Archive for November, 2011

Kingdom of God: Part One (Our Introduction)

Monday, November 28th, 2011

The Kingdom of God has always existed, and it has always been complete. Wherefore it is not our intention to map out a progression of development of the Kingdom of God. Rather, we will move through that process of unfolding which gives mankind its very fragmentary glimpse of the Kingdom of God (as much as we can absorb it, at this time). This is, of necessity, a fragmentary view: the entire Kingdom of God has not been made available to our world, at this time. To give you an impression of the magnitude of the Kingdom of God, here is a statement of one of the chosen kings of Israel, of the Old Testament time.

And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: And he said,LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart: Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me. And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?

(1 Kings 8:22-27) Actually, the original indication of the tremendous depth and breadth of the realm of God flowed through Moses, in an earlier time than that of king Solomon. It, too, presented the insufficiency of the heaven and the heaven of heavens as, collectively, a container for the expanse of God.

– Explore the Kingdom of God:  Part One –

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The Fullness of David: Part Four (Attitude Adjustment)

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

When we take the stance that we should be automatically forgiven, and, too, allowed to continue as if there was no offense, we discard the close relationship that we need to have with the way of the LORD. To give you an idea of how this relates to the husband-wife situation, here is a time when the LORD described such a relationship between God and the congregation of Israel. Unfortunately, the reference was to a time that was in a state of transition. Actually, I should not say, unfortunately; for, the transition that was coming upon them was a blessed one.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

(Jeremiah 31:31-34)

Yes, just as the children did; when we assume that we have a right to forgiveness, we both damage our relationship with the LORD and mishandle the responsibility that God has placed in our hands. However, the offense of someone who has mishandled responsibility–such as happens when there is an abusive or cheating spouse–does not stop with the desire of that person to be retroactively forgiven. The offense continues in that they require their true mate to participate with them in a public display of calm waters. When you are a husband that has abused or cheated your wife, and either require or expect her to go on as if there had been no storm; this is the type of treatment that you are inflicting on your wife. Moreover, by your request for complicit duplicity, you are asking her to consent to your violation of the law of God; after all, she is the other portion of your whole self, now, as Jesus reminded us.

– Explore The Fullness of David: Part Four –

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Kingdoms of Man: Part Twenty-Four (Eternality)

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

The spiritual life giving power of the Holy Ghost, on an individual level, was demonstrated by the change that came about in Peter when it rested upon him. For a while, Peter was heading down a dead-end road, spiritually; the Lord Jesus Christ told him so.

And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:31-32) When the Holy Ghost flowed into Peter, with the full force of its release into the kingdom of man, on a general basis . . . Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.

(Acts 2:9-13) Then, Peter was a true light for all the surrounding people.

– Explore the Kingdoms of Man: Part Twenty-Four –

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