Who is blind but My servant, or so deaf as My messenger whom I send?
Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the LORD?

Isaiah 42:19

When all around fades, and the only thing left is Him.  When all background noises, and all distractions are stripped away, and you are only His flame (Psalm 104:4).  When you see nothing but His purpose, and hear nothing but His voice.

There are many ways to move in the Kingdom’s power, but Jesus didn’t just come with a few simple nuggets, a few quick keys that might improve your ability to flow in the Spirit.  His teaching wasn’t “pointers” for ministry, it was a yoke (Matthew 11:30).

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When any one heareth the word of the kingdom…

Matthew 13:19 (portion)

When someone hears a word of the Kingdom, something responds, this can no longer remain the same.

In the worst case, the word is misunderstood and stolen quickly away, yet, in other situations, a greater degree of change occurs.

Consider one of the more well known “Words of the Kingdom”, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16).  This is more than words on a page.  When Jesus spoke, he said His words were Spirit and they were life (John 6:63).  There was a content in the content, a message in the message.

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Then, from my right side, behind me, came the same voice of The Angel of The Lord, who had spoken to me since I was a child, saying: “I will teach you how to fish; but you must keep quiet-don’t say anything about it!” I answered, “I will.” He said, “Fasten on your lure.” This I did. Then he said, “Now, to catch those big fish you have to go way out in the deep water.” I swung and cast with all my might, and the line went out its full length. He said, “That was good!”

. . .

I got so excited trying to show the ministers how to fish that I jerked the lure completely out of the water, catching a fish about the size of the lure, seemed as though the skin of the fish was stretched tight over the the lure. I wondered how I would ever get it off!

(William Branham’s Third Pull Vision, excerpt)

William Branham was a man sent by God.  He was a prophet, but he was also a man.  When he spoke for God, he never made a mistake, but, in the day to day of his life, he admittedly made a few (as he points out himself, especially as regarding certain personal decisions).  He was no more infallible than the young prophet in 1 Kings 13, who, after he delivered a true word from God, was deceived by an older prophet who deliberately lied and deceived him to eat when he had been told not to.  That prophet, a true prophet, whose prophecies were later fulfilled exactly, made a mistake in his personal life (not his prophecies), and died prematurely because of it.  The same is true of William Branham.

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When we look at the Gospel, we see good news.

Despite the cost, despite the hardships, despite the pain.  Despite anything.

When we look at the life of absolute surrender, the life of absolute submission, and absolute loss of this life, it is only a most extraordinary gospel that can still be good news in the wake of this.

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He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

Matthew 13:11

Jesus had secrets.  God has secrets.

This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”

Matthew 13:35

It is something to think of this.  In some ways, they were closely guarded secrets, yet on the other hand, they could be thought of as some of the ideas hidden in the most plain sight possible.

Even as Jesus had no earthly comeliness that men should be drawn to Himself, it was the inner, Spirit in the message that made the difference.

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Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Matthew 7:21-23

The Way is not power, it is faithfulness.  The path is not promotion, it is servant-hood.  The gift is not yours, it is theirs (2 Corinthians 1:6).  The road is not wide, it is narrow.

Jesus said plainly, unless you hate father, mother, sister, brother, children, spouse, even your own life, you cannot be His disciple (Luke 14:26).  He said quite distinctly that if you love someone else more than Him, you are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37).

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The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

Matthew 13:10

1 Peter 1:8 talks about “joy unspeakable” and “full of glory”.  Suppose you had experienced this “joy unspeakable”, and had to explain it to someone else.  How would you do that?  Well, about the best way you could put it would be that it is, in fact, “joy”, and, it’s so incredible, it’s “unspeakable”, so that words do not even seem to do it justice.  That would be about it.  You could, perhaps, get a few more adjectives in there.  It was so “glorious”.  But, unless someone else had even seen “glorious”, they wouldn’t get it.  You would be more or less stuck, unable to explain it to them.

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By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Hebrews 11:3

The whole of the Christian walk is in the unseen, which manifests into the seen.

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For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

In waves of revival, manifestations come and go.  Many opinions are formed, shared, and contested with.  But, one thing remains, and that is the Eternal Kingdom of God, the mystery of the Holy Spirit, Christ within, “God With Us”, Emmanuel.

That which we see is not always what it is, and that which we cannot see often goes unnoticed, undiscerned, and hence, under  addressed.

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Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.  “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

John 14:23-24

What are the teachings of Jesus?  What are the lessons that He gave us?

Have you ever stopped to consider the parables?  Do you know what they mean?

Christianity today has done a good job with the main parts.  Jesus is the Way, there is no other.  No one comes to the Father, but by Him…   But, what of the rest?

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