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When Jesus taught His disciples how to pray He said in
Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
One of the principle characteristics of the kingdom of God is the truth that it is a kingdom of unlimited power. You may be thinking to yourself that doesn't describe my life but our present experience and situation does not define the kingdom of heaven. I believe that is where we often make a mistake. We think, because we aren't manifesting much power and experiencing much victory in our lives, the power of the kingdom is not for us today. Nothing is farther from the truth. The power of the kingdom is available. Jesus said it was. He said it was at hand. We simply don't understand how to appropriate it. We don't know how to walk in the revelation of it and release it in our lives.
The Bible is filled with numerous examples of the manifestation of the supernatural power of the kingdom of heaven. The book of Genesis opens up proclaiming the power of God
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
When the Spirit of God moves, He moves in power. God spoke and the heavens and the earth were created. He said "Let there be light" and there was light. He spoke and the stars, planets, lakes, streams, rivers and the oceans came into being. He spoke and the vegetation, fish, birds and animals were created. He formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. God's power brings order into chaos, life into death and light into darkness. All these things are examples of the power of God and His kingdom.The apostle Paul writing in Colossians said
Col 1:12-17 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 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: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
I like what the word of God says here. It is filled with words of power, words like delivered, translated, redemption, forgiveness, created, thrones, dominions, principalities and powers. It takes power to deliver someone, to translate them and to forgive them. The kingdom of God's dear Son is the kingdom of power and it is existed before all created things. In the book of Hebrews we read
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
It says in Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
I like those words and phrases purged, put away sin, sacrifice and sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. They are all statements of powerThe right hand always symbolizes a position of power
Exodus 15:6 Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O LORD, hath dashed in pieces the enemy.
And that is where Christ and His church is seated today. We are able to dash in pieces our enemies
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Whether you realize it or not, if you are a new creature in Christ you are seated in a position of power.
Ephesians 1:17-23 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
We need our spiritual eyes opened to the truth of the power that is in us and available to us. Everything was created by and is upheld by the Word of His power .
John 1:1-3 says In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Think of it, God has such power that he can create something out of nothing. There is a story about a scientist that told God that creating life was not such a big deal. He maintained that man had finally evolved to the state where he could create life, just like God was able to do. God challenged him and the scientist began to heap up a pile of earth to form his man but the Lord stopped him and said," No, no get your own dirt"
In the Old Testament when God introduced Himself to father Abraham He introduced Himself as the Almighty God
Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
If you're all mighty, everyone and everything must submit to your authority. When Abraham went to God in prayer asking if his servant was going to be his heir, God said I'll give you more heirs than you can count.
Gen 15:2-6 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Gen 17:15-17 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
The apostle Paul speaking of this event said in
Rom 4:17-21 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
This was a desperate situation as far as Abraham and Sarah were concerned but the power of the almighty God and His domain knows no limits or restrictions. Barren wombs and impotent members must respond to the power of God. God if need be, has the power to make something out of nothing, to raise the dead and bring life and hope to the most hopeless condition. Faith accounts those things that are not as though they were.When the children of Israel were in Egyptian bondage for 435 years, God delivered them with a mighty hand
Deut 7:8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Through one miracle after another God displayed His almighty power in His deliverance of the children from the land of Egypt. Pharaoh's kingdom was powerful but it was no match for the power of the kingdom of heaven. God turned Aaron's rod into a serpent that devoured the serpents of Pharoh's kingdom. He turned the water of Pharaoh's kingdom into blood. He covered the land with frogs and then with lice, flies, hail and locusts. He caused darkness to come upon the land and at His command the death angel came down over the land of Egypt and took the life of the first born of every family and creature in that nation that was not under the covering of the blood of the Passover lamb. When the children of Israel came out of Egypt and were trapped between Pharaoh's mighty army and the Red Sea, God supernaturally opened up the Red Sea and caused them to pass through it on dry land. Then He caused the waters to roll back in totally annihilating the most power army of that day. Through out the Old Testament, God demonstrated His mighty power. Whether it's in sustaining the lives of people on a morsel of food or raising the dead nothing is beyond being effected by the power of God.
1Ki 17:8-24 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.
It was the power (Spirit) of God coming upon a man like Samson that enabled him to kill a lion with his bare hands
Judges 14:5-16 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.
And kill a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass
Judges 15:14-16 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands. And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.
When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson he was endued with a supernatural power, the power of the kingdom of heaven
It is interesting to note that right after God created Adam and Eve, He gave them power to rule and reign in the earth.
Gen 1:26-28 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
That word "dominion" is the Hebrew word "Radah" meaning rule, reign, tread down, prevail against, sovereignty, Lordship, government
If God were to make man in His image, a creature that displayed Himself, He had to make him a creature that had power. To do otherwise would have destroyed the type and been a poor image of the Almighty God. That's why any man that is subject to appetite in its many forms is such a poor example of who God intended him to be. That's why any man under any type of bondage is a miserable man because God created man to be free and have dominion in every area of his life. That's why the apostle Paul told God's children in
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Sin was not to rule over them they were to rule over sin.When I see people standing or sitting along the street begging for money it saddens me and I think God has so much more for you than this. They have lost their dignity and their self-respect. Their heads are bowed low and they find it very difficult to make eye contact with you. God so much desires to restore His power in their lives.This issue of power was the reason Satan wanted to deceive Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Satan wanted to rob them of the power God had ordained for them to possess, that he might have it for himself. The truth is, when they were in fellowship with God they already were gods. God had given them the power to have dominion. When they fell into sin and disobedience, they were separated from God and lost His power and Satan became the god of this world. Satan took the place of power rightfully possessed by Adam and Eve and became their god because he ruled over them.
2Cor 4:3-7 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Throughout the Old Testament there were men who got a glimpse of the power of God and His kingdom. Men like King David
1Ch 29:10-12 Wherefore David blessed the LORD before all the congregation: and David said, Blessed be thou, LORD God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
and the prophet Isaiah
Isa 40:25-31 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
God wants to share His power with His creation. Jesus referred to this desire as the promise of the Father
Acts 1:4-5 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Jesus Christ, God's own son who came to restore to man all he had lost in the Garden of Eden. Jesus came with a message
Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
He could just as easily have said," The kingdom of power is at hand". The kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of power and if we are to position ourselves with God we must see ourselves as people of power. We need to have a change of mind, a change of understanding. We aren't helpless and hopeless any longer. We aren't victims we are victors. We aren't slaves we are masters.
Rom 8:37-39 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Jesus came to earth as a man and the things that He did were done as a man in complete alignment and agreement with Father God. Jesus positioned Himself spiritually with God by cultivating a relationship with Him, by keeping God's commandments, by only doing those things that pleased the Father and by being a doer of the Word and not a hearer only deceiving Himself. As a matter of fact Jesus said in
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Jesus came to earth as the pattern son, as a son of the kingdom of heaven who had the power to cast out devils, heal the sick, raise the dead, forgive sin and do miracles. We need to understand that God intended for us to be a kind of first fruits of a whole company of Sons that are to manifest the power of Father God as Jesus did.
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