All children and adults are familiar with Play-Doh. Some time ago I began using it to communicate principles in the Kingdom of God. Yes, I know it’s silly, but in my mind, it’s one of the many small things that demonstrate the divide between ‘the way things appear’ vs. ‘what they are’.
If I were to show you a can of Play-Doh, and ask, ‘What is this?’ We would agree, ‘it’s Play-Doh’. But, what if I removed the lid and removed the clay from the container? Referring to the clay, I ask again, ‘Well, if that was Play-Doh then what is this?’ And, referring to the empty container, ‘And, what is this?’ Because the Play-Doh was in the container, they are considered one, yet Play-Doh is Play-Doh whether it’s presented in the container or in another way. If the Son of Man is the Messiah, based on His Spirit in the man that came through Mary, then I’d like for you to explore the consequences of His Spirit being in our earthen vessels.
There are things all around, which announce His Kingdom in us. It’s in all creation to be seen plainly, but with eyes to see, we’ll see the Teacher appear at any time. The source of life is found in every human, so no matter what someone looks like on the outside, we should do whatever necessary to understand this dynamic.
‘The way that seemeth right unto a man’ comes from an instinct and a need to control our current circumstances and future. In ministry, there are some assumptions made that we must allow His Spirit to test and purify the intentions of our hearts. Placing a higher emphasis on vehicles to carry God than our fear of being wrong stalls our progress. God doesn’t need another vehicle to ride. The one vehicle He designed for this job is YOU; You are His tabernacle! Your ministry vehicle must NOT be a thing we create to feel safe and predictable. Encountering God in this reality isn’t safe at all. In fact, it’s down right dangerous. Surrendering to God will almost certainly include restructuring or removing what you call ministry. There’s a powerful key found in simple, childlike trust in God. As long as we’re driven by fear, we need a revolution born out of love, but because it’s love don’t assume there won’t be fire.
The greatest place of strength is found in weakness. When resources and ministry vehicles are gone or threatened, it often reveals whether it was His strength or survival that we are anchored. Mourning loss is normal, but I’m referring to the reality we married those things in the first place. We must know and understand that the shaking in our lives is a blessing from God and even a sign post given to help us allow Him to close chapters in our lives, so we can move as He moves. Nothing matures us more than total dependence on His Spirit so shaking off yesterday’s events is an automatic, in order to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. Denying self can only be done when ‘self’ (the container) is present and contrary to popular opinion, ‘self’ must be present. Reckon dead it’s lordship! Simply don’t follow it’s instinctive directions but that’s often easier said than done. We often fail to lay down some things because we viewed variables as constants.
There needs to be a shift from looking for resources so we can become ‘the resource’ for others. Instead of carrying people to church, focus on training your people to go live powerful kingdom lives in their world, and you’ll be sending ‘church’ to them. This is what needs to change; the core of our ministries revolves around the church. Wrong! It should revolve around His Throne. Whatever anchor point we revolve around is our God.
Too often, well-meaning men stopped short of discovering their kingdom purpose because they’re mixing the pure seed with something vile. It’s an interesting dynamic where we seek God’s face until one day, when we’re facing Him, He turns us around to face His world. It’s in this revolution we find our kingdom purpose. Without being empowered by God, we produce codependent relationships and organizations until God no longer permits. Until the cycle breaks we’ll never realize we were 100% adequate without all the added trimmings. God will not permit mixed seed plans to succeed.
The Church is absolutely necessary but it must be put in proper order to the kingdom. Your earthly vessel is also absolutely necessary, and it must also be put in proper order. Instead of being saved from the world we are being saved for our world. What Jesus Christ did for the whole world, we bring into manifestation, according to our calling, a dispensation of the gospel, the measure of rule He has given us.
There is a veil shrouding the reality of your true identity and it causes a dismissal of powerful things that are small. This veil separates the pure kingdom from that which is out of alignment to His Spirit. Until you’re able to behold him in the mirror, you’ll be viewing from a distance your inheritance, instead of connecting with the treasure. Being human doesn’t disqualify you. In fact, it’s what qualifies you. But once you qualify, you will be qualified. Take this with you: Jesus said that if any man will come after Him, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Him. The key here is to remember that your container doesn’t disqualify you from having the Great Treasure in you. Your container is where God wanted to live all along.
John wrote in 1 John that we shouldn’t believe every spirit, that we should try the spirits. He further explains that every spirit that confess Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. Have you ever considered that wasn’t just Jesus’ testimony John was writing about? Our testimony should be that He has come in our flesh. That’s what the Play-Doh is all about. The container doesn’t take credit but it does get a boat load of benefits.
If God’s Spirit in The Son of Man makes Him the Messiah, then what does His Spirit living in your earthen vessel make you?
“If you’re reading this letter, my disease has run its course. Enclosed is some money for my burial. I would like to be cremated. I spent my whole life in a box. I don’t want to be buried in one.” -Georgia May Byrd (Queen Latifah)That line is from one of my favorite movies and it pretty well summarizes my inner thoughts. The title of the movie is Last Holiday.
Off and on, for some time now, a scripture has come to mind often: For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. It’s Ps 84:10. In this scripture, where he says he’d rather be a ‘doorkeeper’ really jumps out. A doorkeeper? Yes. The longer I think about it, the more I realize being a doorkeeper is not a shabby gig. The keeper of the door can only be a trusted son, who can carry out his duties based on intimately knowing his Father’s Heart. He must know who to let into His House.
In the world, vessels of dishonor love man’s failed systems, typically considered to be “church”, defined solely with human intellect, without preparing others to abide in The Kingdom. Held hostage in a school only those like itself can graduate, the cycle repeats. Not all, but many of the “shepherds” of these institutions have already received their reward. They have argued with God about who is in charge of “the body”. This morning, my mind began to think of one of the decisions Solomon made. Recorded in I Kings 3, two women had a disagreement about who was the mother of a child. One mother, said not to split the baby and walked away, while the other demanded the baby be split in half and they would each have half. In Solomon’s wisdom, he determined the true mother was the one willing to give up the child. She loved her baby so much, she was willing to die for him to live. Her instinctive role was not to demand her rights to be the mother. Her instinctive role revealed in salvation to the child. As painful as it was, she denied her own desire and was willing to lose the role of mother to her child and that is how she gained the right to care for him.
Many Christians find the law of Moses and Yeshua (Jesus) difficult to understand (reconcile). It really boils down to understanding the difference between “law enforcement” and “law fulfillment”. He not only fulfilled the law but desires to continue fulfilling it through you.
As an example of what I’m hoping to communicate, by honoring the water in a cup, we bring honor to the cup. To the cup, this is dis-honor because it seeks glory for itself. Drinking a cup of water doesn’t mean we drink ONLY from cups. No vessel should be worshiped, but when you want to drink water without refilling you’ll drink from a river.
