Kingdom Thinking for Today – Part 1
[A few weeks back I released a teaching that feels like it was notable for this new era. I’m going to be sharing that with you over the next few days.]
There is great change coming to the Body of Christ and to the Church. It will be fairly radical. I don’t think all parts of the Body of Christ will move fully into the new. That is typically the case. When revival or new moves of God come, not everyone participates. God just has to deal with them based on their past revelation. He will do His best to work with them in that way. However, there is a progressive, ongoing move of the Holy Spirit to mature the Church in areas where we have not yet been matured in. That maturity will allow us to accomplish things we have not yet accomplished. What we will be accomplishing in this hour will be something we have never seen before.
I have gone through a radical change in my thinking over the last 20 years. God has done incredible surgery on me to transform my thinking, and I still have much to learn. As long as we keep moving forward, being flexible and willing to change, He can continue the process and move us from glory to glory and strength to strength. The Bible says, “The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter.” We are always supposed to be moving forward into new ways of thinking and understanding Kingdom principles. So, let me share a few thoughts with you about what’s changing. What is God thinking and doing now?
What will the evolving Church/Body of Christ look like in the coming days? We are beginning to think about extending Kingdom rule in the earth, not just building the local church. It’s not bad that we didn’t think like this before. We only had a “local church” grid at the time. God had us pastoring and building up His Church, teaching the Body who they are in Christ. Personally, I always struggled with being a pastor. I felt like I was being forced to be something that I’m not. I’m not really a pastor. I’m not a nurturer or a shepherd in the sense of caring for the needs of the sheep. That is a very important gift in the Church, but it isn’t who I am. I needed to be looking at the big picture and we didn’t have a grid for that yet.
So, after a few years of “pastoring”, God began to give me revelation on apostolic centers. He gave it to me in a trance, and it was the first time I had ever heard the term. A lot of people are using that phrase now. What the Lord had specifically said to me was, “I didn’t call you here to build a local church.” That was radical to me. I didn’t know what to do with that statement, because that’s what I was doing. So, I said to Him, “Well, then what am I doing here?” He said, “I called you here to build an apostolic center of Kingdom ministry.” I didn’t have much of a paradigm to put that through. I think I did know the difference between the Kingdom of God and the local church, but it was all kind of tangled up and thrown in together in my mind. What I did realize when He said that, though, is that I had to start thinking “Kingdom”, not “my little part of the Kingdom.”
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9; NKJV)
Give Him 15 minutes in prayer:
- Put your hands on your head, over your mind, and say, “Lord, I give You my mind, my grid, my way of thinking about Kingdom things. Manifest Your will in my mind. By the power of the Holy Spirit, align my thinking with Yours in the Name of Jesus.”
- If you know you are often resistant to new ways of thinking or seeing, repent. God knows this about you, but it’s not time to be stubborn and set in your old ways. Tell Him, “Adjust my ways of thinking. I want to move into the new!”
- Say, “Your thoughts are not my thoughts, nor are my ways Your ways, Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways higher than my ways, and Your thoughts than my thoughts. Grant me revelation of what You are saying and doing now and as we move into the new.”
- Declare, “The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter. I want to be on that path with You, Lord!”
A prayer you can pray:
Lord, I can see that we are in a season of Kingdom advancement. You have been gently challenging the Body of Christ to think about Kingdom matters, but now it is imperative that we do. Therefore, Lord, I say to You, “I give You my mind, my grid, my way of thinking about Kingdom things.” Forgive me where I have resisted You and wanted things to stay the same. Forgive me for demanding my local church pastor stays in that model, if You were trying to make us more Kingdom-focused. Forgive me for wanting my apostolic leader to pastor me. I wouldn’t want to be limited like that. Why have I been doing that to others around me! It is time to change!
Manifest Your will in my mind. By the power of the Holy Spirit, align my thinking with Yours in the Name of Jesus. Adjust my ways of thinking. I want to move into the new! Your thoughts are not my thoughts, nor are my ways Your ways, Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways higher than my ways, and Your thoughts than my thoughts. Grant me revelation of what You are saying and doing now and as we move into the new. The path of the righteous gets brighter and brighter. I want to be on that path with You, dear Jesus. Amen.
Today’s decree:
God is adjusting the Church’s thinking so we can move into the new!