We are to raise people up to fulfill their destinies
About Embassy of the Kingdom
Living In & For the Culture of The Kingdom
A few days ago whilst listening to a radio broadcast I heard whilst driving something was triggered in my spirit. The speaker was speaking about ethnicity within the church.
It seems nearly every day as I hear things said that I hear from a Kingdom perspective and again my spirit is impacted.
Here is what I heard as I listened to His Spirit.
Father, because of the obedience unto death on the cross and the resurrection of His Son Jesus, is building one new nation, from out of many nations. But more than that, He wants us, out of our different ethnicities focused on developing one culture, which must be the Kingdom culture.
The problem with us as believers is we want to keep and live in our culture rather than change it, by improving it with the Kingdom at its center. It is important for us to understand that all culture is religious in nature. As such it determines how we live our life, how we govern, how we build families, how we develop our businesses and economics, etc. Every culture has good things and has many bad things because each culture comes out of a fallen world view.
As we have accepted the man-made idea of multiculturalism we have also accepted other gods and religions, and in doing so have built a confused nation that has lost its identity. Multiculturalism actually is used to destroy a nation’s identity and uniqueness, only to be controlled by a smaller and imported population. People want to speak only in the language of their birth, not the language of the land they want to live in. This is clearly demonstrated as other people come to a free country because it was built on the Christian faith, but still want to live according to their religious laws, yet if one actually did studies of nations and their religions one would find it is the very religion that kept them in bondage in the first place.
When people came into Israel they were to live according to the ways and rules of Israel 1 Peter 2:11. This verse has been so misinterpreted by many claiming that it is saying we are pilgrims and stranger on the earth, Peter is simply saying when you come into my land I am responsible to make sure you live according to the laws of our nation. In this vain how many have accepted the notion that God’s laws were only for the Jews, well there is a couple of problems with that idea, firstly the Jews were only one tribe eventually enveloping the tribe of Benjamin as well, but they were only part of the 12 tribe confederation known as Israel. Even a cursory reading of Deuteronomy 4:6 shows this a fallacy “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people”. Rather it was to be an evangelistic tool to shed forth the fame of God among the nations. However, rather than doing so they lived not according to God’s ways and laws which Paul speaks of in Roman’s 1, where they changed the word of God into a lie and blasphemed His name among the nations. This is why Paul says “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ”, meaning He was going to live according to God’s standard, to honor God’s name. The gospel is not a statement of beliefs rather it is a way of life, the way of the victorious Kingdom.
It doesn’t matter whether the culture we have is American, Australian, African, British, or any other, our role is not to promote our culture, but His.
As Christ Jesus is King, reigning over all the earth now, it is our responsibility if we are truly citizens of the Kingdom, to first learn the principle then promote it, by manifesting it as the culture of the Kingdom.
Having said that, we have to realize that there are some things within what we consider the culture that are non-religious. Those things are what we need to do to live, for example, food, and most of us enjoy a diversity of food. Other things may include music and dress these things must be devoid of any religious ties that bring people under bondage.
The Kingdom culture embraces all ethnicities. There is only one race, ‘the human race’, inclusive of differences in skin color and facial types. God also separated man through language, creating an inability to communicate, because man tried to get to heaven his way, and be his own god. The Lord said that there would be nothing that man could not do but it was without God and His Kingdom is the center.
Here is a very important kingdom key; “When God builds He does so with the intent to decentralizes, but man on the other hand wants to centralize, as it makes his agenda to control easier.” God creates us to be ‘one’ in diversity.
The Kingdom works regardless of any language, its economy will function with the currency of any nation.
It’s time to build or rebuild the centrality of the Kingdom and culture, and show forth its culture to all.
John McDonald © 2009
GOD IS SHAKING EVERYTHING
Why do we as Christians think that when thing around us looks so chaotic that we step into the old mindset of The World Is Coming To An End, so get ready! And the rapture will happen and give dates and things they predict NEVER come to pass. We think that the devil is in control, yet we fail to proclaim the truth that he was stripped of ALL authority, and Jesus is the one who did it.
We are like the children of Israel who were told to go in and possess the land, and they failed to do so, so God had them walk around the wilderness for 40 years until the disobedient generation all died off. Why did they fail to go in, because there were giants in the land. This was the sad state of Israel, and sadder still it is the state of the church that waits fro their DUNKIRK moment to get out of here, BUT Christ Jesus our King is waiting for us to arise and do a warfare against God’s enemies, and pull those supposed giants down and possess the earth which is His, firstly by His creating it, and secondly by His redeeming power because of His obedience all He created that was temporarily lost by Adam I through his disobedience.
Paul tells us in 2 Cor 10 :1-5 which is what we call our warfare passage, but is completely dependent upon v 6 where we are told we will have the power to revenge disobedience WHEN our obedience is fulfilled.
When we want to have a pity party because things look so bad in the world we must recognize the work of God and stop seeing it as a work of t he devil.
As the writer of the Hebrews declares; “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this “ Yet once more”, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” Hebrews 12:26-28
The writer is simply saying that God is always in the process of shaking all things so that all that will remain is The Kingdom. When we get fixated on everything we think is wrong in our country, in our families even in our own lives, we are focused on the wrong thing. Even as I am writing this I see the revelation Paul says when He say’s praise God in all things, because God is shaking everything.
What does our government do when things are wrong? Yep they spend more money, because they ‘know’ that what is wrong is not enough money. That my friends is the height of insanity, “doing things the same way and when it does not work, throw more money at it.” When does it stop? Never? How are we going to pay for it?, answer we kick the can down the road, which really means, to the next generations after all we spend their inheritance, so let it be their problem. Really is that what we think of our children and their children? They are supposed to be our heritage, some heritage, selling them into economic slavery of government handouts.
Jesus said: Seek first the Kingdom of God and His, The Kingdom’s King, righteousness, and ALL that mankind seeks after will be added to you. When we understand we were born, not by accident, not to just fill space on the earth, but for a purpose, a kingdom assignment which is to be our life’s work, to bring Glory to God who gave us life. Even the tests and trials we go through are to help us to realize or get a revelation of what really is truly valuable to us, or to reveal our heart.
The Word tells us this; the Jesus became poor, why? Not to glorify poverty which is the curse of sin, He became poor for a reason and a season, and when He died, rose again and ascended to His throne in heaven he became the possessor again of all things. So why did He become poor? To show us that He need nothing of this worlds goods to do the Father’s will, He just simply obeyed, saying what heard Father tell Him to say, going to where He saw the Father go, and doing what He saw the Father do, nothing more nothing less.
I get so frustrated when I hear someone say that the devil is doing this or that the devil is getting mad because he knows his time is nearly over, why because the devils time is NOT nearly over it was over 2000 years ago. When we think or say things like that we really miss the true understanding of what Jesus has done and finished. Let me repeat the devils time is not short, IT IS OVER, because the scripture says so. To think he is still operating with any authority is simple deception, and rejecting the authority of God’s Word and the Victory of the Word made flesh.
The real issue is this, Jesus said that the devil is under His feet, 1 Cor 15:25, 27, Eph 1:2 Heb 2:8, then Paul in his message to all hose who came at his request to establish a church in Rome, Rom 16, tells them that God will crush Satan under your feet shorty. This whilst speaking of a particular time and audience transcends all time generations that as we walk in obedience to Him He will crush the enemy under our feet if we walk in obedience and walk in dominion shortly.
This is what Psalm 149 speaks of when it says that we are to enforce His victory, and that means to continue to speak His defeat by Christ Jesus our King and Lord.
Is it any wonder we are told to rejoice when things around us are being shaken, so that all that will remain is His Kingdom, does not depend on Him coming back to bring His Kingdom, rather it depends on us understanding that He established His Kingdom at His first coming, defeated the strongman, and left us with Holy Spirit through whom we can not only do the works that Jesus did, but IF WE BELIEVE we can do far greater than He, because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world, meaning anyone who is living in and by the worlds system, so we can walk out the Kingdom in this life where God has placed us.
Now the question is, what is the Kingdom of God? I believe I can help you with understanding what the kingdom is because God gave it to me back in 1984 to be my life study and life message, and many have shared how it has impacted their lives because of what I have taught them. Feel free to check out my teaching material at; https://KingdomLivingMedia.com
DREAMS AND VISIONS
What Are They & Why Are They Important:
In Acts just after the releasing of the Spirit to for the church to be endured with power, Peter preaches a sermon with a promise out of the book of Joel in which he declares, “your young men shall see visions and your elder men shall dream dreams”, Acts 2:17
To many of us as leaders have developed a corporate worldview which says a leader must have a vision, however I have come to understand this is not how the Kingdom functions. It was back in 2007 or thereabouts that I came to realize that visions are personal and causes are corporate. As I mediated on that revelation I came to understand that leaders are not supposed to have a vision, remember Paul tells us that only mature/elder men should be in leadership and not given to a novice. So when I am asked for advise on church direction, I often ask the person one question; “do you have a vision”? And as you guessed the answer is often yes. I would then say “you need to drop your vision” and they look at me in shock and usually I get a “but without a vision the people perish” to which I respond, yes but a vision is personal.
Then I endeavor to show them how their vision is in the road of equipping the people to fulfill their destiny. That they like I had been taught that when you have a vision, you either have to die to the vision or but your vision on the altar, and God will resurrect it in His own good time, sound so spiritual doesn’t it? But is this true or is it just religion to keep the sheep toeing the line.
Lets think on that for a moment? I am one of your members, I come to you and say Pastor I have a vision, and your response is, brother you have to put your vision on the altar, or die to it. Doesn’t that mean I have no vision, and what does the word say about people who have no vision? Yep they perish or wander through life aimlessly. No, it is not the vision I have to die to, or that I have to put the vision that has to be on the altar, it is me that has to die to self, and it is me that has to be on the alter.
But then you say, but God brought you here to sit under ‘our’ meaning my vision. But again is this true? No it isn’t, God does not put people in your church to fulfill your vision, but He placed you there to equip them to fulfill their vision. See when you have been demoted to leadership we lose all our rights and take up the cause of the King, and to do that we have to look beyond vision and begin to dream. A vision is a part of the picture, a dream is a far greater picture. So instead of just wanting to see your vision completed, you only need yourself and a couple of others to help you. However to fulfill a dream you have to have a multitude of people walking out their visions as you have equipped them and sent them out to do the vision or ministry. Just like we do or are supposed to do with our children, we raise them up to be all they are gifted to be and then release them to do it.
See there is nothing wrong with our young men and women having a vision from God after all that is their Kingdom Assignment, their destiny and he placed them under your care to equip them to be able to fulfill their vision and in doing so you see your dream coming together. If I have a vision rather than a dream my vision can crowd the vision/s of the people we are supposed to equip.
Acts tells us that Young men have visions Older/elder men have dreams, young en are learning to begin their walk of authority and as such are entrusted by God with a vision, and as they grow in God and in faithfulness He may then increase their capacity to dream which now requires them to equip others to fulfill their dreams.
As I stated before a dream is a big picture, a vision is a smaller one. I remember in my early years the idea was that old men dreamed about what could have been and all they could do was sit around and dreaming and twiddling their thumbs untill they pass on. However this is not the idea that comes from the message by Peter quoting Joel. The dream is the bigger picture, a dream is impossible for one person to fulfill unless one is equipping the ones God has given them to fulfill their visions. That is why I tell pastors who seek advice, to get rid of their vision and ask God for a dream, and as the dream begins to develop then equip those whom He has given you to fulfill their visions, and that way you actually build a real community.
One final word in closing this post, people need to be about their vision as they are helping you to walk out all God has called you too. This is a hard lesson I learned and am now suffering for it. For a few years I was helping as a volunteer in another ministry while I was about building my purpose. However what I ended up doing was laying down what I was called to do because I fell in the trap of “the tryanny of the urgent” which was always someone elses urgent. What I learned was this; When I am equipping others to fulfill their visions, I must never allow them to be so taken up with the things I need done that they neglect their responsibility toward God’s plans and purposes for their lives.
So much leadership is self-centered focusing on their vision instead of releasing the visions of their people. Vision cannot bring unity because it is personal, only a dream can bring unity because it needs visionaries (plural). A dream can be passed from generation to generation from Fathers to Spiritual Sons, a vision dies with the visionary. Unity in scripture is not one way personal/singular that’s the worlds way, but unity in scripture comes from diversity of visions for one cause, not the church but the Kingdom. That is why we have to change the way we think and grasp that vision is personal, cause/mission is corporate and needs a leader with a dream. When we walk in our dream we have no end of people with visions seeking to be equipped to fulfill their Kingdom Destiny, or begin the journey as the walk out their vision as God begins to build a dream in their life, so they can lay down their vision and step into the place of equipping a new generation of visionaries.
“Thoughts from the teaching; “Never Lose Your Vision”
© John McDonald 2008-2018