Our world is in crisis. Authoritarianism is on the rise. Democracy is in decline. Nature seems to be striking back with ferocity. People are reacting as one might expect. Old mindsets are being challenged. Long-held beliefs are being threatened. Frustration and anxiety are running rampant and we seem to be teetering on the edge of a world war.

Of course, it’s not the first time. But the Lord offers a place of perfect peace in the midst of this storm. Just not the one that most people think. As believers, we’re in a small boat with Jesus.

The problems of the world are revealing the possibilities of the Kingdom of Heaven. People are experiencing God in entirely new ways. For the child of God, every problem is an opportunity to either receive or release divine promise or provision. Every circumstance is a chance to encounter or interact with another aspect of God's true nature. It is an opportunity to practice the presence of God in our lives. It is a learning process of expectation and anticipation of His presence, His voice, His will, and the very fruit of the Spirit in our lives.

The question every believer should be asking God, especially in every circumstance of adversity they face is, “Lord, who do you want to be for me now that you couldn't be for me before or outside of this situation?”

What about you? Where is your focus? Are you reacting to what you see and hear in the world around you or are you responding to what the Holy Spirit is impressing on your heart?

The real issue and question for every believer is not, “Are you good enough to get into heaven?” It's, “Are you abiding in God and well-aligned with the Holy Spirit to bring Heaven down to Earth?”

Your life as a believer is not about waiting around for Jesus to come back and rescue you, it's about putting on the mantle of responsibility He tasked you with and stepping into the role God created you for.

It's not decrying the mess that is in the world right now, it's declaring what is not as though it is, in order to bring it into existence. It’s not blindly accepting those things you see and hear in the natural as inevitable and irrevocably pitted against God, but resonating with the Spirit of Truth to supernaturally affect your sphere of influence and lift up Christ that He might draw others to Himself.

It's not calling people out for their stuff, it's calling them up to accountability and the potential God empowers them with through His grace. It’s not arguing and fighting with or demonizing people you don’t agree with, it’s knowing that the battle you are fighting is not against flesh and blood at all.

It's not about running from the devil, it's about standing up and taking territory back from him because God has promised it to you, has promised to go before you, and has given you divine power and authority to be successful and more than a conqueror in the name of Jesus.

That is what being a follower of Christ is really about.

When you hold God at a distance, when you choose not to let Him into an area of you life, then you sever yourself from discovering and actualizing your true spiritual identity. While nothing can separate you from the love of God or His abiding presence. You can however be disconnected from your awareness of either.

A real relationship with God is a joyful, continuing, cumulative journey of discovery; not only of Him, but of yourself – who He created you to be. Every step with Him takes you further down a path where you not only get to know Him better, but yourself as well. Every experience you share increases divine intimacy, draws you closer, and contributes to your spiritual maturity.

As you mature, your spiritual identity becomes clearer, your faith stronger, your confidence in God more resolute. Heavenly perception, divine insight, and Kingdom clarity become second nature. The power and authority Christ endowed you with become supernatural extensions of He and the Father living in you.

No weapon formed against you will prosper (Isaiah 54:17) and the very gates of Hell will not prevail against you (Matthew 16:18) for you are one of the “Ekklesia Kuriakos” – the called who belong to the Lord.

In short, when you get to know who God is directly and experience Him firsthand, things change. Dramatically.

I was raised in a fundamental religion, a sin-conscious culture where teaching and training revolved around controlling one’s behavior. Freedom wasn’t prized in that setting. To many people, freedom was seen as independence from God, and perceived as an excuse or license to sin, leading to anarchy.

Rather than being discipled in the freedom that Jesus brought us, we were instructed to “behave” We were taught to focus on our “performance” and “adherence” so that God could “trust us” and we could walk with Him properly.

Many religions talk about salvation through grace, but they continue to believe that we continue in God’s good graces through our own efforts and striving “to be good.”

Yes, believers do good works and bear good fruit. But not of ourselves. We do these things because our hearts and minds have been transformed through the Holy Spirit and because Christ and the Father abide within us and we in them. Any real goodness or righteousness we exhibit flows from Heaven through Christ in us. See Isaiah 64:6.

The terms of our relationship with God are not now, and never were, set by man. If your interaction with Christ is primarily about doctrine and theology, that is, if the meaning of Christ in your life is defined more by rules than by a truly personal relationship with Him, then you are completely missing the point.

I know that Christianity is perceived as a religion and as it is practiced, it is. But religion is man's attempt to set the terms and conditions to reach out to God based on what men think. It is at best flawed. Usually, it’s worse than that because as human beings, we have a need to try and be in control of our environment.

This extends to how men have tried to deal with and “frame” God, imposing what they believe or interpreting what they think scriptures are supposed to mean. This is the mistake of the masses. Let me be clear: If you really want to know God and what He wants from you as a person, if you want to know how He sees you, you’re going to have to get into a direct, intimate relationship with Him for yourself.

Your relationship with God matters more than your denomination or your religion.

That said, Christ was, is, and always will be God's provision for reconciling all people – of every nation, type, and tribe, back to Himself. Christ is the way God restored His divine relationship with humanity… on His terms.

As a believer, your adverse circumstances are never the problem. The trials, tribulations, and pressures that weigh upon you aren’t the problem. But God wants you to be aware of His reality above all else.   

If you are in Christ, then by definition, so are your circumstances. When you truly abide in Christ, you perceive beyond the chaos and you live in peace because He is peace and He lives in you.

Deep relationship with God changes your awareness and perception. When your primary focus is about your circumstances, then you relate to Him  through circumstances. Your objective ends up being about how He's going to fix this or that, or rescue you. It becomes about what you perceive He can do for you, not who He is.  

If someone were to always do that to you, at best, you’d call them a moocher or a leach...

As Believers, our (often) forgotten role is to present the needs of world before the Father in Heaven and lift up Christ the Son to people on Earth. Each of us is called to intercede for others,  a theme of the Scripture time and again.

This is the very reason He has called His people to be a nation of priests (See 1 Peter 2:9). We aren’t a holy nation act on behalf of each other, we are called to intercede for the rest of the people of the world...

The Lord is calling out and gathering together His own people, those I call His “Ekklesia Kuriakos” which literally means “an assembly of the called who belong to the Lord.”

God is raising up, not institutes of religion, but assemblies of His Kingdom. Religion has preached the good news of salvation for generations, but it has largely overlooked the Gospel of His Kingdom that Jesus repeatedly referred to.

An “Ekklesia of today” with power, authority, and influence the likes of which have been paralleled for over 2,000 years is gathering steam, even as the world appears to be falling apart...

As followers of Christ, you and I are called to be conduits of Heaven’s provisions and blessings, and intercessors for people who do not yet know Him. Our commission is to live by the order of the Kingdom however – which is not to rule or subjugate, but to serve. 

This is the reality of being the salt of the earth and light of the world (see Matthew 5), so that others will not just see, but will experience God’s manifest glory in and through us.