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05/16/2006
Todd Bentley: "A Kingdom Mindset--Synchronizing Heaven and Earth"
I want to challenge your mindset concerning the way you might be thinking about the Kingdom of God. Did you know that your mindset is strengthened and forged by thoughts and information which you believe to be true? So what is your Kingdom mindset?
Much of the time we think or talk about the Kingdom of God in terms like: "Well, I've got my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life. I'm born again!" Or, "I have a place in Heaven! There's a Heavenly residence in Heaven waiting for me after I die!" Yes, to be born again is of the utmost importance, and God wants you to understand your eternal security in Christ, but did you realize that there's more that He wants you to experience, see and perceive? Hey! The Lord wants our Kingdom mindset to expand!
Synchronizing Heaven and Earth
In fact, we really can't see anything about God's Kingdom until we're born again. Jesus told a Pharisee named Nicodemus: "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again, he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the Kingdom of God." (John 3:3) So being born again and seeing the Kingdom of God goes hand in hand.
Also, to see the Kingdom of God is to experience the Kingdom of God, and to enter it, in the here and now. Jesus went on to say to Nicodemus, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Believers sometimes tend to think that entering the Kingdom of God only centers on their future Heavenly residence. We've limited the born again experience to "one day I have an inheritance in Heaven." However, when we're born again, we enter the Kingdom of God now.
As well, Jesus prayed: "Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10). The Kingdom of God is Heaven on earth. Think about that--in Heaven on earth. We have to learn how to synchronize Heaven and earth. And that is what the born again experience is--living in the reality of Heaven, now, on the earth and not just thinking ultimately, I will enter the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God Are One In the Same--They Are the Same Thing
The Kingdom of Heaven is a part of the Kingdom of God, transcending much more than a "celestial place" out there in the Heavens, and it encompasses much more than we usually realize. For instance, there actually are certain geographical places on earth where His Kingdom and His presence are manifested to a high degree. One example today is Moravian Falls, in North Carolina--a place where revelation just seems to flow.
Some say that when the Moravians came to the United States, they settled for a while at Moravian Falls after leaving Germany--where they had been part of a one hundred year prayer meeting! It is believed that they carried an open Heaven and saturated that area of America with prayer. Some Christians receive an amazing amount of revelation there! Rick Joyner experiences an on-going open Heaven when he's praying and writing in Moravian Falls.
Take for instance, that "certain place" where Jacob dreamed of a ladder set on the earth that reached to Heaven. Angels of God were ascending and descending on it. God stood above this ladder and declared to Jacob the same covenant promise that He had made to his father, Abraham. (Genesis 28:10–15)
When I studied those verses in Genesis, I noticed that three times in verse 11, the Word of God emphasized the place where Jacob had his encounter with God. I asked the Lord about this. I sensed that He revealed to me something about His Kingdom and that is, that His Kingdom often comes to certain places and these geographical locations are connected to revelation. After all, Jacob did receive clear revelation about God's great promises in a particular place. (Genesis 28:16–22)
The Ladder Was Set on the Earth
In Jacob's dream, the ladder was set on the earth, and it reached to Heaven, and there the angels of God were ascending and descending. The ladder went up from the earth to Heaven! That is a picture of our invitation: "Come up here" (Revelation 4:1). The ladder was set up on earth. It didn't come out of Heaven. And the angels of God were ascending. In order for the angels to be ascending on the ladder set up on earth means that the angels had to be already on the earth! They ascended and went into Heaven and descended out of Heaven with revelation. Then they went back up and received more revelation and came back down out of Heaven with ever increasing revelation.
Jesus told his disciple, Nathanael: "Most assuredly I say to you, hereafter you shall see Heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." (John 1:51) Listen! Jesus is Jacob's ladder; and He is the door through which angels are passing as they ascend and descend. And it's all connected to God's heart for the lost to be saved, born again--"Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep . . . I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture" (John 10:7, 9).
Remember, if Nicodemus wasn't born again, he could not see, or enter, the Kingdom of God. And as I said earlier, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are one in the same. Furthermore, Heaven is our model for true ministry! Do you know how true ministry happens? Through the Spirit of counsel and the Spirit of might. (Isaiah 11:2) The might of God operates by the counsel of God. The Spirit of counsel brings the Spirit of might. As we receive the counsel of Heaven to synchronize Heaven and earth, we'll see a demonstration and manifestation of the might of Heaven. We're talking about taking cities, regions, and nations! Multitudes of people being born again!
Yet, in order to synchronize Heaven and earth, we need to have a revelation, and a clear Kingdom mindset, about the ever-increasing vastness of the Kingdom of God.
Kingdom Radius Is Unto Salvation
It's so true; our Kingdom mindset mustn't be puny! So let's enlarge our outlook by taking a look at a Scripture in the Book of Daniel. In Chapter 2, we read about a troubling dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had. As Daniel recounted the dream to the king, he finished his discourse by saying:
"You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." (Daniel 2:34, 35)
Now, what is the stone cut out of the rock without hands? It's Jesus. And it's the stone that becomes a great mountain, and then the great mountain fills the whole earth!
Isaiah the prophet says, "Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end" (Isaiah 9:7). There is a constant, never-ending increase of God's Kingdom. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. It's the smallest of all seeds, but when it's sown and has grown "it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." (Matthew 13:31, 32)
We see that the nature of the Kingdom of God is that it grows. The Kingdom of God is also like leaven; a little leaven will leaven the whole amount. (Matthew 13:33) We're talking about an ever-increasing Kingdom. It was a stone, then a mountain, and then it fills the whole earth. And in this never-ending increase, we can identify God in the center of it all, the center point, and from there His Kingdom expands. That's His radius!
Is it possible for us to have a Kingdom radius, too? I believe that it's entirely possible! A good example of someone who did is the apostle Peter. How big was his radius? Six feet? Seven feet? Scripture says that as Peter walked by, his shadow would fall on the sick and they were healed. (Acts 5:15, 16) Now think about that. The Kingdom of God is at hand, and wherever Peter went he brought Heaven on earth for about six or seven feet. But why not two miles? Why not twenty miles?
In the history of old revivals, as people would touch city limits they were struck down by the power of God. Men and women in the bars across town wouldn't be able to get the beers to their mouths. Talk about God's Kingdom coming! What a spiritual climate and atmosphere!
Remember, the stone became the mountain, and then the mountain filled the whole earth. Now, get this--the Bible declares that "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14) Today, we are waiting for a sovereign day in which God will pour out His glory. However, the Bible also says, "Arise, shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you." (Isaiah 60:1)
We carry a treasure in these earthen vessels! It's a sovereign time to reveal this treasure and to share the gospel. We are responsible for filling the earth--cities, regions, and nations--with the Kingdom of God! Could it be that God is waiting for you and me to partner with Him in advancing the Kingdom so that His glory is made manifest? But here we are, most of the time, just waiting for the sovereign day in which the end will come. (Matthew 24:14) On the other hand, Jesus is waiting for us to co-labor with Him to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God!
Yah! "Arise and shine for your light has come!" Do you know what God told Abraham? "Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you." (Genesis 13:14–18) He showed Abraham the inheritance, and he saw it, and he received it into his spirit. God also said to look and see the stars--"Look now toward Heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them. So shall your descendants be" (Genesis 15:5). God was saying, "Get it in your spirit, Abraham! I want you to see your inheritance." There is something about taking dominion. God said to Joshua, "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses." (Joshua 1:3) There is something about taking the ground in the spirit. There is something about taking land.
Do you want to take the land for God and for His glory? Is your mindset expanding concerning the Kingdom of God? I'm talking about being like Peter (who had a Kingdom radius), and about the glory of the Lord being released through us! Why? Because there is a lost and dying humanity that needs the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. "And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" (Romans 10:14) So how will they hear unless we go--anointed and empowered--with a divinely inspired Kingdom mindset?
by Todd Bentley
Fresh Fire Ministries
www.freshfire.ca
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