Jesus came as Emmanuel, God with us, and brought forth fruit (Jn.12:28;17:1). He was not just a religious icon. Jesus was the Kingdom exposed to mankind. In Jesus, the Kingdom was observed — in His lifestyle, His character, His actions (Matt.12:28). The fact that He brought forth fruit is the fact that He was the glory of His Father in the earth. “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (Jn.1:14, NASB) In his new book, The Orphan Heart, our dear friend Larry Burden gives an interesting definition of “glory” from the Greek word “doxa”: “the appearance, form or aspect of a person which catches our attention and commands our recognition”. The Message Translation puts it like this: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, Generous inside and out, true from start to finish.” (Jn.1:14, Msg) Though the Father was sitting upon a throne in heaven, He could be seen in the earth in Jesus as He grew and interacted with His environment.
In spite of some past inferences we might have heard concerning prayer, God is not a celestial bellboy waiting in an anteroom for us to ring a bell to do what we require. Rather, in prayer, we partner with God for His purposes in our lives and in this earth. Jesus went apart from the crowd to pray so that He might find how to partner with His Father so He could glorify Him. Jn.12:27, (The Passion Translation) — “Even though I am torn within, and my soul is in turmoil, I will not ask the Father to rescue me from this hour of trial. For I have come to fulfill my purpose—to offer myself to God.”
While we are contending (Deut.2:24) for the word of the Lord over our lives and our nation, we must keep a guard on our tongue (Js.3:5) so that what it says lines up with what God has said (Jn.12:49). Like a farmer who works in his harvest and watches over his harvest, we cannot check out of the on-going process, lest we suffer crop failure.
Larry Burden — The Book of Acts is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Not only does it document the history of the early church, but it also reveals the Father’s intent for the influence of His church in the earth. It is a training manual for the body of believers to demonstrate how we are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to govern the earth as representatives of Jesus. Christ established the foundation of leadership in the early church as a model for us to follow today. He set in the five-fold leadership team to provide a full expression of Himself through the ascension gifts described in Ephesians 4:11-12. Such leadership is essential today for maturing the body of Christ so that, as His followers, we might become enabled to assume our specific functions of command as His church. The command structure given to us as Christ’s followers (His church) is clearly demonstrated throughout the New Testament. Jesus first models it to the twelve, then the seventy, and ultimately to the one hundred and twenty on the Day of Pentecost. The purpose of the command structure is to facilitate the original Dominion Mandate of Genesis 1:28. As Commander-in-Chief, Jesus simply follows what the Father is commanding (John 12:49). As His commanders in the earth, we follow the same precedent by hearing what Jesus is saying to us through the voice of the Holy Spirit. We exercise His full authority by remaining under His authority. (Larry Burden will be speaking at Kingdom Congress March 6, 2020 at 11:00am.)
While we are contending (Deut.2:24) for the word of the Lord over our lives and our nation, we must keep a guard on our tongue (Js.3:5) so that what it says lines up with what God has said (Jn.12:49). Like a farmer who works in his harvest and watches over his harvest, we cannot check out of the on-going process, lest we suffer crop failure.
fold leadership team to provide a full expression of Himself through the ascension gifts described in Ephesians 4:11-12. Such leadership is essential today for maturing the body of Christ so that, as His followers, we might become enabled to assume our specific functions of command as His church. The command structure given to us as Christ’s followers (His church) is clearly demonstrated throughout the New Testament. Jesus first models it to the twelve, then the seventy, and ultimately to the one hundred and twenty on the Day of Pentecost. The purpose of the command structure is to facilitate the original Dominion Mandate of Genesis 1:28. As Commander-in-Chief, Jesus simply follows what the Father is commanding (John 12:49). As His commanders in the earth, we follow the same precedent by hearing what Jesus is saying to us through the voice of the Holy Spirit. We exercise His full authority by remaining under His authority. (Larry Burden will be speaking at Kingdom Congress March 6, 2020 at 11:00am.)
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