Possessive Leadership

When your pastor or priest refuses to tell you the truth about God, or about spiritual issues, because he believes that doing so will cause you to think less of him, you know that it is time to find a new spiritual leader, and a new congregation with which to worship. A few days ago, the Pope called for a revision of the translation in the "Our Father" prayer which asks that God "lead us not into temptation." I agree that the translation should be revised because God does not tempt us or lead us into temptation. Instead, he provides the way out of the temptation. We also should revisit and add an addendum to the phrase in the same prayer which states, "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

After two thousand years of waiting, God's kingdom did indeed come to the earth in April 2017 and as of today, more than 3.5 billion people have been raptured into God's kingdom. The evidence of the rapture is the circle of spiritual light that encircles their entire body. Those who have a circle of spiritual light encircling only their heads have been sealed for protection with the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, but have not been raptured into the millennial kingdom. The sealing process began four years ago. Hosea 6:2 promises that after two days (two thousand years after the crucifixion) we would be "revived" and we have indeed been revived, as evidenced by the indwelling Holy Spirit Of God having been poured out on all people (see Joel 2:28).

Hosea 6:2 also promises that after one more day, on the third day (one thousand years) we would be fully "restored." That is the restoration process that we have now embarked on which the New Testament refers to as the millennial reign after the first resurrection (see Revelation 20:6). For the next one thousand years of Christ's millennial reign we will be engaged in a restoration process wherein which we will seek to learn repentance, spiritual cleansing, and essentially rebuild the spiritual wall of protection that is supposed to encircle the human body to protect us from all evil, including illness, war, plagues, diseases, etc. We are in God's kingdom, yet we know that many are still ill, wars are being waged, many are refugees or steeped in dire poverty, etc. It will take one thousand years for God's biblical promises regarding his kingdom on earth to fully manifest.

If you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God and raptured into his millennial kingdom, you should know that the work of restoration has only just begun. You cannot languish and waste precious time in a congregation with a priest, pastor, or religious leader who refuses to acknowledge that God's kingdom has come to the earth. The earth and our lives need to be restored beginning now. We need to begin to eradicate illness, poverty, physical death, wars, and destruction in the kingdom of God. Stop for a moment and read the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament.

Nehemiah noted in Nehemiah 1:3 that "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." Similarly, those spiritual exiles who survived and are now in the kingdom of God remain in disgrace because of illness, dire poverty, wars, etc. The situation should cause the same response in you that it caused in Nehemiah (see Nehemiah 1:4-11). It should cause you to weep in dismay and begin to pray for God's guidance and for his ultimate deliverance. As noted in Nehemiah chapters 4 and 6, there will be great opposition to the rebuilding of the spiritual wall of protection, but we must persevere and continue to seek God's guidance at every step of the journey.

As in the book of Nehemiah, each person should take responsibility for their portion of the spiritual wall which constitutes your life and the immediate environment in which you live. Decide that you will endeavor to manifest God's promises for you and for those around you, the spiritual exiles, who now are in God's kingdom. Your personal wall of protection will be rebuilt only as you repent of every area of your life that is contrary to God's commands and to the leading of God's indwelling Holy Spirit. Begin now to rebuild your portion of God's spiritual wall of protection.