The Word of God is always out in front of any event in time. It makes sense … His word is eternal and timely!
The verse reads, “6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
The word “careful” doesn’t mean caution as we would use it in our modern English. The actual Greek word is μεριμνᾶτε (merimnate) which means to be “fidgety, anxious, or distracted”. Merimnate comes from the root word morizo – which means “to divide or separate.” Carnal people will be indecisive because they lack the ability to make sound judgment. They will immerse themselves into 24 hour news cycles and social media trying to get a handle on what is happening and what to do. Now, it is important to be informed, but there is a difference between being “informed” and be consumed by the urge to find something in all of the reporting to bring a sense of strength or anchoring for their lives.
Rest – Cease from His Own Works
But Hebrews 4:10-13 says, “For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, 11Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
Consider these points as it relates the Kingdom of God:
- One of the primary prophetic proclamations about Jesus the Messiah was, “… and of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end.”
- When Jesus came to this world he said, “The Kingdom of God is with men.” John’s pronouncement was, “his axe is in his hand” ready to cut down the trees that do not bear the good fruit.
- Jesus was beginning His work of removing every kingdom (religious and secular) that were not His Kingdom. The reason … because He is the King and of the increase of his government and peace there is no end.
- Nicodemus desire to enter into Jesus’s Kingdom was met with the truth that except a person is born of the water and spirit (the new birth) they cannot enter.
- If my kingdom were of this world then would my disciples fight. Jesus’s kingdom is now a spiritual one that will be manifested upon His second coming upon the whole earth. Interestingly Paul tells us that the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be (Romans 8:7). The law here is not the Law of Moses, it is the law of God. This is the constitution of the Kingdom. The truth upon which the Kingdom of God is built is the law of God. Our carnal minds cannot be his subjects (a kingdom term) because we cannot obey the law of God in our natural man. This is why we must be born again. Remember that Jesus told Nicodemus, as it relates to being born again, “that which is flesh is flesh and that which is spirit is spirit.” So it becomes apparent that in our own natural mind, reasoning, thinking and persuasions we are incapable of experiencing the Kingdom. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:7). That makes perfect sense when we recognize that of the increase of His government and peace there is no end. The peace of God now rules in our hearts as it will one day rule in all the earth during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.
Judgment Brings Lordship
The judgment of God (as it relates to His people or Bride) is not a judgment of of punishment. It is a judgment of dividing. The Greek word is “krino” which means to separate or divide. Judgment is the ability to apply the truth to a situation so that it is properly identified and defined (against the truth). So when judgment begins with the house of the Lord, God isn’t “punishing” the Bride, he is causing the Bride to see what things have been adopted into their lives that are from carnal human reasoning and the things that have been adopted into their lives through spiritual Kingdom realities/truth.
This is paramount because Jesus doesn’t have to be Lord over all the earth for a great revival, he simply has to be Lord in His Church. 2Chronicles says, “If my people which are called by my name … I will heal their land.” If he is Lord among His people then the world can “judge” (as in the above context) whether it is better to let other things to be in control of their lives or, like God’s people, let Jesus be Lord.
Lordship Brings Harvest
Finally, in Acts 5. 12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.
16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
Jesus gave Kingdom authority to His disciples. So that, through those who had made Him Lord in their life, He demonstrated the power of His Kingdom. At first many did not “join them” but they “esteemed them highly.” The first revival was not an influx of souls. It was a recognition of the supremacy of Jesus’s Lordship. But then on the heels of that, believers were “increasingly added to —— THE LORD!”
Conclusion
I have prayed recently, “I am falling on the Rock to be broken. Lord judge my life based on your discernment. Apply your Word and Truth to me. Drive out any unbelief in my life so that you are truly Lord over every place in me. Be Lord and manifest your Lordship to a world that needs hope. Let your Lordship be seen in me and desired by others. Let me live on mission.”
I invite you to join me in this journey.
I invite you to the peace of His Lordship. I invite you to the mission!