Day 71 - Pursue the Kingdom

It’s late Monday night and I’ve had a long day today. I was up at 3AM to be at work at 5. I finished around 11, but didn’t drive back home because of the distance. So I had lunch and went to starbucks. I had outreach at 3PM and then class at 6, so it is really good to be home. Even though it has been a long day, It was great to be back at school tonight. I don’t know what it is going to be like this summer once school is out. So here I am sitting by the fire with my laptop listening to Love Came Down. Someone ask me tonight how I was doing. Really, a lot of people asked me that. I was able to tell them that I am doing well. As I was thinking I was able to say truthfully that I have not had any “bad days”. I’ve had hard periods of time. Maybe 15 – 30 minutes when things are bad, but I have always been able to turn the corner and not have a “bad day”. It’s the first time that I have thought of it like that. Yes, grief can come in waves. But for me it lifts after a short time and God’s grace kicks in. I think because I am able to move into His rest so quickly I am protected from the protracted times of grieving. Sure, I miss Julia constantly, but I can still do that and have good days. I am grateful that I have such a strong relationship with God and that I have learned to move in intimacy with Papa, Jesus and Holy Spirit. I wish that I could just impart that to all those I know that are grieving loss. I’m not special; this is a place all believers should be able to move into. It is resting under the wings of the Almighty.
Jack Taylor was at school. He is an amazing man of God. I don’t know how old he is, but he is probably in his early 70’s. He started out asking this question. What does God do for a living? I’ve never asked that question, but the answer really opens up a lot of questions for most of the church. The answer is this: He rules. He is sovereign and He rules. If He rules, then the primary thing we need to understand is the Kingdom of God and how it works. The Gospel of the Kingdom is the good news that needs to be shared. This is what Jesus taught, not the gospel of salvation. Salvation is just the door to get into the Kingdom. We are to petition God to release His Kingdom here on earth. “Thy Kingdom come…” is the most powerful prayer ever prayed. Everywhere there is a need, we should be putting a demand upon the Father to letl His Kingdom, rule and reign, come into the situation. When we, the church, get this we will be a powerful force. This is a message that I have been going after since about 1986 when I first heard John Wimber speaking about it. The pursuit of the Kingdom of God, and its manifest presence on the earth is a passion that consumes me. I want it to consume me more. It is something worth dying for. The church is just a tool that God uses to help bring His Kingdom to an area. In Nicaragua we were after the release of the Kingdom. Every time we pray for the sick or lead someone to Christ, we are pulling the Kingdom of God down to earth. We have to know that our worship is a strong force in the release of the Kingdom of God in our midst. There is no standing still. There is definitely no turning around and going back. The only way to survive in the Kingdom of God is to continue to press forward. You have to risk all that you have gained to take the next step. It is worth it all, even if it cost us our life. Julia knew this and this was our main passion together. We cried out and worked to see the Kingdom released in our home, the lives of our children and grandchildren. We pushed for it in our church, with our friends. I knew her heart as she knew mine. Our hearts had one main passion, to see the Kingdom of God released in every area that we had influence. I am seeing some fruit of our labors right now, but there is so much more to come.
Tonight Jack Taylor ended with a prayer if impartation. I know Julia liked it because he was praying her heart. He prayed that we would have such passion for the Kingdom of God that we would be worthless to do anything else. That we would choose to pursue the Kingdom at all costs, and we would extravagantly worship the King. As we were praying, I knew that Julia was laughing and urging us on.