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ENTERING THE KINGDOM OF GOD

By Craig Lewis

All scripture references are from the New King James, or the New Living Translations.

PREFACE

I have written this article for those individuals, who have a desire to love God with their whole heart. I hope to challenge all who read this to love God The Father more and to surrender to everything to Him  in a simple and easy manner.   I hope all of you who read this will be unprejudiced readers who if approached that way, may just find some things which will cause you to seek after God and all that His Kingdom signifies concerning goodness, and mercy, and peace, and love.  Learn to read an article with a humble, sincere spirit and not with a desire to be critical and judgmental.  Always devote the reading of it to God.  Receive it as from the Father and desire to see what nuggets of gold might be contained in it for you. If you approach it this way I know that you will receive some profit from having read it. It is my desire that all should enter into His Kingdom Rest. Be still and learn of Him. What you do not agree with put on the shelf and continue to read. What you may find is that you may later find yourself taking it back down to take a look at it again as The Holy Spirit’s revelation begins to open your eyes. You may begin to hear the still small voice of the Father as he shows you mysteries which have thus far laid silent while you were being prepared to receive those things which He has for you now. You must listen to your heart, not your head. To often we are so caught up in what we "believe" that we miss what the Father may be showing us.

God has said in his Word, “For my ways are completely different than yours” says the Lord. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” …And my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”  Isaiah 55:8-10.  He says later in verse 11 of the same passage, “ ….With my Word, I send it out, and it ALWAYS produces fruit. It, (My Word), will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Vs, 12, “ You will live in Joy and Peace.”  

God desires to communicate Himself unto us. I invite you to read this in a simple manner, like that of a child. Jesus said himself that we must become as little children in order to enter into the Kingdom of God. We will spend a limited amount of time about that subject later on in the article. Without setting up my opinions above those of others, I mean only, with truth and candor, to declare, from experience and the experience of others, the happy effects produced by quietly listening to the still small voice of the Father as he speaks to us by The Holy Spirit. 

It is of God the Father that we read, “whose delight is to dwell with the children of men” (Proverbs 8:3). With those who are, indeed, willing to become “little children”; it is God alone, who can make this teaching of the Kingdom of God of any value.

Chapter 1

Preparation Before Entering The Kingdom 

I believe it is important to look at how we approach learning about the Kingdom of God. I believe that in order to allow God the Father to speak to us by The Holy Spirit that we need to learn how to read with “Spiritual Understanding” rather than to rely on our own “Carnal Intellect.”  In order to do this we must learn how to read articles about the Kingdom or when ever we find ourselves studying the Word of God.

When we read we should choose some important, practical, or even on some occasions, speculative truth. Whatever truth you chose, read only a small portion of it, endeavoring to taste and digest it, to extract the essence and substance of it, and proceed no farther until you have savored all that remains in that section: when this subsides, take up your article again and proceed as before, seldom reading more than a chapter or page or possibly even a paragraph, sentence or even once in awhile a word at a time, depending on the subject matter and your knowledge of it.  It is not the quantity that is read, but how we read it, that gives our spirit profit. 

Those who read fast receive no more advantage than a hummingbird would by only skimming over the surface of a flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it and extract its sweet pollen. Much reading is for earthly, scholastic subjects rather than for divine spiritual truths. To receive real profit from spiritual writings, I feel we must read as I have described and always remembering to ask the Father to show us the Truth. Then the Father's Holy Spirit has permission to point us to The Father's Christ Spirit, Who is the Way, the Truth, and Life. 

When you find that your reading has placed you in the presence of The Father, pause, not to use your reason, but merely to calm and fix your mind. We must always remember that the most important thing we are to focus on should be the presence of God. The subject of our reading should serve to quiet our mind rather than exercise our understanding. So often just the opposite has occurred and we have tried to understand it with our carnal, natural, earthly mind. We begin to compare it with what we “believe” based on what we have received from man, whether a book, minister, teacher, etc. God doesn’t really care what we think. He only cares that we hear what he wants us to know. And He wants us to know them by our Spirit, not our natural carnal mind.

We must seek to have the mind of Christ on all things. Even the man Jesus, our example,  as he walked here on earth was not earthly minded but reminded us in John 12:49 “Whatever I speak, Just as the Father has told me, so I speak,” NKJ (“I say whatever the Father tells me to say!), NLT.  So when we are reading and studying something, let us “Hear from the Father”. Then base our beliefs on what He has shown us. Even though some man has authored an article such as this, what does the Father want me to learn, to know, then be able to speak about? 

When we practice this, what follows is that our faith in a God who is perceived and personally present in our inmost soul, will produce an eager pressing inwardly into ourselves. We will then be able to restrain all our senses from wandering. This also will serve to quickly remove us from all distractions. It will  move us away from the external , and to bring us unto the Father, Who is only to be found in the inmost center of our being (our heart or spirit), which is the Holy of Holies where He dwells. (You can study more about the significance of the Holy of Holies as it relates to our Kingdom walk  by reading the “Old Testament Feasts” Topic located on the Study Topics Page” at our website listed at the end of this article.) 

When we are in this state of being in the presence of God and all of our natural senses have been laid aside, and our soul is concentrated on the truths we are reading, not by our own reasoning, but instead by allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us into the meaning rather than our own understanding, only then will we attain that which the Father has prepared for us.

I compare it to chewing a delicious piece of homemade bread fresh out of the oven. While you are chewing it you taste the sweet and delicious flavors which delight your taste buds. But other than a delightful experience, unless we swallow the bite, it does us very little if any, nutritional good to our body. If we try to chew too much on what we are reading and let our senses and own understanding begin to get in the way rather than swallowing what the spirit is having us taste of, we deprive the soul of the nourishment the True Living Bread of Life can bring to us. When one is not familiar with this type of study we must learn to trust the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Remember, our main objective is to experience the Devine Presence of The Father. When we become sensitized to the perception of being in the very presence of God within us, our bodies being the temple he dwells in, by turning inwards with our soul, (our intellect, our will, and our emotions), we leave the distractions of our flesh, (which is at constant war with our spirit over control of the soul), and enter into the sweet presence of our God where we unite together with Him in Spirit. 

We should also guard against going from truth to truth, and subject to subject. To get the best taste of a divine truth and to preserve it in our innermost heart, we need to dwell on it, enjoy it, relish it, and let it become implanted deep within us. On our website we have a large number of topics and often people who are new to the Kingdom Teachings will run to and fro selecting randomly a wide variety of topics and because they have no basis, or foundation of understanding they will become disillusioned and confused, and miss out on the wonderful things which God the Father has for us to partake of in His Kingdom. I hope you will be patient and go line by line, precept by precept, and let his spirit lead you into All Truth.

One of the reasons we have so many denominations, is due to the fact that each proceeds to tell us that what they believe is the truth. How can so many be in error? Which one is right?  The truth is that all have become no better than the Pharisees and Sadducees who were great scholars and had a great knowledge of the law and the scriptures, and yet could not understand what Jesus tried to show them about the Kingdom of God. They were looking for a natural, earthly King who would rule them. Jesus spoke of the Spiritual Kingdom of God. Spiritual things can never be understood with the natural mind, for they are spirit. Therefore God cannot be known except we learn of him in Spirit. We must come to know who He is and to come to an understanding of who we are. Only He can reveal himself to you.  This is not a game. This is real, honest to goodness learning to be one with Him. This is the Third day move of God. The final chapter in God’s dealing with man. This is the day of Tabernacling with God. This is the day we learn to go behind the veil and enter into his Holy Presence. This is the day that Jesus came for, to usher in the Kingdom Age. 

Here we sit 2,000+ years later, still bound by the law, still bound by our flesh and having a form of Godliness but denying the Power of God to work through us. Still relying on OUR intellect, reasoning, and understanding, we deny the very God, (whom we claim to know), the access into our lives he desires. We study about Him, but fail to Know Him as he is. All we need to really know is that HE IS. He promises to reward greatly those who “Diligently” seek Him. Hebrews 11:6. Let us quit looking to the future to be with him in that place which we call heaven. Let us be with Him now! Jesus is ruling at the right hand of the Father in The Kingdom of heaven. Jesus and the Father are ONE.  Jesus is ONE WITH US. We are seated at the right hand of the father with him in heavenly places. He dwells in us. Heaven is in us. That ought to be enough to challenge you to begin a step by step, line upon line, precept by precept, study of The Kingdom of God. 

Don’t be in a hurry to learn it all at once. The Holy Spirit will guide you, if you submit to his teaching, and will show you the mysteries of God that you so desire to know. Such is the experience, taste and sense of His Presence when you enter within, and taste the feast that the Father has prepared for you at his banquet table. Do you realize that all God ever intended for man to do was to allow Him, (God) to communicate Himself to them and with them. That’s all he asks of mankind now. He has finished all that he set forth to do. The Law which pointed us to Christ has been fulfilled. (Fulfilled means completed. No longer anything more that has to be done). In 1 Corinthians 15:22 we read, “For as in Adam ALL die, (spiritually, eternally separated from God), even so in Christ ALL shall be made alive, (spiritually, eternally united with God, or One with God). Are all men aware of what this simple verse is saying? Have we been made alive? Are we missing out on something that has already been reserved for us? Let us diligently seek the Kingdom of God. Let us enter in with eagerness to let Him reveal all that he has for us. Let us also seek to become one with Him.  

Chapter 2

Where is the Kingdom of God?

We must all realize this fundamental truth that “the kingdom of God is within us” Luke 17:21, and even though it is there, it must be sought after. The scripture very plainly tells us in Mathew 6:32-33, “Your Heavenly Father already knows your needs, (vs. 33) and He will give you all that you need from day to day, IF you live for Him AND Make the Kingdom of God your PRIMARY concern.” NLT.  In NKJ “For your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (vs. 33) But, Seek FIRST The Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things you need shall be added to you,” The Kingdom is a Spiritual Kingdom which is found to be within us. It is to be understood and entered into spiritually and will not be entered into by the flesh which includes our fleshly, carnal, earthly, Adamic nature. But we are not to live in that earthly realm for we have been transformed into the heavenly realm by The Spirit of Christ. Why is it we have ignored the words which Jesus taught concerning the Kingdom all these 2,000 + years? We have been looking ahead for that earthly natural Kingdom to come. But it never will because it has already been established in us. 

I'd like to suggest a simple exercise when studying kingdom topics. Start any study by asking your Heavenly Father to show you by the Holy Spirit, what the Father is wanting you to receive from that particular passage of scripture or maybe some article such as may be found on the "Study Topics Page" of our website. Take your time as you begin to read. Remember, concentrate on the inward and let all the preconceived notions and beliefs and prior knowledge be kept on the outside with our flesh. Let us move the distractions of the things of the world away from us. Let us enter in with great anticipation of what the Father has to say to us. In faith, believe He has something to reveal to us about Him.

Read and understand it from within your spirit. Proceed line upon line, precept upon precept. Looking inward and pausing to hear from the Father from within your spirit. Let your thoughts become those of God. Let this passage speak to you as it never has before? Discard any preconceived notion you may have concerning the subject matter. Look at it as if you have never heard it before. Look at it as though He were speaking it to you Himself. Forget that a man has written the words. Realize what Father thinks is much more important than what you think or believe. Be open to new things being revealed to you that you previously had not considered. Do not shut yourself off from what God is saying.

Read the passage and ponder on the meaning of the words, dwell on the thought that The Father Himself placed these words there just for you to learn of Him and about His Kingdom. As you become one with it and make it yours. Do not add your own emphasis to it. Pour out your heart and your feelings to Him. But then always pause to hear what he has to show you about what He wants you to know. Let His will become manifested to you. You are only accountable to Him.

Think of yourself as a little child. You have experienced all kinds of calamities. Tell him about it. Mix it in with how much you love him. Then again fall silent and let Him speak with that still small voice from within you. Do not rush back in quickly but instead let His healing, His love, His peace begin to wash over your soul. Be sensitive as to when you are to continue on to the next passage. 

Ask God to accomplish in your life all that He has willed for you. Completely surrender yourself into the loving arms of the Father. Feel His love as you reach out to Him in the spirit. Realize He is your very existence. He is your ALL. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the beginning and the end. Before time began He was. He is God. You were created in his exact image. You are one with Him. He is God…He IS God…He IS your Father…You are His beloved. The ideas we form of God fall short of what He really is. For that matter, I believe we often fall short of knowing who we are.  But, “ in him we move, and live, and have our being.” Know that your natural thoughts are not His righteous thoughts, and that you cannot understand Him with your carnal natural mind. He is the "All Knowing," Omniscient God. HE IS GOD. Know Him and His thoughts from within.

The Kingdom is found within us. The King of Kings rules and reigns in righteousness within us. “Blessing and Honor and Glory unto Him!” He IS.  

Chapter 3

Surrender To The King 

I’m quite sure that most have heard the old hymn “I Surrender All. “ The words of the song go; “ I surrender all, I surrender all, All to Jesus I surrender, I surrender All.” I am almost embarrassed to think of all the times I sang that song with real conviction mind you, and yet looking back had not surrendered much of anything. 

I’m not going to go into a lengthy study of the Old Testament Feasts, but there is an illustration or picture which I believe can be drawn from the Tabernacle that is a foreshadowing of our entrance into the Kingdom of God. Let’s remember that there were three main sections of the tabernacle. There was the Outer Court reserved for the majority of the people to come into. We could compare that to all who have been redeemed. Then there was the Holy Place where the table of showbread, the golden candlestick, and the sacrificial altar were. This was a place reserved for the Levitical Priests. They were the ones who were to minister on behalf of, (or to), the people in the Outer Court. This could be representative of the Ministers of the Traditional Church who are ministering to the body of Christ, the redeemed, the chosen ones. But then there was a place that once a year was entered into called the Holy of Holies which was behind the veil where God’s presence resided. An especially set apart priest was chosen to once a year to go behind the veil, directly into the presence of God to offer the sacrifice for all the priests of the Holy Place and the people of the Outer Court. When he entered into the Holy of Holies, into the very presence of God Almighty, he was first stripped of his garments. Surrendering to God will entail stripping away our flesh. There is an abundance of teachings on the significance of the tabernacle, the 3 Old Testament feasts, and their significance to the Kingdom Of God and you can study those on our website which is listed at the end of this article. 

My point is that to enter into the presence of God we must be stripped of our garments, our filthy rags of the flesh. We are to return to God as we were created in the beginning, naked and unashamed. There are a number of illustrations we could use here. He is preparing a pure and spotless bride. Another, the sacrificial lambs which were offered in sacrifice, were to be without spot or blemish.

We are being disrobed from our clothing of earthly, Adamic unrighteousness, which are being replaced with garments of Christ's righteousness. But in order for us to receive those robes of righteousness we must put off the old and then put on the new. God cannot and will not abide with anything that is impure. We must put on the righteousness of Christ if we are to rule and reign with Him as Kings and Priests. What is happening right now with the move of God is He is calling to Himself those Kings and Priests who will enter into His Kingdom and reign with His Son the King of Kings. It will not be accomplished by anything we can do, other than a complete submission and abandonment of our former existence as Adamic creatures and enter into Christ who has set us free from death and the curse. We must concur that every moment of our lives is according to His will. We must become resigned in all things. We must be able to accept all that happens to us as being in complete control of the Father. 

Look at some examples; Elijah, calling down the fire from above and consuming the sacrifice water and all. You had to be walking with God to have pulled that one off!  Then he was sent to the desert place where even the brook dried up. He was then instructed to go up on the mountain where he went into a cave. While there a great earthquake and terrible storm came. Does this seem at all familiar to anyone reading this? Then in the midst of his world coming apart and falling down around him in the storms of life, came the still small voice of  God. Only after that experience would Elijah's royal walk in righteousness be possible. How about Joseph? He heard from God. He was put down by his family, sold into slavery and put in prison. He was then released and given authority and power and wealth, only to find himself once again back in prison. Any one had that type of experience? Up, then down, then up, then down? Finally though, in God’s perfect timing, Joseph ruled with complete authority and power. He also was in charge of great wealth. Just a side note I might add here. We must realize that everything, our money, our job, our family, our life all belong to God. Nothing is ours. With nothing we came into this world, and with nothing we will leave this world. To enter the Kingdom we must be stripped of everything just as in each of these examples so that we can be stewards over ALL that is HIS. Joseph ruled with great wealth but it was not all his own personal wealth. He nevertheless was in charge of it all. How about David the Shepherd boy? He was communing with God, and killed the lion and the bear. He also experienced a great faith victory and even notoriety as a national hero by killing the giant Goliath. All that to find himself running for his very life and living in caves even after having been declared to be King. Has any of us who have been declared Kings and Priests ever had similar experiences?  David finally, after the necessary preparation by God in his life, was able to rule and reign as King. There’s also Moses and Samson. Remember these are not fairy tale people. These are real flesh and blood people just like you and I. What about Job?  What about the Apostle Paul?  God will deliver you if you will remain steadfast in his ways. Trust Him. He really does know what He is doing! Let God be God in your life. Realize that all you are and have are His to do with as He sees fit. You must learn to give up All your life in order to receive ALL that He is. Die to self and follow Him.

It is easy to say that you are willing to give up all and follow Him. Let me warn you from experience. All that do so will be tried & tested to prove their willingness before God himself. So many say they are willing to follow him until everything around them begins to disintegrate. Then they are quick to pull themselves back to where they were originally as their natural senses tell them they were better off before. Remember the children of Israel? Every time they turned around they were wishing they could go back to Egypt to where they’d been in captivity. Wanting to return in spite of the fact that their every need was being met. They had food, water and their clothes did not wear out. Still they still kept thinking the way back seemed better. Is our walk similar to theirs?  To give up all and really mean it is quite difficult. It seems we look around and on every hand and we are being told that if we are not prospering, (getting material wealth), then we must be in error.  Mathew, Mark, and Luke all record the statement Jesus made concerning the rich man. “ How hard it is for rich people to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. “ There are many who are in the Holy of Holies, ministering those of the Outer Court, who have seen with their spiritual eyes the Kingdom of God, but they realize that they would be required to give up control of their little “kingdoms” where a lot of money is involved. Many of them are in so many words saying, “you can be rich just like me if you send in your “seed” money to me.”  What rubbish is this? But many unsuspecting Christians, because of greed, are desiring to become rich financially like those who they see with seemingly immense wealth. Sometimes they literally give all that they have and end up with nothing!  It seems like we are being judged by how spiritual we are by how much money we have. If we don’t have any money we must be doing something wrong. Ok, I’ll let that one rest for now. Just beware of those who would use you to build their earthly Kingdoms. Enter into the riches which the Kingdom of God has for you. In the Kingdom ALL of your needs are taken care of and you will lack nothing. All is yours but only after self has been abandoned.  

In order for us to enter into the Kingdom of God we must totally abandon our selfish, fleshly, earthly, natural desires. The meaning of the word abandon is “to give up completely, desert, forsake, and leave behind.” We are to walk away from our own selfish desires and enter into Him. Paul said it like this in Philippians 3:13, NLT “ No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing, Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.” Abandonment is the key to the inner court, The Holy of Holies. Whoever learns how to abandon self soon begins to become perfect in God’s eyes. We must continue steadfast and immoveable. We must not listen to the voice of our natural reasoning and understandings, but instead listen to the Father. Confide in Him. Let Him rule IN our lives. In fact, let Him be the ruler OF our lives. Accept no substitute ruler. 

Proverbs 3:5-8 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. (6) Seek His will in ALL you do, and He will direct your paths. (7) Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead fear the Lord and turn your back on evil. (8) Then you will gain renewed health and vitality. “ 

Are you hearing what the Father is saying here? Are you paying close attention? Let’s look at some other scriptures which continue along this line. 

The Psalmist David writes; Psalm 37:3-5, 7, 9, 11, 16, 17-19, 23-24, 29, & 34; (3-5) “Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and he will help you.  (7) Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. (9)  …But those who trust in the Lord will possess the land. (11) Those that are gentle and lowly will possess the land; they will live in prosperous security. (16) It is better to be Godly and have little, than to be evil and possess much, (17-19).   … The Lord takes care of the godly. Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent, and they will receive a reward that lasts forever. They will survive through hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough, (23-24). The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.  (29) The godly will inherit the land and will live there forever.  (34) Don’t be impatient for the Lord to act! Travel steadily along His path. He will honor you, giving you the land.” 

Proverbs 16: 1-3: “We can gather our thoughts, but the Lord gives the right answer. People may be pure in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their motives. Commit your work to the Lord, and then your plans will succeed.” 

Mark 6:25-33  “So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds, they don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Can all your worries add a moment to your life? Of course not! And why worry about your clothes? Look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you? You have so little faith! So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Why be like the Pagans, (the Gentiles, the Worldly), who are so concerned about those things. Your heavenly Father ALREADY KNOWS YOUR NEEDS, and he will give you ALL that you need from DAY TO DAY, “IF” you live for him, AND “IF” (implied), you make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” 

Our abandonment then should be applied both to external as well as the internal things. We must turn over ALL our concerns into the hands of God. We must forget ourselves and think only of Him. Then, and only then, can we be truly set free. It means losing our own will into the will of God. We must stand in indifference with respect to ourselves. We must be resigned in all things to God. We must surrender ourselves to be led totally by the will of the Father as it pertains to our inner man as well as the outer man. Whatever The Father has willed for us from the beginning of time will run its course as we submit to His will and truly surrender all to Him. We simply must have faith and believe that HE IS and that He will reward those who diligently seek after Him. We are being called to surrender all to the King! 

Unless we cease to exist in self, the Spirit of the Eternal Word cannot exist in us. By the destruction of the existence of self within us, we truly acknowledge the supreme existence of our God.  it is by the giving up of our own life, that we give place for His coming; and “in dying to ourselves", He lives and abides in us.” 

We should surrender our whole being to Christ Jesus. We should stop living in ourselves so that He can become our life. Colossians 3:2-4,  “Let Heaven, (the spiritual realm), fill your thoughts. Do not think only upon things down here on earth, (carnal realm). (Vs 3) For you died (to the carnal), when Christ died, and your real life (spiritual, heavenly), is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real life, (spiritual, heavenly), is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all His glory.” 

In John 4:23-24 Jesus told his disciples, “The time is coming and IS ALREADY HERE when TRUE worshippers will worship the Father IN SPIRIT and IN TRUTH. The Father is looking for ANYONE who will worship Him that way.” 

 “In spirit,” because we enter into the purity of that Spirit which is within us. We are drawn forth and freed from our own carnal corruption. We enter “In truth” because we are placed in the great truth of the ALL OF GOD, and the NOTHING of us. There are only these two truths: The ALL, and the NOTHING. Everything else is falsehood. We can pay due honor to the ALL OF GOD. only in our own surrender of death to self. This will instantly fill us with ALL of Himself. "John 4:14 (Jesus Speaking), “The water I give,  them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring WITHIN THEM, giving them eternal life.”  It is He alone which will sustain us for all of eternity.

Jesus Christ assured us, that the “Kingdom of God is within us” (Luke 17:21). When God becomes fully The Master and Lord within us then nothing will resist His dominion. Only then is His kingdom manifested within us.  When we possess God, who is the Supreme Good, we possess His kingdom. It is there we find fullness of joy and remain eternal. We can therefore say “to serve God, is to reign.” Forever we can enjoy our God, even in this life! It is so sad how few there are who think of this seriously. It is the “Good News!” of the Gospels. It is simply our complete submission to God and surrender of our all to Him! 

Chapter 4

Characteristics Of The Kingdom 

We’ve looked at how to prepare to enter the Kingdom of God, where it is located, and finally, how to surrender our all to the King who is currently reigning. What then can we say is the main underlying foundational makeup of the Kingdom?  

I’m sure we can all agree first of all that it is God’s Kingdom. We now know that God as Jesus Christ is the King of Kings ruling in God’s Kingdom. So we only need to look at what is the main character of God Himself to get a glimpse of what His Kingdom is all about. In 1 John 4:16- it says, “We know how much God loves, and we have put our trust in Him, (surrendered our all to him). GOD IS LOVE, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (Vs 17), And as we live in God, (In The Kingdom), our love grows more perfect.” So we see here that the scriptures reveal God Is Love. 

If God is love then we know that His Kingdom would be one of Love. To rule and reign with him in the Kingdom would be to acquire His love. 

This is the way we acquire His love. If God Himself is Love, then is it not true that as we possess all of Him we possess all that He is?  In the same proportion that we possess Him so then Love will manifest itself from within us in that same proportion. As we become surrendered to Him, He then will cause us to manifest His love. We will rule in the same manner as Jesus Christ rules. God prohibits us from tasting any outside pleasure other than those pleasures found to be in Him. As we surrender ourselves to God the Father and the rulership of  Christ, the Holy Spirit will cause the love of God to increase in us. It will increase in direct proportion to the neglect of our own will and desires. We will think only of how we can please Him. What would the Body of Christ be like if everyone caught hold of this simple method which God has made possible for us? No matter how ignorant nor how learned one is, no matter how rich or poor, all that is needed is submission to the King of Kings. When we are completely submitted to God it doesn’t matter what we do. Everything we do will be done so as not to offend the Father. We will never do anything outside the boundaries of Love. 

True Love, God’s Love, cannot be counterfeited. We have tried to love others. We have tried to act out this love. It was counterfeit, from the fleshly nature,  not from within as a result of dying to self and allowing ourselves to become alive to Him. The Kingdom cannot be obtained through actions of the flesh. It can only come from within as we are drawn into His presence by the wooing of the Spirit. Let us be intent upon becoming Love as we overcome the flesh walk. For truly the Kingdom of God is a Kingdom made up of people walking in God’s Love. It is a kingdom of peace, which is to be gained only by love. God is LOVE. God IS.

Chapter 5

Enjoying The Presence Of The King 

If you are faithful in exercising love and an internal dependence on God as we just described in the last chapters you will be amazed to feel Him gradually taking possession of your whole being. You will begin to enjoy a continual sense of His presence. Your mind, will, and emotions, (your soul), will begin to feel an unusual sense of inner peace in spite of outside influences and concerns. This is the beginning of entering into His Kingdom rest where all your needs can be met. Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I AM God.”  

This means we must cease from our own self-action and self-exertion, so that God Himself may act alone. Sometimes we are so infatuated and in love with the work of our own hands, that to be still doesn’t seem like anything is being accomplished. I heard it said once that the stars in the sky can be seen real well before the sun rises. As the light of the sun begins to rise the light from the rays of the sun block the light of the stars until they are indistinguishable. They still have light but it cannot be discerned because of the brightness of the sun itself. So it is with us when we see things we think are important as our own reasoning would have it. If we would just pause and let God’s words shine upon it, then our own understanding and knowledge which is carnal and earthly would be absorbed by the light of His heavenly wisdom. The understanding of our mind, will, emotions, and our own desires and actions would grow faint and disappear under the influence of His light. His will would then begin to take precedence over that of our own selfish desires. There are two kinds of people that keep silent: 1. They have nothing to say. 2.They have too much to say. 

To drown, and to die of thirst, are both deaths although very different. Yet water caused both of those deaths to happen.  Too much destroyed in one case, and not having enough caused the other. If we will “be still” the abundance and overflow of God’s grace will bring to death all the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of ourselves. With the soul in this state of being dead, it becomes silenced by the superabundance of things too great to speak about. We become overwhelmed by what we begin to know of spiritual things. We often may need to wait to be able to speak about what we know down deep in our spirit. Our mind will fight against this knowledge because it is foreign to what it has learned outside of God the Father. The war between the flesh and the spirit begins as both compete for the soul. The flesh will question what the spirit is telling us but the spirit will bring peace and comfort to our soul if we submit to it. 

God Does not demand anything which is extraordinary nor difficult. Instead He is very pleased by a simple and child-like conduct. That is why it is recorded in Mark 10:14-15, and Luke 18: 16-17,  “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith, (child like), will never get into the Kingdom of God.”  

If you want go to the ocean, put your boat on a river and you will be taken to it with very little exertion on your part. Just go with the flow! It is religion that has made coming to God a hard thing. God has made it easy. Jesus did everything that needs to be done. All that we need to do is go along for the ride. Rest in His Love. Rest in His Peace. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, (all of your soul).

We must co-operate with the will of God, which means to cease from our own labors and quietly learn of Him. Don’t be surprised if you have difficulty talking with God. That is one reason as to why we are encouraged to pray in the Spirit. Romans 8:26-28 “The Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. We don’t even know what we should pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. (27) And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. (28) And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of all those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” 

God’s will is to be preferred above all else. Don’t let yourself be attached to anything, no matter how good it may appear, because it will no longer be good if it takes you from being in God the Father’s will for you. We must take off the interests of self. We must begin to live on faith and be resigned to fully trust only in Him and not in ourselves. Lean on Him. Let His love and peace become you. 

Psalm 32:8 “The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.”  

Psalm 32:10-11 says, “…unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord. (Vs 11) So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey Him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure.” 

There is safety in trusting in God completely. When we cast ourselves into the presence of God we will find an immediate supply of strength and peace. King David said in Psalm 16:8-9 “I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. (Within me, in my presence). (9) No wonder my heart, (innermost being, my spirit), is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises!” 

And it is said in Exodus, 14:14 “The Lord Himself will fight for you. You won’t have to lift a finger in your defense.” 

Everything including your defense and safety are provided for you in the Kingdom of God. You no longer must enter into warfare with the enemy. You are safely at home with the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace. Isn’t it great to be in the presence of the King? Why would you not want to abide there with Him?

You can be as a child again. Children do not have to war with the enemy. It is the parents responsibility to protect them. Let us draw near to the Father and let Him wrap His arms of comfort and safety around us. Let Him fight our battles as we draw into His sanctuary. Remember when Jesus said in Mathew 11:28-30 “Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you REST. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle and will find REST for your Souls, (Your mind, Your Will, and Your Emotions). For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light..” 

When Jesus made that statement he had just finished a prayer that I feel is very important to understand. Mathew 11:25-26 “O Father, Lord of heaven, (the spiritual realm), and earth, (the natural, carnal realm).  Thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, It pleased you to do it that way.” 

I started out with the following challenge in the last statement of the preface; it is of God the Father that we read, “Whose delight is to dwell with the children of men” (Proverbs 8:3). With those who are, indeed, willing to become “little children”; it is God alone, who can make this Kingdom teaching of any value. 

Jesus also has said to us in that same passage we read from in Mathew 11, in verse 28, “My Father has given me authority over EVERYTHING.  No one really knows the Son except the Father. And No one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal to him.  Oh may our Heavenly Father and His Kingdom be revealed to you. 

Proverbs 9:10-12 “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in understanding. Wisdom will multiply your days and add years to your life. If you become wise you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.”

Proverbs 9:4-6 Wisdom calls out, “Come home with me, she urges the simple. To those without good judgment she says, Come eat my food (spiritual words of God), and drink the wine, (refreshing of the Spirit), Leave your foolish, (carnal), ways behind, and begin to live; learn how to be wise. Not in your own knowledge and wisdom but in His wise understanding. 

There is much the Father has reserved for you within His Kingdom. May you enter in with childlike faith. Trust Father enough to show you His Kingdom truths. Look within you. May you see and hear The Father speak. Enter into His glorious presence. The I AM who dwells in His Kingdom is in you. GOD IS.

Craig W. Lewis              

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