What is a kingdom?
- A kingdom has a king, subjects (those who obey the king), and laws.
- In the Kingdom of God, our king is God, and we are His subjects.
- In the Kingdom of God, there are values and laws because it is a kingdom of righteousness, joy, and peace.
- Our life must reflect the heavenly standard and not the standards of this world.
- We are still not there but the Kingdom of God is breaking forth here and now and establishing God’s will on earth. How do we bring God’s kingdom to earth? How do we reveal God’s light in the world?
- Believers who have influence — Each of us as believers has a unique ability to influence the world around us in such a way as to expose others in the world to the Kingdom of God.
- Influential people who become believers — There are people with influence in ways that no-one else has who have yet to come to faith. Their influence gives them a unique ability to bring the light of God into the world in a way that no-one else can.
So how does this work?
In order to be intentional about how we influence others, it is beneficial to understand the spheres of influence in this world such as education, politics/government, communications, art, entertainment, sports, business, law, and religion. As believers, we sometimes associate these spheres of influence with the brokenness of the world and so our tendency may be to distance ourselves from a focus on them.
To make things even more complicated, believers comprise a mere 1% of the population in Israel. Of these believers, many are Olim (Jewish immigrants to Israel) who struggle to fully integrate into Israeli society or to speak with ease to others around them in comprehensible Hebrew. Moreover, being Messianic and talking about Yeshua is somewhat taboo in Israel and so believers are often tolerated by more “open minded” people while faith in Yeshua is rarely taken seriously.
How do we change this reality in Israel? How can we broaden our horizons and influence people more effectively for the Kingdom of God in Israel? 2 Samuel 5:6–10 and 1 Chronicles 11:4–9 offer some insight into this. There was a time when the blind and the lame stood on the walls of the fortress of Zion and taunted King David and his men saying that it was impossible to capture the city. When David captured the city, Joab — the captain of King David’s army (and his nephew) — was the first to break through by means of a water duct into the city. Joab had the unique ability to find a way into the fortress of Zion and so influence the outcome of King David’s confrontation with the Jebusites allowing King David and his men to capture the fortress of Zion.
Like Joab, we may at times have to get creative to get past some major obstacles that stand in our way. We may need to crawl into the dark and slippery “water ducts” of life to get the breakthrough that God has in store for us. We must know how to:
“…put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
(Ephesians 6:13–18)
Joab made a way for others to breakthrough and so too can we take up the full armor of God and get breakthrough not only for ourselves but those around us. God promises in Deuteronomy that we will be the head and not the tail, God expects us to be sowers of good seed, walking with patience, seeing blessings and having grace. Whatever the circumstances in which God has us, we work to serve the Lord with a pure heart and unto him. Ministry is not something that must be done only in congregation.
You are not merely created to merely to be influenced by those around you but also to be an influence, to bring about breakthrough in your life and in the life of those around you. We must maintain a close relationship with the Lord and within that framework to pursue breakthrough in our life.
What is a kingdom?
- A kingdom has a king, subjects (those who obey the king), and laws.
- In the Kingdom of God, our king is God, and we are His subjects.
- In the Kingdom of God, there are values and laws because it is a kingdom of righteousness, joy, and peace.
- Our life must reflect the heavenly standard and not the standards of this world.
- We are still not there but the Kingdom of God is breaking forth here and now and establishing God’s will on earth. How do we bring God’s kingdom to earth? How do we reveal God’s light in the world?
- Believers who have influence — Each of us as believers has a unique ability to influence the world around us in such a way as to expose others in the world to the Kingdom of God.
- Influential people who become believers — There are people with influence in ways that no-one else has who have yet to come to faith. Their influence gives them a unique ability to bring the light of God into the world in a way that no-one else can.
So how does this work?
In order to be intentional about how we influence others, it is beneficial to understand the spheres of influence in this world such as education, politics/government, communications, art, entertainment, sports, business, law, and religion. As believers, we sometimes associate these spheres of influence with the brokenness of the world and so our tendency may be to distance ourselves from a focus on them.
To make things even more complicated, believers comprise a mere 1% of the population in Israel. Of these believers, many are Olim (Jewish immigrants to Israel) who struggle to fully integrate into Israeli society or to speak with ease to others around them in comprehensible Hebrew. Moreover, being Messianic and talking about Yeshua is somewhat taboo in Israel and so believers are often tolerated by more “open minded” people while faith in Yeshua is rarely taken seriously.
How do we change this reality in Israel? How can we broaden our horizons and influence people more effectively for the Kingdom of God in Israel? 2 Samuel 5:6–10 and 1 Chronicles 11:4–9 offer some insight into this. There was a time when the blind and the lame stood on the walls of the fortress of Zion and taunted King David and his men saying that it was impossible to capture the city. When David captured the city, Joab — the captain of King David’s army (and his nephew) — was the first to break through by means of a water duct into the city. Joab had the unique ability to find a way into the fortress of Zion and so influence the outcome of King David’s confrontation with the Jebusites allowing King David and his men to capture the fortress of Zion.
Like Joab, we may at times have to get creative to get past some major obstacles that stand in our way. We may need to crawl into the dark and slippery “water ducts” of life to get the breakthrough that God has in store for us. We must know how to:
“…put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
(Ephesians 6:13–18)
Joab made a way for others to breakthrough and so too can we take up the full armor of God and get breakthrough not only for ourselves but those around us. God promises in Deuteronomy that we will be the head and not the tail, God expects us to be sowers of good seed, walking with patience, seeing blessings and having grace. Whatever the circumstances in which God has us, we work to serve the Lord with a pure heart and unto him. Ministry is not something that must be done only in congregation.
You are not merely created to merely to be influenced by those around you but also to be an influence, to bring about breakthrough in your life and in the life of those around you. We must maintain a close relationship with the Lord and within that framework to pursue breakthrough in our life.