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1Cor. 15:47 The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. There is no doubt that in the last two chapters of the Bible, where New Jerusalem is fully revealed, it was a picture of Jesus Christ and what His goal was for His people in history. The fact it was shown coming down from heaven wasn't some type of future event being unveiled, or a post resurrection scenario, but a revelation of what God was bringing down to the earth in and through those who put their faith in Him. It is the fulfillment of part of the prayer Jesus taught us to pray: "thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is what Jesus had in mind when sharing the prayer with His disciples. What I want to talk a little about in this article is that Jesus Himself, as an individual, was in reality New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, in the sense everything revealed to John concerning it was personified in Christ. The only difference is this city was the result of His people being conformed to His image corporately; the two were now one ethically. In Ephesians it talks about the eternal purpose of God, which means what God had in mind for mankind even before He created the heavens and the earth. New Jerusalem is what I believe He looked upon as the blueprint, in the spiritual sense, when He began His creative work. This is what was considered in the counsels of the Godhead before time. There are also references to the fullness of God throughout the scriptures, and that is what we're seeing here in accord with the pre-creation, eternal purpose of the triune God.
The Lord Jesus came from heaven, and that has more than simply location in the thought of God. It has to do with the will and kingdom of God being manifest in His humanity. He as in individual was what New Jerusalem was and is to become as a corporate manifestation of His glory and reality. This is to come down to earth, as the book of Revelation so clearly states.
Everything we see as part of the city - within and without - is part of His extraordinary purpose He had from eternity. It wasn't meant to stay in eternity or even heaven, as the creation itself testifies to. The fact there is a physical creation means it was built for a purpose. That purpose is revealed in its fullness in the Bride of Christ.
We see walls, gates, precious stones, a throne, Tree of Life, river, golden street, among other things. All of these are part of what make up this amazing city, and that is meant to be expressed in every locality in the world. There are numerous things these various items represent, but I'm only trying to give a tiny glimpse into the magnitude and depth of what it is God has had in mind for His people.
All the things of this city described by John as they were revealed to him represent a different aspect of Jesus Christ. It's the manifold wisdom of God moving toward the end He had in mind from before the foundation of the world.
As we move forward to subdue the earth in His name, we need to look at this as our guideline for a vision. We'll of course have a wide variety of ways that will be expressed by different believers, but the elements of this city are to be where we are to draw our inspiration and working model from.
Our vision is a heavenly vision, even more, an eternal vision inherent to the Godhead, which I'm sure gave them an impetus and great pleasure to bring it into being.
It wasn't meant to be something invisible hidden away from the eyes of the human race or angels. It's meant to be seen. This is why we're identified as a city set on a hill by the Lord, as well as the light of the world. This are descriptions of things that are meant to be seen, not hidden from the sight of the world or His saints.
One way I've thought of it through the years is like a single man and woman looking for a spouse. They could write down some of the characteristics and attributes they would like in a husband or wife, but instead of seeking to make it a reality, they sit around content reading those descriptions for the rest of their lives, instead of getting married. In like manner we aren't to only read these things and be content with having the knowledge of what God is ultimately after. We're to pursue making it a visible reality in this world.
If all God wanted were to have invisible stuff around, He would have stopped at heaven. But He didn't. He continued on to make earth. Again, referring to a man, it would be like having the idea of the type of woman he would like to marry in his head, but never pursuing her, which means he would never take part in seeing her for the first time.
There's a reason men are visual in regard to women. It comes from God Himself. I'm not talking about lust here, but an appreciation of the beauty of a woman. It is meant to attract a man in a wholesome way. There's also a reason women make themselves look nice in anticipation of attracting a Godly man. That is expressed in the city which was also called and defined as a bride adorned for her husband.
The purpose of God is that He will have a people conformed to His image. That wasn't only something that was meant to remain invisible or hidden from view, but to be seen in order to glorify God. What was revealed in New Jerusalem is why the outer walls and gates looked so attractive. Both are desired and required by God.
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Since the time of the fall, the curse of God in response to disobedience and unbelief by choosing another as god, was ultimately evidenced by much confusion among the nations of the world. This was personified in Babylon, which means "confusion."
The word confusion itself is defined as an inability to think clearly concerning people, places or even time. It's obvious when transferring this to spiritual understanding, it represents the ongoing state of the world in general, and in many cases, believers in Jesus Christ and the church.
This is why at important times in history, or even in the heavenlies, we see Babylon being contrasted with Jerusalem, or in the Revelation of Jesus Christ - New Jerusalem.
One of the major reasons this is the case is God is showing what Babylon and its confusion permeates the world with, and how His response in New Jerusalem is an answer to that confusion. New Jerusalem represents the fullness of God as He had pictured it being expressed in a people from before creation. It had an inward element, and also an outward element which is meant to be seen by the world.
When we think of God restoring things, no matter when it has been, is, or will be in history, there is one area will always define anything he is truly initiating: He will always focus on something that has been mixed with truth or distorted because of the church and individual believers allowing it to come into their lives. It starts with a thought and eventually will work itself within and then without. That process is irrefutable among human beings of all kinds, including many of those professing a belief in Jesus Christ. This is the principal of Babylon and all of its outworking in the earth.
That brings us to the wall of Jerusalem, as revealed in Nehemiah's day, and the wall of New Jerusalem revealed in Revelation. There are several features of these walls of importance, and we'll look at the walls themselves and the gates of the walls in this article.
Probably the most important part of the walls is they are a boundary to separate Jerusalem, or the people of God, from Babylon and its confusion. If the wall isn't in place for the benefit of the city of God, Babylon encroaches upon it, and ultimately will take it over. This is one of the reasons they're mentioned together at times in the scriptures.
A boundary of distinction from the world
So the first thing to consider and learn is a wall signifies separation from the world. Paul said it about himself individually when saying he was crucified to the world and the world was crucified to him. There could never be any mixture. They were diametrically opposites of one another, and could not coexist without the people of God losing their testimony. Without this wall, those professing faith in Christ are overwhelmed and permeated with confusion, losing the salt and light effect they were to have on the world.
Without a doubt the scriptures teach Israel, and now the church, are meant to be a totally different people than those in the world. This is the fruit of this wall if it's built correctly. Consider the fact Israel was exiled and held captive in Babylon for 70 years before some were allowed to go down and build a wall. This alone should underscore what God thinks of mixture with the world and the resultant confusion. Jesus stated He would rather have us hot or cold. If we're lukewarm He'll spew us out of His mouth. In other words, those without a distinct way of life from the world make Him sick to His stomach.
No compromise from Nehemiah
This is confirmed in Nehemiah, where the wall has been torn down and the gates of the city burned. The point is the very existence of God's people is to represent the person of God in His character and obedience to His commands; we are to be conformed to His image, which is in reality as a people, is what New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven represents. One of the things it's identified as is the Bride of Christ, which refers to union with God through obedience. If there is no obedience, whatever feelings people may have are irrelevant. "If you love me, keep my commandments," Jesus said.
A people walking as Christ walked is the goal, as John stated in his first epistle. That's the boundary. Nothing was meant to interfere with that. If it wasn't of God, it didn't belong in the city.
The gates
The gates, especially in New Jerusalem, highlighted the fact this wall was meant as a boundary.
City gates represent judgments by men of God concerning what is allowed or acceptable in the city. This is why they were called elders in the Bible. In a spiritual sense, if the gates are properly operated, the wall surrounding the city of God grows and is almost impenetrable. If the gatekeepers are sloppy, lazy, incompetent or worldly, not only will the barrier shrink, ultimately, as in the time when Jerusalem was sacked by Nebuchadnezzar, the gates and the walls are destroyed, and the house of God will be in ruin.
This is why I say, no matter what the emphasis of God may be in any particular time in history as to recovery, it will always include the separation between the people of God and the world or Babylon. That's what any type of recovery will consist of.
Jesus was very clear about this in Matthew 5:13, where it said this: "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." There is no ambiguity there.
The gates also represented righteous judgment. If there was no righteous judgment, unrighteousness would flood the city.
Men of God and the walls of the city
One has to understand the walls surrounding Jerusalem and the walls of New Jerusalem are symbolic of a spiritual truth. Not only do they represent what was mentioned above, but men of God leading God's people should be one with this boundary. They should embody and personify the wall, then build that around God's people.
With that in mind, it has to be concluded the wall of Jerusalem and Nehemiah were representative of the same characteristics God was looking to recover. It always starts with a man or men of God. It's embraced and permeated in their lives first, and then by example, demonstration and teaching, it is imparted to followers of Jesus Christ.
What this means is these types of men have the jealousy of God's testimony consume them, and the display and respond with a holy jealousy to see God glorified as He was meant to be in His people. Men like this won't put up with mixture of any type, and will challenge inconsistencies they see in God's people as measured against Jesus Christ and His word. The idea of compromise isn't in the vocabulary of men like this.
I'm not talking about curmudgeons or grumpy people here, I'm talking about those who weep and labor until they see Christ formed in a people (Gal. 4:19).
Conclusion
The followers of Jesus Christ are called to be a peculiar people, a people completely different than this world; a new creation. This is what these walls represent. There is a lot more to consider with them, but that is the essence of their meaning.
We are to be a testimony of who God is in this world, as we bring the Gospel to it and teach it to obey all that Jesus Christ has commanded us to in the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation.
Discerning the condition of those proclaiming to be Christians isn't hard. First you look at the gates and judgments and teachings being made there, and then at the type of wall, if any, built to show the world we are nothing like them or it. If we are full of mixture, as this generation is now, there will be little in the way of identifying what this wall represents in the thought of God for His people.
This is part of what even the angels desire to look into. It is the visible representation on earth of the invisible God dwelling in heaven. Being examples and light to the world, we are then to teach the world the expectations of God for them, and put His commands into the code of law to put restraints on their behavior.
Nothing but God is allowed in this city, and the gates and walls are there to ensure everything else is kept out. That's what God is working toward on this earth, and even though it'll never be totally fulfilled because tares will grow with the wheat, over time, we will see the wheat start to prevail and tares diminish.
This will take time, and God's people must first enter into obedience, as the scripture says. "And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10:6)
Or as Paul concluded in Romans 1: 4-6:
"And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: "By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: "Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:"
We are to seek God's will and requirements and walk in obedience to them, and from there be ready to tell the world God expects the same of them. Only a people distinct and separate from the ways of this world will have an impact. That wall must be built. Rise up like Nehemiah men of God and get to work.
Throughout the Scriptures it is revealed time and time again that the kingdom of God is to be expressed on this earth. There is no doubt when God created the heavens and earth, the ultimate goal was for His kingdom and will to be expressed in both environments. It starts first in the heavenlies and is meant to be expressed visibly on earth. For that reason Jesus taught us to pray for His Kingdom to come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven. He wouldn't have revealed to us to pray for in specific order if heaven wasn't fully representative of who He was and what He purposed for it. Otherwise we would be praying for something not of God to come to earth. We already have enough of that.
We are to take dominion and subdue the earth as God commanded Adam to do long ago. That requirement has never changed, and to this day we're to engage in actions that will bring it under the headship of Jesus Christ. It will be done according to His will as revealed in the Bible. The work on earth will never be fully perfected as He wants it, but over time it'll take on more of His characteristics as the kingdom of darkness is gradually pushed back and the kingdom of light is manifested more and more.
That is done in an ethical way, by which I mean as we His people better understand what His laws require of us, we can apply them to every area of life; including education, science, the arts, business, entertainment, politics, the church, family and individually, among many other areas of interest we engage in.
What we as the people of God in Jesus Christ must do is start to believe God has called us to this task. We need to forget about escapism and start becoming excellent in various aspects of life and serve in them, becoming the salt and light of the earth we're called to be.
Contrary to the endless false predictions of the soon return of Jesus, life continues to go on. We must embrace the strong possibility Jesus may not return for many years into the future. Only when we consider that will we start to use the time we're given on the earth to glorify God in the tasks He's given us to accomplish.
It may seem just about everything to do in life has someone doing it well, but the truth is there are so many opportunities to serve it boggles the mind if you research it.
After so many believers have said for a long time God and the Bible has answers to all of life, when we're pressed on the issue in specific areas, we area continually frustrated when we realize we've done very little to dig deeper into the Scriptures to find out how they can be applied successfully. Most Christians don't really believe the Bible has the answers; they are thinking very specifically of initial salvation and going to heaven after we die, or get taken up at the last day by the resurrection, with most looking for it to happen in their lifetimes so they don't have to experience physical death.
There is much more to salvation than being born again. From there we are supposed to be conformed to the image of Christ over time, with that image including taking dominion in this world. That is done, as mentioned earlier, by offering service in our chosen fields, including raising children in the home. We are to do it with the goal of becoming experts in our specific tasks to the glory of God.
It of course starts with individual transformation, but that transformation is to expand and grow, not only in our personal life, but every part of life we touch and engage in.
When God's people become experts and operate in terms of absolute integrity, the change in this world will be extraordinary. We should accept nothing less than this as our purpose on the earth, as we reflect the image of God in the works of our hands, showing forth outwardly and visible the work within us.
This is what will turn the tide, when the kingdom of God is more than an invisible, heavenly place, but an expression of that invisible kingdom seen on the earth.
A lot of Christian men have fallen into a weakened state because of the hatred feminists have for men in general, and along with their ideological allies - including the media and public school indoctrination centers - have attempted to beat us down into a place of grovelling, insecurity and defeat.
The implication is if we don't grovel, we are being intolerant of their psychotic views, and that makes it even worse for us than the average male, who have succumbed to their bullying tactics.
We must take on the attitude of "I don't care," and instead of trying to be nice and subdued, reject the idea of arguing with or trying to convince these types of people any more. They aren't interested in truth, they are only interested in forcing us to submit to their evil thoughts and actions. They want to destroy men - especially Christian men - who are the last bulwark left standing that can resist this evil and drive it back to the dark abyss it came from.
How Christian men need to react to this reality is to resist the temptation to accommodate these people are try to understand their point of view. There is no understanding it. It's spiritually broken. It's insanity. Read or listen to almost anything these people say and you'll quickly find there's no contact point with them.
Don't waste your time trying to build bridges, instead burn them down. We have no connection with the social justice warriors whose purpose is to tear down everything good and decent in this world and replace it with corruption. If we allow them, they'll force it upon us. I, for one, will not allow that to happen with myself or my family.
I've found the best thing to do is to most ignore what they say, and instead start to build things that replace the decaying civilization they represent; a civilization based upon their father the devil.
That's the main strategy for Christian men to embrace. Everything has been talked to death while our enemies are not only at the gate, but have entered into our midst through cunning and lies, making it appear they want to be reasonable, only to the time they gain control over the institutions that in the U.S., were built on Biblical principles.
Being the liars they always have been, they even attempt to confuse there and make it appear American history had little influence from Christians and Jesus Christ.
For that and many other reasons, it's better to start to make things happen and ignore their rantings and assertions. If we don't become men of action, we'll find ourselves completely overwhelmed by an enemy culture that has nothing less than its goal of eradicating the person of Jesus Christ from the public eye. That means the destruction of the true followers of Jesus Christ, who are His representatives on the earth.
We don't have to allow that to happen, and we shouldn't and won't. Now is the time to start making things happen. Now is the time to be doers and not hearers of the Word. Now is the time to engage in warfare at many different levels, while at the same time building an alternative civilization that shines as a light in the growing darkness.
The darkness can never overcome the children of light, and if men of God rise up and take action, we'll see that light once again shine in America, and around the world.
What we must do is take inventory of who we are and what our callings are, and pursue and expand them to the glory of God. We will work on permeating every nook and cranny of this world with the presence of God as worked in and through us, driving out the darkness along the way.
It has to start with us Christian men first, getting our own lives in obedience to His revealed word, and from there we will teach it to our children. We will be examples of who Jesus Christ is, and help them to develop their own callings before Him in order to do their part to subdue the earth, which is a major part of the callings of the followers of Jesus Christ.
Whether it's in outdoor sports, the arts, media, writing, business, at our jobs, raising our children, or numerous other segments of life, we will take dominion over them in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The alternative will see the world fall to such despair and evil that it will consume itself, and many of us and our families if we don't rise up against it.
Push back against evil
Most of this will be done at the local level, although some of us will be called to take a more public stand against evil. Either way it doesn't matter. The lasting value will be primarily what we do locally in small areas of influence, with the combined power of the people of God, led by men of God, pushing back against the evil threatening to engulf us.
Look at what you're interested in and good at, and become an expert in that area, offering service in whatever capacity you have and are able to.
We're past the stage of talking and thinking and need to start taking action. Jesus Christ is with us, as He promised, unto the end of the age, and we can walk and make war against the world and spiritual darkness, knowing we will win in this age, and the age to come.
I'm not necessarily talking about some drastic and dramatic life change here, although for some that will be the case. It's more important that millions of Christian men start leading again all over America and the world, exercising authority and being faithful service in whatever area of life he has called us to be.
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I write across a wide variety of platforms and outlets, with the bulk of my writing centering on Christianity, manhood, and building the kingdom of God on earth.
Because of that, it can appear I arrived at strength and victory overnight, which would be far from the truth. It was facing a series of extraordinary challenges over time, with the help of Jesus Christ, the Bible, my wife, and fellow believers, that helped me survive and ultimately to thrive and eventually attain victory in the circumstances.
It required me to hold on to God first, as it appeared nothing in the way of deliverance was coming. Under some circumstances it took years, others a few months.
The point is we all have to go through serious trials in one way or another, and in many cases there are no answers in the short term; we have to learn to carry the load while engaging with everyday life. That's where the chief struggle is, and where many men fail, because they focus on the challenging issue to the detriment of other areas of life, with some losing their jobs, wives, families, businesses or even their sanity, because they wanted the circumstance to change so bad, they forgot about the rest of life.
I've struggled in those ways in all of those areas, losing businesses I built for years, along with part of my family, as I was legally attacked because of an accusation that was made, which while false, it wasn't determined till almost everything in my life and the life of my family was destroyed. By then it was too late, even though I had been exonerated.
To make it worse, those making the accusations knew it was false, but proceeded anyway because it was released to the media across a large portion of the southern part of the U.S.
It shouldn't have ever gotten that far, but a D.A. was up for re-election, and thought he had a slam dunk case. Eventually he had to work behind the scenes to save his political rear end by allowing my lawyer unprecedented access at the time to the grand jury. He was allowed to go in and argue the case as if it was a trial itself.
The grand jury dropped all the charges, but it wasn't till after I had literally been shot at, had people come to my home and threaten me in front of my family, lost four children (two adopted and two foster), lost my business, and in the end, had to move away from the area because of the undeserved loss of reputation, which while cleared, forever put a question mark in the minds of the people in the area concerning my guilt or innocence.
This is just one of the many things encountered during my lifetime which I had to face as a man.
At first I was in a state of shock as I watched child protective services take four children away from us, as my wife wept, watching the car drive off with them in it, never to have them in our home again. It took time for that shock to leave me, as they attempted to trump up even more charges against the two of us. The original charge was that I had kicked the oldest adoptive boy in the eye, a charge he later admitted he made up. That was what actually resulted in the charges being dropped.
I had other times in my life when people or the system attempted to emasculate me, but this was by far the most dangerous. There was other danger in the past, but that was psychological rather than physical and economical.
After years of other struggles, including taking care of a disabled son my wife gave birth to, it almost caused me to collapse under the pressure. Not only was I trying to hold my family together, but I was holding on to my own courage by a thread. I didn't know if I was going to make it.
I had never experienced this level of corruption in the government before, it was something that surprised me and didn't know how to deal with at first because I wasn't able to process it. I had never before experienced evil being displayed through official government channels. There had been corrupt individuals within the government I had encountered before, but never the systemic evil being worked against me.
After losing the children, that was probably the first area I had to process and adapt to. I realized they had no interest in the truth, but in a political victory in the case of the D.A., or by the child protective services attempting to save face once they realized they had been lied to. To the end the corrupt agency refused to stop pursuing the further and total destruction of myself and my family.
The problem with child protective services is they can wield an ungodly power that has few if any checks and balances. It's extremely difficult to survive a vicious attack from it - especially if you're a man.
I can't tell all the details because it would take a book to delve into all the variables, including an internal battle between people over the best way to handle these troubled children.
My caseworker, which had been removed from her job, believed unconventional people (especially Christians) who home schooled and offered a different lifestyle were prepared to have a more positive effect on these children.
Her removal was what opened the door for the lawsuit to be filed against us. Once she was out of the way, there was nothing to stop the persecution that followed. Okay, you get the general story.
How I battled my way out of it was to first focus on what remained of my family, which was my wife, son and daughter. We took them to a doctor to have a physical examination in order to show there had been no abuse with them. This in and of itself confirmed they really didn't believe the charges against us, because they would have never allowed our two biological children to remain in the home if they thought they were being abused.
After I secured their safety as far as remaining under our care, I had to start dealing with a plethora of legal and other issues.
We did a lot of praying together and bonding together as a family, as we lost my business and source of income. We had some money left, but most of that had to be spent on legal expenses to defend ourselves.
I came to the conclusion we were ruined, and were going to have to start from scratch in almost every area of our lives.
One thing I refused to do, and my wife was with me in it, is we wouldn't enter into a plea bargain, where we were asked to accept a three-year sentence, with about half of it being suspended. We said no, and instead faced up to ten years in prison if we were convicted.
It may look dismal, but in fact coming to a decision and taking a stand was empowering. We knew we were innocent of all charges, and we weren't going to allow them to get away with what they put us through by entering a guilty plea in hopes of some leniency; the primary purpose being to end the media coverage of the debacle, which was extensive.
Along with prayer and holding on to one another, we had to come to a place of peace with the help of God, putting everything into His hands. We did reach a place of peace and were ready to accept whatever came our way. This was also empowering, as they had lost all power over us that came from intimidation, and we were ready to do battle.
In the end, even our lawyer said we could have pursued the matter legally and put some of the people in jail that kept the pressure on, knowing we were innocent. There were even doctor's reports saying the children were in perfect health, and then in the middle of the report completing changing their opinion, with the obvious reason being someone had told them that's what they wanted them to do.
I became a much stronger man as a result of this ordeal, which spread over months. After losing the children, one of the harder things to learn to cope with was the wait. You have to put your life on hold and stand still with your lives. Nothing can go forward until the situation was dealt with and it came to a conclusion.
There are times when a man has nothing left but to trust in and cling to Jesus Christ to hold him up during times like these, as we must not only be strong for ourselves, but strong for our families. That's all I did, and I can take no credit for it.
In the end though, God proved He is stronger than one of the most powerful and potentially corrupt institutions in society, bringing us out of a place of defeat and despair to complete victory.
I decided we wouldn't legally pursue the people who did this to us because my family had been crushed so much, I determined it would be detrimental to them to stretch it out for another year or more. I let it go; one of the hardest things I had to do when I wanted to put the sword of justice on their necks and make them pay for what they did.
Since I'm prone to want to take those types of steps in protecting my family, that was something that was extremely difficult, but I didn't think of it as being emasculated, but rather taking care of my family, which had been crushed in every way a human being could be crushed.
It taught me God could take us through anything if we continue to hold onto and trust in Him, while understanding the depths of the evil and corruption that permeates this world, even at the judicial level. It opened my eyes in a way only something like this could do.
Fortunately, I'm not cynical, although I remain extremely cautious. I don't trust the legal system any more, and certainly don't trust those employed by it.
That said, because God has instituted it, I still abide by the general precept, although I'm more apt to resist authority when it represents that which opposes the revealed will of God in the Holy Scriptures.
If I had let my anger overcome me, I would have eventually lived a life of victim hood, eventually striking back in a way that probably would have resulted in be serving jail time. By the grace of God I didn't do that, and He allowed me and us to survive and learn many lessons to this day.
The bottom line for me is I had to focus on what was best for my family under these circumstances, and that meant letting it go and moving on with our lives. We could have went to war and won, but it probably would have been at the cost of some of us not surviving the struggle.
That's not to say this is how is will always or should work out, but there are times to make war and time to let things go. This was a time to let go. It went against my nature, which was to fight and destroy my enemies, but this time my decision was the right thing to do. It was the manly thing to do.
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"Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." (l Corinthians 15:24-25).
Paul has declared by the revelation and power of the Holy Spirit in the scriptures, that Jesus Christ "must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet." It doesn't say "will reign," but it says "must reign."
This implies it's a requirement of the Father for Jesus to reign from heaven until He has "put down all rule and all authority and power." Faithful male followers of Jesus Christ will take the lead on this, as the way Jesus will take rule is through godly men taking action based upon the law, word and revelation of God revealed in the Bible.
What's interesting about this in my view and experience, is when men take the lead, godly women will follow them. Even though some women attempt to distort the order of God, it can't and won't be denied: men will take the lead and women will respond to that leadership.
But for that order to be manifest and made visible on the earth, Christian men in fact must take the lead. That means taking responsibility in our respective callings before God and man. Until we do, confusion will remain on the earth as the people of God flounder about because of the lack of male leadership.
Men have been made by God to face and conquer challenges, and it doesn't get any better than battling against the forces of darkness in a leadership role.
What this doesn't primarily or necessarily mean is we are to be in some type of official role in the church, such as pastor or teacher, among others. It could mean that, but it's far too limiting in scope to represent the full idea of God in regard to His kingdom.
Rather, it means in our individual lives, families, jobs, businesses, politics, and a plethora of other areas of life, we are to learn what God says about them in His word and apply them to our lives and the lives of those we have influence in. This is taking dominion.
Taking dominion isn't about lording it over people or bossing them around, it's about exercising authority in their lives by first, living it before them as an example, and second, teaching them how they can also do it. It doesn't get much more complicated than that, although there are a lot of variables to learn in different disciplines we may operate in. That means becoming experts in whatever area of life we choose to take dominion over outside of our own lives and that of our families.
When I say outside of our families, I mean we are to take dominion there, but there is more for men to do than that. It must start there, and we must guard our trust and take responsibility for our wives and children. From there we can then engage in taking dominion in other areas of life.
Take courage brothers. Don't be afraid, or let fear rule you. God has been pleased to give us the kingdom, which means we are given responsibility to rule and reign on earth according to what His word tells us to do it.
Throughout the entire Bible, we are given instruction on how to apply His word and laws in every area of life. It's up to us to take that and run with it, confident that we as men will lead His people to dominion under His Lordship and reign.
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There is a little known secret in the writing and creative world, which if understood and properly utilized, would take the popularity of your writing to an entirely new level. I'll call that secret "undeserved misfortune," although it could be described using a variety of phrases.
What's interesting about this is many authors don't know why it is a particular piece of writing is successful, so they just throw out some stuff to see if it'll stick.
Yet when you analyze a large number of books, or films for that matter, you'll find one of the key elements making it a success is negative things that happen to people that are no fault of their own. This creates an opportunity for a lot of secondary elements or characters which can be worked in around the reason for that misfortune.
Before we get into fiction, let's look at one of the secrets those promoting non-fiction books have known for some time - specifically in the self-help or inspirational category.
What is done in order to get a reader to relate is tell some of their background story of where they started from, and in many cases, how certain challenges came about. This sets the reader up to be shown what a person did to overcome the challenges they faced. The more the struggles are undeserved, the more the reader can relate to and identify with them, which provides the backdrop for the solutions. The bulk of the remainder of the book will show how the difficulties were resolved.
Without the before and after story and imagery, it's not as effective.
For fiction, it's only different because it's all creatively made up. Yet the effect is still the same, with the exception of the introduction of other elements into the story - such as humor and waiting for a hero to be revealed to help solve the problem.
What makes it work time after time in story after story is the redemption factor. Darth Vader in Star Wars is one of the more well-known characters, but you can easily identify hundreds more if you think about stories that have been highly successful.
Some of the undeserved misfortune can include disease, accidents, a variety of enemies (human or otherwise), or anything else which causes a person pain and struggle they.
I do want to interject here that the misfortune has to be undeserved. Someone that has brought it upon themselves and struggles with it, isn't as attractive to readers.
Think that through for a moment. While we can somewhat identify with someone that causes their own problems and are trying to work them out, it's those that aren't self-destructive or unwise in some way, which readers really identify with. You cheer them on to make it far more than those whose wounds are self-inflicted.
I believe the reason for that is a person, in the end, must save themselves if the cause is their own thinking and actions. Those who aren't the source of the problem, most of the time need someone to help get them out of the situation. This is a powerful attractant and tool to use to get other characters into the story.
There's a lot more to say about this, but the key is to start looking at this as the foundation of your fiction or non-fiction writing. It'll take it to another level and delight readers who want to find out how the misfortune was dealt with or solved.
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