God has made us kings and priests to represent Him in the earth. Since Jesus has paid the very highest price for us, even opening the way for the fullness of life to us, should we not go after all that He has created us to be? We are new creations in Christ. Don't settle for less than God's best!
Chosen as Royalty
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9)
Jesus paid the highest price for us on the Cross. Through His sacrifice we've been adopted into His family and given a place with Jesus in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6). Not only that, we've been given the titles of "priests" and "kings," as we've been grafted into the Vine and the fullness of His life is poured into us.
"...to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." (Revelation 1:5-6)
We need to understand the enormity of the price that Jesus paid for us so we could live in a place of royalty, authority and as kings. He did not lay down His life so that we would settle for less than what His sacrifice provided for us – or even the reality of who He made us to be, obtained through His blessing and promises. Through Him we've been delivered from fear and all bondage associated with a life that is completely disconnected from the presence of God.
"And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." (Galatians 4:6-7)
Your Own Personal Experience
Essential to our new life in Christ is the understanding that He has given us ACCESS into the very presence of God. This is very important to understand because without this fundamental knowledge, we will never pursue or enter into this place of His presence.
"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 6:19-20) (Photo via Unsplash)
Jesus, through His own sacrifice as God in the flesh, went into the presence of God as a Forerunner for us. It is in the presence of God that we realize who we are...through REVELATION and not just information. You can have the information of what God has made you to be and never experience it by the revelation that Jesus Christ gives.
When Peter received the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus immediately perceived that "flesh and blood" had not revealed this to Peter, but the Father, through the revelation light of the Holy Spirit.
"Simon Peter answered and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven.'" (Matthew 16:16-17)
It is the same "spirit of wisdom and revelation," mentioned by Paul, that has been made available to us, so that we can have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to experience (Ephesians 1:17). God never designed us to function by information but by revelation that comes through intimate relationship through His Spirit.
Bringing Him Into Focus
In light of this, we need to ask for the spirit of wisdom and revelation that is awakened in our hearts in God's presence. Not only do we need to ask for it, but we can also enter into this revelatory experience through the Spirit as we engage in whole-hearted worship to the Lord. One of the main keys to this is FOCUS.
"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." (Colossians 3:1-4)
Our modern-day world is purposefully planted with all kinds of distractions and detours to take our true, whole-hearted focus away from the Lord. Before you take some quality time in your pursuit of God, from a practical angle, sometimes you need to turn off the phone, get alone and make God your PRIORITY during this time so that you can press into Him without distraction.
"The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the inner depths of his heart." (Proverbs 20:27)
If you have not trained yourself to do so, I encourage you to spend time in His presence, focusing on Him. It is the most rewarding of practices that you will engage in. The measure that you sow will also be the measure that you will reap.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." (Galatians 6:7-8)
When you sow into the presence of God you will reap from it. What you once struggled to understand in your natural mind, you will now receive by revelation – even through the light of His Word.
"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105)
Bring your Bible into the equation, integrating it into your private times with the Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak what may be even ONE WORD to you, guiding you in your reading of Scripture. This is where the light of revelation, even His voice, comes, and you can then search the Scriptures to strengthen your heart with confidence and faith. (Photo via Flickr)
The Inner Courts of the King
What does this have to do with royalty? Everything. You have access to the King as a king – not as a beggar. You get to hear His voice for yourself. You have been brought into the inner courts, the "holiest of all," by the Blood of Christ. In this place all fear leaves, all confusion leaves. The feelings of abandonment leave. Here you discover that you are a son or daughter of God by revelation and not through someone else telling you. This is why the presence of God is essential to us.
The presence of God is the voice of God, for the presence is the person of God. Where He is He also speaks. When He speaks to you there is an innate peace in His voice that is transforming to the soul. When He speaks there is deliverance from an abandoned, orphaned mindset. When He speaks there is the call to come up higher and that also lifts us higher.
"God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places." (2 Samuel 22:33-34)
Jesus died and rose, not to leave us in the dirt but to raise us up to a higher place with hinds feet that ascend to higher places; places above, not beneath. He has given us each royal robes, the ring of His authority and the place of power as sons of God. Just as the father clothed the prodigal son who had come from eating the pods of pigs in the mud, so the Father has brought us up from the mud to clothe us with His best, and has prepared a royal feast before us as those who represent His royalty in the earth.
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6-7)
All that is contrary to the nature of God does not represent who He is. This includes fear, perversion, poverty, hate, unrighteousness, wickedness, evil intent and everything that has to do with a sinful lifestyle. We are to represent God with lives that are dependent upon Him, living by faith, love, holiness, grace, peace and all of the fruit of the Holy Spirit – in the fear of the Lord.
"In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, and His children will have a place of refuge." (Proverbs 14:26)
Take some time to look up these other verses I've listed on "the fear of the Lord," realizing that it is only by the Spirit indwelling us that we are able to live overcoming, victorious lives: Proverbs 1:7, 1:29, 2:5, 8:13, 9:10, 10:27, 14:27, 15:16, 15:33, 19:23, 22:4, 23:17, 29:25. Jesus set the example for us as a man filled and anointed of the Spirit.
Realize that God has made you to be the head, not the tail, to live above and not beneath – and most importantly, that Jesus made this possible through the Blood of His sacrifice and His Spirit who He has given to us. Don't settle for less than the royal position that He called you, ordained you and empowered you to walk in.
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John and Brandi Belt
Overflow Global Ministries
Email:Â hello@overflowglobal.com
Website:Â www.overflowglobal.com
John and Brandi Belt are the leaders of Overflow Global Ministries. The heart of their message is that God's greatest desire is to indwell His people with His presence. They believe that man was created to be inhabited by God through His Spirit. With a sincere devotion to God through the Holy Spirit, people can live in a place of overflow in His presence. This overflow translates into touching the lives of others through living encounters with God. When John and Brandi minister, the intimate presence of God is manifest – being accompanied with demonstrations of God's power to heal, revive, and restore.
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