Special Guest

If Christ is the King of the Kingdom, and we are its chosen citizens, then the Bible is the constitution. This constitution shows the heart of the King. This constitution gives us authority. This constitution hinges on “seek yee first the kingdom of God.” It often seems as though we are merely wanderers trekking through battlefields of the war waged against us, often grazed by its greatest weapon, fear. But we are not wanderers. We are citizens, and as citizens, we have the right to the Kingdom’s protection. The constitution declares the heaven has an army of angels who “shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” The constitution says that all day and all night angels are watching over us. The constitution promises that the King himself watches over us as we are sleeping.

David destroyed Goliath not because he was stronger than all other men in an army, and Gideon was named a mighty warrior not because he was the bravest. God looks for those who are willing to risk it all. Gideon defeated an innumerable army when he followed God into the enemy camp with only 300 men who held jars instead of shields and trumpets instead of swords. To risk it all is to be war ready. A war ready warrior may not show skill and talent, but proves a reliable and faithful spirit. To risk it all is to know where we are called to stand, even places we would never venture to on our own. There is a type of courage that comes down only when we walk behind enemy lines. To risk it all is to know that God is our weapon.

In Matthew chapter 16, Jesus begins a conversation about identity by asking his disciples who they think he is. In establishing our identities, God does not first ask us who we are, but who God is. It is first in knowing who the King of the Kingdom is, that we began to know who we, the citizens of the Kingdom are. Peter responds with “you are Messiah, Son of a living God.” This, Jesus declares to Peter, is not a revelation of flesh and blood, but the Spirit. Jesus finishes the conversation by revealing Peter’s identity as one that the “gates of hell cannot overcome.” In knowing who our King is, we know who we, the citizens are. We are the “ecclesia,” people appointed to go throughout the city importing the Kingdom into its streets.

During the Roman occupation the emperor played god to the oppressed Jewish nation. Religious traditions replaced spirituality and spiritual leaders became appointed by political connections. It was in this atmosphere that John the Baptist stormed through the scene, preaching “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” God was not intimidated. He established his Kingdom right beside the gates of hell as Jesus died to rise as the King no king can stand against. The kingdom of God is built on vast territory, for “all the earth is the Lord’s” proclaims the psalmist. In this Kingdom the citizens are not identified by inferior identifications. They have no inferior ethnicity, race, or status, for they are all called children.

Walking in marriage without the one who created it is walking in chaos. Unlike what religion has dictated since its infancy about marriage--that a woman must live in the shadow of a man--marriage is actually a partnership. It is a dance in which both learn to lead and both learn to follow. The heartbeat of marriage is rhythm. Marital rhythm is found when emotional, spiritual, and financial rhythm find their places inside a marriage. Marriage is compromise and a union between two parts. Marriage was created at the same time as humankind, for the essence of marriage is love.

Marriage is not a construct of society, but of God. Marriage brings us companionship, is a spiritual revelation of Christ, and grants us co-dominion in the heavenly kingdom. There comes a time when it becomes impossible to complete our destinies alone. When it does, we are not called to change our spouse, but to accept him or her as a gift given to us by God. Attacks on marriage are bound to come for the enemy hates when couples operate in unity and love. Strife is the foothold that keeps the door open for the enemy to freely enter marriage. We must evict it. Boundaries are intended to bring freedom, not limitations to marriage. We must set them. There must be no hint of sexual immorality in marriage, and we must always practice accountability, for although respect is free, trust is earned.

In the Hebrew Bible, sacrifice always involved transformation. Sacrifices burned. The Levitical instructions for burnt offerings forbade separating the offering into parts, but required the whole animal to burn on the altar. In our complacent, lukewarm society, there are some things that are not optional. We cannot serve God without fire, and fire requires constant tending. The fire of God will never come down on our lives until every dream and every ambition is put on the altar to burn. One either dies to oneself or in oneself. To walk with God is to die to oneself; to be transformed by fire and brought into a new life. To keep the fire burning we must tend what God sends. This will cost us everything. But in the end it is worth everything.

God is no respecter of persons, but a respecter of pursuit. Many times we miss out on revelation of God’s mysteries because we are unwilling to bend down and lean in. We are unwilling to tap into God’s heart. Like Israelites we know God by his acts. But it takes the pursuit of Moses to know God’s heart. Revelation comes through speaking in tongues of the Holy Ghost. Speaking in tongues edifies us by building our faith. It glorifies God in languages not always known to us. Clarifying tongues help us see ahead and declassifying tongues reveal the secrets of God by giving directions to questions the flesh cannot answer. The Holy Ghost is not a tormentor but a helper, a revealer. It reveals God’s mysteries to those who tap into the Father’s heart.

“Remember me,” prayed the thief on the cross. Prayer is legality. It is access to the threefold God. In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus instructs the crowds with “when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,” and “when you pray, go into your room and shut the door,” and also “when you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases.” Prayer is not for the applause of an audience. Prayer is wrestling with a bear and a lion with only a flock of sheep for an audience. Likewise, it is prayer that kills giants. Prayer is a pathway to blessing, for heaven, remembering a prayer, moves.