This is My Kingdom
What king do you serve?? We have a tendency to create kings in our life… An emotional/physical statue, that we can point to and say, “Look at where I go to church!!”, or “Look at what great man of God we have for a pastor”!! We create this identity, of where we go to church, to how we want others to view us. The church then acts as the veneer of the relationship that we are suppose to have with Christ. Instead of others seeing who we truly are… We point to the imaginary crown of the kingdom we worship in. The shimmering lights and neon signs that disguise our sin for a “temple of Christ”!!
This life style of laziness is composed out of our own carnal mind as we create a buffer between us and God. That man, who is suppose to be our mediator, is Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5-6), but too often, we make that man, the elders and/or pastors. Holding ourselves to the standards of the church, and not to the standards of the Perfect Law of Liberty. (James 1:25)
We become idle, and trust their relationship over our own, because we choose to stay in the realm of milk drinkers, because it is easier. Thus, so many never take that next step of sacrificing everything they can for the Father.
Worst of all, we create an imaginary world where we think we have a relationship with the Father. We convince ourselves as long as we have this buffer (The pastors relationship), then we can keep serving how we see fit. Either knowingly or unconsciously we feel comfortable allowing them to lead. Too many use these men or church’s as the marker for their salvation instead of the word of God…
Taking the Crown – Disobedience to become king
In Genesis 3:1-7 we see this pull/yearning/mentality to be lead away from God’s word. The very first sin was rejecting, to put ourselves under, the absolute obedience and subjection of the Father. Yet, in the days we live in, we have this tendency to want somebody, anybody, to influence us, the same way the devil influenced Eve. We convince ourselves that our own desires, our own lusts are OK… As long as we have someone else leading the way.
And you see this example in Genesis. Honestly, all throughout the Bible… But lets work with the original sin… One needs to ask… Did Eve want a reason, a push, to be head over her husband (lead) and even on equal standing with God?? (Genesis 3:5) She allowed herself to be led away, only seeing the good within the tree and not the evil that it brings… And so, did sin follow. As Eve used the snake, Adam used his wife… And in the end, they all pointed at the one who led them astray… Yet, all were charged for not being obedient to God. (Galatians 6:8)
But, this is our natural man… Our desire for ourselves, or anyone else, but the Father. It plays out so easily with so many great men and women of God. We allow the world to convince us that their way is better then God’s way. We fail to understand that we can’t change God’s word…
Replacing the Crown
Samuel was a true servant and a prophet of the Lord. In fact, he was the last prophet to judge/lead God’s people… During this time the people grew weary, as they wanted nothing but their own desires. Their hearts became hardened against God and His rule. Proverbs 16:25 They were tired of the Tertullian Rule (Faith Led), and they wanted their own champion, a man they could look too and compare themselves to the other nations. They desired a Monarch Rule (Person Led), leaving God out of the equation as much as they could…
But, this is our natural man… Our desire for ourselves, or anyone else, but the Father.
– FilthyTruth
And, more often then not, when we reject God’s way so easily, it’s because we lack the faith we should have in Him… The inability to understand that obedience over the knowledge of the world is God’s design to create the heart of a servant. (Romans 1:5, John 14:15, 1 Corinthians 3:19-21) That obedience is the greatest example of Faith… The way we handle scripture and directions from God’s word, shows how much we have desire’s to be obedient to Him… To serve Him, and to follow His ways..
In 1 Samuel 8:5-6 You see the son’s sins of the prophet Samuel taking bribes for forgiveness… And instead of allowing Samuel to rebuke his sons, so they can see the errors of their ways, the people declined them as next in line (They may or may of not been picked by God), provoking their will over God’s will. This was the opportune moment that allowed their “desires of disobedience” to take over… Leading them against God.
In 1 Samuel 8:7-9 God informs Samuel, to tell them, everything that He did for them, extracting them from the grips of the Pharaoh and tolerating their unbelief while serving other god’s… Yet, this meant nothing to the people.
He allowed them to have their king and reject His reign over their life. And… as they rejected God’s way, they were still called His people, but they chose to serve themselves and not Him… They called themselves blessed, holy, and destined because of who God is… This whole time He was showing mercy and extending grace in their life.
1 Samuel 8:19-22 Thus, God gave them their champion, the man who stood shoulders and upward above the rest (1 Samuel 9:2)… Their statue that replaces the perfect image of God for an image that over time decays, and is full of flaws and fades. So… As their champions faith dies out, so too, will their faith be led astray.
These people sacrificed everything to be the image of man.. They gave up their relationship with God for an opportunity to become something God never wanted them to be.. An image that had nothing to do with Christ or the Father. They did not have a relationship to truly serve God and to be judged by His prophets… Instead, for them, God was too hard. They chose the “the man of bondage” instead of living a free life to serve the Father and how He saw fit… And this man will tell them how to live, how to work, how much they get, and charge them, like all other nations. The nations of unbelief. (1 Samuel 8:11-18)
End – Destroy Your Kingdom
Romans 16:17-19 It’s never about the pastor or even the devil, it’s about our flesh and our own desires that convince us so easily/(or convince many) that we are taking the right actions and are moving in the right direction. Division is not someone who is always causing you strife. But someone who comes contrary to the teachings, to that, which are in the word of God… And these people are not serving the Lord, but their own appetites…
And by this we fall into the snare of the devil. We begin to think we are somehow king over our own life and that we have the ability to create an identity to fit how we see ourselves. That we can mold our image and ignore the image God wants us to be. Romans 9:21
And that’s the dirty sin that we live with, isn’t it?? 1 Peter 5:1-4 We build men and women up to “receive” the Crown of Glory. Yet, these statues we build up are the negatives in 1 Peter 5. They only serve their own desires… That desire of power to be lord over our lives, and they are far from the example of Christ. These men and women are outfitted with the greatest apparel and look to serve only for gain and prosperity. They don’t know how to sacrifice, because how can they?? They have everything their hearts desire, and yet, we are the ones who build them up, and they tell us we can do the same. If we just have enough faith… Then how much more can we have… We forget!! There is only room for one king on stage… And with that… Instead of flocking to those, in 1 Peter 5, who have an honest heart to sacrifice, and to be the example of Christ in our lives, we create the image of Christ that fulfills our needs.
Thus, we become those with itching ears. 2 Timothy 4:1-4 We are the ones to build these false temples up to satisfy our own desires and to be turned aside to fables. Therefore, it is no wonder these people only serve for gain, and not to be the example of Jesus Christ. If the “Shepard” can speak a single word and receive millions, or even fulfill their heart desires, then who is the one in power?? Who is the one who is truly leading you??
In Genesis we see the first creation to turn from God to serve themselves. To become on equal ground with God and control their own lives. And in first Samuel we see a fallen generation flock to the image they want the world to see them to be. The image of a man that can never lead to salvation… And with itching ears… We do it all over again. We fail to look at all the examples… Starting from the very beginning of the word. And what happens if we live contrary to the word of God??
And isn’t this a slap to our Lord Jesus Christ… For after He came back and gave us the ability to serve Him as our King. Allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us in all of His ways… We instead choose to lean unto our own knowledge instead of obedience.. We elect those who will be the statue and satisfy our desire to be liked by others and be the champion that goes forth that the world sees, instead of being that example ourselves, that perfect image of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1, 1 John 2:6)
