by Ryan Wyatt
Oct 8, 2009
Just recently, I had a spiritual experience with a vivid vision of the "perfect storm" that the earth is now experiencing. In my spiritual experience, the Lord showed me that the only hope for our times was when we "seek first the Kingdom," even in the midst of the distracting and mounting storm of adversity around us. Isaiah 33:5-6 says this:
The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And He will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is his treasure.
The Lord is going to teach us, as born-again Believers, that our only source of stability is God and God alone. Sometimes a shaking of everything in our lives is required in order for us to end up putting our trust, hope and faith in God as our sole source of stability. Jesus said in John 16:33:
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.
Seeking first the Kingdom of God is actually an act of repositioning yourself into the eye of the hurricane. Jesus was in the world but not of it. It's as if Jesus walked through the storm of life but existed in the eye of the storm, being unaffected by the wind and waves. Jesus was able to do this because He lived in the Kingdom realm of God even while living life here on the earth. Jesus sought first the Kingdom and therefore lived from the dimension of the Kingdom of God while operating in the earthly realm.
God's World Invading Our World
Jesus was modeling for us the kind of lifestyle that He wants us all to live. When His disciples asked Him how they ought to pray, Jesus responded by instructing them to ask that God's Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. There is a lot of talk about the Kingdom these days and a resurgence of the Kingdom message. We need to understand that Jesus' main message during His earthly life was not the gospel of salvation. Jesus' main message was, and still is, the gospel of the Kingdom...the "good news of the Kingdom."
What is the good news of the Kingdom? Jesus shared the good news in Matthew 4:17 when He first began His public ministry. Jesus said: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." In Matthew 10:7 Jesus released the same ministry of declaring that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand to His disciples. After Jesus' resurrection and before His ascension, He spent another 40 days with His disciples and gave them further instruction about the Kingdom of God.
Yes, Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. However, that which was lost in the beginning with Adam was much more than a salvation that would one day grant Adam entry into Heaven. In the beginning Adam was given a mandate to carry the dominion of God's Kingdom in the earth. Jesus, as the Last Adam (see 1 Corinthians 15:45), came to the earth not just to seek and save and provide a way for humanity to be redeemed; He also came to provide a way for the Kingdom of God to return to the earth and be advanced in the earth through redeemed sons and daughters of God!
There is currently a revolution taking place in the understanding of Believers all over the world. Most Believers have been preached a gospel of salvation that gets them "saved enough to go to Heaven." The problem with only hearing this limited portion of the good news of the Kingdom is that it has not prepared a people to actually fulfill God's ultimate call for His people. Here is the age-old, revolutionary understanding that many in the Church are now beginning to grasp:
You were not born again just so you could one day "go to Heaven." We were created to be filled with God and carry, release, and fill the earth with Heaven! As born-again Believers, we are already seated in Heavenly places with a mandate from God to establish and expand the Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Somewhere along the line, people began to get in their head this idea of one day "going to Heaven." The Bible is clear about God's intentions for the earth. God intends to invade the earth with His Kingdom. God is bringing the Kingdom of Heaven here and we, as born-again Believers, are His agents whom He intends to do it through. Heaven and earth will be brought together as one in Jesus as He begins to fill ALL things.
Will a greater dimension of the Kingdom come to earth when Jesus physically returns again? Of course. But until that time comes, we have been given a mandate not to wait around and be good Christians until Jesus comes to save us, while the world gets darker. NO, we have a mandate to establish and expand the Kingdom of God by demonstrating His goodness and power, serving humanity with the love of God, influencing culture with the culture of His supernatural Kingdom and ultimately discipling nations!
The Bible says in Hebrews 12 that God will once again shake everything that can be shaken. However, He also says that we have received a Kingdom that cannot be shaken. Are things in your life shaking a little bit? Then, the proper response for you would be to begin to "seek first the Kingdom of God" in the midst of the storm and you will be elevated into the perspective of the Kingdom. There you will find that God is your stability and begin to live from His supernatural Kingdom realm and become an agent of transformation in your sphere of influence!
God intends for His world to invade our world, and He intends to do it through you!
Blessings,
Ryan Wyatt
Abiding Glory Ministries
Email: info@abidingglory.com
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