Tag: God’s Kingdom

318. Not the End of the World

Mike Parsons – 

Understanding Realised Eschatology

Realised eschatology, for me, is also heading for an understanding of Christian universalism. The same scriptures Jesus referred to concerning hell (Gehenna) are in the same passage as those that speak of the end of the age – not the end of the world, but the conclusion of their Old Covenant age. People faced being cast into Gehenna if they remained in Jerusalem when the Roman armies invaded. They would be crucified, and a few hundred thousand were thrown into the literal Gehenna.

This is the concept of hell, as commonly understood in English. Of course, Christian Universalists would say hell is a different thing, and some deny its existence altogether. Personally, I see it as a place where those who haven’t come to know Jesus in life still have the opportunity to choose him after death – death is not the end of choice. Rather than a realm of punishment and torment, I see it as the fire of God’s loving presence which purifies and refines.

The scriptures that mention Gehenna portray it as a consequence of staying entrenched in the old covenant ways, not some future judgment scenario. It was a warning of a physical manifestation of death. Jesus warned his followers to flee Jerusalem when they saw certain signs: they understood this and ran to the hills, to find safety in Pella. By heeding his words, they were physically saved from the destruction that befell Jerusalem.

Signs

All that being said, I believe God introduces concepts like this to steer the church back to first principles, into a deeper relationship in which we experience Him intimately, face to face. Once we do, we no longer need the signs which pointed us towards this reality.

Experiential connection

In my preaching of the gospel, I aim to introduce people to Jesus in a way that facilitates a tangible, experiential connection with the Father. It is only  through this intimate relationship that someone can truly understand and experience God’s unconditional love, find spiritual healing and wholeness, and embrace their identity and inheritance as a child of God. I believe God is gradually weaning us off an over-reliance on healings and miracles, so we can live in mystical experience with Him. This shift is not about abandoning miraculous manifestations altogether but that we use them for the purpose of outworking what God is doing in the earth.

We have the ability to govern and rule, to establish the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. This process begins first within our own lives, then thorough our lives, and ultimately leads to the creation of places on earth which do not operate under the government of earth but under the government of heaven. There will be no sickness there, no disease, no lack, no poverty: nothing contradictory to the fullness of life as children of God.

Cultivating relationship

In the Mystic movement, there is a shift away from seeking outward manifestations like healings towards cultivating a deeper relationship with God in which health and wholeness naturally flow, and the focus is no longer on individuals performing healing. God is our healer.

Early Christians underwent a profound shift in their understanding of God, moving moved away from viewing Him through the lens of an outdated religious and political system. Instead, Jesus revealed God as love incarnate, challenging their preconceptions and inviting them into a relational encounter with the Father. He came to undo their whole understanding of God from an Old Covenant mentality. This shift from a legalistic mindset to one grounded in relationship and experience to which Jesus is the door,  empowered them to operate in sonship, seated in heavenly places, and to manifest the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

The God that we know

When we are introducing the reality of who God is, we do not need to do so through miraculous healing, but through introducing the God that we know. They can experience the God that they will then know, and then they can enter into that life themselves. Now I am not saying there are not amazing things. I have done all sorts of transrelocation, time miracles and other things; but in the purposes of outworking my relationship with God, not to prove who God is or to demonstrate to others how good God is. I can help them experience God themselves, so they are not dependent on me testifying by doing anything like that.

Key takeaway

Preaching the gospel is about leading people to encounter the God we know, so that they can embark on their own journey of discovering His love and life-changing power for themselves.

Want to learn more about ‘happy’ or realised eschatology? Get Mike’s book The Eschatology of the Restoration of All Things from your favourite bookseller, or download the ebook from our website at https://eg.freedomarc.org/course/eschatology-ebook

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293. Expanding God’s Government of Peace

Mike Parsons

Everything, including our solar system, our own and distant galaxies, and even other dimensions, was created by the Father through Jesus for Jesus. All the beings connected to all of these were reconciled to God through the blood of the Cross. Therefore the beings themselves are not the issue; it is their actions that matter. Some constellations now lack Guardians, and can be vulnerable to beings from other dimensions setting up bases.

Engaging in restoring beings and constellations, reassigning Guardians, and preventing incursions is crucial. The Earth Shield, operational for the past few years, protects Earth from fallen beings and their dimensional incursions. Not all constellations have fallen beings; many are associated with angelic beings and planets that can be engaged for restoration.

There is no need for fear; discernment is essential in each situation. Changes observed in celestial bodies align with ongoing restoration. The cosmos holds vast opportunities; we, as sons of God, have a role in expanding God’s government of peace throughout the cosmos, starting with our solar system and then reaching out far beyond.

Key Takeaway

Sons Arise! The sons of God have an important part to play  in expanding God’s government of peace throughout the cosmos.

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292. Is God Shocking People into Embracing Love?
291. Can Yoga be ‘Christian’?
290. Discovering the Reality of Salvation
289. One New Man In Christ
288. Enoch’s Secret to Walking with God
287. Unconditional Love, Grace, and the truth about salvation

 

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287. Unconditional Love, Grace, and the truth about salvation

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott

In a world where what passes for ‘love’ often comes with strings attached, showing unconditional love can make a real impact. A while ago, someone sent me a link to a testimony that highlights the incredible result of demonstrating unconditional love in a real-world setting.

In a radio interview, Riaan Swiegelaar, the co-founder of the South African Satanic Church, said he did not believe that Jesus Christ existed. Afterwards, a lady from the radio station went up to him and just gave him a hug. He did not know it at the time, but she was a Christian. A week later, while he was doing a ritual with the SASC council, Jesus appeared before him. Riaan  challenged Him to prove He was Jesus, and was flooded with the most beautiful love and energy, which he recognised from the hug he had received the week before.

Now Riaan has a relationship with Jesus, converses with Him every day, and has resigned from his position in the Satanic Church. “I have for a long time believed that I am not worthy of God’s grace because I am gay. But the Kingdom of God is not a gated community, the kingdom of God is open to everybody,” he says.

Unconditional love has the power to break down barriers and transform even the most hardened hearts. Sadly, some reaction to this story has not been so accepting: Did he truly repent? Did he actually confess? Is he really a believer? Is he ‘saved’?

Grace and works

Most of us would agree that salvation is not dependent on our works, but on the unconditional love and limitless grace of God. Yet the evangelical view of salvation I was brought up with is not grace-based at all, however much it claims to be: it requires our works. You have to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth to be saved. I tried to believe and confess but I was never sure it was good enough to please God.

We have had it the wrong way around: in reality, believing is the consequence of our experiencing God’s love and grace. Evangelical theology makes forgiveness and salvation totally dependent on what man does. But all man’s religious works are dead: they can produce no life independently of God’s grace.

Reframing Confession

Another religious misconception is the idea that we must confess our sins in order to be forgiven. Jesus did not wait for those who were crucifying Him to be sorry or ‘confess’ their sin: He asked the Father to forgive them. He had taught His disciples the importance of forgiving from the heart and now He demonstrated it for them.

This understanding of ‘confession’ is heavily influenced by Catholic doctrine and can leave us feeling sin-conscious and burdened by guilt. However, the true meaning of ‘confession’ is not dwelling on our wrongdoings, but declaring and agreeing with what God says about us. We confess our righteousness, our forgiveness, and our new identity in Christ, rather than confessing our unrighteousness as perpetual sinners. Understanding this truth releases us from the cycle of guilt and allows us to fully embrace the forgiveness and grace which is lavished upon us.

Licence to sin?

Critics of limitless grace argue that it gives us the licence to sin, suggesting that if we are forgiven regardless of our actions, then we can just go ahead and do whatever we want. This is a misunderstanding of the purpose and power of grace. It is not a free pass to continue living according to our old nature: no, instead it is receiving God’s grace that enables us to walk in the freedom of our new nature. And sin, in its true definition, refers to lost identity, not wrong actions. Wrong actions do carry consequences, but they are not God’s punishment. Jesus has already defeated sin and its wages (which Paul says are death – not eternal torment), so His mercy always triumphs and His grace is always sufficient.

Metanoia, not repentance

We have seen before how ‘repentance’ (Greek metanoia) is often portrayed as remorse, with its accompanying guilt and shame, and doing penance. However, the true essence of metanoia is about returning to our true identity and restoring our relationship with the  Father. It is a transformative change of mind that aligns us with how God sees us and enables us to live in the fullness of who we were created to be. Rather than attempting to change our behaviour to earn acceptance, metanoia invites us to agree with God’s mind and embrace the truth of our identity as forgiven, righteous children of God. This shift in perspective empowers us to live a life that reflects our true nature in Christ.

Living loved is accepting the truth of being unconditionally forgiven,  celebrating it in joy and rejoicing in love. If we live in the truth that we are loved and forgiven unconditionally, we do not have to fear admitting we sometimes mess up, as we are still having our minds renewed. We can be real with the Father if we are struggling with something. We do not have to run away in fear and hide from our Father as Adam did, we can run to Him. We can come boldly to the throne of grace and receive limitless grace and triumphant mercy. We are only alienated in our own minds – that is why we need deep religious deprogramming.

Life-changing power

Riaan Swiegelaar’s transformation from a leader of the Satanic Church to a follower of Jesus serves as a powerful testament to the life-changing power of unconditional love. It is through God’s grace, not our works, that we are saved. Understanding the true meaning of confession, repentance, and grace liberates us from guilt and empowers us to live in the fullness of who we are in Christ.

Let’s embrace the truth of God’s unconditional love, extend it to others, and live in the freedom and joy of our salvation.

You can watch Riaan’s testimony and a sequel on YouTube.

Each of this series of blog posts is adapted from Mike’s latest FREE video series on ‘Unconditional Love’.
Why not become a patron and join us live for the next recording – they are normally on the second Sunday of each month at 6pm UK time.

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278. Established in Heaven

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott – 

Seated in heavenly places

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus… (Eph 2:4-6).

When a king is ruling, he sits on a throne. That is where he has authority. Ultimately, God wants to enable us to be seated in authority in heavenly places so that we can then bring His kingdom into the earth:

Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
(Matt 6:10).

God’s kingdom is concerned with heaven being manifested on earth. Heaven and earth were originally in complete alignment, but no longer. The earth is fallen from that place and therefore needs to be restored. That is God’s desire, so restoration is about bringing His will and purpose from heaven into the earth; to manifest it, to see His will at work. He does not want to control everything Himself, He encourages us as His sons to participate with Him in the process.

When we are seated, we are in a place of rest within His will and heart. Then we are able to release His will, His governmental perspective, to everything on earth. That is why it is important for us to understand heavenly government.

In heaven first

If we are going to see something established on earth, it needs to be established in heaven first. How do we do that? By exercising our role in heavenly government.

‘Kingdom’ is not just an empty word, there is a reality to government in heaven. There is a whole governmental structure of angels, archangels and other beings (including the men in white linen) operating in the courts and councils of heaven to fulfil God’s will and purpose. And there is a place for us there too.

Government is relational

Heavenly and earthly government are designed to work together. Most of us are familiar with some form of earthly government in our nation, region or city. Whatever we think about political earthly governments, the reality is that God establishes government. And if we see that any earthly government is actually opposing heaven, then we can ask Him whether He mandates us to use our position in heaven to bring about change and transformation in that earthly government.

All government begins in the relationship that is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because that is where everything starts. It is all coming out of His heart of love, out of His desire for restoration. All of it is based in who He is. Government is an expression of the intimacy that exists within God Himself. It is all about love because God is love.

He really is. You may have been taught that God brings judgment on nations through earthquakes and floods and so on. He does not: none of that is Him. Maybe those things are spiritual consequences, or maybe we just live in a fallen world which needs restoration and those adverse weather patterns and movements of the tectonic plates are creation groaning under the weight of our lack of sonship. In that case we need to get our act together and begin to bring order and government into it all as sons of God – but in love, not in frustration or anger or with any sense of retribution or vengeance.

The wrath of God is not poured out on people, because Jesus already dealt with death (the wages of sin). There is no need for God’s wrath to be directed towards anyone, because everyone is already forgiven. But there are things which restrict us from knowing who God is and who we are. The wrath of God is poured out on whatever hinders people from knowing and responding to Him and stepping into their inheritance as His sons.

The sons of the kingdom carry government and all of us are sons of the kingdom. We all have a governmental position, whether we like it or not. Whether we understand it or know it, we have authority because we are sons.

Relationship, not a formula

Governments operate according to various principles and protocols, but in heavenly government (and in earthly government where it is a true reflection of heaven) everything is outworked relationally with God and with each other. We do not want to get tied down to formulas. Once you formularise something, you remove relationship from the equation and everything becomes legalistic. For example, sowing and reaping is a principle, not a formula. As soon as you make it a formula, ‘I sow this and I automatically reap that’ then you have excluded God and suddenly it does not bring blessing anymore. God wants us to be involved with Him relationally in the sowing and the reaping so that we receive all that is on His heart for us, and enjoy it with Him.

So there are protocols for operating in the courts of heaven and it helps if you know how each court functions. But if we engage with God and with His heart, everything we need to know and everything we need to do will come from that relationship. And then we need to work those things out in relationship with one another. The government that we have in heaven and the government we need to have on earth as a foundation to all our ekklesias (and anything else we set up) must be relational because God is relational.

Agreement, cooperation and unity

We need to be relational not functional. Things do need to function, of course; but when you do business of any kind it has to be relational, otherwise it is not going to be a true reflection of God.

Agreement, cooperation and unity are all necessary in government: between God and us and between one another. If the relationship between us and God can be problematic, our relationship with one another is even more so. We are all imperfect and we are all in the process of change and transformation, therefore we rub each other up the wrong way. We will have relational conflicts which come up to the surface and we will have to work them through. Most people do not work them through, they sweep them under the carpet and the lump under the carpet gets bigger and bigger until everyone starts stumbling over it and they cannot ignore it any longer.

We have to work everything through relationally if we are going to see government work according to God’s original intent and purpose, so that what we build here is sustainable and effective, continually full of light and life, a reflection of heaven on earth.

This post is based upon Mike’s slides and teaching from our Sons Arise! – On Earth As In Heaven conference (September 2018).

Related ‘Sons Arise!’ posts

Mike’s new book, ‘Engaging the Father’ is the first volume in the Sons Arise! series, due to be published on 7th June 2023.  You can (pre-)order the paperback from your favourite local or online bookshop or get the ebook NOW from our website.

More info: eg.freedomarc.org/books

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257. Limitless, Immortal Beings

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

Restoration of Sonship

The deeper I have gone in relationship with the Father the more I have come to know the two priorities of the Father’s heart: the restoration of our sonship and the restoration of all things. My journals are filled with our conversations relating to sonship and restoration. These are some of the things He has spoken to me about:

The Father’s Heart

Knowing that God is our Father is one thing; choosing to pursue that relationship and allowing Him to father us is something else altogether. His desire is that we share His heart; that we get to know His ways as well as His works. As we carry His heart and grow in maturity, He will include us in the deliberations of the councils and assemblies of heaven. His deepest desire is for His children to return to the place of our conception within the recesses of His heart, so that we can truly know Him and have a deeper revelation of who we are as His sons, made in His image: co-heirs and co-creators.

Limitless

He desires to restore everything about us, including our identity, position, authority, abilities, knowledge, wisdom, relationship and connection to the created order. He desires to remove the limitations of the finite and the mortal nature of our minds and restore the limitlessness of our transcendent and infinite origins. We are relational beings, made in His image, of limitless creative potential.

We were conceived as limitless, immortal beings like our Father. He never intended the limited, restricted, finite, mortal existence which mankind now experiences because of choosing the DIY path instead of the Tree of Life. Restoration of our sonship encompasses possibilities far beyond the wildest dreams of even the most creative minds. I can imagine eyes capable of seeing all wavelengths of light, ears capable of hearing all wavelengths of sound, bodies capable of multidimensional travel and existence, minds capable of creative expression, bodies capable of instantaneous healing. I can imagine doing the works Jesus did, and greater works: controlling the molecular structure of water, becoming invisible, creating and manipulating matter, telepathy (knowing people’s minds and hearts) and telekinesis (‘immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going’), creative thought, translation, bilocation, pre- and post-cognition, time travel…

If I can imagine those things, then the true potential of restored sonship lies far, far beyond them.

Priority

He told me, “Son, your sonship is the only priority you need to focus on.” The purity of restored relationship between the Father and His sons and daughters is His deepest desire; the restoration of all things is its outworking. “This is the love agenda where all things of the created order will be returned to relational connectedness within My unity. Son, no one who becomes intimately acquainted with the thoughts and intentions of love revealed through knowing Me could fail to see their destiny within the desires of My heart.”

All things

Just as Paul wrote, God is continually ‘working all things together for good’. That is how they were designed to work. All things were created to work together, unique and individual in themselves, yet only complete within the harmonious union of the whole. The removal of all fragmentation, fracturedness and brokenness in all its forms is the ultimate goal of restoration:

Personal restoration of spirit, soul and body to original intention, condition and functionality
Spirit to God relationship
Spirit to eternal identity
Spirit to all creation, physical and spiritual
DNA restored to 12 strands
Spirit soul and body
Everything within the soul – mind, emotions, will, conscience, imagination, reason, choice – restored to innocence
All brokenness, fragmentation, separation, isolation and rejection restored
All needs met for harmony, relationships, intimacy, union, unity, love, joy and peace
Mind restored to full creative capacity
Body restored to health and wholeness and all supernatural abilities
Breath of life restored
Restored destiny and purpose
Restored inheritance, identity, birthright, position, authority
Spirit being, to living being, to godlike being

Expanding

That shalom, that wholeness and peace, will carry on expanding: there will never be an end to its increase within His ever-increasing kingdom. And we are intended to be instrumental in the government of that kingdom. The restoration of our relationship as sons must lead to our exercising responsibility commensurate with our sonship. We will learn to rule, not only over what is already created but over what we create. We already have the ability to create; however, because of lost identity we have created mainly chaos. Knowing our identity and restored to sonship, our capacity to create beauty and order will increasingly manifest around us.

The restoration of the sons of God will be like Joseph coming out of the dungeon prison to take up the second highest position in Egypt; we will emerge from obscurity and shame to be invested, enthroned, seated in the heavenly places; ruling and reigning as the mountain of the house of the Lord.

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197. Citizens of Another Kingdom

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott – 

Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20).

In prison, Paul described himself as ‘an ambassador in chains’ for the gospel (see Eph. 6:19-20). God has called His people to be ambassadors in this world for Him, to proclaim His kingdom and to encourage people to be reconciled to Him in relationship. I say ‘in relationship’ because, through the cross, God in Christ has already done everything necessary to reconcile all people to Him. But if they continue to see themselves as estranged from Him they will not enjoy the kind of relationship He desires to have with them as His sons.

Dictionaries define the word ‘ambassador’ as

  • a diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed and accredited as a representative in residence by one government or sovereign to another
  • an authorized messenger or representative
  • an agent, an apostolic delegate, messenger, minister, or emissary.

Our citizenship is in heaven

He has rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).

We have been taken out of one kingdom and transferred into another. We are now under the authority of God’s kingdom.

For our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20).

Our citizenship is not of the country of our birth or residence. Though that might be true in the natural sense, spiritually we are citizens of heaven. This means we are connected to heaven and our authority comes from heaven.  We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom but living on the earth.

If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you (John 15:19).

Jesus has chosen us as His representatives out of the world, so we are not tied to the restrictions of this realm. The kingdom of heaven is a spiritual realm, a higher authority than the natural realm. It has more and greater dimensions of authority and power than this realm. In fact, this physical realm is held together by the power that comes from that spiritual realm.

This temporal realm had a beginning and will have an end. Once we come into eternity, everything that is wrapped up in this time will be left in this time. Sin will be left in this time. There will be no more remembrance of it in eternity. But we are already of eternity: though we live in this natural realm, we are constantly connected to that realm of heaven.

Ambassadors of heaven

As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (John 17:18)

Jesus is talking to the Father about his disciples, about us. We have been sent on a mission. We are gateways of heaven on earth, bringing heaven to earth. We come to administer that kingdom in this natural realm. When we lay hands on someone and see a miracle, we are bringing what is in heaven (complete health and healing) to the earth through the power and authority flowing through us as ambassadors of that kingdom.

We take our orders and get our authority from heaven. Our protection and our provision come from heaven. We live by the laws of heaven, the economy and the political system of heaven.  Certainly we need to honour those in authority over us in the natural realm, right up until it conflicts with the authority of heaven. Then, we defer to that higher authority.

Consider the British Ambassador in a foreign country. The embassy is considered British soil and is protected by British troops. The ambassador and staff take their orders from London, and represent British interests, operating under British rules and culture. They are in constant contact with the home country. They do not operate from personal opinions but on orders from home. That is exactly what God is calling us to do.

The whole church is an embassy, and our individual lives are an embassy: foreign soil to this world, protected by heaven. We have authority, but only as we act on orders from heaven (and not earth). As citizens of heaven, each of us has a sphere of kingdom authority to exercise. In and around our lives we have authority to rule over our circumstances, situations, and the place that God has put us in, representing one kingdom (heaven) in another kingdom (earth).

New services and systems

Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould… (Romans 12:2 Phillips).

We are not to be influenced by earthly culture, society and customs, but rather we are to influence them and transform them. In the UK, our National Health Service is excellent as far as it goes, but as Christians we have (and can administer) a new health service. Our health service comes from heaven.

We enjoy and administer new economic and financial services. We sow into God’s kingdom and He blesses us, honours us, and multiplies it back. We then have more than enough for all our needs, with an abundance for every good deed He calls us to do (see 2 Cor 9:6-12).

We have a new education system. We are not limited to what our minds can understand. We are connected to the source of all knowledge, the omnipotent, omniscient God, who is in heaven and in us. We have all the education we need because it comes from the source of life. We can receive revelation, prophetic information, and have a heads-up on every situation because we are connected to a realm which sees the future as clearly as the present and the past.  The spiritual realm is not limited by time and space like this natural world.

We are to be a new society. That means new attitudes, new ideas, a new culture, new behaviours, new abilities, and new powers.

We have supernatural abilities, even beyond anything imagined by Marvel comic book writers. We can look into the hearts of men and see what is there; we can lay hands on the sick and see them recover; we can work all kinds of other miracles. We have authority over nature. Jesus wants us doing everything He did, and more (see John 14:12). We have the supernatural power of heaven at our disposal. The kingdom (and our ambassadorship) is of a supernatural realm, operating in this natural one.

Sown into this world

Jesus presented another parable to them saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seeds in his field… The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one” (Matt. 13:24, 37-38).

Every believer is a son of the kingdom and has been sown into this world to produce the fruit of the kingdom and to bring God’s rule to earth. We are not just here to influence the world, but to colonise it. When the Pilgrim Fathers went to America they extended the government of Britain to America. The church is a colony of heaven on earth, and so too is each of our lives.

But we do not control, manipulate or force people into accepting the kingdom we represent. This is not medieval Christendom, with its forced conversions (often at sword-point). We bring and demonstrate the good news. As sons of the kingdom, we bring the fruit of that kingdom so that people will want to be engaged with the God that they see through us.

He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Matt. 13:31).

The kingdom started really small, with Jesus. By the time Jesus ascended back into heaven, there were still only about 500 disciples. Yet the kingdom did not stay small, and the church now has a substantial presence in most nations of the world. In the early centuries, the number of Christians to non-Christians was 1 to 350. Today it is 1 to 6. The kingdom is advancing and growing.

He spoke another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened” (Matt. 13:33).

We are to permeate the whole world with the good news of the gospel of Jesus. We bring a message of good news that God is not counting anyone’s trespasses against them and we demonstrate that message by how we live. We are called to influence the world, to restore it to its original condition and ownership.

That is why we have to be good ambassadors.

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133. From The Inside Out

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott –

I have written before about how God gave me four words: investiture, succession, enthronement and coronation. Those four events happen in that exact order. First you are invested with authority, but you do not immediately move on to taking up your throne. Before you can be enthroned, succession has to happen: that is, whoever or whatever is presently sitting on that throne needs to die, step aside or be removed.

If we are invested with the power of the kingdom, then we have to dethrone the things that are ruling in our lives: our self, our soul; me, myself, and I. If I want to see the kingdom of God flowing through my life there is no place on the throne for ‘me, myself and I’. ‘I’ will only get in the way of it. ‘I’ will spoil it, ‘I’ will block it. ‘I’ need to be dethroned.

Nature, which has programmed me, programmed my DNA from past generations, needs to be restored and renewed. Nurture, environmental programming in my life: my upbringing, what has gone on around me, needs to be restored and renewed. Trauma, which is experiential programming, things I have experienced that cause me to respond in particular ways, needs reprogramming. I need to be transformed, restored to my original eternal condition. That is what God wants to happen here, in this realm; not just in eternity, because what happens here will determine what I do in eternity once time is finished.

This is a picture which describes how we can start operating in the kingdom of God (Ian Clayton saw something similar to this on a scroll he received from heaven, though the origins of the diagram go back to at least the year 1919).

It starts with the glory of God, His presence on the inside of us. In our spirit, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have come to make their home as Jesus promised. They want to occupy the seat of government in our lives. As we open that inner door of first love, the glory of God first flows out into our spirit and develops our spiritual senses. Then it flows out through our soul and transforms our soul. God comes into our heart, where our scroll of destiny is seated, and begins to transform us. Eventually His glory flows out through our body, a manifestation of transfiguration, where the light of God’s glory will shine through us.

Notice how the flow is always from the inside. Everything in the kingdom happens from the inside out. It is no good us trying change ourselves from the outside in. We need to learn to surrender ourselves to the presence of God on the inside, so that the presence of God flows through our whole being, and transforms us.

We begin by opening the First Love gate. That is where Jesus is knocking in Revelation 3:20.  He wants us to enjoy intimacy with Him, and He wants access to the whole of our lives, spirit, soul and body. The door handle is on our side.

Here is an animated version of that diagram, created by Adam Butterick for Son Of Thunder (click the ‘play’ button to start):

We will look some more at this diagram over the next few posts. There are gateways between each of these parts of our lives, and they have been blocked, often by things that have come in from the outside.

The things we have seen, smelt, heard, tasted and touched will have affected our soul. If we try to change them by the things we can see, smell, hear, taste and touch on the outside, it will not be effective because all we do is reinforce the operations of the self.

But if we allow the Spirit of God to flow through us, we allow His presence to change and transform us – from the inside.

Related articles from Freedom ARC

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132. Broken Cisterns Hold No Water

Mike Parsons
with Jeremy Westcott – 

Everything we are writing about in this series on Preparing For Destiny comes down to (or builds up to) one thing: what will we choose to do? Will we choose to do what Jesus would do? Or will we choose to do what our own flesh tells us to do?

Holy Spirit flow

If we are to choose right, we need to be flowing in the Holy Spirit.

We need a connection with the Holy Spirit. We need to be baptised in the Holy Spirit. We need to be speaking in tongues. Praying in tongues is a major flow of the life of God which is within us. It builds up an environment around us which draws the presence of God, so that God comes and fills that space.

Dead to God

This is what we were like before we came into the realisation of being born again:

We had a soul. Our heart had natural needs, we had a body of flesh through which it did its best to meet its natural needs, and we had a spirit that was dead to God, separated from Him in our own understanding. That is why we read in Jeremiah:

For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.
(Jer 2:13).

diagram: Dead to God

Believing itself separated from God, our soul had no alternative but to try to get its needs met however it could. So it tried to meet those needs by drawing on the world. We all have a built-in need for love, acceptance, security, significance and purpose. But the world cannot fully meet those needs (it was never intended to) and as a result, our soul is damaged and we experience hurt, pain, rejection, insecurity, fear, disappointment, guilt, and shame.

Alive to God

Then we hear and respond to the gospel. Our spirit now comes alive to God, and suddenly we realise it is possible for us to have our needs met by Him. But we are used to getting them met by the world. So we have to transfer our source of acceptance and love; we need to transfer it from the world around us, to God, who is on the inside of us.

We start to look inwards, to God in us; not outwards, to the world.

As we do that, as we are transformed, as we are restored in our soul, then God deals with that damage. We do not need to look to the world to meet our needs. We look to Him. And we can then start to manifest through our body the life that flows from the spirit. You have seen Christians who positively glow with the life of God within them. More than that, we can be literally transfigured.

Spirit senses, soul senses

Diagram: Alive to God

Here is another way of looking at this: we are born again, in our spirit we have the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the glory of God in us, and we have nine spiritual senses that begin to develop through practice (we will look more at those another time). We know God’s love, we have access to the heavenly realms, and can enjoy real intimacy with Him, which enables that love to be outworked in our lives. Then our soul senses develop too, and eventually we start to manifest around us the glory of God: deliverance, the works of Jesus, miracles, supernatural works, healing, greater works (John 14:12), signs and wonders: all start to flow out through our lives. Or that is what should happen.

Blockages

But there are blockages. There is a blockage between our spirit and the heavenly realms, because probably no-one ever taught us we could go there (in fact mostly they taught us that we could not, at least until we die). There is a blockage between our soul and our spirit, because our soul is used to being in control. There is a blockage between our soul and our body, preventing the flow of life streaming out from us to the world.

But as we are transformed, these blockages are removed. Our spirit and soul start to work together. We begin to feel God’s love, as well as to just know God’s love for us. We learn to access the heavenly realms, so we can express God’s love and manifest God’s kingdom in and through our lives to the world around us. We are changed, transformed, transfigured.

And this last diagram sums it all up.

Diagram; Connected

With the new birth, the DNA of God is in our spirit: we have access to the fountain of life; we have access to our destiny; we are a dwelling-place of God, through relationship. Our spirit now needs to produce the fruit and the gifts. The river of life flows through the garden of our soul, so that our whole life is manifesting God’s glory. We have access to the kingdom of God within us, and the kingdom of God in the heavenly realms, and as we learn to operate there our life is transformed.

Practice

As we have said before, the key to this is practice. You have to practise to train your senses. You have to practise how you transform your soul.

But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Heb 5:14)

We have to train our spiritual senses; we have to train our soul senses, to be connected up with the kingdom of God in heaven to outwork on earth.

So we are going to do that, over the coming weeks on this blog. We are going to help you train your spirit senses, train your soul senses, and we are going to see transformation taking place.

You have been invested with authority, but you have to come into that place of succession so that you can be enthroned. To bring God’s kingdom from heaven to earth, you have to dethrone the soul. Now that is not an easy process, but you can do it.

With God and our spirit working together, we can all do it.

Related articles from Freedom ARC

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Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits.

'Donate to Freedom ARC' button
Or you can use this blue button to support our work with a one-time gift*.
Thank you!
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For repeating donations, if you do not have (or want) a PayPal account please support us through Patreon instead.

Featured image attribution: “Nabatean Well Negev 031812” by Mark A. Wilson (Wilson44691) – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons – https://goo.gl/ycuom2

Are you part of the Joshua Generation?

We developed this just for you:

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility is our online school for equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek.

Your first two weeks free!
Click here to find out more and get started today*

*Technology permitting: automated process on setup of payment arrangement and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.

101. Filthy Garments and Festal Robes

Mike Parsons
and Jeremy Westcott –

The kingdom of God is all around us. Not separate, not a long way away. So close that we can turn and look into it.

So, too, is the kingdom that is in darkness.

Which will we draw from?

Depending on where we look, that is where we will draw our resources from. Our spirit has access to the kingdom which is in light. God wants us to access all that He has for us in that kingdom and to draw all our power and authority from it every day, so that we can live abundantly.

If we do not, we will inevitably draw our resources from the other kingdom. The soul and the flesh will look to meet their own needs in their own way, and will look to obtain their resources from the kingdom that is in darkness.

Every time we try to do something in our own strength, according to our soul power, it will ultimately prove unsuccessful. We have to get over the fact that we can do nothing in our own strength. So we can turn and engage the kingdom of light or we can turn into the kingdom in darkness. It is a choice we all have, but co-operating with God is much more productive than resisting Him.

God’s desire was for Adam and Eve to be successful in carrying out His plan for them and for the earth. So He made available to them everything they needed to fill the earth and subdue it. They chose to look for resources elsewhere, and failed to fulfil their destiny.

“The Lord rebuke you, Satan”

We have looked briefly before at Zechariah 3, and it is a really important chapter in understanding this:

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by (Zech 3:1-7).

This scene is set, not on the earth, but in the heavenly realms. Joshua was a man, a priest just as we are, and he had access to the presence of God. But Satan was there to accuse him. So we understand that we are looking at a courtroom in heaven, because courtrooms are where accusations are made and verdicts delivered.

It is God, not Joshua, who deals with Satan here.The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan!”. So if there are accusations against us it is God who will deal with them.

Filthy garments

Notice that Joshua was ‘clothed with filthy garments’. Surely you cannot come into the presence of God wearing filthy garments? Actually that is exactly what you must do: He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.”

God does the cleansing and cleaning up. We do not have to try to make ourselves clean in our own strength, by our own effort and initiative. That is just what Adam did when he messed up. He hid from God in the bushes and tried to cover himself with leaves. It does not work, and it is not our place to clean ourselves up. There is no need to feel guilty or condemned, or try to make amends for our sin in our own strength.

We just have to come into the presence of God, and He takes all the filthy garments off us and gives us a new robe.

Run to Him, not from Him

Now this all sounds very familiar, I know. But what we have maybe not realised before now is where this takes place. It takes place in the realms of heaven. That is why it is so important for us to access the heavenly realms: we can get clean every time we go in there, and when we are clean, we are confident to exercise the authority that God has given us and see the enemy defeated. If we feel guilty and condemned because of the accusations brought against us, then we lose our confidence, and are unlikely to overcome. So when we mess up – and we all do – we can step into the place of God’s presence. We can run to Him, not from Him.

He will deal with the accusations against us. He rebukes Satan. He does so because the blood of Jesus is constantly before Him as a testimony of what Jesus did on the cross:

God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them (2 Corinthians 5:19).

From God’s perspective, there is no sin outstanding against any of us. Jesus completely undid the consequence of Adam’s sin which produced spiritual death in us.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive (1 Cor 15:22).

Just as we all inherited that spiritual death and blindness from Adam, so we all share in the victory of the cross and resurrection life. When we take the bread and the wine in communion we are partaking of the life of God, His very essence, His DNA, and we are transformed. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all our sin and all our iniquity is done away with.

One of the enemy’s favourite tactics is to make us believe that we cannot come to God because we have sinned, whereas in fact it is the very thing that we need to do, and as quickly as we possibly can, to benefit from God’s forgiveness and receive His cleansing.

If you confess your sin, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  ‘Faithful’ means that He will always do it. He will ‘clothe [us] with festal robes’ (Zech 3:4).

 Free access to stand 

We will never enjoy our free access to the realms of heaven if we think we have to be worthy. The enemy will always tell us we are unworthy. That is how he operates. We need to know the truth, because then we find the promise:

And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here” (Zech 3:6).

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Thank you!

JOIN US IN ENGAGING GOD!

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility is our online school for equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek.

Your first two weeks free!
Click here to get started today*

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100. The Door of Heaven Stands Open

Mike Parsons
and Jeremy Westcott

We looked in the last post at Jacob’s dream of a ladder set on earth and reaching into heaven. Now, let’s see how this worked out in the life of Jesus.

And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:51).

This is what happened in Jesus’ ministry, and it is why He was able to do what He did. We are also to do what He did, and greater things (John 14:12). If Jesus needed the heavens open and angels ascending and descending, then God does not expect us to make do with less.

Jesus lived in dual realms

“No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven” (John 3:13).

Jesus says that He is in heaven, although He is also at that moment speaking to Nicodemus on the earth. He was there then; He is there now. We too can be living in that realm of heaven and also living on the earth. We too can live in dual realms of authority, outworking heaven on the earth, here and now.

“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honour him” (John 12:26).

If Jesus is in the heavens, we can be in the heavens; and that is where we occupy thrones and mountains. It is where our authority comes from to rule in this earthly realm.

“In that day you will know that I am in my Father. You are in Me, and I am in You” (John 14:20). That is the relationship that makes us the house of God: “We will come and make our home (our dwelling-place) with him” (v23 Amp).

A habitation of God

The kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21). We are a habitation of God – a place where He lives, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are connected to God, and a gate of God’s glory.

The key to understanding this is for each of us to know that we are a dwelling place of God here on earth and that the door of heaven stands open for us to access the heavenly realms. We can experience that place and bring the authority of those heavenly realms back from there to here. Then it can be ‘on earth, as it is in heaven’. We have to manifest the kingdom of God, just as Jesus did.

Continual revival

For some time now here at Freedom we have been experiencing an everlasting door which is open. One door which is open over us here as a church, and it is manifesting as the glory of God. Sometimes in our worship and in what we do with the flags and streamers and rhythm and dance there are flashes, glimpses of the glory of God coming down through those realms. We have become a landing strip for angels. And that is with one door, not even fully open, over one local church. Imagine how it would be if all seven were fully open! It would be like heaven on earth.

God’s church around the world needs to have all those doors open; to have continual revival, which will not stop. We need to see unrestricted manifestations of the glory of God for healing and health, for deliverance and freedom, for mandating us to come into the fullness of our destiny. To get to that point, everyone is needed. None of us can do it on our own; and we cannot do it with just a handful of people: the whole church needs to be involved in these things. God is calling all of us to do the works that Jesus did. Every single one of us has been called and mandated with an authority to bring heaven to earth.

God is calling you

Let us put it plainly: God is calling you to take your realm of authority in your life on the inside and in the heavenly realms, and to start occupying God’s kingdom and bringing it here on earth as it is in heaven. Are you up for that?

Do not think, ‘Oh, that kind of thing is not for me; I never get anything like that’. Start operating with God, in the garden that you have on the inside. A door will begin to open up for you into the heavenly realms: step in and you will start to experience more and more.

It is God’s intention to do this with you. It is for every single person reading this: that is why we began writing this blog back in 2011, trusting that God would help you find it. And part of the reason God is raising us up as a resource centre is that we are called to support you and encourage you and help you as you find your way in these things. Time is speeding up, there is an acceleration happening. When God suddenly comes and starts doing something different, what used to take years can take months, weeks, or even days.

Will you run with Him?

Let’s pray.

Father we pray for all the frazzled minds that are out there.
By Your Spirit, from their spirit, bring revelation knowledge of the truth
Of each person’s identity,
As a lord, as a king and as a son of God.
The full realm of authority that each person has,
To manifest the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven
Through their lives
To do the works of Jesus here on earth.

We thank You and praise You, Lord God,
For all that You are doing in these days
For the exciting times we are living in
Times when Your kingdom is going to come and manifest
On earth as it is in heaven.

We pray that You would call and choose and invest
Each of the people reading this
With the authority they have in that realm to occupy those thrones.
That they will be enthroned and begin to rule
And to manifest Your kingdom through their lives.

Let the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of God
Open the eyes of our hearts that we can start to see
And experience the fullness of our inheritance
On earth, and in the heavens.

Dreams, visions, revelations: we pray that they will be released
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty:
Freedom to come into the revelation of God
That we can step into Your kingdom
And step out of your kingdom by faith every second of every day.

Stir us and draw us to that place
Where we can fully be the manifest sons of God on the earth.
Holy Spirit, we pray You would do that in our lives.
Draw us into intimacy, remove the stumbling blocks
And let us be lifted up as the gates of heaven.

Amen.

Related articles from Freedom ARC

Support Freedom ARC

'Donate to Freedom ARC' button

Our Patreon patrons give a small amount each month and can join us for our monthly group Zooms, get exclusive or early access to Mike’s teaching and enjoy further patron-only benefits. Or you can make a one-time gift of any amount you choose (in US Dollars) by credit or debit card (processed by Stripe), or using your Apple Pay account if you have one.
Thank you!

Image attribution: Detail from Jacob’s Dream by William Blake (c. 1805, British Museum) – William Blake Archive, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1869973

JOIN US IN ENGAGING GOD!

Engaging God on the Heavenly Pathways of Relationship and Responsibility is our online school for equipping a Joshua Generation of supernatural sons of God to live according to the order of Melchizedek.

Your first two weeks free!
Click here to get started today*

To find out more about the Engaging God programme, click here…

*Technology permitting: automated process on setup of payment arrangement and completion of online registration form. Terms and conditions apply.