If you were told that you could experience a life free of all bitterness, anger, hatred, jealousy, resentment. A life without greed, without a need for recognition. A life where you were not the main player, where you are blessed because you learned to put others first. Would you want this life? There is a life, there is a place where you can speak a word and bring calm. You can heal the sick. Encourage the down and out; solve many of the problems of your society. In fact, you could actually speak for God. You would see what God the Father is doing on the earth and do it with Him. You would not stand alone but with the Lord Jesus in you. You would realize that you are one with Him as well as the Father. Your life will be contrary to the existing world system. You will be a peacemaker a source of joy, a giver of mercy, and a kind person. You can actually go around doing good because your Father God has empowered you and is continually with you because you are in His Kingdom now! Normal Kingdom living is all of the above plus more. You may die for the sake of the kingdom, that is, you are so full of Jesus that you get the same treatment He did, a student is not above his teacher. You will not fear this because there is no fear in the Kingdom, perfect love casts out fear.
You might even be able to live your life to its fullest because you wont fear even death. You will find no need to make sure all your bases are covered. The days of accumulating stuff and worrying about how to keep it will be over. You will realize that you own nothing yet posses all things. You will be full of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Best of all you will sleep at night, you will not worry, you will not be anxious, and you will live in peace and great joy. Those ahead of you will not bother you, or cause you to judge them because of your pride. Humility will describe you. Grace is for the humble, the proud are opposed.
If you are a Christian you will say that you have all this because you are a Christian. The truth is you dont. Check this out: We arrive for Sunday worship, where we learn some kingdom living. We are sitting listening, adding a few amens and praise Gods, while a couple of what we call low life drug addicts are stealing accessories from your car, in order to keep from getting sick because of their addiction. It would be shocking to see how un Christ-like you will react when finding your things stolen. Call the cops, they took my stuff, that is not right, get it back, they must pay, we will teach them a lesson, and on and on. If someone takes your goods dont ask for them back. Pray for those who spitefully use you.
The fact is you will feel violated and angry, you may even become vindictive, and resentful. These are the very things you promise your friends they will not have if they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life. What is wrong here?
This is no over- statement, this is true. We have forgotten that we live in the great reversal, the first are last and the last are first. The kingdom of God is not the Kingdom of the world it is the antithesis. Your only rights are in the kingdom of God. We are not citizens of this world. We dont react the way the world does, do we? Our hope is this: The Kingdom of God is at hand, it is here now, now you are the sons of God. The power of God is here for you now. Is there a greater message than this? Could anything be better than becoming Christ? You are the continuation of the incarnation.
There is no reason to believe that people or the church is filled with the Spirit of God. We have become a greedy, status seeking, recognition hungry, position orientated, self-centered mess. To top it all off we justify this from the scripture. Of course it is not quite as blatant as that. We have forgotten who we are. So, I would ask you to stop reading the bible for just a while and ask yourself this question, who am I.?
Spirit of God is not leading us. How many People do you know who give to whoever asks expecting nothing in return? only those people who are in Christ could do such a thing. most people come up with little stories to justify rejecting the leadership of God. Example: What if I owned a store and gave to any one who asked, soon I would have nothing. have you tried ?, no, have you trusted the great teacher, Son of God, prophet, man who said this?, no. You see, you already have nothing! You have nothing that matters, without faith it is impossible to please God, to follow Him is to be one with Him.
Notice how quick we are to seek vengeance, the death penalty for example, does your heart tell you this is right, the spirit of Jesus certainly wont. Why wont you listen to Jesus?, why wont you listen to your inner most being? Ill tell you why. It is not practical, it is not good business, it is not convenient, it is not profitable, and it will cost you.
These Your brothers and sisters are pretending to be something they are not. unfortunately churches and pastors are leading you there. The people leading you are good people who have been ruined by the system. For further study see The Rain Maker it is a movie but do not fear, your father will speak to you as you watch.
Most leaders start off wanting to save the world, but the system corrupts them. We know we are not being led down the right path because these are great obstacles for people who are quick to demand their rights, always looking for ways to better their lives, and rarely considering the needs of others. Christians will not hesitate to file law suits even though they know it is wrong. Christians are judgmental even though we know it is not under the leadership of Jesus that we pass judgment. It is under the guidance of pastors, elders, and our most spiritual friends, that we find loop holes to quench the spirit of God.
How are people led down these paths not realizing that something is wrong? It is such a subtle process that people who are close to one another do not notice it. If you introduce change very slowly it is not as noticeable as radical, sudden change. As our society is changing we tend to change with it. I believe this is cool, however, you must let the Spirit of God be in control. Love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, must forever be manifest in our lives. Angry, unforgiving, self serving, people do not manifest the fruit of the Spirit of God. The "I must feel good", "I have rights", "Nobody is going to get in my way", attitudes are influencing even the most holy.
I notice it in my driving. While turning off a busy part of hwy 101, with my grandson (age 7), I was forced to sit and wait for a break in the traffic. Many cars accumulated behind me to make the same turn. At one point a man gestured me with great rudeness to move it. [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]ed off, I responded with the same rudeness yelling I have kids in this car . After yelling I began to build a case against this guy. What an idiot, I thought, I told my grandson the guy is an idiot, (great example). Down the road a ways the guy was right next to me at a stop light. Part of me wanted to flip him off.. Is this the beginning of Road Rage? I think so. Road Rage, Justified and sanctified. It will only get worse. By the way. The next I realized what I had done was wrong. So it was necessary to apologize to my Grandson, I said, Dakota remember what I said about that man yesterday? Well that was wrong. He responded I know grandpa. Can you forgive me? I asked. Sure, he said. If you listen to those repulsive punk rock songs youll know what I mean. They know us.
I would like you to consider a change. Think with me through the following:
You are a child of God. We are in a present kingdom, The kingdom Of God. This kingdom is now and yet still coming. We must be taught by Jesus and his followers how to operate in the Kingdom Of God. Jesus taught, demonstrated, and practiced, with His students. He then sent them out to do the same.
We must be full of the spirit of God, leading to oneness with the Father and the Son. We will say it is no longer I who live but Christ. We will heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, feed the poor, teach those who have no shepherd. Go around doing good, loving our enemies, blessing those who persecute us, returning good for evil, and being a blessing not a curse.
This is new but it is not new. Hearing and doing is the key. All mixed with faith, and knowing God has created you in His image at this time for great things. Young people will begin to lead us. Listen to them. It is my prayer that we can begin the journey now. While talking to a youth pastor recently, I saw the key, I want to do that, I need help, Im green, I want to learn. What humility for a 25 year old pastor? God gives the kingdom to the humble! So let us go on from here.
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is the highest calling. We must always remain peaceful and humble, loving one another knowing that the world will know we are the children of God because we love.
Your friend and brother Bill Habing
You might even be able to live your life to its fullest because you wont fear even death. You will find no need to make sure all your bases are covered. The days of accumulating stuff and worrying about how to keep it will be over. You will realize that you own nothing yet posses all things. You will be full of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Best of all you will sleep at night, you will not worry, you will not be anxious, and you will live in peace and great joy. Those ahead of you will not bother you, or cause you to judge them because of your pride. Humility will describe you. Grace is for the humble, the proud are opposed.
If you are a Christian you will say that you have all this because you are a Christian. The truth is you dont. Check this out: We arrive for Sunday worship, where we learn some kingdom living. We are sitting listening, adding a few amens and praise Gods, while a couple of what we call low life drug addicts are stealing accessories from your car, in order to keep from getting sick because of their addiction. It would be shocking to see how un Christ-like you will react when finding your things stolen. Call the cops, they took my stuff, that is not right, get it back, they must pay, we will teach them a lesson, and on and on. If someone takes your goods dont ask for them back. Pray for those who spitefully use you.
The fact is you will feel violated and angry, you may even become vindictive, and resentful. These are the very things you promise your friends they will not have if they accept Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life. What is wrong here?
This is no over- statement, this is true. We have forgotten that we live in the great reversal, the first are last and the last are first. The kingdom of God is not the Kingdom of the world it is the antithesis. Your only rights are in the kingdom of God. We are not citizens of this world. We dont react the way the world does, do we? Our hope is this: The Kingdom of God is at hand, it is here now, now you are the sons of God. The power of God is here for you now. Is there a greater message than this? Could anything be better than becoming Christ? You are the continuation of the incarnation.
There is no reason to believe that people or the church is filled with the Spirit of God. We have become a greedy, status seeking, recognition hungry, position orientated, self-centered mess. To top it all off we justify this from the scripture. Of course it is not quite as blatant as that. We have forgotten who we are. So, I would ask you to stop reading the bible for just a while and ask yourself this question, who am I.?
Spirit of God is not leading us. How many People do you know who give to whoever asks expecting nothing in return? only those people who are in Christ could do such a thing. most people come up with little stories to justify rejecting the leadership of God. Example: What if I owned a store and gave to any one who asked, soon I would have nothing. have you tried ?, no, have you trusted the great teacher, Son of God, prophet, man who said this?, no. You see, you already have nothing! You have nothing that matters, without faith it is impossible to please God, to follow Him is to be one with Him.
Notice how quick we are to seek vengeance, the death penalty for example, does your heart tell you this is right, the spirit of Jesus certainly wont. Why wont you listen to Jesus?, why wont you listen to your inner most being? Ill tell you why. It is not practical, it is not good business, it is not convenient, it is not profitable, and it will cost you.
These Your brothers and sisters are pretending to be something they are not. unfortunately churches and pastors are leading you there. The people leading you are good people who have been ruined by the system. For further study see The Rain Maker it is a movie but do not fear, your father will speak to you as you watch.
Most leaders start off wanting to save the world, but the system corrupts them. We know we are not being led down the right path because these are great obstacles for people who are quick to demand their rights, always looking for ways to better their lives, and rarely considering the needs of others. Christians will not hesitate to file law suits even though they know it is wrong. Christians are judgmental even though we know it is not under the leadership of Jesus that we pass judgment. It is under the guidance of pastors, elders, and our most spiritual friends, that we find loop holes to quench the spirit of God.
How are people led down these paths not realizing that something is wrong? It is such a subtle process that people who are close to one another do not notice it. If you introduce change very slowly it is not as noticeable as radical, sudden change. As our society is changing we tend to change with it. I believe this is cool, however, you must let the Spirit of God be in control. Love, mercy, kindness, and forgiveness, must forever be manifest in our lives. Angry, unforgiving, self serving, people do not manifest the fruit of the Spirit of God. The "I must feel good", "I have rights", "Nobody is going to get in my way", attitudes are influencing even the most holy.
I notice it in my driving. While turning off a busy part of hwy 101, with my grandson (age 7), I was forced to sit and wait for a break in the traffic. Many cars accumulated behind me to make the same turn. At one point a man gestured me with great rudeness to move it. [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]ed off, I responded with the same rudeness yelling I have kids in this car . After yelling I began to build a case against this guy. What an idiot, I thought, I told my grandson the guy is an idiot, (great example). Down the road a ways the guy was right next to me at a stop light. Part of me wanted to flip him off.. Is this the beginning of Road Rage? I think so. Road Rage, Justified and sanctified. It will only get worse. By the way. The next I realized what I had done was wrong. So it was necessary to apologize to my Grandson, I said, Dakota remember what I said about that man yesterday? Well that was wrong. He responded I know grandpa. Can you forgive me? I asked. Sure, he said. If you listen to those repulsive punk rock songs youll know what I mean. They know us.
I would like you to consider a change. Think with me through the following:
You are a child of God. We are in a present kingdom, The kingdom Of God. This kingdom is now and yet still coming. We must be taught by Jesus and his followers how to operate in the Kingdom Of God. Jesus taught, demonstrated, and practiced, with His students. He then sent them out to do the same.
We must be full of the spirit of God, leading to oneness with the Father and the Son. We will say it is no longer I who live but Christ. We will heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, feed the poor, teach those who have no shepherd. Go around doing good, loving our enemies, blessing those who persecute us, returning good for evil, and being a blessing not a curse.
This is new but it is not new. Hearing and doing is the key. All mixed with faith, and knowing God has created you in His image at this time for great things. Young people will begin to lead us. Listen to them. It is my prayer that we can begin the journey now. While talking to a youth pastor recently, I saw the key, I want to do that, I need help, Im green, I want to learn. What humility for a 25 year old pastor? God gives the kingdom to the humble! So let us go on from here.
Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is the highest calling. We must always remain peaceful and humble, loving one another knowing that the world will know we are the children of God because we love.
Your friend and brother Bill Habing
