THE LORD'S PRAYER- THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 3

Thy Kingdom Come on Earth as it is in Heaven

If a person is in distress and cries out to God in pain, panic or with persistent problems,  how does this phrase from the Model Prayer fit into the body of our prayer?

This is a great question, because when the Apostle Peter wassinking on the stormy Galilee Sea (after walking on the water for a spell), hedid not have time to go through formal recognition of Abba Father as allpowerful and all Holy. Peter just yelled out “Lord, save me!” and he wasrescued from drowning by Jesus.

What Peter did here, was recognize the Power of Christ Who was walking ON the stormy sea and OVER the high waves towards them (looming larger than life). He had no other choice. The facts were right before His Eyes. He already knew Jesus was sinless and spoke the hallowed and holy Word of the Father. These are a given for the Christian, but to get to this point, we have to have been with Jesus like Peter had. This comes from knowing His Word and following the dictates of the Holy Spirit, if you are really born-again.

The Spirit had revealed to Peter just Who this Man was. His (Jesus’) sovereign rule over the elements was observed before when He calmed the storm, after the disciples woke Him from sleep to rescue them. The Kingdom had come. The Messiah was at hand. The Faith of the  disciples needed working on, but they had seen the miracles of the Loaves and Fishes and knew He was King.

Do we? Do we recognize Him as He is? Do we believe the scriptures where the Apostle John fell at His Feet in Revelation 1 when he (John) saw Jesus as He really is – from eternity past to forever? If we do….and if you’re saved, you have that ability, then we are living right now as Kingdom people.  How is this possible? When you and I were BORN AGAIN, we not only became a NEW Creation in Christ but God imputed and embedded His Holy Spirit in us as a seal of His promise, until the Day of Redemption.

Whether a truly regenerated and reborn Christian believes this or not, it is so. We are thus indwelled by the same Spirit of God Who self-existed from Eternity Past. He is the same Holy Spirit Who hovered over the Waters in Genesis 1 and executed the plan of the Creator Yahweh (Jesus). He is the same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the dead on Resurrection (or Easter) Sunday morning, on the Third Day. He – Holy Spirit= is the Guarantee of our inheritance as Kingdom people.

So when Jesus includes this phrase in His model prayer, He is telling us that we have the permission and power and authority, as declared to us from John 1:12. Given our current Kingdom status, we can there therefore pray in confidence…..just like Peter did in John “Lord, save me!” When you pray that, He automatically tune in and waits.

Father in the Strong, Holy and Mighty Name of Jesus,  King of the Universe and Ruler of all things, thank You, thank You, Lord! We are so grateful beyond words, that You win all Your power, majesty and wisdom would choose us to be Your Kingdom children! This is beyond belief and beyond comprehension, Lord! Lord as we pray to make it through each day, in these evil last days, we also anticipate the Return of the Lord Jesus , to rule the earth and make all things right. We look and long for that incredible Day of the Lord, will all will be revealed and we say “COME, LORD JESUS! Establish Thy Kingdom, in Your Name we pray. Amen

PART TWO: THE LORD'S PRAYER & ITS JEWISH PARENT~~~

SINK OR SWIM?....PUT ON THE LORD JESUS....

A good brother in Christ of mine, brother Bob, did an illustration at a recently concluded meeting, which both he and I attended, where he took a peeled orange and dropped into a full pitcher of water. It immediately sang to the bottom. Then he took an unpeeled orange (with its skin on) and dropped it in the same water. It floated on the top.  Now that is a good example of the Apostle Peter - before and after - he tried to walk on the water.

However, it is also a great illustration of what would happen to the man or woman of God who goes out daily into the world, without the protective covering of Christ in their lives. To the unsaved, this will make absolutely no sense. The devil has convinced the entire world that he does not exist and is just the figment of some thousands year old book - the Bible - made up by Christian "extremists" to keep people from "having fun". So the corrupt culture, media, politics and academia tell us to go "for the gusto" and "if it feels good, do it"! 

To be honest, the majority of those professing Christianity in the west are all down with that worldly sentiment. Any mention of sin and evil in this world is called "intolerance and  being judgmental". They think that way because the devil does not bother them. Why should he? They sure ain't bothering him!  

I just heard the most popular pastor in the world, who tells everyone that their "Best Life" is NOW, when we in the remnant know our Best Life is Yet to Come, slam those who question his prosperity gospel theology and shallow preaching as judgmentalism.  While it is absolutely true that we all live, preach and teach the unconditional Love which God has for us, that "Love" by itself does not save. That kind of Love is a precursor to Salvation - but this is a subject for the next post to flesh out.

The person who is following Jesus Christ intentionally, and who is sold-out disciple and adherent to the Holy Scriptures, has a major bulls-eye on his or her back. This man or woman of God is hated by the hierarchy of hell, who hates the fact that we wake up each day to serve and obey God in Heaven through Jesus Christ. This is the remnant and actually, according to recent Pew and Barna Surveys, the US number is less than 15% of the population. In Great Britain and Canada, it is between 2-5%! There is absolutely NO reason we should walk around, even in this perverse Romans 1 Culture, with our collective heads down when we have the Truth and they do not!

Too many of us are that orange at the bottom of the pitcher. The question we all need to ask is are we the peeled orange at the bottom of this water-filled jar or are we going to float? You and I should resolve to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 13:14a) and not be like those other people, the majority who call themselves Christians but do not know the meaning of the word.

We put on the Lord Jesus, in order that we may float on the turbulent waters of Life and through the storms ahead. 
We put on the Lord Jesus to keep from sinking.
We put on the Lord Jesus to keep from stinking thinking whereby we start believing the lies of the enemy, but now He enables us to reject the lies of the enemy.
We put on the Lord Jesus when we put on the shoes of the Gospel and tell someone else what Christ has done for us...as much as we can.
We put on the Lord Jesus when the Belt of Truth so girds us that our level of discernment about the tricks and false doctrines of the world will reveal that we are more than conquerors, through Him Who has overcome the world.

We put on the Lord Jesus when the Breastplate of Righteousness of Christ guards our hearts, minds and souls so that we grow in sanctification and receive the full measure of His Holiness which He is just so willing for us to walk in. 
We put on the Lord Jesus when the Helmet of Salvation leaves on room for confusion and doubt, because this Helmet - or head covering - is permanently on our head. We cannot lose our salvation because the King said so - nothing will snatch us out of His Hands. Therefore operate in this Truth and win!

We put on the Lord Jesus when the Shield of Faith, one of the major defensive weapons God has equipped us with, is so hardened by battle and experience that all the slings, arrows, 50 cal guns and Howitzers from Hell will fall off like the annoying pests they are.
We put on the Lord Jesus when we hold up the only pro-active and weapon of mass instruction God has given us - the Word of God! We may think that the Word of God is only a literal book called the Bible....well, that's only the physical manifestation of the Living Breathing Mind and Thoughts and Plans of God. Ignore at your own risk and accept to your eternal benefit.

Knowing all of the above, when we "put on the Lord Jesus Christ", is there ANY reason at all we followers of the Way, the Truth and the Life, should be downcast, oh my soul? Is there any reason we should be a sinking orange when we can sail through the choppy seas of Life to God's Golden Shores? Ask thyself, seek the Lord and He will direct to and through the paths of all Truth, Comfort and Hope! Amen.