heaven's tree book club

August 27, 2012

Most Christians repent enough to get forgiven, but not enough to see the Kingdom.
This is a powerful quote that starts off this chapter. I know it applies to me. I think for many Christians, forgiveness of sins is not just the beginning of our Christian faith, but sadly, we stop there. The church lacks kingdom impact in the world and we lack power, God's power to change ourselves and our community. I think of the text where Jesus sends out the disciples and they come back excited for the miracles that were done in the name of Jesus. We lack this kingdom impact in our own lives. This chapter is about repentance.
"Israel expected their Messiah to come as the King who would rule over all other kings. And He did. But their misunderstanding of greatness in His Kingdom made it difficult tor them to grasp how He could be born xvithout earthly fanfare and become the servant of all.
They expected Him to rule with a rod of iron. In doing so they would finally have revenge on all those who had oppressed them throughout the ages. Little did they realize that His vengeance xxould not be aimed so much at the enemies of Israel as it would be toward the enemies of man: sin. the devil and his works, and the self-righteous attitudes fostered by religion.
Jesus the Messiah came...full of surprises. Only the contrite in heart could keep up with His constant coloring outside the lines and stay unoffended. His purpose was revealed in His primary message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heav-)i is at hand.'" Now there's something that caught them completely off guard: de brought His world with Him!
Repentance means much more than weeping oxer sin. or even turning 10,11 those sins to follow Cod. In tact, turning from sin us Cod is more the '¦'¦'¦iilt of true repentance than it is the actual act. Repentance means xou change our ii'i/y ,,/ thinking. And it's only in changing the way we think that we can iscovcr the focus of |esus" mmistrx'   -the Kingdom."
The early Jews are not the only ones who have a wrong conception of Jesus. I think we do as well. I think it looks differently for everyone, but asking ourselves who is Jesus is a profoundly important question. Jesus was and is against self-righteousness, sin, and the works of the devil. Are these the same things that I am against. One major weakness is that I allow those lies of the enemy to weaken my faith and trust in God. I've been quite discouraged as this morning, in the middle of the night, I woke with some pain in my leg. I immediately thought, I will never be healed. Jesus does not like faithless statements like that. Yet, here I was, 2:00 in the morning being oppressed by negative thoughts. It is the battle of the mind that is so crutial. This is where repentance begins.

"the Christian lite has been harnessed to this goal, verbalized in the Lords The focus of repentance is to change our way of thinking until the pKModel Prayer: "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in ence of His Kingdom fills our consciousness. The enemy's attempt to anchheaven."12 His dominion is realized when what happens here is as it is in heavour affections to the things that are visible is easily resisted when our hearts len. (This will be dealt with more thoroughly in Chapter 4.) aware of the presence of His world. Such awareness aids us in the task of bet co-laborers' with Christ.—destroying the works of the devil.' The GREATEST SERMON
If the Kingdom is here and now, then we must acknowledge it's in the inv. In Matthew, chapter 4, Jesus first declared the repentance message. People ible realm.Yet being at hand reminds us that it's also within reach. Paul said tl:ame from au ovet; bringing the sick and diseased, the tormented and handithe invisible realm is eternal, while that which is seen is only temporal/Je;:apped. Jesus healed them all.
saw e tutold Nicodemus that he'd have to be born again to see the Kingdom." Tl After the miracles He gave the most famous sermon of all time: the Sermon which is unseen can be realized only through repentance. It was as though bn the Mount. It is important to remember that this group of people just sax said, "If you don't change the way you perceive things, you'll live your wlnt-sus heal all kinds of sicknesses and perform mighty deliverances. Is it possibl life thinking that what you see in the natural is the superior reality. Withchat instead of giving commands on the new way of thinking, Jesus was actuchangmg the way you think you'll never see the world that is right in froiUllv identifying for them the transformation of heart they had just experienced? you It's My world, and it fulfills every dream you've ever had."
I love how the author says that "at hand" means it is within reach. Jesus did indeed demonstrate that the kingdom is within reach. He healed many, raised the dead, gave hope to the hopeless, and redirected the lives of the lost. God's visible attributes and power were seen in the person of Jesus. The parts of the Lord's prayer became real, His kingdom come. His will be done. God's world became visible here on earth. This is a power and reality we lack today in the church. Is the kingdom still within grasp? Can we really become colaborers with Jesus? We rarely witness genuine life change and miracles of God's ability in our own lives. Yet, as I read this text, this is what I long for. In the following passage, the author describes the clash between two kingdoms and a healing that demonstrates this clash.
"The unseen world has influence over the visible. If the people of God will not reach for the Kingdom at hand, the realm of darkness is ready to display its abiliy to influence.The good news is that "His [the Lord's] kingdom rules over all!'"'
Jesus illustrated this reality in Matthew 12:28, saying, "If I cast out demons ay the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you." There ire two things to notice that will be covered more thoroughly elsewhere in this Jook. First, Jesus worked only through the Spirit of God; and second, the king- torn of God came upon someone in his deliverance. Jesus caused the collision between two worlds: the world of darkness and the world of light. Darkness "Ways gives wax- to light! And in the same way, when the dominion of God was eleased through Jesus to that man. he became free.
That same collision between light and darkness happens when the sick are 'ealed. Walter had experienced two strokes in the previous year, which left him v'thout feeling on the entire right side of his body. He showed me a horrible burn on his arm that he had suffered, not knowing he was being bui,le Conviction, one of the words used to detect faith,1" began to burn m my h^ While he was still talking I began to pray for him with my hand on his sh0lJ; der. I had to do so quickly. 1 had become aware of the Kingdom where , numbness existed. I didn't WANT to become more aware of how severe his pro[ lem was. My prayer went something like this: Father, this was Your idea. You f0l| manded us to pray for tilings to be here as they are in heaven, and I know there is, numbness there, so there shouldn't be any here. So I command in the name of Jesus [ the nerve endings to come to life. I command full restoration of feeling in tfiis body.
Soon after I started to pray he told me that he felt my hand on his short der and could even feel the fabric of my shirt with his right hand. That wot] began to collide with the world of numbness. Numbness lost.
Faith is the key to discovering the superior nature of the itwisible realm,; is the "gift of God" within to uncover. In the next chapter we'll learn how fait deals with the unseen and makes room for heaven's invasion."
Prayer:
Father, there is the clash of two kingdoms. The kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of life and the kingdom of degeneration. Your kingdom is within reach. Yet, for many of us, we repent just enough to have our sins forgiven. Father, I want to see the kingdom. I want the kind of faith to see the superior nature of Your invisible realm of Your kingdom power and impact in the world. I woke up in the middle of the night to leg pain and the reality of the kingdom of darkness drew me to discouragement. I ask Father that Your kingdom rule would drive out that which is not of Your life-giving Spirit. I continue to believe and give thanks that You will heal me and that I will gain the faith to see Your superior realities in the spiritual realm.