However foolish it may sound; large groups of Christians are constantly choosing to live in the impoverished house of the world rather than the mansion of God. This stems from a stark reality: Many in the Church have not encountered the Kingdom of God. As a result, the boring services, religious routine, and hypocritical lifestyles empower many to go be satisfied in the world, because they rarely have been truly satisfied in Christ.
"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." -Hebrews 12:1-2
Jesus’ primary mission has always been the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. When God manifested Himself in the flesh in the life of Jesus Christ, he did not merely come to start a religion called Christianity; he came to give humanity access to the Kingdom of God. This begs the question, why is there such little participation with and evidence of the Kingdom of God within the Church?
First and foremost, realizing that Satan is raging with great zeal to squelch and eliminate God’s people from accessing the realities of heaven is critical. It will enlighten us to recognize that we are as susceptible to yielding to Satan’s schemes as anyone. We have to start with this truth if we are going to break down the barriers that have been built up in the Church that prevent the Kingdom of God from breaking in. Satan's ultimate mission is putting a stop to God’s people encountering and walking in the presence and power offered to them in Christ.
We can discuss many topics regarding what blocks God’s people from encountering his Kingdom. The previous three blogs discussed the first three: offense, deception, and control. In this blog, I want to highlight how the world’s pleasures quickly creep into our midst and keep us closed off from the breaking in of God’s Kingdom. I encourage you to honestly evaluate whether this barrier exists within you and your leadership of influence. If it does, confess and repent of it before God, rather than justify why it exists within your life. He is more zealous for imparting the Kingdom of God in our lives than we are. A surrendered life to Christ is the simple answer to more frequently and powerfully encountering the breaking in of the Kingdom of God in our lives.
Preservation of the World’s Pleasure
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
– Matthew 19:23-26
The preservations of the world’s pleasures have always been a massive barrier built up in the people of God, keeping them satisfied in a pseudo substance that pales in comparison to God’s presence. However foolish it may sound; large groups of Christians are constantly choosing to live in the impoverished house of the world rather than the mansion of God. This stems from a stark reality: Many in the Church have not encountered the Kingdom of God. As a result, the boring services, religious routine, and hypocritical lifestyles empower many to go be satisfied in the world, because they rarely have been truly satisfied in Christ.
It is not that Jesus doesn’t want those in love with the world to encounter the Kingdom of God, it is simply that they will reject it. Whether we believe it or not, when push comes to shove, what we love, we will sacrifice everything else to attain. Receiving the Kingdom of God while being addicted and obsessed with the world is as likely as a camel crossing the threshold of a needle. The good news for us all, no matter where on the spectrum of preserving the world's pleasures we find ourselves, is that what is impossible with man is possible with God. He is on a relentless pursuit to burn away every lover other than him, bringing you to true repentance to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles so that you can run with perseverance and passion after his presence (Heb. 12:1-2).
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
– Matt. 6:33
Ultimately, we attain and take hold of that which we search and seek after. So, when you don’t seek him first, you will ultimately seek him last and substitute his treasure for the world’s, considering him insignificant compared to the pleasures of the world. This barrier is rampant and is touching all of our lives at some level.
The saying, “You sacrifice for what you consider valuable,” rings true in all situations in life. Unfortunately, when the Church is satisfied in Egypt, she will sacrifice the promised land to remain comfortable. Individually this remains true for each of us as well. If the treasure of our heart is in the pleasures of Egypt, we will sacrifice Jesus at the cost of gaining the world. When this occurs, we will consequently resist the Kingdom of God breaking in to tear down the reign of the kingdom of the world in our lives. Thus, preserving the world’s pleasures in the people of God becomes a barrier that hinders them from encountering the Kingdom of God.
Each of these poisonous substances (offense, deception, control, and preservation of the world's pleasures) has an antidote that can help break down the barriers that keep us from encountering the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. These antidotes can be applied to all of our lives, and are a recipe for revival, as they will empower us to render our hearts to God, truly repenting and receiving all he has destined for us.
The Cure for Preservation of the World’s Pleasures – Intentional Consecration
“Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.”
– Prov. 23:3
Either we are consecrating ourselves to God or being conformed into the image of the world. Intentional consecration is the process toward powerful transformation, as that which we give our eyes, ears, and stomach to become the treasures that dwell within our hearts. Simply put, consecration occurs by setting your life apart for God. This is not merely done at salvation, it is an act that is meant to increasingly occur in one’s journey with Jesus. Evaluating what areas of our lives have the largest impact on us, can help us begin to create intentional strategies of setting aside the pleasures of the world to pursue the presence of God. In doing so, we will see the realities of the realm of the Kingdom of God break into our individual and corporate lives.
Consecrating your eyes, ears, and stomach to the Lord will loose off the addiction to pleasures of the world and consequently encounter and live in/by the presence of God. The truth is, the more you consecrate your life to God, the more you will operate in his power.
Three simple ways you can consecrate yourself to God
1) Time:
The saying is true, ‘time is more valuable than money.’ No matter who I talk to, I often hear, ‘I am so busy, and it is incredibly difficult for me to find time to spend with God.’ Time may be the most valuable thing in our lives, and for sure is the most impactful in our relationship with Christ. We can begin consecrating our time to God by simply re-evaluating what we consider valuable to invest in. We all spend our time investing in what we consider valuable. The simple truth is if our time isn’t primarily focused on investing in our relationship with God, no matter how much we say we love him, our actions demonstrate he isn’t near as valuable to us as we say he is.
One simple practice you can do is to literally schedule meetings in your calendar to meet with Jesus. This is a meeting that cannot be missed or scheduled over, as it is with the most important man on planet earth. Simply look at your calendar before the week begins, and schedule multiple meetings a day (whether multiple hours or 30 minutes) to set aside everything else and simply be with the Lord. This one simple practice will realign our hearts to crave God’s presence rather than the world’s pleasures.
2) Schedule Regular Fasts
While the substance of food is by no means inherently bad, it can quickly become an addiction and stronghold of comfort, pleasure, and satisfaction in the place of God’s presence. Scheduling regular fasts (whether one meal a week or multiple days a week) helps root out the gluttony we can all quickly fall prey to. It is not purposed to be a religious discipline that earns access to God, rather it is the means that frees up one’s soul to partake in what has already fully been given them in Christ. Consecrating our stomach to the Lord is crucial in treating our body as the temple it was fashioned to be, hosting and manifesting the glory of God in our lives. This simple discipline of consecration in this area will root out the high places of worship to food that have been commonly accepted in our culture. It will create an appetite for God’s presence, leaving you partaking in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
3) Choose to Abide rather than Binge Watch
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
– Matt. 6:22-23
A powerful tool in the hands of Satan during our days is to get our eyes fixated on anything outside of Christ. We live in a generation that literally has been equipped from birth to fixate and be fascinated with their eyes on a separate reality than the one they exist in. The problem isn’t the ability this generation has to gaze upon the glory of God, it is the desire for it.
While this has always been true, the schemes of Satan to get the human eye to behold the beauty of the world has never been more prevalent and easily accessible than today. Thus, we have a large majority of the Church whose eye is unhealthy, more worried about what time the Sunday football game is than resting in the presence of God with the people of God. This has spilled over to late-night video game sessions, hours of binge-watching Netflix, and scrolling through social media endless hours a day. This one reality, which is widespread in the body of Christ, is proof that we are being more conformed into the image of the world than we are transformed into the likeness of Christ.
Unfortunately, this has become normalized to the point we make jokes about it rather than bring correction to it. Consequently, we become a people who are satisfied in darkness, while claiming to carry the message of life to the world. We end up looking much more like the world than Jesus, offering them something we don’t really have ourselves.
We must begin consecrating our eyes to the Lord, rejecting the many sorry sights the world promises will bring pleasure. If not, the beauty we long to look at will not be in the face of Jesus but in the promises of the world. This is critical, as the eye has profound power for transformation. Paul stated the significance of it saying, “We all with unveiled faces, behold the beauty of the Lord are being transformed into his image from one level of glory to the next” (2 Cor. 3:17-18).
Two simple disciplines that can help consecrate our eye to the Lord:
1) Minimize your access to social media:
The average person looks at social media for approximately 150 minutes per day. This is insane, and if infiltrating the Church, has dramatic implications on our transformation. If we have minutes here and there to waste on scrolling through others' lives, surely, we have many minutes available throughout our day to pursue intentional time with God. Every time you attempt to pull up Facebook, pull up your Bible app instead, devoting 5-10 minutes to meditating on God's word.
2) Consecrate your evenings to abiding with God rather than binge-watching Netflix
The average person in America watches TV approximately 3 hours a day. This means that many of our eyes are literally fascinated by a false reality, finding entertainment in a pleasure offered by the world. Again, by no means is television inherently bad. It simply can quickly become a large distraction that blinds us from seeing Jesus. If you have watched TV recently, you know that the wicked agenda of this age to enslave humanity to falsehood is rapidly increasing across every platform. We have to begin discerning what we give our eye to on TV, as it affects every area of our lives. We have to also evaluate whether we enjoy gazing at a screen more than we do pursuing the face of Jesus.
The large majority of people give their evenings to find their rest and relaxation in binge-watching TV. A simple way to consecrate your eye to the Lord is by setting aside time each evening to pray, worship, listen to a sermon, or read the word. While it would be great to do that 3 hours a day, what about considering starting with 30 minutes an evening. I promise, as you do, the pleasure and rest you find with God will far outweigh anything offered on Netflix.
Fortunately for each of us, the mission of Christ and the zeal in his heart is to impart into our lives the realities of the Kingdom of God. Allowing God to break down the barriers that have been built up in our lives will position us to experience the breaking in of the Kingdom of God, encountering heaven on earth. Allow God to expose your tendencies to be offended at his ways, deceived by the wisdom of this age, independent and controlling, and addicted to the pleasures of the world. If you do, you will consequently begin receiving rather than resisting the breaking in of his reign. Today, simply lay your life at the altar of his feet and cry out with desperation, “Kingdom Come!”
