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Posts Tagged ‘Royal Priesthood’

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Scripture reading: Daniel 10:12-14

Have you ever thought about what the offering of the soul is? The offering of the soul is the offering of the mind, the emotions, the will, and the desires. The mind that we have is a mind, not fashioned after the mind of Christ, but fashioned after the mind of our families. We think like our families think, we behave as our families behave, we do the things that our families have been doing for years and years and years. We are a part of a family, part of a people, part of a nation. The spirits that rule over us and our ancestors and caused our ancestors to behave in a certain fashion – warlike, or loving, or whatever way they behaved – it was all organized and accelerated and assisted and abetted by spirits that occupy that family.

We call these spirits “familiar spirits,” because they belong to the family. Familiar spirits are in every family. Because we were born under Adam, we became part of a whole network of familiar spirits who are directly under princes of devils ruling the whole earth. The whole earth is under satanic rule throughout his palities, different areas of rulership. The world is divided into different areas of rulership and satanic government. This truth is made clear in Daniel 10:12-14.

“Then said he to me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.”

In these Scriptures, we get a little insight into the kingdom of Satan. The prince of the kingdom of Persia who withstood the mighty angel Gabriel was not a human prince. Neither are we writing about the physical kingdom of Persia. This kingdom must have spread beyond the boundaries of the physical area called Persia. We understand from this Word in Daniel that Satan has princes that rule within certain areas and these princes have great power.

We need to understand that there are spirits that rule over nations. Each head of government and each government have spirits that rule over it. Each family has spirits that rule in the family. When we turn to God the power of the ruling spirits is broken and we become free from their rule over us. The spirits may harass us, hinder us, or even oppress us, depending on where we are in the Spirit, but cannot rule over us anymore. As believers we have “power…over all the power of the enemy” according to Luke 10:19. This is the reason the Lord told us through the apostle Paul to pray for the leaders of our country (1 Timothy 2:1-2) because we can disrupt the work of devils in our nation.

Nevertheless, Christians do revert into submitting themselves under these spirits, and then they become bound. For instance, some Christians go back and put themselves under national spirits, becoming nationalistic and sectarian in their approach to God. The true servant of God should never be sectarian, whether it be to your nation or to your family, but should be ready and willing to be a part of what God is doing in the earth.

1 Peter 2:9 says that we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation.” Christians belong to the new family of God. There is a tie, a covenant (Ephesians 2:12-22) through the Blood of Jesus Christ, to those who are under the Blood of Jesus in the church. The church is made up of the called-out people. Believers are called out according to families. The Scripture describes it as tribes. There is a calling from God and as we follow the calling of God, we break the bands and the bondage of the spirits that bind our families and bind us as individuals. We keep on breaking these bands until we become absolutely free in Christ Jesus when the fullness has come.

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 176-177)

Thought for today: When we turn to God, the power of the ruling spirits is broken and we become free from their rule over us.

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Scripture reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34

In the book of Revelation, John saw all of us sitting here. John said he looked at the company of the overcomers and they were all worshiping the Lord. He saw you! Before you were born, he saw you, and you were worshiping the Lord; and God said, “It is good. Let them be birthed.”

So, we are born in various, different circumstances. Some of us were born in darkness: “Lord, when I think of the night… my soul… in the past! It was so dark; it was so terrible; it was so hopeless!” Yet, God said, “It is good!” For God saw the end of it.

Although I cannot see the end of it, I am rejoicing in the end of it, for I know that God is seeing it. He said that all them that He called, He perfected (Ref. Romans 8:29-30). He said He called you because He already perfected you! He knows what you are going to go through!

Today we are up against the Church’s greatest battle up to this point, and I believe there will be no greater when we overcome. The reason is that we are just a few years from the end of this age, and according to my understanding, after the end of this age, Christ must come forth and walk and talk in human flesh and blood. He must walk on the streets of the city and bring forth the glory of God; and mankind must see God walking through men! This is the promise. He said in Jeremiah 31:33, “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

This promise was made to Israel, and as God engrafted us into this Israel, we became a part of the promise. So God must, I say, God must bring forth this thing on earth before He finishes the job! He cannot finish this age until He has brought this thing to pass! God must be God, and we must be a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, and a peculiar people unto God (Ref. 1 Peter 2:9). You are not satisfied with what you are right now and I am not satisfied with what I am. Then, if we are not satisfied, God is not satisfied either!

(Excerpt from The Omega Message, July 2000, pg. 27-28)

Thought for today: Let us strive in our daily lives towards having God’s law written in our hearts.

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Scripture reading: Hebrews 8: 8-11

God’s desire for His people is that they would be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, a kingdom of priests. How will this come about? Hebrews 8:9, “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.”

Verse 10a, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind.” Notice he said, “into their mind.” Jeremiah 31:33b says, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” When Paul was translating this verse from the Hebrew into the Greek, he received the understanding and used the word “mind.” “I will put my laws into their mind.” The mind is the HEAD of the soul. God will put His laws in their souls, in their minds, and write them in their hearts – the very center of the human being. This center controls the actions, the thoughts, the emotions, the desires, the feelings, the will, everything.

The heart is like a pendulum that swings to the right and swings to the left according to how the individual thinks and behaves and desires to be. With the desires, with the mind, with the emotions, with the will, and with the influence of the spirit, a position is arrived at which is the heart of the individual. An individual locks himself into that position in his will and begins to act like he thinks in his heart. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,” Proverbs 23:7a.

Hebrews 8:10b, “And write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” We will never come to be what God wants us to be until we receive that covenant written in our minds and in our souls and in our hearts. The CHRIST must come into our HEARTS and change our minds, our feelings, and CHANGE US.

Paul again writing to the Corinthian church in II Corinthians 6:16a says, “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for YE are the temple of the living God.” This is one of the temples the antichrist wants to sit in. There are three temples and he wants to sit in all three. He first wants to sit in the human temple and then sit in the congregation, the church, and then to control the church and humanity.

II Corinthians 6:16b, “As God hath said, I will dwell in them.” Paul is quoting the very scripture we just quoted from Jeremiah, from Isaiah, and from Ezekiel. Verse 16c, “I will dwell in them (as I live in them), and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” God wants a walking temple, a temple moving from place to place and speaking.

Jesus Christ was the ABSOLUTE PERFECT EXAMPLE of God’s will for you and for me. Therefore, we must be careful what we bring into our mind, what we bring into our temple, and what we bring into our desires. The enemy comes and shakes something glistening in front of us, like catching a fish with a lure. As the fish sees this glittering lure, he darts at it and sometimes it provokes him enough until he snatches it. He might have been cautious at first but he throws caution to the wind and swallows it whole, so is the lure of the world upon us. If we see the world luring us in any way we should resist it. I observe very little resistance among Christians and I am urging you, if you do not resist it now, you will not be able to resist it ever again, for things are going from bad to worse and the power of the enemy is increasing. We need to resist the will of the devil.

He will walk in us and talk in us and be our God and we shall be His people.

The Spirit of God is to come upon humanity and to perfect His work on us and in us, through us and by us. Hallelujah!

(Excerpt from The Book of Revelation, Volume 1, pg. 50-51)

Thought for today:  We will never come to be what God wants us to be until we receive that covenant written in our minds and in our souls and in our hearts.

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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.

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Scripture reading: 2 Chronicles 7:14

One day I said to God, “Lord, help me! Help Jamaica!” God said, “Will you stand in the breach?” Amen. Do you know that you are standing in the breach for many people? The life of the whole world is depending on a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a peculiar people at this very time. It is hard to believe and many people don’t believe it. But you have a boy, and the boy will not obey you. You say, “Don’t do so and so!” He says, “Well, I am a man. I can do what I want to and you are not responsible.” Do you know what happens? Down the road, when he gets into trouble, he comes right back to you. The whole trouble and everything is laid at your feet. You are responsible.

God made me responsible for Jamaica. I asked Him about it. I said, “Lord?” He said, “If My people who are called by My name.” WATCH IT, NOW! Beware of what you lay hands on, because the moment you lay hands on it, you become responsible for it. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face…” (2 Chronicles 7:14). He said He would hear from Heaven and what would He do? He would forgive your sins. In other words, He would make you a priest and heal your land. Don’t you understand? But then, turn it in the converse. If My people – that “if” there is a terrible thing – do not seek My face, do not humble themselves, do not pray, I will not heal their land.

I want you to turn with me to Leviticus 14. If we don’t go into the Old Testament, we won’t see certain things that we need to know. I talked to you about the boy, the child before. I have had some of them to deal with. They refuse to obey rules, refuse to walk in Christ, refuse to do righteousness. “I am a man. I can do what I want,” and then the trouble comes down. To this day we are under the pressure of the trouble because there are some things that you can do in life that are everlasting. When you went to that girl and told her you loved her and wanted her to marry you, you made an everlasting covenant. You had better not think of how to get out of it, because it is everlasting. So you can do some things that are everlasting.

Now therefore, there are certain sins that are committed in the world that cannot be abrogated, the people cannot get deliverance unless somebody else rises up and takes responsibility for it. I am going to give you a story.

One time my sister-in-law got polio and was dying. My mother called me the news and I started fasting. I called the whole church to fast. Monday morning we got into fasting and as I knelt down, an angel came before me. He said, “Hold this.” He gave me a handle to hold and kind of pulled it like it had some extension. He went one measure, then he went another, and I was following him. When we got to the crossroads, about two or three miles from where we started, he stopped. He looked back at me and said, “Who is going to pay for this?” When he did that, my heart just leapt with fright. But I said, “I will.” He said, “All right,” and kept going. We got to the university hospital, which was seventy miles away. My sister-in-law was lying in the bed contorted up. The angel went in, took a shaft and pushed it right down into her chest. Then he turned to me and said, “Okay.” I knew I had to push it so I did and said, “In the name of Jesus!” The woman jumped up into the ceiling and was totally healed.

Now, what kind of a payment? Why did I have to pay for it? In a spiritual sense, all the demons – hear me, now – all the demons that were on her CAME ON ME, and if I didn’t have the virtue of God to get rid of them, I would be like her. Glory to God! Amen.

When you are called unto the priesthood of God, you are called unto suffering. Wife, if your husband is not walking in God, you are called to suffer and to bring him to his knees by the power of Almighty God to serve God. God says that “the Kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). If you don’t mean what you are doing, get out of the business! Too many people are content for their neighbors to go to hell. You are content for the people around to go to hell. You see them every day and within a few years, a lot of them will be in hell, and you are having your breakfast every morning. Don’t you understand? God has created a people for the saving and the deliverance of the world. Somebody said, “But Jesus Christ died to save them. We don’t have to do anything.” Well, God said that you would be like Him. The more that you get like Jesus, the more responsibility that you have for everything that happens around you, for God has created a people to CHANGE the world.

(Excerpt from Keeping in Touch, February 2007, pg. 38-39)

Thought for today: God has created a people for the saving and the deliverance of the world. God has created a people to change the world.

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