurance is a pretty easy thing to understand. We actually use this concept numerous times every day. This word has to do with a firm trust in something. Not just any trust, but a firm trust; one that is unshakable.  

Let me give you an example; whenever you sit down to eat at a table, you pull out a chair and never question if that chair will hold you. You don’t examine it at all; you just immediately sit down in the chair with no concern about it. This is firm trust, and this is exactly what God wants you to have in Him and His promises. An assurance, or firm trust that doesn’t doubt He can and will do everything He says.  

Next God says faith is the conviction of things you can’t see. Conviction is all about confidence and the strength of this confidence is almost arrogant. You are so convinced of something that nothing can change your mind, even though you can’t see it. 

I played a lot of sports growing up and baseball was my favorite. After several years of playing, I had developed a confidence that if the game was on the line and we needed a hit to win, I knew if I could come up to bat, the game was already over. I was absolutely certain I would get a hit, and we would win. Was that arrogance? Well, there probably was a dose of that in there, but it wasn’t something that I ever boasted about. I just went out and did it, because I had the conviction this would happen before I even stepped up to the plate to hit. This is the confidence God wants us to have concerning what He says He will do. Once again ─ 

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen.” 

This is the type of faith that God says ─ without it, it is impossible to please Him. But God explains more about faith by giving us two additional concepts concerning how someone with faith should act. He says the person who comes to God must believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” 

These are two essential ingredients that must be a part of faith because, as it says here, faith must believe. 

The original word for faith is a noun while the original word for believe is that same noun conjugated into a verb, which then means, since believing is a verb, it refers to some sort of action in regard to your faith. 

What God just said is that the type of faith He is looking for must have appropriate actions connected to it. And God even identifies what those actions are.  

Faith must first have actions of believing in the fact that God is. But faith must also respond to the fact that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. And there we have it – two very practical ways that describe the actions God is looking for to validate a person’s faith.  

Now let’s look at these two actions ─ what does it look like to respond to the fact that God is? This is much easier to understand than you may think. For example, you have never seen an electrical current. But even though you cannot see it, you do believe in it and that is seen by your actions that you will not grab ahold of a bare wire that you think has a few hundred amps of current running through it. Your believing is seen in the fact that you will never purposely touch live bare wires. 

Is God real? Of course He is, even though you cannot see Him. God is a Spirit, and human eyes cannot see into that world. But the evidence of Him can be seen everywhere in His creation.  

If you have the assurance and conviction that God is real, then you will show it through your actions of pursuing and following Him. Your faith in God cannot just sit idle, you must respond to Him in every way you can. For that is how you believe that God is real. 

But faith must also believe that God will reward you if you seek Him. And what is the reward He has for all those who do? If you have learned anything so far you should know that God wants to reward your faith and believing in His promises by giving you the gift of His kingdom.  

All these lessons we have looked at so far are built around promises that God made, therefore faith must be put into actions of believing in these promises. So, for this next section of lessons we will go back through lessons 1-9 and this time apply faith and believing to each of the promises of God that we looked at.  

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God, and true faith must also believe.

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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]

Summary of Episodes 1-9: Lessons from the Tent

Life boils down to one pursuit: becoming favored by God to inherit the eternal kingdom prepared since creation, rendering all else meaningless without it. Difficulties arise not from divine punishment but from the “domain of darkness”—a realm of unchecked freewill, corrupted by Satan’s deception and humanity’s ignorant choices since the fall. But God offers rescue: transfer into the kingdom of His Son, where individuals are “born again” allowing His favored ones to experience daily renewal, fostering hope amid chaos.

The kingdom is revealed as an internal, omnipresent reign—not a distant or visible empire, but God’s rule “in your midst” via the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. Miracles and transformation flow from this hidden power, equipping God’s favored ones to navigate external struggles with internal strength. Entry demands humility: becoming “poor in spirit,” a state of spiritual bankruptcy where one owns their unrighteousness, unwisdom, and uselessness before God. This honest self-view unlocks the kingdom without pretense or self-improvement efforts.

Recognizing brokenness naturally sparks mourning, but God responds with profound comfort: the Holy Spirit’s grace, poured out through Jesus’ propitiation on the cross, which satisfies divine justice and turns sorrow into overflowing joy. When the kingdom “comes,” it manifests as God’s will, which is an intimate partnership being experienced on earth as in heaven, inviting humans into collaborative rule from within, fulfilling humanity’s original design for closeness with the Creator. God’s divine will emerges as eternal life: a marriage-like “knowing” of God and Jesus, influencing every decision like a devoted spouse and binding lives in unbreakable strength. What delights God the most? Lavishing His kingdom on the favored, a gift so precious it cost His Son’s sacrificial death. Though hating the sin Jesus died for, both Jesus and His Father rejoice in this redeemed partnership purchased through the sacrifice of Jesus. Human responses of gratitude pale against God’s immeasurable joy, underscoring the call to prioritize this treasure above all.

Overall, this first section shows spirituality to be a practical transformation: from darkness to light, mourning to comfort, isolation to union. It urges listeners to embrace humility, pursue internal renewal, and revel in God’s relational invitation, promising a life of purpose, resilience, and eternal happiness far beyond fleeting achievements.

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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]

During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Let me start today’s lesson by asking you a simple question – What gives you great pleasure? I ask this because whatever makes you happy reveals much about your heart.  

Let me give you an example of something that gives me great pleasure. I am referring to my cat. She was born in this tent when Joan and I were living in it. She was one of six kittens, and we planned on giving them all away. But as it turned out, one kitten attached herself to my heart within a few weeks of being born and there was no way I was going to give this little one away. Since then, she has only become more attached to me.  

One of the things she does that makes me smile is she will run up the 10-foot wooden post that stands in the center of my tent. I covered this post with carpet to make it easy for her to run up it. There is a tall bookshelf standing right next to the post. And as soon as she gets to the top of the bookshelf she flops over and hangs her head off the side. She then lets out a soft meow which is her way of asking me to come over and scratch her head. As soon as I get near her, she begins to purr loudly and doesn’t stop the whole time I am scratching her head. I usually do this for a few minutes and then sit down. Within a few seconds, she will give me that soft meow again and of course I will respond. I must confess, the way she responds gives me great joy. Remember this sentence because it will be quite significant as we move on.  

I tell you this because today we will be looking at something that gives God great pleasure and as we do, we will learn something about His heart and soul. Listen to what Jesus told His followers about God, His Father. 

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”(1) 

What an incredible revelation this is about God. Let’s begin with the word gladly for everything Jesus said here springs from this word. The word gladly means great pleasure, or to be favorably inclined to do something. And the something that gives God great pleasure is to give us the kingdom.  

Did you catch that? God receives great pleasure from giving us the kingdom. And if you remember last week’s lesson, we learned that eternal life is a deep, intimate partnership with God and His Son Jesus. Obviously then, it means a whole lot to God to have this relational partnership with His human creation. 

So why would giving us broken people the kingdom cause God’s feelings to be so aroused? That is something we need to understand. It gives Him great pleasure because this eternal life partnership with His favored ones is the purpose He’s always had for His human creation from the beginning of time. 

The only way we can really appreciate what this means to God is we must know what it cost Him to give us the gift of His kingdom. Jesus is the one who revealed this, and He knows full well that it will cost Him His life so His Father can give us the kingdom.  

Before we go on, I hope you understand that the Romans and Jews did not kill Jesus – His Father did. The Bible very clearly says that God Himself orchestrated everything that put Jesus on the cross and also everything that took place while He was being crucified.(2) God willing gave His only begotten Son to become the sacrificial punishment that allows Him to give us the kingdom. 

How much joy God receives from giving us the gift of His kingdom can only be measured by what it cost Him to give us this gift. And we know that God, had His Son brutally sacrificed and become all the sin ever committed by us humans in order for Him to be able to do this. And sin is something God and Jesus both extremely hate.(3)  

God considered this worth it because of the great joy He would receive from giving us His kingdom. Remember back to what I said about why I enjoy my cat wanting me to scratch her head, it was because of how much she enjoys me doing it. Do you think God’s great pleasure has anything to do with how we would respond back to Him for giving us such a special gift? That is something to ponder. 

The Bible says that Jesus endured all He went through looking ahead to the great joy He also would receive being King over this fantastic kingdom.(4) 

How special then is the kingdom, to God and to Jesus? I know I am thrilled to have received the gift of the kingdom, but my happiness pales in comparison to God’s joy in giving it to me. And that is because God and Jesus gave everything so they could give us the kingdom. But the only thing it costs us to receive it is that we become poor in spirit, and that’s not much of a sacrifice on our part. 

As a child I always loved Christmas. My parents did not have much money, especially while raising seven children, but they always found a way to have presents underneath the tree Christmas morning. I didn’t appreciate this properly as a child but when I had my own children and it was my turn to give gifts, the sacrifices my parents made became so much more precious when I understood what it cost them to be so giving. The quality of any gift can only be measured through what it costs someone to give that gift. Therefore, the most appropriate response we should have towards God is to be thankful and overjoyed at the marvelous gift of His kingdom. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Don’t ever forget that it gives God great pleasure to give us the kingdom. 

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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]

During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Well let’s get right into our lesson for today. One thing I have learned from my personal journey to the kingdom of God is how similar it is to the path we travel on to become married. Let me explain what I mean. 

The first thing that occurs on the journey to marriage is a person must find something attractive about another person that will cause them to begin pursuing that certain individual. And the more we learn and like about that person, the more intense our pursuit becomes, until one day the journey ends, when you find yourself standing next to your new spouse and are pronounced husband and wife. 

Today I would like to introduce you to something about God that I hope you will find attractive enough to cause you to strongly pursue becoming favored by Him and remove any thoughts you may have that what is important to God is religion. 

In last week’s lesson if you remember we talked about when the kingdom comes, God’s will is done. I think it’s time we look at the will of God and try to understand a little more of what takes place when the kingdom comes.  

The day before Jesus was crucified for all the sins of His human creation, He paused the busyness of His life and spent some intense personal time talking with His Father. It is in this prayer we see Jesus reveal what the divine will of God is.  

At the beginning of His prayer, Jesus said to His Father that it pleases Him to give His followers eternal life. And He says this in such a way that you know that no one has ever experienced this before.  

Then, He continues by explaining what eternal life is, and when He does, we get to understand why no one had ever thought of or experienced this before. Listen to what Jesus said in His prayer:  

“This is eternal life, that my followers may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”(1) 

Now make sure you catch this; Jesus just defined eternal life as an eternal relationship. He doesn’t mention anything about our physical life lasting forever. What Jesus calls eternal life is a relationship between God, Himself and His favored ones that never ends.  

But what really makes this even more interesting is His use of this word know, and that’s k.n.o.w, to define this relationship.   

The original word know means knowledge and understanding in the deepest, most comprehensive ways. That is amazing when you realize how difficult it is for us mortals to know God and Jesus Christ, because they are beyond the capability of our limited human minds to fully comprehend, yet Jesus connects eternal life to understanding the unknowable depths of God.  

But this word know adds far more meaning to eternal life than increasing our understanding of God. This word know was also an axiom for the intimacy of the marriage relationship. This means Jesus just defined eternal life as an intimate partnership between His Father, Himself and His favored ones. Let me say this one more time – according to Jesus’ eternal life is an intimate partnership between God, Himself and His favored ones that never ends.  

Normally people think of eternal life as some heavenly thing going on in the clouds, but Jesus brings this eternal life relationship with His Father and Himself into our life now, while we live on earth. And through His use of this word know, He brings the relational partnership aspect of marriage into our daily life with God here on earth and in the future after we leave here.  

From what Jesus said, we can actually look at marriage and learn some things about how this eternal life partnership works. For example, I can distinctly remember how much my life changed after I said, “I do” want this woman to be my wife. From that moment on, no longer was I a single guy doing whatever I wanted to do. I was now in an everyday partnership with my new bride and this relationship affected everything I did. I no longer had the freedom to just do my own thing, because whatever I chose to do had repercussions on my wife and our relationship. The same applied to whatever she chose to do.  

This is how a marriage partnership is supposed to work, and it is also how our relationship with God is designed to work. When Joan and I both said, “we do,” we gave up our singleness and exchanged it for something far greater in terms of who we could become and what we could experience. Listen to what the Bible says about this.  

“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”(2)   

Now think about this in terms of the relational partnership between yourself, God and Jesus. How much stronger and more interesting would your life be with a threefold cord connecting you with God and Jesus as your partner? And then imagine this as a relational partnership between a husband, a wife, and the third person, or cord, being God. How strong and fulfilling could that marriage be? 

And remember, what we are talking about here is the will of God. What we see in this is God’s will, has nothing to do with religion. It is all focused on a relational partnership between God and His favored ones. And this is the will of God that the kingdom brings to earth. I can honestly say from my own personal experience in my life with God, there is nothing like this relationship in the world.  

Well, that’s it for today and once again there’s just one thing – Eternal life, the will of God and the purpose for your life are all about a relational partnership between God, Jesus, and His favored ones. 

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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]

During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.

Good morning, and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I wish you could see the male peacocks strutting around the tent right now. They are in full bloom, and their tails are about five feet long and look spectacular. I sure enjoy God’s creation. 

For this lesson I will be continuing with the idea of God ruling from inside His favored ones, and I would like to begin with a question ─ why would God even want to live and rule from inside such poor in spirit, sinful people? 

Well, the answer to this question explains the reason God created us, and it also reveals His heart, His soul, and His character.  With all that said the answer to this question is actually a pretty simple one in terms of words. But it is far more complex than all the knowledge known to mankind.  The simple answer is, He created us humans to have an intimate, relational partnership with Him. He has no desire to rule over those in His kingdom from a distance like other kings and rulers do. He wants a hands-on working partnership with us.  

Yes, He is God and the creator of everything. Yes, He rules over us. And yes, we are to surrender to His reign. But God is unique in this way. He has a singular desire when it comes to His human creation and His kingdom – He wants more than anything to have an intimate, personal relationship with us even though we are so inferior and terribly disobedient to Him.   

God did something entirely different when He created us. He gave us humans a soul filled with emotions and individual desires with the freedom to express them within a partnership with Him, even though He knew beforehand that we would eventually fall into sin. But it is our willingness to participate in this intimate relationship with Him that He desires. He will never force anyone to be in His kingdom who does not want to participate in this partnership with Him. 

To help understand this kingdom relationship we need to look at what Jesus said takes place when the kingdom comes. One day while teaching His disciples about prayer, Jesus told them to pray for the kingdom to come soon, so God’s will can be done on earth, just as it is in heaven.” (1) 

Now that is an interesting truth about God and His kingdom. Jesus said, when the kingdom comes, God’s will is done on earth, just as it is in heaven.  

If when the kingdom comes, God’s will is done, then that would mean His will, His desire, and His perfect plan is to reign from inside His favored ones with His invisible Spirit, which is exactly what happens when His kingdom does come. 

I know a lot of people think God loves to judge them and that He gets a kick out of sending people to hell. But that is absolutely not the God of the Bible. That is not His will at all. In fact, Jesus said hell was created for the devil and his angels. It was not created for us humans. But there are only two places that we can go after we die and leave earth – one is hell, and the other is the eternal kingdom of God.  

If you understand what the kingdom is, why would anyone choose to go to hell? You may be thinking, “Wait a minute, no one chooses to go to hell.” But I’ve got to tell you, we choose our own path when we reject His kingdom so in actuality, we send ourselves to hell when we reject His desire to live and reign from inside of us. 

Let me give you one of the great truths about God’s will that is taught in the Bible, that says. “God is not willing for anyone to be sent to hell. He wants everyone to change the way they think about the purpose of their life and return to Him.” (2) 

Now that is the will of God. And it takes place when the kingdom comes. Or, to say it another way, when you change how you think about God and His purpose for you and become poor in spirit, you receive His kingdom, and that is what God wants for each of us. 

In another place in the Bible God says it like this. “Change the way you think about God and Jesus and return, so that your sins can be completely wiped away, so times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and He can send you the gift of His Holy Spirit.” (3) 

Once again, this is the will of God, and it is fulfilled in all those who become favored. God’s will is to live and reign from inside His favored ones and this all takes place when the invisible kingdom comes to earth. This is not only the will of God but it is also the purpose of your life. 

Even though we are fallen sinful people we were originally created in the image of God and that is why we are such relational people. But, because of our fallen sinful nature, we find it very difficult to experience relationships the way we were meant to, yet we still want them because this is what we were created to do. And the number one relationship we were created to experience and participate in is with God.  

But remember, it is only when the kingdom comes that we will be able to experience this relationship the way God wants. And once we do, we can then begin to experience relationships with others the way God meant them to be.  

If you have learned anything through these first seven lessons you should at least understand that the kingdom of God is the greatest treasure anyone can ever obtain,(4) because everything in life works the way it was meant to when the Holy Spirit reigns inside God’s favored ones. When He doesn’t, life is very frustrating and difficult. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Pray that God’s kingdom comes to you so His will can be done in your life just as it was meant to. 

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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]

During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I hope you are feeling really lousy today. If you have been thinking on what Jesus said about becoming poor in spirit, you should be feeling miserable about yourself. And if you are, then you’re right where you should be and ready to become happier than you have ever been before.  

Now don’t be thinking I am delusional for saying if you are miserable then you are ready to be happy. All I am doing is drawing attention to a genuine paradox that Jesus taught, after He said we need to become poor in spirit. Here is what He said.   

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (1) 

Again, Jesus starts with the word blessed just as He did when saying, blessed are the poor in spirit. This word blessed is a life defining word because it refers to a special type of happiness. It’s not the kind we experience when having a good day or after getting a better-than-expected raise at work.  

This happiness has nothing to do with circumstances. What Jesus refers to here is a joy that touches you deep inside and is specifically the result of something God does. But how can someone be happy while feeling miserable about themselves? I mean, what was Jesus’ thinking?  

When you do come to terms with your poor in spirit condition, it should naturally make you feel awful because God designed you to be a perfectly righteous, happy person and the truth is, you are not. That is why this attitude of mourning should be natural when you understand how bad you really are. But this comfort is unique because it’s something that only God can make happen, you cannot do it for yourself. 

This word comfort is a verb, and it refers to an action that the Spirit of God does to your mourning. Remember what we learned last week. When you recognize and acknowledge how poor in spirit you are God gives you His kingdom, which is the invisible Spirit of God living and reigning from inside of you. But you must understand, the Spirit does not just sit there idle on the throne of your heart. He is constantly working inside of you. And when you mourn for your awful condition, He floods your emotional feelings of sorrow with a kindness that lifts you up from your despair and stands you happily on the mountaintop of His forgiving grace. The question is how in the world does He do that? 

There is a word that defines His action of comfort, and it’s called propitiation. This is one of the most comprehensive words God uses to describe what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Here is its definition as used in the Bible. Propitiation is the means God uses to lavish grace and kindness on us sinners without violating His own judicial righteousness.  

The only way God can lavish grace and kindness on a poor in spirit; horrible sinner, is because of the means He chose to deal with our sin. God didn’t just ignore it or excuse it. Instead, He punished the hell out of it by placing His own Son Jesus on the cross and then had Him become our sin. Then, while Jesus was nailed to the cross and filled with everyone’s sin, God punished Him with the full payment that all our sin requires.  

And because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross, whenever a person mourns for their horrible condition, God is free to do what He loves to do, which is to lavish His propitiatory grace and kindness on our sorrow. 

The Holy Spirits’ comfort reaches deep into your emotions, where nothing can diminish its effect on you because His comfort addresses the reason for your sorrow. 

Mourning and happiness are quite a contrast of emotions. But the reason God can comfort our sorrow is because His judicial nature, which cannot overlook sin, has been completely satisfied through the propitiation of Jesus.(2) 

This attitude of mourning, while at the same time being intensely happy, makes living in the kingdom unlike anything else. For nothing can take this joy away due to the fact it didn’t come from outside of you. It comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit who takes God’s grace and kindness and lavishes it upon your poor in spirit sorrow.  

Whenever I teach this, I like to have my wife make a beautiful plate of strawberry shortcake and then I take a full can of whipped cream and start spraying it on top of the strawberry’s. While I am doing this, I ask someone to tell me when I have reached the point of lavishing the whipped cream. No one ever stops me until the whipped cream is so high and wide it covers the entire plate of strawberry shortcake. It usually gets about a foot high before it finally begins to fall on the floor. This is lavishing. 

I hope you can picture that in your brain. To me, this is the perfect example of God lavishing His grace and kindness on our mourning. And remember, the only reason He can do this is because His Son willingly offered Himself, to be punished for all our sins. His sacrifice purchased this gift of comfort the Holy Spirit gives you. And it’s only when you are one of God’s favored ones that you get this. 

How valuable is this gift of the kingdom that was bought and paid for by the propitiatory death of God’s Son! So, do mourn for your sinful condition as you should ─ but at the same time let the Holy Spirit make you extraordinarily happy because of the means God used to lavish you with grace and kindness without violating His own judicial righteousness.  

I hope you are beginning to see why the cross of Christ is so important to the kingdom of God. It’s the only way we poor in spirit sinners can become favored and inherit the purpose of life. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ The propitiation of Jesus allows the Spirit of God to lavish you with grace and kindness and turn your mourning into extreme happiness.

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Contact us at [email protected]

During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.

Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. After last week’s look into the invisible kingdom, I hope you are beginning to have a great interest in becoming favored by God. Especially since today’s lesson is all about how to become favored. I love it when a plan comes together. 

We humans have come up with at least a thousand different ways we think as the way to please God, but really there is only one opinion that matters on this, and no its not mine. Since God is the one who determines who is favored, then it doesn’t matter what any of us think. It’s His choice not ours, so we need to know what He says about how you get the kingdom. 

When Jesus first started going from city to city doing miracles and teaching, He said the reason He was sent here by His Father was to tell everyone about the good news of the kingdom.(1) If that’s why Jesus said He was sent here, then you would expect at some point in time He would have explained exactly how to become favored by His Father. 

And sure enough, one day Jesus sat down on a hill and explained how someone can become favored and inherit the kingdom. Here is what He said: 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (2) 

And there you see how to become favored, and to think it only took Jesus thirteen words to explain this. But make sure you understand what He said ─ if someone becomes poor in spirit, they are the ones who get the kingdom. And this would also mean they have become favored by His Father. So here it is, God declares someone favored when they become, poor in spirit. Can it get any simpler than that? But this stirs up an important question for us – What does it mean to be poor in spirit?  

Well, I can tell you this, it is not about being financially broke. This poverty that Jesus refers to, concerns the condition of your spirit. Another way you can think of this is your spirit does not possess enough righteousness to become favored by God. That is the poverty Jesus is talking about. 

Human life has to do with our spirit so, poor in spirit means your life is completely destitute of what God created it to be; therefore, you possess nothing that would allow you to become favored by Him except the ability to recognize how broken you are. 

From what Jesus said here we can take the whole world and divide it into two groups of people. One group God favors and the other group He does not. Both groups of people are considered broken, horrible sinners by God, but the difference between them is one group recognizes how destitute they are and is humbled by their condition, while the other group does not see themselves this way and therefore, they are not humbled by their spiritual poverty.  

What we learn from this is the way to become favored by God is all about having the right perception of yourself, and that must be according to how God sees us; not how we see ourselves.  

I guess then we better look at who God says we really are. The best way to understand this is to put yourself personally into God’s description of all humans. Let me show you what this looks like by inserting the personal pronoun “I” into His description of everyone as written in the Bible. (3) 

“I am not righteous at all 

I am not truly wise and I do not seek after God as I should 

I have turned away from God and have become useless to Him 

I never do what God considers good, it just isn’t in me 

I condemn people with words and I get bitter so easily about things 

I even commit murder with my angry attitude towards people 

I am destructive and misery follows me. It is far too easy for me to get down about my life and others 

I do not possess true peace and contentment 

And I don’t fear and respect God as I should” 

This assessment of who we are is the poor in spirit attitude that God is looking for. And all this is, is an honest evaluation of yourself from God’s perspective. 

But with all this ugly, there is actually some very good news about this. God’s assessment means it is not the rich, the mighty, the smart, the beautiful, the righteous, the religious, or the best people that He favors. God favors those who understand how awful and helpless they are ─ to become favored by Him. And that is really good news because it means everyone has the same potential to inherit the kingdom, because we are all bankrupt when it comes to what we need, to become favored. 

Jesus doesn’t tell us we need to get better to inherit His kingdom. Instead, He wants us to see ourselves truthfully the way His Father sees us. 

This means that God’s kingdom will only be populated with those who understand, and own up to, their awful condition.  

Is anybody wondering why God would like to fill His kingdom with only poor in spirit people? The best answer to this is ─ it’s His kingdom, so He can do whatever He wants. If He would like to have a kingdom full of horrible sinners, then who are we to argue with Him about that? 

Personally, am very glad this is who He wants to favor because I easily qualify as a horrible sinner. If God only wanted righteous people in His kingdom, then I would never have a chance to get in ─ and neither would you or anyone else for that matter. In fact, according to God, there would be no kingdom because just as He said, there isn’t anyone righteous enough to qualify for His kingdom. So, the only chance we have is to recognize how God sees us. 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ See yourself the way God sees you, and remember, He favors those who are poor in spirit. 

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Contact us at [email protected]

During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.

Good morning, and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we will be looking at the kingdom that God wants to give His favored ones.  

To help you understand this I would like to look at a day, much like any other day, in the life of Jesus. As usual there is a large group of people following Him. But, on this particular day there are some very pompous religious leaders tagging along who are only there to try to trap Jesus. 

These guys decided to challenge Him with the question, “When is the kingdom of God coming?”  

How Jesus responds to their question is really interesting, for He said:(1) “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs that can be seen by your eyes; nor will anyone say, ‘Look, here it is! Or, there it is!’ Then Jesus said, ‘Pay attention to what I am about to tell you next; the kingdom of God is in your midst.’”  

Though the religious leaders asked Him a very specific question, Jesus decided to not answer them directly and instead, teach something about the kingdom that adds a whole lot more mystery to it.  

First, He revealed that the kingdom cannot be seen or identified by the human eye. And second, He said, the kingdom is in your midst.  

Now Jesus is the only one who could have used this word midst to describe the kingdom, for He was the only person on the planet who understood how significant this word was when using it this way.  

The word midst can be interpreted two ways – one, in your midst and the other, inside of you. And what makes this word so special is that both descriptions of the kingdom are true. When Jesus said this, the kingdom was standing in their midst, but soon it would be inside of them. Which really irritated those pompous religious leaders, because how can a kingdom be both of those? 

The word kingdom used here simply means the reign of a king. And since Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God being in their midst, that could only mean He is the kingdom and therefore, He is the reign of God, for He is the only one who would specifically qualify as the reign of God in that crowd of people. 

But when you interpret the word midst to be inside of you then Jesus created another mysterious dilemma, because if He is the reign of God how could He also be inside of them?   

What Jesus said reveals something very special about this amazing gift God wants to give His favored ones. The reign of God was really standing there in the midst of all these people, because Jesus is the powerful reign of God! That’s the reason He could do all those astounding miracles. And every time He did one, such as a bring someone who had died back to life or give sight to a blind person, it proved, He is the powerful reign of God and it also proved that He is the kingdom of God.(2) 

But just before Jesus went back to heaven, He promised His disciples that He would send Himself back to earth, which is the Spirit of God, where He would reign from inside all His favored ones.(3) And when the Spirit came, the invisible kingdom was born for the Spirit of God cannot be seen by the human eye.   

This doesn’t mean the reign of God is any less powerful than it was when Jesus stood in their midst and performed miracle after miracle after miracle. The only thing that changed was now the kingdom, or reign of God, is not restricted to only being in one place at a time. 

For example, the reign of God may be working inside a carpenter in England to help him think better thoughts while He’s cutting some wood. And at that same moment the reign of God could be working inside the waiter who is serving you, helping him get free from an addiction. But at the same time in another country the reign of God may be encouraging an Amazon driver who is delivering packages, to overcome their anger and forgive someone who hurt them badly.  

Things like this occur a hundred, thousand times every day all around the world, and when they do, just as Jesus revealed no one ever says, “Look, there is the kingdom of God” because it cannot be seen by the human eye.   

What an amazing gift the kingdom’s powerful reign is to His favored ones. The same power that accomplished all those great miracles throughout history now lives and rules on earth inside His followers.   

But even though you cannot see the kingdom, it is as real as the air you breathe and as powerful as the God who created the universe with just His words. So, make sure you understand what the kingdom is that God wants you to inherit ─ it IS the powerful reign of God ruling from inside His favored ones.  

Now what does that mean to you? First, it would mean you are one of God’s favored ones if you have the Spirit living inside of you because they are the only ones who inherit His invisible kingdom. And second, it would mean no matter how difficult your life becomes, the powerful reign of God is far greater than any problem you will ever encounter. Therefore, you have some serious help to deal with life’s challenges, when the kingdom is inside of you.  

Another really great result of the invisible Spirit living and reigning inside God’s people, is the kingdom of God can be anywhere and everywhere all at the same time without anyone even noticing it.  

So, if you are one of God’s favored ones, the powerful reign of God goes with you and is inside of you wherever you are. And that’s not religion, that is a completely different way to live. (say it with authority) 

Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ What could your life be, if the powerful kingdom of God reigned from inside of you?  

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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved

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Contact us at [email protected]