His Kingdom Purpose and Plan Prevails!

CrossConnections found this article to be very useful in understanding our own role and purpose better, and share it here:

By Robert Ricciardelli  www.vision2advance.com

The Kingdom of God is about one King and one Kingdom. The one and only Kingdom to pursue is the Kingdom of our God and the only true King we pursue as well as His righteousness is Jesus Christ. (Matthew 6:33). We have one constitution, which is the Word of God. 70 elders in a room cannot change the Kings laws for His Kingdom. We are not in a Republic, we are not in a Democracy, and there is no negotiating or bending of His truth. He is King and as children and subjects of His Kingdom, it is high treason to not be obedient to the King. The way of sin (treason) is death, and we have a Savior who purchased us back into the government of God.

In the body of Christ, we are facing an identity crisis. We don’t know who we are and we do not understand the Kingdom of God. We certainly are not operating as children of the King when we let religion separate us from each other. If failed unity is not enough, religion causes us to persecute and tear down our brothers and sisters who do not think like we do. Instead of seeing the beauty of God in the expressed diversity of His people, we battle one another over who is right when it is only His righteousness that really matters.

Recently Joyce and I spent some time with our friend Jack Taylor discussing the Kingdom of God. You cannot spend time with Jack without being further Kingdomized in the things of God. We talked about three types of kingdoms being built.

There are three types of kingdoms being built upon the earth.

1. Kingdom of God with Jesus as our King, and the Word of God our unchangeable constitution.
2. Alternate kingdoms that claim Jesus is King, but operate out of man made constitutions and applied rules developed many times democratically with reference to the Word of God.
3. Anti-kingdoms that are operated in direct opposition to the King and His Kingdom.

There are many kings and many kingdoms being built that have the name of our God on the billboard but bring glory to man rather than glory to the King. We must check our hearts and our motives in whatever we feel led to do in His name. He has given us life so that we can bring Him glory. We must reflect His glory in all things we set our hands to do.

Power of Purpose

There is no greater discovery in our lives than the discovery of purpose. The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but it is life without a purpose. Purpose is the key to understanding and it is the source of meaning. We can begin to have a fuller understanding of something once we recognize its purpose. Most things in life will have little meaning without our knowing why it exists.

The absence of purpose is the foundation of abuse and misuse. The word abuse is actually two words put together meaning "abnormal use". When purpose is absent, you can abnormally use many things, including your life, your time, energy, and talent. Purpose is one of the most important components on Earth.

What is Purpose?

· Purpose is the original intent for the creation of the thing

· Purpose is the original reason for existence

· Purpose is the original desired result for creation. The very reason for any creation is to fulfill a purpose. Therefore purpose will exist before creation.

· Purpose is the motivation for creation, the very reason why something is created.

Before the manufacturing of any product there is purpose. No one creates a product and then looks at it and says, “I wonder what I am going to do with this?” They first have a purpose in mind and make a product in order to achieve it. Purpose always precedes products. All manufacturers work that way, beginning with a purpose and ending with a product.

God did not create us and then scratch His head and say “What did I make here”. He did not create you and wonder why. You were not a thing created to make the Lord say, "Hmmm... what have I got here?" Many are the plans in the hearts of those He has created, but He already had a purpose for each one from the foundation of the world.

Only the Lord Can Reveal True Purpose

Wherever purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable. This is a dangerous principle, because if you do not know the purpose of a thing, there is opportunity to abuse or misuse it. Misused gifts and talents abound because of not knowing God’s purpose. Abuse can occur in the form of control and manipulation of God's people when operating outside of the Lord's purposes for them.

If you want to know the purpose of a thing, never ask the thing. That is why mankind is lost without God. We keep asking others why we are here and no one knows. Without revelation from the Lord no one knows what’s happening around them or through them. No psychologist, psychiatrist, counselor or pastor knows why you were created. Your mother did not even know your purpose, and she carried you for 9 months. So do not ask the thing why it exists.

Purpose is only found in the mind of the maker of a thing. No one knows a product like the manufacturer. Nobody knows Sony like the manufacturer of Sony. Nobody knows Starbucks like Howard Schultz. Nobody knows Microsoft like Microsoft or Bill Gates. And nobody knows you like God. That is why when a human ignores God, that human is lost. The lost will never realize their purpose and meaning in life without checking with the Great Manufacturer, the Creator Himself. You may have many ideas and plans for your life, but only in Him can you truly find the path He has destined for you.

Proverbs 19:21- Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

This verse is the foundation of the will and motivation of God. God is not interested in our plans. God is only interested in His purpose. Here are three key priorities in that we can extrapolate from Proverbs 19:21.

1. Purpose is more important than plans

2. Purpose is more powerful than plans ?" Many may plan, but the Lord's purposes prevail. He is going to win in a believer’s life.

3. Purpose precedes plans ?" Before you were even born to make plans, God already had a purpose established for you before the foundations of the earth.

Father's Original Plan and Purpose for Mankind

Genesis 1:26-27

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” ²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

God’s original intent for mankind was to set up His Kingdom upon the earth and operate it from His children. Mankind includes both male and female walking beside one another, both equal and unique in His Kingdom.We have always been called to steward His Kingdom and His ways upon the earth. His desire has always been to bring His Kingdom in heaven to the earth.

Matthew 6:10

¹⁰your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

When man chose to sin and turn from the King's ways, we not only fell from eternal living with Him, we fell from our eternal purpose in Him. We lost the keys of the Kingdom. Jesus paid the price to give us the keys back and it is up to us to put the keys into the ignition of His Kingdom to the glory of God.

Redemption and restoration through the blood of Christ therefore is not just eternal life, but a life fulfilling His original plan of bringing heaven to earth through us, His children.

No Room For Religion

In the Lord’s Kingdom, religion cannot survive. The religious leaders in Jesus' day were His greatest opposition. So it is today, religious leaders of today who are operating in a mock kingdom are also among the greatest enemies we face. It is the systems and the principalities behind them that are the true enemies. We must love the people who are caught up in these systems and the only way that they can be free is by full revelation of the King and His Kingdom.

Once someone is free from the bondage of a particular system, they can begin to be His presence and influence within those systems. I am not a proponent of leaving a system and building another system. I believe we are called to be in the world and yet operate as Kingdom dwellers within the world and within every sphere and system of society. We are to be where He chooses for us to be regardless of our understanding. We are to bring change not through our strength, but through the power of His Spirit living within us and through us.

Unity in Diversity

When we are in the Kingdom we are not threatened by opposing kingdoms or paradigms. We are not threatened by various cultures or theological differences when we are operating in His truth and in His love. I have a friend that says that love must always exceed whatever paradigm or message we have adopted. In His love and in His Kingdom Truth, The prayer of our Savior can be realized;

John 17

²⁰“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. ²¹ I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one?"as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. ²²“I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. ²³I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

Jesus eternally prays for His Kingdom creation to be one. It is all His and For Him. We must understand that our lives are not our own. We own nothing. When we get this principle, our lives take on a whole new meaning. We stop seeking to be right and start seeking His heart and His desire for impact in the world. We begin to see the world with His eyes and move with his heart of compassion in every phase of our lives. With unity we can move in power bringing greater revelation of Jesus Christ who came to restore all of creation back to the Father.

We also realize that we are only a part of His wonderful Kingdom and that we need the multiplicity of gifts and talents He has placed in His family. We are in the Father’s family business called “Almighty & Sons”. We do not need to be our brothers keeper, but our brothers healer and encourager. We do not need to take the time to assess another man's purpose; because we are too busy fulfilling our own. If we realized how much we really know versus how much we think we know, we would immediately understand how much we can learn from those who do not think like we do. We only know what we know and are missing out on an expanded worldview and God-view when we are not open to all of God's Kingdom family.

The Lord's plans and purposes will prevail upon the earth and the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Kingdom. When we are operating under His Kingdom and obedience to the King, nothing in this life can prevail against us either. The King knows our needs and will provide everything we need to fulfill His plan for us. Rejoice if you are in the Kingdom of God and being stripped of self to be used of Him. In the Kingdom of God you are anointed not just for ministry, but anointed for life. You are anointed to carry Him inside and outside the walls of systems and spheres, anointed to make an impact and name for our God upon the earth.