BUT I CAN’T DO IT FOR YOU

Jesus set one standard, and one only, for those who would follow Him: “Disciples who observed all He commanded.” Yet for all the preaching, teaching, and activities found in our modern religious construct, the polls reveal we are failing to achieve that standard in over 90% of the lives of Christian men. Jesus found this same problem in His day and proclaimed His mission was to “the lost sheep of God’s house.” Religion seeks to keep men pacified, thinking they are fulfilling their spiritual responsibilities while at the same time leaving them far short of the standard. This leaves those claiming Christ literally “lost in God’s house” and asleep to His kingdom. Jesus led those lost sheep out of their malaise with the message of the kingdom before, and we believe it’s that message that will do it again today! We believe God is orchestrating current events around the world to cry out to His lost sheep, “The time is short! Awaken, O sleepers and arise from the dead that Christ [and His kingdom] might shine on you” (Eph. 5)! But, also as before, there was a steep price for following Him.

Jesus brought the kingdom to earth, preached it, lived it and then died, was resurrected, and sent the Holy Spirit to seal and insure it forever in our hearts and minds. Such valuable gifts are not given lightly. If you want to be the hero instead of the bystander in your story, the kingdom is to be pursued diligently and passionately. Anything less than priority-one pursuit will not be rewarded. It is that “Pearl of Great Price” Jesus spoke of, therefore those who wish to find it must:

• Forsake everything in this world and every perception they ever had, “counting them as rubbish that they might gain Christ [it]” (Phil. 3). That means:
  • Fealty to any person(s) or thing
  • Love of money
  • Attachments to and hope in worldly governments
  • Prior perceptions concerning what it means to be Christian
• Initially, discipline ourselves [“being willing to do His will” (John 7)] to:
  • Spend time with Him in prayer and study
  • Be obedient to His commands to love and serve others
  • Seek out the regular fellowship of others also on this journey
  • “Present our bodies to Him as living sacrifices”
• Realize the transformation must take place in our minds (Rom. 12):
  • We must “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” above all else
  • We can “no longer be conformed to this world” if we want to enter the kingdom but must “be transformed by the renewing of our minds to prove what the will of God is [that we become the kingdom citizens He came to make us]”
  • The kingdom involves an entire change of perspective that will transform the way we view, react to, and treat everything
  • We must be willing to accept we have been living in a false reality because it can be seen and felt, “The Matrix,” and accept an entirely new one that comes only through faith, “that not seen.”
• Which results [personally[ in Hebrews 12 maturity:
  • That which began with the disciplines that seem “not to be joyful” and eventually culminating in “the peaceful fruit of righteousness”
  • Understanding the fruit of the kingdom is always inner peace regardless of whatever the world may throw at us
  • Realizing whenever we start losing our peace we are engaging in kingdom “cross training” and getting back where we belong
  • An abiding relationship with Christ (John 15), where we can confidently say, “It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us, and the life we now live we live for Jesus who loved us enough to die for us” (Gal. 2)
• Resulting [corporately] in John 17 kingdom community [check out  www.Marketplacesaints.net for more]

Become a mighty man of God

To pursue the kingdom will require nothing less than the full effort of mighty men of God who are willing to forsake all else to follow Jesus into it. King David’s mighty men of God did in the flesh what we must do in the Spirit:

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to pursue the kingdom? If so, your reward will be great both in His kingdom here and in heaven!