The Kingdom of God

"Everything I once held dear, I count it all as loss... LEAD ME TO THE CROSS"... Seriously, everything this world has to offer, everything we can do by ourselves, is a loss. Get in on the kingdom of God. Get in on what God is doing, and let Him move through you. Get your mind out of what society and our culture says is important! GET INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

Don't worry about tomorrow! Don't worry about yesterday. Worry about now! What can you be accomplishing in the Kingdom of God? Don't get all caught up in your own kingdom, or in building up your own future. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. All the things I was so proud of, all of my accomplishments, all I have to offer - None of it can add up. It is never enough! I need to be in the kingdom of God! It's all a loss if it is apart from the will of God!

If you're born of the Spirit according to the Bible, then walk in the Spirit. If you walk in the spirit, you won't fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Are you struggling, in bondage to sin? Walk in the Spirit! You can't earn your salvation! God payed for you already. His grace is enough! The prison door has been open for 2000 years! But how will you ever leave the prison without walking? Walk in the Spirit. let God be your guide. Seek first the kingdom of God. Everything will fall into place.

What is this kingdom of God? "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." -Romans 14:17

The kingdom of God IS NOT meat and drink. It isn't the temporal, carnal things of this world. It is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Ask yourself these questions (I'm asking myself too)

Am I lacking righteosness?

Am I lacking peace?

Am I lacking joy in the Holy Ghost?

Am I seeking first the kingdom of God?

Love you all,

-Larry

The Big Picture

The mission ahead of us is large. The mountains that stand between us and the finish line stand tall and stubborn. But you know what? None of that matters. God sees right through that. God sees the end result.

Have you ever had a moment, in prayer, or maybe while you're meditating, of clarity? Maybe you had just prayed through. Maybe something in the Word jumped out at you and you saw it a little differently than before. But for that moment, you understood. You saw something great and large, something that is affected by small and large things. You saw the end, and the things between start and finish seemed small. You saw purpose.

You could see the big picture.

As humans, we get so caught up in day to day life, that this "big picture" eludes us. We get so caught up in our everyday trials that we lose sight of the whole purpose of what we are doing.
We get so into trying to survive daily, that we forget about eternity. We get so caught up in struggling to live spiritually that we forget there are others out there that God is wanting us to reach.

I have good news for you, brother! I bring you good tidings, my sister! God knows the end from the beginning! He is the author and finisher of our faith! You wanna know when the miracles start happening!? When we can see the big picture! You wanna know when your trials become small? when the big picture is in sight!

When you begin to see the end result of your discipleship, and the real big picture of the Body of Christ, and you step into the will of Almighty God, things begin to change. Those testimonies you heard your pastor preaching on will begin to manifest themselves in your life. The Gifts of the Spirit begin to operate, and the promises given to those who believe become evident in your life.

When you can see the big picture, and believe in God's plan, the Gift of Faith is at work in your life! Mountains begin to fall defeated into the ocean at the resonance of your faith, because you know that all the trials, and the pain, and the suffering will one day will amount to something great in the kingdom of God!

What is the big picture?

Acts 17:6 - "And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;"

The first-century church was recognized as a world-flipping entity! The Body of Christ is not to sit around and wait for everything to become perfect for them to start functioning properly!
Christ Himself changed things on Earth, and then he called us to be like him in the flesh, and continue what he started. We were to take on His mind, and start thinking like a world-changer. Jesus' physical body healed the sick, cast out devils, and set the captives free. God didn't give you the Holy Ghost to sit around and do nothing! The Holy Ghost leads us into truth, and empowers us.

THIS IS THE BIG PICTURE: TO SAVE A WORLD IN NEED, or more clearly, to lead them to the salvation that is in Christ. We can't do the saving, but Christ in us can do all things. Let's start opening our eyes and seeing. Let's start opening our ears to hear what God is saying. I'm done talking! I'm done waiting for my friends to stand up and do something. I'm done waiting for a leader to rise among my peers. And I say all this not to diminish the work of our pastors. They have been pushing us and pushing us and pushing us to do the will of God, which is in the Bible, but I think everyone is missing the point. We're missing the big picture.

Check out these verses in Mark Chapter 16:

"15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."

Verse 15 says to preach the gospel to every creature. Verses 17-18 talks about the promises to those that believe. How do you show that you believe? By obeying the commandment. By preaching the gospel. Then the verse 17-18 promises are applied to your life. When you see the big picture, the picture of massive revival, of growth of the church, and of lives changed by the grace of God, everything opposing you melts before the Word of God. His word NEVER returns to Him void. That means it has to come to pass. God says "light", and there is light. God says "Earth", and a planet is formed. God says "in my name they shall cast out devils and speak with new tongues" and it absolutely HAS TO happen

Isaiah 55:11 - "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

Nothing stands between the Word of God and reality. It's the Word of God that holds reality together. His word will prosper and do just as He pleases, or else it would make Him a liar. God said to seek first the kingdom of God, and everything else will fall into place. He said to look at the big picture, and the little pieces will come together.

God laid out the big picture in the gospels. God recorded the big picture in action in the Book of Acts. Now it's time for this generation to stand up and put the big picture into action. Stop looking for someone to prophesy that you need to start reaching souls. Jesus already told you Himself in His Word.

Praise the Lord

-Larry

P.S. If I am way off on anything in here theologically, let me know.

I Will Never Stop

No matter what happens, I've made up my mind: I will serve God. With everything in me, I will follow Him. Some days may be good, and others might stink, but I'm not quitting.

The devil would love to have a hold on my mind, and maybe he can. But he can't hold Jesus' mind down. I wanna take on the mind of Christ, the mind that says "Not my will, but Your will be done." My own] will can't get me ANYWHERE. I will surely fail without Christ. There's a big, eternity-shaped hole in my heart, and only God can fit there. When he's gone, I am so lost. I have no cause or purpose. I have no reason to persevere through life. With no purpose, why would I even want to live? My carnal desires are only temporarily fulfilling, but the God's will is for us to have ETERNAL life. Life and happiness that breaks the time barrier, and goes to where God is: outside of time.

I know this blog is already going all over the place, but I want to share something that happened to me earlier this year, before summer had even kicked in.

I had a dream that I was sitting in my living room and telling someone a Biblical truth, one that at the time I didn't fully understand. I turned to that person and said: "Jesus didn't come just to be the sacrifice, but He came to be the high priest also-"
At this point my dream was interrupted. I awoke into a panic attack. I was paralyzed for but a moment, prayed in the name of Jesus, and it stopped. I went back to sleep, and the next day, I completely forgotten it had happened.
The next night the same thing happened. I woke up into what I believe was some sort of demonic attack. I couldn't say the name of Jesus with my mouth, but my heart screamed it out. I got up and started praying. I realized that if I was having the same dream 2 nights in a row, it was probably something important. Also, I knew exactly where to find what I was talking about in my dream in my Bible. I remembered that the book of Hebrews talked about Jesus being our high priest. I hadn't taken much note of it the first time I had read it.

Anyway, I went to the kitchen and opened the Bible to the book of Hebrews. I felt the Holy Ghost so strongly while I read it. Tears were streaming down my face. Honestly, I don't cry a lot. It's not a macho thing or anything; I just have a hard time crying. That night I wept at the kitchen table. God was opening my understanding of Jesus. I was beginning to have a revelation of who He really was. Earlier in the year I had struggled with doubts, and strange doctrines that I had come across while venturing on the internet. Since that night, I haven't had trouble believing that the Word of God is true, and that Jesus is the messiah. It is so plain and perfect in the Word of God.

God came to fulfill the law. He did it by playing all the parts that needed to be played Himself. He became a man, lived perfectly, and offered Himself as the sacrifice.

I have a perfect Savior. A blameless sacrifice that endured my pain for me. A sympathetic high priest who is fully qualified for the job. God played the part of the high priest, the sacrificial lamb, and the God to whom the sacrifice was made simultaneously. Wow. That's deep.

Hope this blog helped minister to someone,
-Larry