Sonlight Devotional

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Scripture reading: Hebrews 11:8-10

Have you ever thought about why God said to Abraham to get out of his country, from his kindred, and from his father’s house? And also, why is He telling us the same thing? The reason is that if you do not get out, you will not get in. Let me say it again: If you do not get out, you will not get in! God is calling men and women and children into His kingdom and He said, “I offer you a holy priesthood. I offer you royalty.” However, you must come out if you are to come into what God is giving.

Now, this is no joke! This is not some preaching that we are putting over you. This is reality! The other things you are dealing with are not reality! They are for a time. They will pass away! Your color will pass away. Your nationality will pass away. All these things that you have in you that you believe are real—they are unreal!

“I offer you a royal priesthood, a holy nationality!” God said. God is recruiting people unto the heavenly Kingdom, but unless you get out of the kingdom under which you are ruled, you will never get into the Kingdom of God.

The question is, “When I get saved and I get baptized in the Holy Spirit, am I not in the kingdom of God?” We teach and we preach on this subject, but most of the brethren with which we fellowship do not believe this one point that I am bringing to you now. You are born again; there is no doubt about it. Jesus shed His Blood for you. He came, you opened yourself to Him, He baptized you with the Holy Spirit, and your spirit is completely taken by God. Now you have a spirit that is not yours. You cannot control your spirit for your spirit is taken by God. So then, your spirit will always be coming against the wrong things that you do. But are you in the Kingdom of God? The Kingdom of God is in you, but are you in the Kingdom of God? What is the meaning of this question? The only way we can find if we are in the Kingdom of God is if we understand what being in the Kingdom of God means.

Let us let us take it from the natural. We are in the kingdom of the United States of America. We have to obey the laws. Every one of you who came here by motor vehicle had to have a license. You have to pay for your license by the year. Your license has your photograph, your identity, and it is all done by the government under this kingdom where you are. Now, you can drive without a license, but it is called a crime. They will arrest you for driving without a license. You say, “I didn’t do anything! I only drove without a license,” but you are in this kingdom and so you must obey the laws and the rules of this kingdom or else your actions are illegal and criminal. That means that you are under the headship of the government of the United States, and whether you like him or not, the President of the United States is the head of the government of the United States. You do not have to like him, but what he says is going to affect you.

Now, let us go to the spiritual. To be in the Kingdom of God you have to be under the headship of Jesus Christ. That is, you have to be obeying the laws of Jesus. You have to be a citizen in good standing and not a criminal, because, as in our previous example, a criminal is still in the kingdom of the United States, but he is either in prison or he is working against the law and the law is working against him and sooner or later he is going to get hit and taken. Do you understand?

So, in order to be in the Kingdom of Christ Jesus, you must be under the headship of Christ Jesus. Now, are there Christians who are not under the headship of Jesus Christ? Yes! There are people who are born again and saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ, but they are not under the headship of Jesus Christ. They are against the very Kingdom that has redeemed them and purchased them.

We are saying then that to be in the Kingdom of Jesus you have to come out of the kingdom of the enemy.

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, July 1998, pg. 7-9)

Thought for today: Let us come under the headship of Jesus Christ by the simple fact of obedience to His leading so that we may be found in the Kingdom of God.