The power of words is magnified to the “nth” degree when one considers the wisdom of the following Proverb:
Proverbs 18:21
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
If one speaks words of life they will eat the fruits of life.
If one speaks words of death they will eat the fruits of death
The enemy knows by controlling speech they can control society.
In this world there is the culture of Hate and Death and the culture of Love and Life.
Mankind has been granted by the Creator the power to choose which culture they will live in.
The bottom line is by our speech we promote one or the other of these cultures.
From the rebellion of Adam and Eve until this very day mankind has been involved in a battle of cultures.
We have been in-between the battle of Good and of Evil.
Thousands of years ago Moses spoke to the Children of Israel about life and death:
Deuteronomy 30:19-20.
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Moses was 120 years old when he spoke these words to the Children of Israel after they had aimlessly wandered for forty years in the Wilderness until they finally entered into the Promised Land.
This phrase “Dwelling in the land” under the New Covenant refers to the coming Kingdom of God. It refers to the city whose builder and maker is God. The New Jerusalem of which we who have believed are already citizens.
We who believe and follow Christ have been promised so much of this Kingdom but in reality we seem to know so little of how we are to live in it today.
Why? Because the true Good News of the Kingdom of God that Jesus and His Apostles fearlessly preached has been missing or neglected as our “Daily Bread” for centuries.
Jesus told us that we cannot serve two Masters.
We cannot serve God and Mammon.
Therefore we are always in the act of choosing which culture we will serve.
The Culture of Hate and Death confronts us every day as we live in this world.
However the culture of Love and Life is a Hope like a shinning Light burning brightly.
Now this gets to the crux of where our allegiance truly lies.
Does our loyalty lie with the World’s way of living or with seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? The question is will we serve God or Mammon?
I love America and what our founding Fathers provided for us when they wrote in the Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among theses are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
They initiated a Nation that honored God and His way of living.
Yes! I love America but I love the Kingdom of God much more.
One day America will be no more. America is temporal however the Kingdom eternal and when it is established the pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness will be totally fulfilled.
The Rebellion which began with Adam and Eve is still all about choosing between Good and Evil. Love or Hate.Life and Death. Blessings and Cursing. Freedom of Speech or Politically Correct Speech? The choice is ours as to which of these we will confess and serve.
The line is clearly drawn in the sand. But really it is a line drawn in eternity by the Creator.This line is between Eternal Life and Eternal Death.
Jesus spoke words that are spirit and life.
John 6:63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Taking a stand for righteousness will always bring persecution and perhaps even Martyrdom for some.
We have seen this in our time when those of the Culture of Hate and Death beheaded Christians in the Middle East!
The blood of Martyrs are the seeds and fertilizer of true Christianity.
If we study the Book of Acts and History we will discover how many were persecuted, maimed, tortured and martyred for their faith in Christ. This includes Christ and many of His Apostles and followers also.
Persecution is the price one must be willing to pay to be able to live in His Kingdom blessings.
If we belong to Christ then living in the lifestyle of a Kingdom Citizen or “Kingdom Living” should be our hearts burning desire. Therefore our daily choices must be clear and deliberate.
Today many sit at a crossroads of choosing Life or Death.
My intent is to encourage others to truly investigate the Gospels. Learn of Jesus’ example of Love and Life and His purpose of being sent to Preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God. He made available immortality to all. This is the only Hope for mankind.
Luke 4:43
Let us allow Christ to reveal more and more of the Kingdom of God to each of us each day as we pray His Kingdom Prayer:
“Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Will be done
On earth as it is In heaven.”
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Kingdom Living How Shall We Live?
Dying to All Other Allegiances of this World or this Present Evil Age
Jesus said “ The Kingdom of God is at hand” and “The Kingdom of God is within you”
If we were living in The First Century and were baptized, this is what we were saying through that dramatic act:
I am a citizen of this World
I am addicted to the allure things of this world. But here I am. I am about to die. And the person I am now will soon cease to exist for I am willfully choosing to follow Jesus.
This does not mean that I am going to change and give up my associations and bad habits through my own efforts or strength but I am fully trusting in Christ and His promise of the more than abundant life.
John 10:10 KJV
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
What I am saying is that from the Father’s perspective the man or woman that I am is going to die with Christ.
I also believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah the Divine Son of God.
I believe He died for the sins of the world and for my sins and I believe that He rose rose again from the dead.
I believe He ascended into heaven, and He is now the Lord or King of the known and unknown Universe.
So then through this baptism I publicly declare that I am finished with this old world and it’s deceitful ways.
Take me out to the graveyard and bury me along with all of my allegiances and associations. Yes! Bury them all with my old man.
Then I will rise out of the water as
A new creation
I now belong to a new nation
I am alive to a new kingdom where Jesus Christ is King.
Once we emerged out of that watery grave we rose up a new creature! For we have in an instant been changed and translated from death to Newness of life.
Colossians 1:13-14 KJV
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
Out of the water emerges a new man who belongs to a new Nation of the people of God.
We are now a Kingdom Citizen of a new nation called ekklesia – the Church – which is the body of Christ. We are Ambassadors for Christ. A physical and visible embassy of the kingdom of heaven fully operational upon the earth.
Those who have repented, believed, and are baptized in the name of Jesus now belong to a new kingdom with a totally different and opposite set of values from the old world.
With Baptism their life as they knew it had ended.
They were as those who had risen again from the dead to walk in a new quality of life.
Romans 6:3-11 KJV
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The baptized person may still be involved in the political process, but politics no longer defines them. Nor does race or social status. They may still be involved in the educational system, but they are no longer influenced by it.
The baptized person’s allegiance is no longer to this world.
Revelation 3:5 KJV
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
This is how the early Christians understood Baptism.
For them baptism was a total and final ending and a new beginning.
A burial, for their past was gone, forgiven, and forgotten.
A resurrection in that they were now a new quality of man and a member of the body of Christ.
They were now part of a new Kingdom Race separate from the Human Race headed up and led by Christ Himself giving glory to the Father.
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