This article was published in Rays of Love magazine in August 2005
God’s Kingdom is the Kingdom of Power! Whenever JESUS exercised or manifested power, He always manifested the power of the kingdom of God. It was not the Power of this World, but the Power of the World to come.
The future world where we are going to live-in is full of Power – there will be no sickness, sorrow, tears or depression. JESUS always functioned from the power of the world to come. There is so much power in that world that you can even travel faster than the speed of light. That same power came on Philip for a fraction of second after he baptized the eunuch in Acts 8:36-39 he was transported and was found 25 miles away. ….’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,‘ says the LORD of hosts Zechariah 4:6b (NKJV). With one touch of that power, the blind eyes will open, lame will walk, lepers will be cleansed and the dead will be raised up. Sometimes, in these days there is a lot of talk of the power, but in reality there is no power at all.
When JESUS was on this earth He walked in the fullness of God’s power.
If we desire to walk in The Kingdom of God Power then we will have to follow The Kingdom of God Principles.
Jesus revealed most of these principles in His Sermon on the Mount. Therefore, it is very important for us to read, re-read and practice these three chapters of Matthew (5-7). Here, the laws of the kingdom of God are as binding as the laws of Moses and then again the laws of the Kingdom of God transcend the Laws of Moses that means they are higher then the laws of Moses. For example, Old Testament says that you should not kill (Ex 20:13) but the kingdom of God’s law says that if you hate somebody you are a murderer (Mt 5:22), (1 John 3:15). The old covenant says that you shall not commit adultery (Ex 20:14). The new covenant says that …whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery her in his heart.Matthew 5:28 (NKJV).
You see that the laws here are enlarged and higher. So, if you want to walk in the fullness of God’s power then you must follow the laws of the Kingdom.
Well, there are several laws but in this article, we are going to study one of the main Laws. In following this we will be following all the other laws. So, what is that Law? Is it the LAW OF LOVE. Jesus walked in it. The Bible says…scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7,8(NKJV)
If you want to walk in the fullness of God’s power, then you need to walk in the fullness of God’s Love. I believe the amount of love we have in our life corresponds to the amount of power we will walk in.
Here is the Law of Love in Matthew 5:43-48 and Luke 6:32-38 (NKJV)
But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. Luke 6:32
And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. Luke 6:33
If you do good to those who do good to you… What’s the big deal??? How many of us because somebody had invited us to their house we also want to invite them back to our house. They took us out to eat, so we also want to take them out to eat. Many times we do good to the same people who do good to us. Sometimes we even expect people to do the same thing that we did for them.
And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. Luke 6:34 (NKJV)
God Bless You!
If you love your enemies and do good to them and lend hoping to receive nothing, then your reward will be great in that world. You will be called the children of the Most High that means if you won’t do this you will not be called the children of the highest. If you want to be called the children of God, then love your enemies.
For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Unthankful are one category of people and evil are another category of people but God is kind to both. If God is kind to you then you also have to be kind to others.
Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Luke 6:36 (NKJV)
Isn’t it wonderful? Papa God is merciful; He is kind to the unthankful and evil. So, we will also be merciful and kind. This is the law of the kingdom. If we follow this then we will surely see the power Of God manifesting through us.
Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37 (NKJV)
Many times on purpose people find fault with others. The Kingdom Law does not permit us to do this. In many homes, children don’t walk in the fear of the God because somewhere in their house they as a family judge and condemn others. Most of the young people have gone out of the way because when they were small there was no right word spoken in their house, no words of love for others and no family prayer. The Bible says; Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to youLuke 6:38 (NKJV). Many times, we quote this verse in context with Finance and Praise the Lord it works, but we fail to walk in the previous verses about Love your enemies, Do good to them…. Judge not, Condemn not.
Jesus also said: You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, Bless those who curse you, Do Good to those who hate you, and Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. Matthew 5:43, 44 (NKJV)
Notice these 4 things;
- Love your enemies: make a list of your enemies and start loving them
- Bless: Anyone who curses you – start blessing them, saying, “Lord I bless this person in the name of Jesus”. If somebody curses you then don’t cry and weep but rejoice saying “oh, I got an opportunity to bless them and to fulfill this Word”.
- Do good to those who hate you: Well if anybody hates you then you are a blessed person because you got an opportunity to do good to them and fulfill the law of the Kingdom.
- Pray for them who despite fully use you and persecute you: As Paul and Silas prayed and praised God in the prison you also need to pray and praise God for your persecutors. Even they should know the love of Jesus.
A lot of people say well, JESUS though He was loving, He still used the whip. He whipped the people and He drove the people out of the temple. So we also should use the whip, and correct them. But do you know when did JESUS use the whip and cleaned the temple? Read the previous passage (Luke 19:41) it says that He looked towards Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives and wept saying “Oh! Jerusalem the things that belong to your peace are hidden from you, you have not known the hour of your visitation”. If you can weep for people, then you can use the rod of correction on them. Oh! If you can only weep for them in prayer and cry for them in the presence of God then you will never condemn them. Preachers, if you can feed them spiritually then you can correct them.
Another interpretation for this is that today also JESUS weeps for us and He cleans the temple, which is our body! There is a lot of evil in our flesh, so here is where we want JESUS to use the whip and root out every evil that is in our life.
That you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45 (NKJV)
One thing unique about our God is that, no matter what type of person comes to Him – evil or good, He is the same unchanging Jesus towards them. If we are the children of God then that’s how we must be. Some people think that this is a special ability, which is given only to a few chosen people. No, this ability is given to all who desire to be like their Heavenly Father.
And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Matthew 5:47 (NKJV)
Can you imagine the Law of Love has ‘Salute’ or ‘Wishing’ in it? Notice, if I only greet those who greet me then what is so special about it. But if you don’t greet me and I greet you, then that is something special. I have heard this several times from many people saying that a particular person doesn’t greet them. Oh! What an opportunity to fulfill this God given Law. God is giving us several opportunities but we keep complaining and grumbling.
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect Matthew 5:48 (NKJV). JESUS is talking about saluting, He is talking about being good to people, being kind to sinners, loving your enemies and etc. After saying all these things then He says be ye perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is Perfect. We see Perfection totally in a different way. To be perfect we think we have to follow certain man-made doctrines, traditions and rituals and we overlook these simple teachings of our dear Lord on Perfection.
God always wants to help people. JESUS said; “…. all who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” John 6:37 (NKJV). Don’t eradicate anybody from your heart, don’t write-off anybody from your heart. Love them! Imagine if God eradicates us from His heart. What will happen to us, if God writes us off? As long as you are in the heart of God don’t eradicate anybody from your heart. Use your wisdom in maintaining your relationship with people and walk in love.
Beloved, let us follow this Law of Love and we will see the Power of God in our lives and the Kingdom of God will be established on this earth. Let us walk in Love.
Bro S. R. Manohar