May you exercise without the pain of infirmities. May weaknesses
and restrictions be removed as you move and have your being in
Christ. May you make progress beyond what the demographics for
your age suggest. “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being. . .” (Acts 17:28)
Looking in the Bible and looking at the decisions and actions of its victorious characters, it is obvious that the possibility exists for us to have a Kingdom mentality and act victoriously out of that mentality regardless of the pressure of overwhelming circumstances and insurmountable opposition. When we pray “Thy Kingdom come” we are praying: Thy will come, Thy authority come, Thy power come, Thy rule come, Thy order come, Thy sovereign activity come, Thy heavenly culture come (cf.”Kingdom of heaven; as it is in heaven”; also Acts17:6). If we truly pray “Thy Kingdom come” we will not be of the mentality that dismisses the extraordinary of God Who is able to “do the undoable, change the unchangeable and provide the impossible”. If we are of a Kingdom mentality when it comes time to break loaves and fishes, we will not be thinking, “Oh, swell, now I will simply have two pieces of fish and two pieces of bread.” Rather we will be set up for the extraordinary of God since we know that, in our lifetime, we have only seen a fraction of the many-layered, many-sided wisdom (Eph.3:10) of God that can feed 5,000 with a sack lunch (Jn.6:9).
When the church is truly the church, in all its God-ordained function and authority, and takes her place in culture, culture will place so much attention on the life and productivity that is flowing out of the church (please refer to the entire Book of Acts) that politicians will be reported and lauded very little. In the book of Acts the church was getting more press than were government officials. “…These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” (Acts 17:6) No politician or governmental entity was being given credit for “turning the world upside down” but the disciples of Jesus that He gave His authority to and the disciples He sent out. Jesus and His disciples (count them: 12) impacted the mighty Roman world and jolted its foundation so that He and they were deemed a national threat. It was not because they directly threatened Rome or Caesar but because they acted in an authority that, because of its results, was obviously a higher government than that of Rome.
Heaven’s invasion has to do with more than redemption. It has to do with God’s redemptive rule. We are not merely attempting to get some people to heaven, we are part of a great plan to bring the rule of God into present circumstances. People don’t just need a ticket to heaven, they need the rule of God now in their bodies, families, finances and workplace. (Acts17:6; 28:31)
Heaven’s invasion has to do with more than redemption. It has to do with God’s redemptive rule. We are not merely attempting to get some people to heaven, we are part of a great plan to bring the rule of God into present circumstances. People don’t just need a ticket to heaven, they need the rule of God now in their bodies, families, finances and workplace. (Acts17:6; 28:31)
martygabler 