I would have to agree with much of what was said in Robert Holme's recent prophetic message. ( http://www.stormharvest.com.au/ )
For at least 20 years, as I've traveled in several developing nations, I've felt that a massive, global redistribution of wealth was inevitable and it would bring a huge change in lifestyle to Americans. Just as Israel lost sight of her destiny to be "light to the Gentiles" and a blessing to many nations, the United States has lost sight of who God called us to be in terms of blessing and influence in the world. Certainly we have made mistakes, but in general, we once used our position of favor and abundance to protect the weak and bring freedom to the oppressed (think of WWII and also our opposition to such demonic leaders as Mao and Stalin who murdered tens of millions of their own citizens). But we became worshippers of false gods, just as Israel did, and lost our moral right to stand for what is good and true. The eastern world of Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims mock us and despise us for our moral depravity and our uncontrolled spending on our own lusts and materialism. Mr. Holmes' facts on our national debt point to our slavery to the flesh and the bondage we have put ourselves in. (10.6 TRILLION and rising!) Some may say it is war spending that has put us into this debt, but that's not true. It pales in comparison to the money we spend on entertainment and "stuff".. I've watched at the ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai while massive ship after ship is loaded DAILY with MILLIONS of containers of consumer goods - all headed for the USA. It's just "stuff"! And now we owe the world. Literally! But we also owe an answer for how we have stewarded the wealth we have been blessed with. (We could feed the world with one weekend's movie box office receipts.)
Things WILL change whether we like it or not! My sister owns a factory in China where wages have tripled in the past two years. Masses of people have internet access, cell phones and T.V. The world has shrunk and there are no secrets. They know the score now!! They are simply NOT going to work for $5 a day, live in a miserable hovel and wonder how they are going to keep their children alive when they KNOW they are slaving all day to make sneakers for someone who spends $5 a day at Starbucks! And that's China, where the masses have benefitted from a huge improvement in their standard of living. The women who sew in Indonesia (where a LOT of our clothing comes from) and pick tea in India (so we can sip our gourmet chai) work long, back-breaking hours for $1 a day. We should not be surprised that most of the world hates us and thinks it's high time things change.
Having said that, I am VERY aware that Americans can be incredibly generous and have given more to improve the health and development of impoverished nations than any other nation. Sadly, this generosity often never reaches the common people who need it because of the corruption and evil that exists in their own countries. Millions of tons of food donated to famine areas never get past the docks because corrupt officials and their thugs with machine guns would rather see the food rot than distributed if they cannot line their own pockets. In Mozambique, my brother Rolland once watched a World Hunger Relief ship loaded with millions of tons of donated food turn around and sail away from the Maputo harbor during the devastating flood & famine there because this charity organization could not pay the US$100,000 bribe being demanded at the dock. This has happened a hundred times over. I'm convinced that world hunger is totally unnecessary. God has created a bountiful earth that produces more than enough food to feed the world, but it is the evil in men's heart that keeps things so out of balance. The amount of food we destroy in the U.S. each year to keep up prices would feed all the hungry in the world!
But back to us Americans - our giving, as a PERCENTAGE of our spending, is still quite small in comparison to the generosity of the poor that I have witnessed in every developing nation I have been in. The poor will share their last meal with you. We give out of our excess and know little of sacrificial giving. In 2 Cor. 8, Paul commends the Macedonians because they were so completely given over to God and had so excelled in the "grace of giving." The fact the Paul refers to their giving as a "grace" three times tells us that their ability to respond this way was because God supernaturally enabled them. His grace changed their heart! Think about this verse. "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity." I believe, in the coming days of great financial shift, this is where God is calling his people. We will need to give ourselves to God as the Macedonians did, and rely upon his grace. And as we walk controlled by the spirit and not our flesh and our fear, we can know that our God is faithful; we WILL receive the grace we need. And according to his SUPERNATURAL power, we will experience this incredible and very odd pairing of opposites - severe trial/overflowing joy - extreme poverty/rich generosity. It will make no sense to the natural mind! Why are God's people joyful and generous when the circumstances say we should be consumed with our trials and poverty? We will have an opportunity to shine and be a great witness once again - IF we will repent, turn from our gods of self-indulgence (HUGE demonic principality in this country!) and be a Bride that seeks to demonstrate the heart of a lavishly generous and loving God.
The carnal mind will want to close the hand, hoard, and cut back giving out of fear and an instinctive desire to be self-preserving. Followers of Jesus will "give themselves to God" and walk by grace. Followers of Jesus will reflect the richness of our Father's grace and His giving nature. And hey, we may even be DELIVERED from our dependence on entertainment and stuff for our happiness!! Wouldn't that be a miracle! And instead, we might learn to walk in the JOY that comes from His presence and being one with Him, His heart, and His purposes. The Bride still has an incredible destiny to fulfill and the Bride continues to pray, "your Kingdom come!" -- as in "righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit."
Much love,
Linda
"Seriously and frequently meditate on the account that men are to give of using their wealth. We are not lords of our riches, but stewards; and a steward must give an account of his stewardship." William Gouge, "Of Well-using Abundance" (sermon, 1655)
Monday, November 24, 2008
Election lost? Kingdom gained!
Discouraged by the election? Don't be! The Kingdom is at hand!
In the past few days, I received two emails that made me stop, catch my breath, and read them again - processing what I had just read - and cry. One came from an Indian pastor who wrote telling about the baby he and his wife are expecting in March, just before I expect to arrive in India. He wrote,
"hie timing will be perfect for me as we are expecting our new baby on March 22nd. I will love for you to join in our joy and bless the new comming to be martayer for teh Kingdom."
Have you ever seen that on a baby announcement in America??? I read that over and over, at first shocked and then humbled at how completely this man had abandoned his life, his family, even his new baby to Christ.
Then I received a news story concerning Christians in China from ASSIST news:
Church leaders and Christians have passed word to the West that they still need constant prayer. "Although, in the West, many sermon topics are ones such as 'How to Live a Successful Christian Life' in the East it is 'How to Suffer and Die for Jesus,'" one well-known leader stated. "It is a totally different mind set and even the songs center on the differences."
Yes, it certainly IS a different mind set! Clearly the Christians of the east understand something about following Jesus that we do not. There is an understanding of the Kingdom of God that we do not yet grasp. It is understanding - revelation - birthed in the purifying fires of suffering and persecution. It sheds some light on what Jesus meant when he said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:10)
The topic of "Kingdom" has become wildly popular in the west. I'm amazed at the number of books on the topic and how many ministries are specializing in this as a focal point of teaching. But although everyone is using the hot buzzword "kingdom", I wonder if we really know what that means. It's obvious that we're not all defining it the same way.
In some contexts, you could swap out the word kingdom and replace it with "health and wealth." Take that message and plunk it down in the refugee camps of Sudan and it makes absolutely no sense!! It makes no sense in the jungles of Orissa, India where today 53,000 believers are trying to survive being burned out of their homes. It makes no sense in North Korea where believers are brutally tortured if captured. In fact, it makes no sense in most of the globe. If the Kingdom is global, then whatever we teach as a Kingdom message must be true globally. If it doesn't hold true everywhere, if believers can't stand on it and stake their lives on it everywhere, we shouldn't be teaching it anywhere!
Others interpret "kingdom" as a political/socio-economic target that gives the Church a divine mandate to seek global domination. In this camp, "kingdom"- minded people believe the church has a neo-manifest destiny to take over institutions, schools, governments, etc. so that Christians are "in place" when Jesus returns. In this way, we are to prepare for the global government of Christ. The language is militaristic and, to me anyway, downright hostile. Something tells me that Jesus won't have a problem setting up his rule and reign whether we've taken things over in advance or not. Jesus said "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (Matt. 5:5) If I were a non-believer, I would have a hard time distinguishing between the spirit of this "kingdom" view and the view of radical Muslims that are intent on global domination in the name of God. It's a jihad mentality - just sneakier. It frightens me because it seems to be more about "overcoming" and taking over the lost world rather than restoring the lost to their Abba Father by serving them and loving them.
Do we understand what an "overcomer" is? In the world, you overcome by defeating someone. But in the kingdom, I think you "overcome" by serving and blessing someone. You "overcome" when you are supernaturally able to respond to evil with good, to hate with love. "Overcoming" has nothing to do with having successful Christian businesses supplant other businesses. It has nothing to with having powerful Christian politicians defeat others. It has nothing to do with ANYTHING else that the world uses to measure victory and might. The Kingdom of God, as we all know, is a place where all the measuring sticks of the world are turned upside down. The smallest is the greatest. The leader is the slave. What would happen if Christians in a city stopped trying to oust the non-Christian mayor but instead all the pastors showed up at his office and said, "Mr. Mayor, how can we help you?" What would happen if all the Christians stopped sending millions of nasty emails about the president and instead, we all wrote the White House and said, "Mr. President, how can I pray for you?" The demonic powers and principalities of the air - anger, hatred, fear, etc. - would be so confused!!! If we simply refused to partner with those spirits and responded full of the Holy Spirit - an opposite spirit - we would understand the true Kingdom meaning of "overcoming." We would not just be reading Eph. 3:10,11; we would be experiencing it!
"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord."
His ways are not our ways. The wisdom of God is not the wisdom of man. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants [the angels - Matt.26:53] would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place." If we think losing an election is defeat, then we never understood victory. Victory is already won. Victory has nothing to do with who takes office. We must not confuse the battles of the political arena with true Kingdom battles. I'm not saying we should not be involved in the political process. We should. I'm not saying we shouldn't campaign for what is right and just. We should. In fact, we have an assignment to be salt and light, a convicting and preserving influence, in every facet of life. But our battle is not a political one. If it were, we would be fighting against political forces of flesh and blood. His Kingdom is NOT of this world.
If we get confused about this, we will end up as discouraged and frightened as the disciples were as they watched Jesus being led away to Golgotha. They scattered and hid, terrified of their future which seemed in shambles. They saw the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus as utter defeat. Yet, the cross was EXACTLY what God intended! It was the cross the crushed the true enemy! It was the cross that ushered in the Kingdom. Jesus could have called upon legions of angels to deliver him, but he did not. It was not the plan. Could God have supernaturally turned this election? Of course. Is He not still King? Or has he lost his grip? Have things simply gotten away from him, out of control? So what's the plan?
I truly am excited about the future. Jesus WILL build His Kingdom, make no mistake. Could it be that the very thing that looks like defeat will be the thing that God uses to crush the true enemy? To usher in a greater manifestation of his true Kingdom? I believe so. But will we recognize it? When Jesus said, "The Kingdom is at hand," the people of Israel did not recognize it because they had a wrong definition of Kingdom. They were looking for God's blessing in terms of political, military and economic success. They were looking for their man, another David, to be put on the throne. Instead, God's chosen one was murdered! OK, so our "man" didn't get put in the oval office. Our "woman" got slaughtered by the media. If we measure this as defeat, we are as wrong as the people and disciples of Jesus' day because our definition of Kingdom is just as wrong. Jesus WILL build his kingdom. But it will not look like big, successful ministries, material wealth, and victories at the ballot box. In fact, if the stated agenda is enacted, we're in for a time of incredible freedom-crushing laws against Christians. We may well be underground within 20 years. So the Kingdom may not look like what you expected. The Kingdom will be manifest through the Bride - not because she is mighty and successful and influential - but because she has been emptied out and has learned to love and to serve unconditionally and sacrificially. The Kingdom will be manifest through a Bride refined by fire, radiant in the beauty of holiness, a Bride turned from her idolatry to cling to her King, a Bride walking in the power of the King because she has been tested and found faithful, a Bride purified and entrusted to carry the glory of the King!
A time of shaking, sifting and refining lies ahead. It is not defeat. It is the road by which we overcome. What Satan intends for evil will be the instrument of his defeat. The true Bride will arise from this stronger and holier and more passionate than ever.
Isaiah 4: 2-6. Read it! Be encouraged!
"Your Kingdom come!"
Linda
In the past few days, I received two emails that made me stop, catch my breath, and read them again - processing what I had just read - and cry. One came from an Indian pastor who wrote telling about the baby he and his wife are expecting in March, just before I expect to arrive in India. He wrote,
"hie timing will be perfect for me as we are expecting our new baby on March 22nd. I will love for you to join in our joy and bless the new comming to be martayer for teh Kingdom."
Have you ever seen that on a baby announcement in America??? I read that over and over, at first shocked and then humbled at how completely this man had abandoned his life, his family, even his new baby to Christ.
Then I received a news story concerning Christians in China from ASSIST news:
Church leaders and Christians have passed word to the West that they still need constant prayer. "Although, in the West, many sermon topics are ones such as 'How to Live a Successful Christian Life' in the East it is 'How to Suffer and Die for Jesus,'" one well-known leader stated. "It is a totally different mind set and even the songs center on the differences."
Yes, it certainly IS a different mind set! Clearly the Christians of the east understand something about following Jesus that we do not. There is an understanding of the Kingdom of God that we do not yet grasp. It is understanding - revelation - birthed in the purifying fires of suffering and persecution. It sheds some light on what Jesus meant when he said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:10)
The topic of "Kingdom" has become wildly popular in the west. I'm amazed at the number of books on the topic and how many ministries are specializing in this as a focal point of teaching. But although everyone is using the hot buzzword "kingdom", I wonder if we really know what that means. It's obvious that we're not all defining it the same way.
In some contexts, you could swap out the word kingdom and replace it with "health and wealth." Take that message and plunk it down in the refugee camps of Sudan and it makes absolutely no sense!! It makes no sense in the jungles of Orissa, India where today 53,000 believers are trying to survive being burned out of their homes. It makes no sense in North Korea where believers are brutally tortured if captured. In fact, it makes no sense in most of the globe. If the Kingdom is global, then whatever we teach as a Kingdom message must be true globally. If it doesn't hold true everywhere, if believers can't stand on it and stake their lives on it everywhere, we shouldn't be teaching it anywhere!
Others interpret "kingdom" as a political/socio-economic target that gives the Church a divine mandate to seek global domination. In this camp, "kingdom"- minded people believe the church has a neo-manifest destiny to take over institutions, schools, governments, etc. so that Christians are "in place" when Jesus returns. In this way, we are to prepare for the global government of Christ. The language is militaristic and, to me anyway, downright hostile. Something tells me that Jesus won't have a problem setting up his rule and reign whether we've taken things over in advance or not. Jesus said "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (Matt. 5:5) If I were a non-believer, I would have a hard time distinguishing between the spirit of this "kingdom" view and the view of radical Muslims that are intent on global domination in the name of God. It's a jihad mentality - just sneakier. It frightens me because it seems to be more about "overcoming" and taking over the lost world rather than restoring the lost to their Abba Father by serving them and loving them.
Do we understand what an "overcomer" is? In the world, you overcome by defeating someone. But in the kingdom, I think you "overcome" by serving and blessing someone. You "overcome" when you are supernaturally able to respond to evil with good, to hate with love. "Overcoming" has nothing to do with having successful Christian businesses supplant other businesses. It has nothing to with having powerful Christian politicians defeat others. It has nothing to do with ANYTHING else that the world uses to measure victory and might. The Kingdom of God, as we all know, is a place where all the measuring sticks of the world are turned upside down. The smallest is the greatest. The leader is the slave. What would happen if Christians in a city stopped trying to oust the non-Christian mayor but instead all the pastors showed up at his office and said, "Mr. Mayor, how can we help you?" What would happen if all the Christians stopped sending millions of nasty emails about the president and instead, we all wrote the White House and said, "Mr. President, how can I pray for you?" The demonic powers and principalities of the air - anger, hatred, fear, etc. - would be so confused!!! If we simply refused to partner with those spirits and responded full of the Holy Spirit - an opposite spirit - we would understand the true Kingdom meaning of "overcoming." We would not just be reading Eph. 3:10,11; we would be experiencing it!
"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord."
His ways are not our ways. The wisdom of God is not the wisdom of man. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants [the angels - Matt.26:53] would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But my kingdom is from another place." If we think losing an election is defeat, then we never understood victory. Victory is already won. Victory has nothing to do with who takes office. We must not confuse the battles of the political arena with true Kingdom battles. I'm not saying we should not be involved in the political process. We should. I'm not saying we shouldn't campaign for what is right and just. We should. In fact, we have an assignment to be salt and light, a convicting and preserving influence, in every facet of life. But our battle is not a political one. If it were, we would be fighting against political forces of flesh and blood. His Kingdom is NOT of this world.
If we get confused about this, we will end up as discouraged and frightened as the disciples were as they watched Jesus being led away to Golgotha. They scattered and hid, terrified of their future which seemed in shambles. They saw the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus as utter defeat. Yet, the cross was EXACTLY what God intended! It was the cross the crushed the true enemy! It was the cross that ushered in the Kingdom. Jesus could have called upon legions of angels to deliver him, but he did not. It was not the plan. Could God have supernaturally turned this election? Of course. Is He not still King? Or has he lost his grip? Have things simply gotten away from him, out of control? So what's the plan?
I truly am excited about the future. Jesus WILL build His Kingdom, make no mistake. Could it be that the very thing that looks like defeat will be the thing that God uses to crush the true enemy? To usher in a greater manifestation of his true Kingdom? I believe so. But will we recognize it? When Jesus said, "The Kingdom is at hand," the people of Israel did not recognize it because they had a wrong definition of Kingdom. They were looking for God's blessing in terms of political, military and economic success. They were looking for their man, another David, to be put on the throne. Instead, God's chosen one was murdered! OK, so our "man" didn't get put in the oval office. Our "woman" got slaughtered by the media. If we measure this as defeat, we are as wrong as the people and disciples of Jesus' day because our definition of Kingdom is just as wrong. Jesus WILL build his kingdom. But it will not look like big, successful ministries, material wealth, and victories at the ballot box. In fact, if the stated agenda is enacted, we're in for a time of incredible freedom-crushing laws against Christians. We may well be underground within 20 years. So the Kingdom may not look like what you expected. The Kingdom will be manifest through the Bride - not because she is mighty and successful and influential - but because she has been emptied out and has learned to love and to serve unconditionally and sacrificially. The Kingdom will be manifest through a Bride refined by fire, radiant in the beauty of holiness, a Bride turned from her idolatry to cling to her King, a Bride walking in the power of the King because she has been tested and found faithful, a Bride purified and entrusted to carry the glory of the King!
A time of shaking, sifting and refining lies ahead. It is not defeat. It is the road by which we overcome. What Satan intends for evil will be the instrument of his defeat. The true Bride will arise from this stronger and holier and more passionate than ever.
Isaiah 4: 2-6. Read it! Be encouraged!
"Your Kingdom come!"
Linda
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