Just a quick update for everyone. It’s been a few weeks since my last video lesson- but I hope you have enjoyed the other posts. I have been working on the next part of the “Kingdom Study Series”. This next section focuses on prayer and its roll in our lives. I believe this will be an important study you do not want to miss.
For the kingdom,
Nathan
Why does every American get into the same scenario?
It’s because we consume everything we get, making us what the system wants us to be which is CON-SU-MERS.
It’s time to break this cycle. It’s not God’s will for His people to be this way- it’s not kingdom.
When a person of Asian descent comes to America- they do something different. They live on nothing so they can buy and own a business. They sacrifice the things we consider necessities so they can win later. As Dave Ramsey says, ‘You have to delay gratification’.
It’s a different mentality in cultures that we have. We have to have nice clothes because everyone else does and we want to look and feel good… Now. We don’t want to be seen riding a bike to work, we need a car and we want a nice one… Now. We want to live somewhere nice even if it means being stressed about paying for it everyday when we come home.
We have things we consider “we are owed”.
“I’ve had it rough- I deserve something nice.”
So we get those things and then cannot afford them and we stress. We do this all of our lives until we get a stress related illness and wonder what happened to our dream.
Sacrifice now, Win later. And later is sooner than you think. When you start managing your finances properly, you are in right standing with the kingdom, and you begin to see more come to you. (Parable of the talents)
I was disturbed about what my wife called and told me this morning. A local Christian radio station had a commercial air that was talking about getting out of debt- which is a great thing! But what disturbed me was the commercial said (paraphrase) “If you have to pay less tithes to do so, do it, just have someone keep you accountable.”
What has happened to God’s people where they believe they can break law and be blessed? They want the benefits of the kingdom but don’t want to do what the Lord says.
Romans 7:1
Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
Malachi 3
8 ) Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9) Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
Is that not clear? Here is what has happened- people have lost the concept of tithes. They give tithes of what they have to spare and offering as a reward for a good service. This is an incorrect concept and will always lead to error.
Let me ask you a question: Does our US Government have to please you, give you something, offer you something, or trick you into paying your taxes? Why? Because it’s the law to pay taxes. You just do it. It is so necessary to pay your taxes that the IRS is not bankrupt-able.
Everything you have belongs to God- so when we pay our tithes we are saying “Everything I have is Yours, and just to show You, I am giving You back 10% as a demonstration that I know You own it.”
The taxes we pay the government are for maintaining the infrastructure of our country. It’s meat for the storehouse. If you don’t pay them- you’re putting yourself under a curse- how can that help you? And we’re not blessed by tithing- because that is His anyways- we’re blessed by our giving.
Tithes = Kingdom Taxes
Offering = Kingdom Investment
Have you ever felt you were wronged by someone in a way that it came against your character?
Ever felt like you were trying to prove who you were? And just when you did- someone tries to destroy the very thing that finally displayed beyond a shadow of a doubt you are who you say you are.
Well, I have good news for you, so did Jesus. I want you to take a look at this verse.
John 12
9) Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
10) But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;
11) Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.
Wow! What a revelation this can be in our own life. Someone is going to read this next part and be uplifted and encouraged.
You may have had people come against you in the past, but don’t worry so did Jesus. These things must happen- because remember He said “No servant is greater than his master, they persecuted Me, they will persecute you”. The pharisees spent so much time trying to disprove who Jesus was- because they didn’t want to acknowledge Him. They even went as far as trying to destroy the very thing that proved He was who He said He was.
In law this would be called ‘destroying evidence’. When you are leading, when you are triumphing in life, when favor is upon you- people will come against you because you’re rising- don’t be surprised when this happens, in fact expect it. People will try to destroy the evidence of your calling… of your work.
They may even be the ones you wouldn’t expect. They may dress the part, have the robes, hold the office, have the title- but their deeds are not kingdom intent. The pharisees were more worried about losing “members’ than pleasing God. Members and worship of the letter of the law was all they had. Jesus came to fulfill the spirit of the law and brought what they couldn’t… results. So they consulted to destroy the evidence.
Do not fear what man can do to you though. They can only- HEAR ME! – They can ONLY do what is allowed for them to do by our God in heaven. We have nothing to prove. The evidence of our lives will speak volumes.
I love this kingdom!
If you died today, what would be wrote about you by your family and friends in the newspaper.
This is an old practice people do to discover what they want to accomplish in life- and a very good one. Let’s make this a little harder than normal- because I can’t let you off easy by writing the usual “devoted father or mother, loving husband or wife…” No this is about you getting serious about your future and determining whether you’re on the right track to get there. Get critical with yourself.
So let’s look at a few common ones that I have created.
Hard worker all of his life until he died at the age of 61.
Went from job to job never really finding his true passion.
Ate a lot of fast food, read 2 books a decade and
loved being a hermit. He leaves behind 3 children
and $35,000 in debt.
She was a very stressed person through life. She took
every comment to heart and let it rule who she was.
Started to write a book once but let someone who
she knew was always negative destroy that dream.
Because of stress she slept everyday after work and
napped most of her weekends away. She leaves behind
an unpaid for house and a well used bed.
How do those make you feel? Blah…
We have people figures in our life that we raise up on a pinnacle of greatness and rate their status as being unachievable to us mortal beings. I am being dramatic, but if we actually stated our literal thoughts about these people it would be pretty close.
So what are your words about your life? Have you accomplished your dreams or settled for stability? Settling is an unsatisfying feeling. It’s the resolution that says “This is the best I can do.” I believe we quit striving for excellence in our life because our concepts of being successful are marred. They’re marred because of our culture of instant communication through the news, social media outlets, and the internet in general. Every day there is ‘new’ news. Some scientific breakthrough, some new trend, a new remarkable book, some new innovation, or some new discovery. There is always something new coming out- and we’re so busy reading about them that we sometimes don’t implement in our own life. We get overwhelmed by these daily announcements of huge successes, that we can easily get this concept that these ‘new’ things were developed between the last news broadcast and the one your watching.
We have to get up- NOW- and act. Plan then Do! We have to get away from trying to fit the mould everyone wants us in and bring out what we were born to do. Success is not instantaneous- and success is only a mile marker on the way to the next one. I love hearing about all of the ‘new’ breakthroughs, but I’m more concerned about the doing. The key is diligence.
There is great power in diligence. Diligent leaders convert the critics because eventually the critics realize they’re going to achieve results because they don’t give up. Now I know I sound contradictory to my It’s Time To Quit post- but that still applies. The secret to endurance is in the knowing- knowing whether something is dead, knowing whether this contributes to purpose. Purpose never changes- our methods or plans to fulfill purpose might change but vision is always consistent. So it’s important to know when to change tactics and when to dig your heels in and press onward.
I love stones out of a river brook- they are so smooth. I can’t just break the rock in two with my hand- it’s rock, it’s hard. But the constant moving of water across the rocks surface shapes it, carving away any edges of the rock because of a diligent flow of water. The same is true in caves- a rock under a stalagmite dripping water will leave an impression on that rock. So get rid of the mindset that you cannot create, design, invent, innovate, or deliver something great to the nations. You may not have the funds to get the best designer for your website, you may not have the connections to find the best graphic designer, you may not know how to even begin to bring out the potential that’s in your head- but the most important thing is to start! It’s not about the biggest “Grand Opening” to a project- it’s not even about the unveiling of the product. It’s about the work. The story that is untold behind every breakthrough and news flash is the years it took to develop. Today’s headlines were deep in development five years ago while other discoveries were being announced. Your work is never ending, it’s always in development, it’s always being innovated and you never retire from your work.
So… where are you in your work? What will you leave behind that impacted the earth? What great things did God put inside of you to bring out for the kingdom?
Proverbs 13:22
A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children…
What do your word’s say about you now? Now the more important question- What will they say?
You want to start a business? Alright, so what is your business plan?
If you’re opening a restaurant- why am I going to come?
If it’s a clothing store- why do I want to buy from you?
If it’s a carpentry business- why do I want to hire you?
“Well, I want to open a restaurant with comfortable chairs and tables, and serve good food”
Oh WOW! That should be neat and BORING! Hey everyone let’s go eat at that place that’s like everywhere else!
Blah Blah Blah! People don’t eat at places just because you’re there… well maybe a handful of people who are lazy and hope your place is good enough so they don’t have to drive far. But you need more than a handful! You need people who will become regulars and will share with others who will become regulars- so what’s going to get them to come to your place?
You can’t afford to fit in with everyone else. You can’t afford to fit the standard mould. If you do, you’re just increasing your risk. That’s right it’s too risky to be normal. You’re not going to discover something new by fitting in, you cannot discover- or be innovative by trying to be like what you think people will expect. People don’t go to places because it’s what they would expect- absolutely not- it’s quite the opposite. They want to see something new, something exciting, something they’ve been searching for!
So why do so many businesses open up- and they’re just like the last one that closed down?
There’s a building on a very busy strip of road that I go down quite a bit. Several years ago it was a bar. I would see at the most 5-6 cars in the parking lot when I drove by. After a while it closed down and someone else rented it- and you know what they opened up? …ANOTHER BAR! This one stayed open for about the same amount of time before it closed. Then another tenant moved in and opened …yep, a bar- but this guy was smart, he put a sign up that said “Under New Management” …wow. Again it closed and the lease sign was back up. I have seen it reopen at least two more times since- once as another bar, and then again when someone got creative and made it a bar and grill. Why?
Why do we waste so much energy doing the same thing as everyone else? What’s our reasoning? What’s our logic? If we see someone doing it and they’re not getting the results they expected- why do we want to do what they’re doing? We seem so eager sometimes to fail in the same ways as others have, by choosing to replicate what didn’t work for them.
See if you do the same thing as everyone else and you fail like everyone else than you don’t stand out and you don’t get ridiculed. BUT, if you dare to be different, challenge yourself to discover what works, follow your passion, your vision of the result you want regardless of it not being what’s the norm- then you will get laughed at… at first. But when it takes off, you buy the property, and then open a second one- everyone says “Why didn’t I think of that?”
God has designed us and put something in us to be great at! We must discover it- and then ACT! Being afraid to fail is not the kingdom way. If you’re going to do something- you need to be passionate about it! If your restaurant is going to look like other restaurants, you better have a passion for service like no where else.
If you’re going to open a clothing store- pull out your passion while doing it- do something unexpected! Offer hemming in your store, without having to send it off. Offer custom designs to be embroidered on the clothes they buy while they shop. What if you put a runway right down the middle of the store with strobe lights that you could turn on when someone walked down it- offer 10% off for those who do! Give the sales associates cameras to flash when a customer does it- How fun an exciting would that be? What a fun place to go!
You might be laughing, but it’s the birth of new ideas that someone implements- that leads to success.
Whatever business you start- bring out your passion in your work, have fun with it. Think about what everyone would expect to see then make sure to stay away from that, and bring out the unexpected.
If the things worth achieving were easy they would already be done. This also goes with the phrase ‘Nothing worth having is free’.
I heard Dave Ramsey answer a question about why he charges for his Financial Peace University DVD set once. He said (paraphrase) ‘That you don’t hold value in things that you get for free, but if you have to sacrifice money then you want to make sure you get your money out of it.’
This is so true! Anything worth having has a cost associated with it. Electricity is nice to have and has a cost. A good job has the cost of hard work. A good relationship has the investment of time in it. Vegetables and fruit have the cost of sweat and labor. Sweet victories have the cost of trials and battles. Everything has a cost.
There are some who define themselves as a Christian… but they show no sign of the cost of their old ways. They haven’t sacrificed the pleasure of getting high, they haven’t kept themselves from their lusts, they haven’t forgiven those who have offended them- they continue to hate. We cover these issues up and don’t deal with it by calling a lot of it… human nature. We say things like “Well the Lord knows you need a little break sometimes.” What?!?
Isn’t it funny how we try to associate the Lord with many of our pagan activities. We preach a God of only love, peace, and understanding. We speak about Him this way as to assume He is OK with the breaking of His law. You catch that? H-I-S LAW.
OK- look at this. Many times when we start reading these types of paragraphs, like above, our mind starts racing for a scripture to defend our life. We’ll remember that one scripture but will not study the whole law. Could you be an effective lawyer if you only knew one article of law? You would be clueless the first time the other lawyer says “I object your honor!”. You would think ‘Why? How can he object, this law says this…’
But you see, you only studied that one little article of many articles of that one subsection of many subsections of one section of many sections. How can you be effective with your one article.
How could God be less thorough than man?
The awesome thing about God’s word though is it is easier to understand than man’s laws. You don’t have to pass a bar exam or go to some high end college to understand His law- in order to have it be effective in life every time for you! He has designed it with such complexity where it covers every single area of life- but so simple because He wants everyone to know His word and understand it. The wonderful thing is all you have to do is read and obey it. The sad thing is we won’t read it.
His law are instructions for life.
Instructions come with new devices not to make you’re life hard but so that you can get the full use of the device and not destroy it by using it in a way it was not meant. Would you buy an iPOD and go swimming while listening to it? No, why? Because you know it was not made to be submersed underwater and will short circuit the device and will not function. You have that knowledge so you act accordingly. Your body was made to take in food, water, and oxygen- but we neglect the natural and put drugs, high fat content foods, and nicotine in our bodies. Then we wonder why do I have high blood pressure, bad health, clogged arteries, and failing lungs. We have violated the natural laws of our bodies. We violate God’s law when we don’t obey it, regardless it we know it, and wonder why we’re not getting results.
Law determines everything in life. It’s not always easy to follow law but remember God is the designer and He gives us law, not to make it hard, but for our good. It will bring us the best results and we’ll get the full and correct use out of our life, our purpose. It’s not always easy quitting smoking, giving up those fatty foods all the time, or sustaining ourselves from unrighteous desires- but it will bring about rewards that are worth it. The lessons Dave Ramsey teaches has a reward of getting your financial life in order, which is also a kingdom law. Giving up cigarettes has the reward of healthy lungs and heart. Giving up those high content sugary foods will increase your energy when substituted with fruit. It’s a law that is in place! If it was easy everyone would do it!
So get in line with God’s word, study it, understand it. We get in line with His law and it works, not the other way around.
Have you praised Him today? Have you thanked Him?
When my son thanks me for buying him something, it gives me so much joy I just want to give him more.
We being in His image… think about it. Get your Father’s attention this day. Thank Him for waking up, thank Him that your heart is beating, thank Him for the car starting up- and if the car didn’t start up- thank Him for all the days it did.
This is a short one- but I’m just in the mood to thank Him. With every breath praise ye the Lord!
Many will read this title and think they know what this post is about- but most will be wrong. The question I ask is not about Heaven or Hell but about Heaven or Earth?
So where are you going? I think I need to clarify this question some more. I ask this question in the sense as when you get ready and head for the door and your wife, husband or family member asks “Where are you going?” This question implies ‘You know you belong here so why are you trying to leave here?’
Christianity has become a “Ready to Leave” mindset- so I ask again “Where are you going?”
Actually this does not only apply to Christianity but to many other religions. The Muslims who sacrificed their lives on 9/11 did it because they thought they would leave earth and go to heaven. Many Christians believe they get saved so that when they die they can leave earth and go to heaven.
The bible consistently points to God’s purpose in placing humans on earth in order to impact earth with the culture of the country of heaven until earth becomes just like heaven. Is this false doctrine? Look what Jesus taught the disciples when He was asked how to pray.
So if God is so purposed in putting us on earth- why are we trying to leave so bad? Why did He not keep us in heaven to begin with since we came out of God. (John 1) If that’s, where most believe, our ultimate goal is?
Why did David say “the heavens are the Lord’s but the earth He has given unto man”?
Why did Daniel see in the end times the Saints with a kingdom where they would rule forever?
Why did Jesus pray to the Father about the disciples “Do not take them out of the world but leave them in the world”?
Why does the New Jerusalem city come ‘down’ from heaven to earth?
Why do the meek inherit the earth… and not heaven?
Why if God wants us in heaven so bad does He make a new earth?
Religion makes us lazy cowards and that’s not a kingdom mentality. God put us here for a reason. He heals your body naturally and supernaturally because He so committed to His purpose. He HAS to have you on earth in order to use you- so maybe the question should be-
Why do you not want to be used?
We pray “God use me!” then we say “Lord, hurry and come and take me to heaven.” How confusing is this- God’s thinking ‘Well which is it!?! Do you want to be used or leave earth?’
Study God’s word. Does your prayers and beliefs line up with the kingdom of God?
So how is life currently looking?
Are you above or beneath? Are you the head or the tail? Are you the lender or the borrower?
If your apart of the colony of the kingdom then you’re supposed to be above, the head, and lenders only… ONLY!
So- if you’re in the kingdom and you’re not above, the head and lenders only- Get ready for change- because your status is illegal in the kingdom so something has to change.
If you don’t expect that- don’t expect anything to change. If you expect to be broke, enjoy being broke. You activate your faith for what you believe. But my prayer is
“LORD, LET THY KINGDOM COME, LET THY WILL BE DONE- ON EARTH– JUST AS IT IS IN HEAVEN- THROUGH ME AND IN MY LIFE.”
