| Newsletter for 7/5/07- More Kingdom Honor |
Good Morning,
I trust that your Fourth of July Holiday was great! Let's look at more Honor in the Kingdom.
Last week, we discussed in the newsletter how true honor in the Kingdom of God is not "quid pro quo." Too many
times we honor people for what we can get in return from them. However, this is really not honor but the subtle
negotiation of a deal. In fact, it may be so subtle that the recipient is unaware that the deal is even coming and the
originator of the deal might even be unaware that they are motivating towards this.
Many Christians go into many different forums in the marketplace, which is awesome, and they have even convinced
themselves that they are there to manifest Kingdom Honor. The problem is motive. Too often we go into these
situations telling ourselves that we are there to bless and honor those that are residents of these forums, but in reality
we have a hidden motive. This next comment may shock you, but stick with me. If we go into our children's schools or
the businesses where we work or whatever the forum is, but we go in under the guise of honoring people but our goal
is to get them saved, we are wrong. Yes, re-read it, that is what I said. Now, let me explain why.
If we go in saying that we are honoring people but we really have a different agenda, then we are lying. You may say,
but it is ok, because the goal is getting people saved. Please show me in the Bible where Jesus said that it was ok for
us to lie to get people saved!?! The reality is that if we honor people just to honor them, for Kingdom's sake, they will
eventually come to repentance. "It is by His kindness that we come to repentance."
You may think that I am splitting hairs and that this is really an unimportant topic or conversation. However, if we are
going to expect God to bless what we are doing then we should really try starting with what He is asking us to do.
When a preacher goes to preach, it is always better for him to find out what God wants to say through him than to
come up with his own message and then ask God to bless it! Likewise, just like Jesus we need to hear what the Father
is saying and do what He says to do. We may not even understand why God is telling us to do this or what the fruit will
be, but our job is not to understand everything, our job is to be obedient! How many Biblical characters were
successful not because they understood but because they listened and followed through?
Motive is a huge thing with Christ. I would even go as far as saying that the things that Jesus did, that fulfilled
prophecy were not done for that reason. The prophecies were given so that we would recognize Jesus, not as an
agenda for Him to follow and fulfill. I know that there have been scriptures that have been quoted that say that He was
fulfilling prophecy, but this is a misunderstanding of prophecy. What I mean by this, is that the things that Jesus did
were because of His character and because He was doing the "right thing" not because He was trying to stick to the
script.
The prophecies were pictures and visions of what would transpire because Jesus character was foreknown. Jesus
acted the way that He did because He always did and does what is right. He never re-acted to what others were doing.
Instead He did what was right, no matter what others around Him were doing.
Getting back to honor, if we will go into the marketplace, whether it is our workplace or place of education, etc. and
we honor people because it is the right thing to do, God will bless it. Will they come to repentance? Most likely. But
what if they don't? That is not our responsibility, it is just our job to do what God tells us and then let Him take care of
the rest.
Many people that are reading this, likely have children that have walked away from the Lord. I recently had a
conversation with someone who's grandfather was a pastor and he died with the majority of his children being away
from the Lord. But what about the scripture that talks about raising your children up with Christ, so that they will be
successful as Christians? This same pastor's kids, after his passing have all returned to Christ. They had been living
very un-Godly desolate lives that would have been written off by most, but God's Word did not return void. The
children all returned to the Lord even though their earthly father, didn't see it on this planet.
I know someone that lives a very un-Godly "alternative" lifestyle. A friend of theirs that is a Christian has continued to
be friendly and supportive to them, even though they disapprove of this person's lifestyle. Eventually, they had a
discussion of why the Christian continued being their friend. (By the way, this is a great example of why we don't need
to tell people that they are in sin, because they already know!!!!!) The non-Christian asked if it was because you
"love the sinner and hate the sin"? The Christian responded back, "No it is just because I love you!" The
non-Christian hasn't come to repentance yet, but the war is not over yet.
The world (and the devil) have seen all of our tricky little ploys. We are not fooling them with our trickery. We need to
just do what is right. We need to just listen to the Father and He will lead us and guide us and the rest will be up to
Him! Let's begin honoring people not for how it can bless us (including not putting more notches on our Bibles!).
Instead, let's just honor people because it is the right thing to do!!!
Working while it is still day,
Pastor Jeff McCracken and the Kingdom Power Now Ministry Team
www.kingdompowernow.com
I trust that your Fourth of July Holiday was great! Let's look at more Honor in the Kingdom.
Last week, we discussed in the newsletter how true honor in the Kingdom of God is not "quid pro quo." Too many
times we honor people for what we can get in return from them. However, this is really not honor but the subtle
negotiation of a deal. In fact, it may be so subtle that the recipient is unaware that the deal is even coming and the
originator of the deal might even be unaware that they are motivating towards this.
Many Christians go into many different forums in the marketplace, which is awesome, and they have even convinced
themselves that they are there to manifest Kingdom Honor. The problem is motive. Too often we go into these
situations telling ourselves that we are there to bless and honor those that are residents of these forums, but in reality
we have a hidden motive. This next comment may shock you, but stick with me. If we go into our children's schools or
the businesses where we work or whatever the forum is, but we go in under the guise of honoring people but our goal
is to get them saved, we are wrong. Yes, re-read it, that is what I said. Now, let me explain why.
If we go in saying that we are honoring people but we really have a different agenda, then we are lying. You may say,
but it is ok, because the goal is getting people saved. Please show me in the Bible where Jesus said that it was ok for
us to lie to get people saved!?! The reality is that if we honor people just to honor them, for Kingdom's sake, they will
eventually come to repentance. "It is by His kindness that we come to repentance."
You may think that I am splitting hairs and that this is really an unimportant topic or conversation. However, if we are
going to expect God to bless what we are doing then we should really try starting with what He is asking us to do.
When a preacher goes to preach, it is always better for him to find out what God wants to say through him than to
come up with his own message and then ask God to bless it! Likewise, just like Jesus we need to hear what the Father
is saying and do what He says to do. We may not even understand why God is telling us to do this or what the fruit will
be, but our job is not to understand everything, our job is to be obedient! How many Biblical characters were
successful not because they understood but because they listened and followed through?
Motive is a huge thing with Christ. I would even go as far as saying that the things that Jesus did, that fulfilled
prophecy were not done for that reason. The prophecies were given so that we would recognize Jesus, not as an
agenda for Him to follow and fulfill. I know that there have been scriptures that have been quoted that say that He was
fulfilling prophecy, but this is a misunderstanding of prophecy. What I mean by this, is that the things that Jesus did
were because of His character and because He was doing the "right thing" not because He was trying to stick to the
script.
The prophecies were pictures and visions of what would transpire because Jesus character was foreknown. Jesus
acted the way that He did because He always did and does what is right. He never re-acted to what others were doing.
Instead He did what was right, no matter what others around Him were doing.
Getting back to honor, if we will go into the marketplace, whether it is our workplace or place of education, etc. and
we honor people because it is the right thing to do, God will bless it. Will they come to repentance? Most likely. But
what if they don't? That is not our responsibility, it is just our job to do what God tells us and then let Him take care of
the rest.
Many people that are reading this, likely have children that have walked away from the Lord. I recently had a
conversation with someone who's grandfather was a pastor and he died with the majority of his children being away
from the Lord. But what about the scripture that talks about raising your children up with Christ, so that they will be
successful as Christians? This same pastor's kids, after his passing have all returned to Christ. They had been living
very un-Godly desolate lives that would have been written off by most, but God's Word did not return void. The
children all returned to the Lord even though their earthly father, didn't see it on this planet.
I know someone that lives a very un-Godly "alternative" lifestyle. A friend of theirs that is a Christian has continued to
be friendly and supportive to them, even though they disapprove of this person's lifestyle. Eventually, they had a
discussion of why the Christian continued being their friend. (By the way, this is a great example of why we don't need
to tell people that they are in sin, because they already know!!!!!) The non-Christian asked if it was because you
"love the sinner and hate the sin"? The Christian responded back, "No it is just because I love you!" The
non-Christian hasn't come to repentance yet, but the war is not over yet.
The world (and the devil) have seen all of our tricky little ploys. We are not fooling them with our trickery. We need to
just do what is right. We need to just listen to the Father and He will lead us and guide us and the rest will be up to
Him! Let's begin honoring people not for how it can bless us (including not putting more notches on our Bibles!).
Instead, let's just honor people because it is the right thing to do!!!
Working while it is still day,
Pastor Jeff McCracken and the Kingdom Power Now Ministry Team
www.kingdompowernow.com