Kingdom Living as Christ's Embassadors

by Joel Thompson
2016-09-17 21:32:02 

This is my declaration to accept and embrace "Kingdom living" - walking in victory here on earth! What this all means to me, is that the Kingdom of God is in me. Love, joy, happiness, health, security, and contentness are spiritual and physical states of reality for all believers here and now (under any circumstances); and to believe otherwise is actually a sin. Also, I have the power of the Holy Spirit to do God's will (not mine) here on earth. Miracles are real, and happen all the time. I can heal the sick, and set the captives free (with the power and authority of Christ and the Holy Spirit). Also, I'll say right up front, that I'm learning, and a work in progress. I am grateful to the saints that have learned how to walk in the spiritual principles that I discuss here; and I pray that I too can fully learn, understand and walk in the fullness of Christ. I pray that as you see me, you see Christ, and that nothing but pure Love is manifest.

If I walk in faith of this notion that God's spirit resides in me, and I have his full power, then it is logical to state that since lightness and darkness can NOT coexists, then I am (not will be) free from evil - I am redeemed - made new - a new creation - holy and blameless. Therefore, I should have no diseases, or any of the characteristics of Satan - only pure love. I realize that this represents the fullness of God in me, and that is something that I should sincerely desire; and learn how to achieve by asking the Holy Spirit to reveal God's will in my life. I also ask God to continually reveal to me where I need to repent from sin, for I realize that sin separates me from God.

Therefore, as I grow in my relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray that my heart is purified. And that I choose not to engage with Satan at any level, thus corrupting myself. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8 For now, I claim Christs victory in my life, and through the sanctification process, I renounce any agreements I've made with Satan, either knowingly or unknowingly; and replace that with God's Spirit in me.

I know that I am sealed with this promise of God: Eph 1:13,14 "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are Gods possession-to the praise of his glory".

Matthew 6:9-13 - states that we should pray that the Kingdom of God comes into us. The Kingdom of God will physically reside in our hearts and completely transform who we are. We will be "Spirit filled" Christians.

• "This, then, is how you should pray:"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

The bible tells us that we (our bodies) are a dwelling place for God's Spirit.

Ephesians 2 19-22

• Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with Gods people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

1 Cor 6:18-20

• Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

We *are* new creations in Christ Jesus - all the bad/evil things (disease, anger, rage, ..etc) has been removed from us. We are the living "Kingdom of God" - we are Christ's embassadors - As an analogy, imagine that you are an embassdor to the United States of America, and you are visiting another country. Do you think you have some authority? Some influence? Some power? Of course you do. But can you boss around the President? Of course not!

2 Cor 5:17-20

• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting peoples sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christs ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christs behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Get rid of all the "old" evil ways, and represent God as an Ambassador.

Eph 4:29-32

• Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

We have the Holy Spirit Power in us.

Ephesians 3:14-19

• "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

We will do greater things than Christ Jesus here on earth, since we have HIS power and ask for things in HIS name.

John 14:12-14

• Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

We are to BE LIKE CHRIST

Ephesians 5:1, 2

• "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

The bible tells us that we are to be pure; and someday the "complete" 100% purity in the Lord is attainable. It says "when Christ appears, we shall be like him..." - Has Christ been made known to you? Can you see him? Do you have divine revalation? In other words, has he "appeared to you"? This is something to ponder and pray about don't you think?

1 John 3:2-3 & 3:9,10

• Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
• No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because Gods seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not Gods child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.

Matthew 5:8

• Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect

You might say: "But wait a minute Joel. Aren't we all sinners saved by Grace, and we are not perfect, nor are you Joel, therefore we can only do what we can here on earth". This is true, we are saved by HIS Grace. But don't we use thought patterns like this to justify our laziness, complacency, and simple disobedience to the Lord? I'm reminded of the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25), where the servant buries the money, and the Master tells him "You wicked, lazy servant! ...throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" - WOW - all that for simply doing nothing with the "money". Yep! that's right. James 2:17-18 says: "In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds." So you see there is a call to action, a call to purity, a call to walk in faith, and let the Holy Spirit do it's work through you! You are purifying your ways, and your heart. It's a continual process.

Also, the bible states in in Romans 4:8 and Psalms 32:2 "Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them" - I have to believe that this means that even though we "sin" in the slightest, ie perhaps we have a fleeting thought or make an honest mistake, or perhaps ignorance of the law? That these types of sin would not "count against us" - in terms of "purity" of the heart.

Our willingness to crucify our flesh, and let go of our own desires, and welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives - empowers us with Holy Spirit power! Its an inverse relationship - the more we die-to-self and learn His ways, the more we draw close to the Lord and receive more power (to do His will). Kind of like a father trusting his kid with the new car. Is the kid responsible and trustworthy?

Luke 12:48

• "...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked".

Luke 16:10 says:

• Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone elses property, who will give you property of your own?

In conclusion, I believe that every believer should fully recognize that the Kingdom of God is in them. And as such, we have the power of the Holy Spirit - the same power that raised Jesus from the dead to actively DO God's will here on earth. Don't ever doubt it, and practice and learn this in an active way! And you will see the miracles of God manifested in your life! Restored Marriages, captives set free, Healing, raising-the-dead, multiply the food, water into wine, and even walking on water. It's a promise from Jesus!

Romans 8:11

• And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

Matthew 7:7-11

• "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
  
  "Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!