You are a king. You have more power and authority than you realize. The Bible says that you have been created a little lower than God. What is man, that You are mindful of him? And the Son of Man, that You visit Him? For You have made him a little lower than God and have crowned him with glory and honor, (Psalms 8:5-6). This is why your decisions, words, and decrees are so important, eternally important.
The most important realm of your kingdom is YOU, your spirit, soul and body. Briefly, your spirit is where God lives and if you are born-again your spirit is joined to the Holy Spirit. Your spirit is your source of life, light, and true love. Your soul is your personality, mind, and emotions; the Bible often refers to it as your heart. You live in a physical body that has physical senses and it allows you to interact in the physical world. Each part of you has a will or desires. You can only trust your spirit because your spirit is connected to God. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, (Romans 8:13-14 NIV).
You are designed like the tabernacle of God, which Moses built in the wilderness. It also had three parts, an outer court (your body), a holy place (your heart), and the most holy place (your spirit). God loves you so much that He designed you to be His holy habitation, His home. However, He needs your permission and cooperation to move in. Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him, (John 14:23 NKJV). Love is a choice to open your heart to God or another person and let them in. God commands us to love Him first, and others second. God wants us to love even our enemies so we can be like Him. Love creates an environment for God to live in, He is love.
What’s in You is Creating Your Environment
As you receive the words of Jesus and believe them to the point of obedience, you are establishing the Kingdom of God in you. This is important because heaven needs to be in you before you can be in heaven. There is a principle that what is in you is creating the environment around you. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life, (Proverbs 4:23 KJV). The word issues is interesting, it means borders or boundaries and it means things ejected out. Another way to translate this verse is Guard your heart more than you guard anything else because out of it are ejected the substance and boundaries of your life.
Jesus also spoke about this principle. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. (Matthew 12:35 NKJV) What is in your heart affects you directly. However, not only are you affected; the people and environment around you are affected. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself, (Romans 14:7 NKJV). Your life has an effect on other people and the world. The people near you are the most affected such as family members and friends. If you are in a position of influence such as a teacher, administrator or official, what is in your heart also affects the people you influence.
Jesus sent a message to the church in Laodicea to let them know that they had fallen into a deception of being satisfied with things from this world. They did not realize that they were in a very poor spiritual condition, in the eyes of God.
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. (Revelation 3:14-18 NASB)
Jesus went on to warn the church that because of His love for them, He may be forced to discipline them to help them see the error of their ways. He then told them how they could avoid discipline and be restored, by being zealous and repent. Zealous, means to deeply desire, in this case to deeply desire God. Repent means to change the way you think. Jesus was warning that they must not be satisfied with the things of this world, rather they must deeply desire Him and change the way they think from believing a lie to the truth.
‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'” (Revelation 3:19-22 NASB)
Remember, Jesus is speaking to the church; the letter is addressed to the “angel” or “messenger” of the church. However, when He says he is standing at the door and knocking He is speaking to each individual Christian; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into Him and dine with Him and he with me. Jesus is knocking on the door each individual’s heart with His voice. To open the door of your heart and let someone in is an expression of love and trust. The interesting thing is they are already Christians; Jesus must already occupy a part of their heart. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9 NKJV)
Not everyone who is born-again has given his or her whole heart to Jesus. Often, a person will hold on to something from their old life or keep something back that they want to control. Any chamber of a person’s heart that Jesus is not allowed to occupy and establish His kingdom is a chamber that Jesus is knocking on the door.
Remember, there was a man who came to Jesus and asked what he needed to do to have eternal life. At first, Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:20-22 NKJV)
This man had a love for God and a desire for eternal life, however there was a part of his heart that was holding on to things from this world. He did not allow God into that part of his heart. When Jesus told him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him, he was knocking on that chamber of his heart. Jesus wanted to establish His Kingdom in the man’s whole heart so he could be perfect. The man had an opportunity to exchange his earthly temporary treasure for heavenly eternal treasure. Everything that we have in this life has been given to us by God, we are just stewards of it. It is not wise for us to keep back from God what He Himself has given us in the first place.
Prepare for Holy Habitation
Jesus wants us to be perfect. He wants us to love Him and the Father with our whole heart. Sometimes a person is holding on to a sin, which they do not like but may feel trapped in bondage. The person may think that they need to get free by their own efforts and clean house so Jesus can come in. However, it is when Jesus moves in bad things move out. Invite Jesus into every part of your heart, He is not afraid of your sin. He paid for your whole heart to be free with His blood, invite Him in. Salvation (freedom) is always by grace through faith, in every area of life.
Remember, Jesus says, “if anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me” Eating together speaks of fellowship, it also speaks of desires being satisfied. We are designed to have our desires satisfied by God. God’s desire is you. His desire for you is satisfied by you as you give yourself to Him, share your heart with Him. We have been created for holy fellowship with God. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, (1 John 1:3b). Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him, (John 14:23 NKJV).
I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Notice again, the principle of what is in you determines your environment. When Jesus comes in you and dines with you then you also are in heaven dining with Him. When Jesus comes in you, you are in Him also, He is bigger than you. When Jesus is able to occupy your whole heart, because you love Him with your whole heart, then you have overcome yourself and have given Him your life completely, perfection.
‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. When you fully give Jesus, your life, your heart, your kingdom, then you will rule and reign with Him in His Kingdom. As the Kingdom of God is established in you, it will begin to flow out of you to people and situations around you. That is how God has chosen to establish His Kingdom on earth, as it is in Heaven; one king at a time. Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you”, (Luke 17:20-21 NIV).
One of Jesus’ titles is King of kings. As kings on the earth, we have the authority to invite Jesus into every situation so that His kingdom is established and He is glorified. What situations are challenging you in life right now? Relationships, work, school, finances, it is time to invite Jesus into every area of your life and let His Kingdom be established in you and around you.
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. 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 NKJV)
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:31-33 NIV)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know [experience] this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV)
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