But how do you know you have received them?
To receive the Lord God’s blessings is to receive anything and everything you need to fulfill your purpose and assignment in your life. King David stated it this way: Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to approach You, that he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, of Your holy temple. Psalm 65:4
Many Believers are tempted to think that the good things of the Lord God’s house are material things. Even though the Lord God may bless us with prosperity, the real good things are essential qualities of His character. Ambassador Paul wrote of these to the Galatians: But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23 NLT
You may attest to the goodness of the Lord God in your life when you begin to look and act as He does to fulfill His purpose and assignment for you. This happens naturally when He is Lord over all aspects of your life. King David testified to this. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully; he shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Psalm 24:3-5 Who shall receive the Lord God’s blessing? Those with clean hands, a pure heart that doesn’t worship idols or tell lies!
But keep in mind that the opposite may also be true. The Lord God may remove blessings from your life if you refuse to bless and honor His name. This is what happened to Eli the priest, who was serving the Lord God when Samuel was born. When Eli was old, his sons were dishonoring the Lord God and taking advantage of the people they were supposed to be serving. “Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be My priests. But I will honor those who honor Me, and I will despise those who think lightly of Me.
“The time is coming when I will put an end to your family, so it will no longer serve as My priests. All the members of your family will die before their time. None will reach old age. You will watch with envy as I pour out prosperity on the people of Israel. But no members of your family will ever live out their days. The few not cut off from serving at My altar will survive, but only so their eyes can go blind and their hearts break, and their children will die a violent death. And to prove that what I have said will come true, I will cause your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, to die on the same day!
“Then I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve Me and do what I desire. I will establish his family, and they will be priests to My anointed kings forever. Then all of your surviving family will bow before him, begging for money and food. ‘Please,’ they will say, ‘give us jobs among the priests so we will have enough to eat.’” 1 Samuel 2:30-36 NLT I must say, both your obedience in honoring the Lord God and disobedience in treating Him casually and with contempt have lasting consequences!
That may sound harsh, but remember that the Old Testament shows us the Lord God’s character. He is eternally unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today and for all eternity. King Jesus told us He did not do away with God’s laws. “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle (jot means “iota”—the tiniest letter of the [Greek] alphabet—and tittle means the tiny dot over the [English] letter i) will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:17-20 I recommend reading more about the Lord God’s words about blessings and curses in Deuteronomy 28.
The Lord God’s power activated in your life through praise and worship has many benefits, including His protection and security. This is such a powerful Word here: Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation. Psalm 91:9-16 I am a witness and will testify to His power and protection as well as His security in my life!
The Kingdom of the Lord God is within you through the Holy Spirit, our Governor. King Jesus made that perfectly clear. Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The Kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ for indeed, the Kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21 Your protection is within you. Keep in mind that the Kingdom of Heaven is where the Lord God resides. The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. Psalm 11:4 The Kingdom of God is His heavenly Kingdom government sent to earth. Our Governor is our connection to the Lord God in His heavenly Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit that dwells in you—it is the influence of God that lives in you. It was so important that King Jesus stayed an additional forty days, teaching about the Kingdom of God. In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach until the day He was taken up to heaven after giving His chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. During the forty days after He suffered and died, He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and He proved to them in many ways that He was actually alive. And He talked to them about the Kingdom of God. Once when He was eating with them, He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:1-5 NLT
Understand this: The Holy Spirit is very important in knowing who you are in the Kingdom of God and in this world. “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.” John 14:25-26
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:12-15
Many people think that the Son of God came to bring a religion, but He never joined a religion nor did He promote one. All He spoke of was His Kingdom and His government and what His government was like. He gave many examples in the form of parables. Here are just a few:
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:24-30
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46
Another parable He spoke to them: “The Kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”
All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things kept secret from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 13:33-35
He gave us everything we needed to be able to walk in the blessings of the Lord God through the Holy Spirit, our Kingdom Governor. All He asks is for us to be obedient to the Holy Spirit’s leading.
Remember, your faith in the King is your greatest asset in His Kingdom.
All scriptures are NKJV unless noted
W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
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