If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Isaiah 58:8b-12

Desire is the key to self-discipline.  If you want something, you are motivated to obtain it.

Consider the promises.

God will always guide you.  He will meet all your needs, even when in dry places.  You will never be in darkness–even in your darkest moments, it will be like noon day.  You will be well-watered, prospering in everything.  And, you will restore the things that had gone before, that have fallen, and been destroyed.  That which was from generations past, you will rebuild.

If that is the promise, what is God requiring?  The removal of the yoke.  The removal of the pointing of the finger.  An end to bad speech.  And, instead, to assist those who are oppressed, and to spend yourself on behalf of the hungry. If this is the requirement for that, shouldn’t we be devoted to it?

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Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world (realm) (John 18:36).  It is a spiritual kingdom, and as such, must never be confused with an Earthly one.  To lose this distinction, even when speaking of a Millennial reign, is an error of great dimension.

The Kingdom is not constituted in books of laws, governmental seating, and minted coinage, and the like.  Yet, on the other end, it is not without potency in the physical dimension.  Consider Jesus’ life and ministry.  He said, to paraphrase, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20).  The same is true with healing.  Therefore, it was the entrance of the Kingdom which brought about the deliverance in the first place!  Somehow, the invisible, spiritual, and “ethereal” had directly, manifestly affected the natural order.

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While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22

The concept of the seed offering has widely been promoted by many, including the late Oral Roberts).  In fact, it is said that he has considered it as one of the greatest revelations of his life and ministry.  As with a natural harvest, what is sown in finances, time, or any other resource will always produce a harvest, a yield, some thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold, so long as it is sown in “good ground”.

For sure, this revelation has run through the church, and helped to encourage the body of Christ to give, knowing that they are more blessed in the giving, and that, quite plainly, we will surely reap whatever we sow, for good or ill (Galatians 6:7).

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But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Matthew 15:18-20

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

John 14:12

Paul writes to Timothy, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”  (1 Timothy 1:5).  This is the end final product of our instruction.

Consider, for a moment, the working of miracles.  Many have had miracle ministries in the church.  Many have finished well, and many have not.  Many have demonstrated the true heart and character of Jesus, while many have brought shame and disrepute, not intentionally but effectively, upon the body.  But, let us remember, the end of our instruction, the goal, was never miracles or the demonstration of power, but was God’s love in our hearts, a good conscience with faith.

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Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. You are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Luke 22:24-30

The Church of God consists of its members (Isaiah 65:85) and it’s head is always Christ.  It is founded and supported by first our Chief Cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20), and then by its foundation and pillars (Galatians 2:9).  It comprises the body and is the Lord’s temple.  It is built to house Him, and we are merely it’s building blocks.

The one with the primary glory is obviously the Cornerstone.  Yet, while the remaining portions of the temple are with varying degrees of glory, recognition, and importance structurally, they are all required.  The temple is begun with it’s corner, and not completed without it’s Capstone (Zechariah 4:7).

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The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.  The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

Psalm 19:9-10

Just one thing is valuable, and that is the anointing, the presence of God.  I can lose everything else, but if I ever am without the presence of my Lord in my life, I am the the most poverty stricken on the planet.

What is more substantive, the presence of God or the shoes on your feet?  What has more worth, all the gold of the Earth, or the words contained in the Bible?

To know the Lord, and to have Him daily in my life is more important than friends, than eating, than social standing or a good job, or any view of wordly success this life could ever afford. Read more…

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Matthew 7:15

Everyone knows that false prophets come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.  Cult watch pages abound with calling this or that minister a false prophet, and often simply serve to spark fear in everything of God.  Many of these are either completely cessationist (believing that all the miraculous power of God has ceased), or at least non-Spirit-filled.  They all generally deny basic doctrines such as speaking in other tongues (Acts 2:4) for the church today, and should generally be ignored (2 Timothy 3:5).  They do not enter the Kingdom themselves, and shut the door in the faces of those who are trying (Matthew 23:13).

What is the mark of a false prophet?  They present themselves as something they are not.  Moreover, Jesus called them ravenous.  Not every reference to “wolves” in the Bible is an evil reference.  When Jacob blessed his sons, he called his son Benjamin a ravenous wolf  as well (see Genesis 49:27 and surrounding chapter).

Jesus also cautioned about the yeast of the Pharisees, which in Luke 12:1 He identified as hypocrisy.

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You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Matthew 5:14

Jesus said not to think that He was come to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).  What this means for us today, was the He was the fulfillment of the Law of Moses.  What He lived on Earth, perfectly satisfied the perfect of justice of the Father, so that anyone who is baptized into Jesus Christ has lost their old life with its sin and corruption, and entered into that perfect, finished, and sufficient righteousness of God.

Yet, more than this.  In Matthew 5:19, Jesus says that whoever continues to BREAK one of these commandments AND teaches other to do so, will be considered least in the Kingdom.

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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!

Matthew 7:11

It is God’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (Luke 12:32).  Not some day far away in some millenial reign, but right here, today, at hand, where we need it.  When we need it.

Our Father knows our needs (Matthew 6:32).  He will give them to us if we are seeking after His interests.

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When all is stripped away, and nothing else remains, you can trust in His love.  His love remains, when everything else is shaken (Romans 8:37-39), and by it, we live without fear (1 John 4:18).

Into His love we commend ourselves each day.  Further into His glory, His goodness, His mercy.

All we need is His love.  Our only true possession in this life is this place of union.

The life of the flesh doesn’t matter in the end.  What matters is Eternity.  According to Isaiah 40, all of man’s pomp and pride fall away into the dust and ashes they came from, and all that remains is faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13).

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