This is a fitting quotation with which to complete this series on the kingdom. For it focuses the Father's authority and ownership and the role of Jesus in making our habitation of the kingdom possible.

Father's Ownership. All too often we see the kingdom as belonging to Jesus, for it is he who reigns in it. However we also see that God the Father has the first mention (the most important mention under the principle of the first mention) in the 'organisation chart' of kingdom rule.

6 Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)

Jesus was appointed to be the high priest of the kingdom of God by the Father himself.

7 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:7-10)

At all times, Jesus submitted to the will of the Father - even unto death.

42 He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." (Matthew 26:42)

It could be said, perhaps not strictly theologically, that Jesus reigns but the Father rules, for Jesus is one in will with the Father. We too are to be obedient to the will of the Father.

4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (2 John 4-6)

The Father's will is expressed through the Son, but it remains God's will. We are therefore both in the Father and the Son.

9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 9)

This principle of God's ownership of the kingdom is expressed by Jesus in the prayer He taught His disciples to pray to the Father, which we call, 'The Lord's Prayer'

9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10)

As we walk on life's kingdom pathway, may we do the Father's will, as Jesus did.

Jesus' Sacrifice. Without the sacrifice of Jesus, without His obedience to the will of His, and our, Father, we would not be able to inherit the kingdom. Thank you Jesus!

Without a blood sacrifice, a life for a life, we could not be reconciled to the Father.

It is an Old Testament principle.....

11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. (Leviticus 17:11)

carried over into the New.....

4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)

Kingdom living requires us to remember this ultimate sacrifice regularly, as instructed by Jesus in today's key scripture.

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:26-8)

Amen.

Kingdom's Time. In line with biblical prophecy, Jesus' words.....

29 I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." (Matthew 26:9)

have past, present and future fulfillment.

1. PAST: Jesus ate and broke bread with His disciples after His resurrection, confirming the establishment of the kingdom.

30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. (Luke 24:30-1)

2. PRESENT: The kingdom is within us.

20 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)

As we submit ourselves more and more to God's will, so His kingdom will grow and we will see transformation, both in the natural as well as in the spiritual. The 'Transformation Videos' gave early examples of this process. Kingdom living is intimately related to submission and obedience to the Father's will as seen again in the Lord's Prayer. For the Father's will is achieved through us!

9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10)

3. FUTURE: The kingdom rule of Jesus, to be participated in by those who have given themselves 100% to Jesus, having become martyrs, spiritually or physically, to follow the Father's commands, expressed through the Holy Spirit.

4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (Revelation 20:4)

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Every high priest is selected from among men and is appointed to represent them in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. No one takes this honor upon himself; he must be called by God, just as Aaron was. So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10)

"The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth-and not I only, but also all who know the truth- because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love. It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. The children of your chosen sister send their greetings." (2 John 1-13)

Eating Blood Forbidden

686. Perseverance is keeping running the race with feet blistered by the problems of life.

687. Perseverance is wading through the mire of life, confident of reaching our eternal heavenly home.

688. Perseverance is walking through the valleys before ascending to the mountaintops

689. Perseverance is retaining hope when all seems hopeless.

690. Perseverance is ___

___ forgiving one more time

___ one more prayer.

___ going on when others are giving up.

___ picking yourself up once again.

___ loving that little bit extra.

___ just one more step.

___ serving one more time.

The Pastor says "Take a beach chair and a Bible and put them in your car and drive down to the edge of the ocean. Go to the water's edge. Take the beach chair out of the car, sit on it and take the Bible out and open it up. The wind will rifle the pages for a while and eventually the Bible will stay open at a particular page. Read the Bible and it will tell you what to do."

The man does as he is told. He places a beach chair and a Bible in his car and drives down to the beach. He sits on the chair at the water's edge and opens the Bible. The wind rifles the pages of the Bible and then stops at a particular page. He looks down at the Bible and sees what he has to do.

Three months later the man and his family come back to see the Pastor. The man is wearing a $1,000 Italian suit, The wife is all decked out with a full-length mink coat and the child is dressed in beautiful silk. The man hands the Pastor a thick envelope full of money and tells him that he wants to donate this money to the church in order to thank the Pastor for his wonderful advice. The Pastor is delighted. He recognizes the man and asks him what advice in the bible brought this good fortune to him.

The man replies: "Chapter 11."

360. HAVING THE PREACHER FOR DINNER
In a small town way out in the country, a local farmer invited the new preacher and his wife to come out to the farm for supper. While the women were finishing preparations in the kitchen, the men talked in the living room. The farmer was in the middle of telling the preacher that because he was sure that most ministers liked chicken, that's what he had asked his wife to prepare. The farmer's son, playing nearby, spoke up and said, "But I thought it was 'buzzard', not 'chicken' that we were eating today."

"Of course not, where did you ever get that idea?" demanded the farmer.

"Well, I overheard you telling mommy that we ought to hurry up and have the 'old buzzard'" for dinner and get it over with."

359. CAN YOU SPELL "GOD"?
Three people from different parts of the country passed away at the same time. All were met at the gates by St. Peter. The first was an architect from California. Peter said, "You've built beautiful buildings and served men on earth, but before you come in you have to pass one small test, spell 'God'". "G-O-D," replied the architect and St. Peter waved him through.

The second person to approach was a rancher from Texas. Peter looked at him and said, "You've served man upon the earth by providing food through the cattle you've raised but before you come in there's just one small test, spell 'GOD'". "G-O-D", said the rancher and Peter waved him through.

The third person was an attractive businesswoman from New York. Peter said, "You've served the world of commerce, but before you come in you'll have to pass one small test." At this the woman interrupted, "Oh come on now Saint," said the woman, "I've had to fight for every promotion I've ever gotten. I've had to take lower pay for the same job as a male colleague, and I've been continually harassed by bosses and peers for one reason, my gender. And now here I am and you're giving me a hard time too; what kind of test? Let's get it over with."

ANSWER:
The City and South London Railway opened the world's first deep-level electric railway on December 18th, 1890, running from King William Street in the City of London under the River Thames to Stockwell. (Does the underground ever run overground?)

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Is it true that turtles don't age?

SOME FUN FACTS

46. POLES APART
If the Earth's axis was not tilted, there would be 12-hour days everywhere, and no seasons. At the poles, the sun would always be on the horizon. (The ultimate in boring political correctness!)

47. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!
The biography of Thomas Crapper, the British sanitary engineer who in 1878 invented the modern flush toilet, was called 'Flushed with Pride: The Story of Thomas Crapper.' Others however, say it was invented by Sir John Harington, who is believed to have installed his invention for Queen Elizabeth I at her palace during the 1590's. (Thank you very much to whoever it was that invented it!)

48. GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME
The average wedding feast in Yemen lasts 21 days. (But who pays the bills?)

A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU

Make another word from this word using all the letters.

GRUNTS

A - Sennacherib
B - Nebuchadnezzar
C - Samson
D - Gideon

Source: www.biblequizzes.com

!!!!!! They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them.

!!!!! Two can live as cheaply as one, for half as long.

!!!! Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.

!!! One nice thing about egotists: They don't talk about other people.

!! A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.

"Great," Sue exclaimed. "I'm ready to start a diet too. We can be dieting buddies and help each other out. And when I feel the urge to drive out and get a burger and fries, I'll call you first."

"Wonderful," Mary replied. "I'll go with you."

232. THE FINAL QUESTION
An eccentric philosophy professor gave a one question final exam after a semester dealing with a broad array of topics. The class was already seated and ready to go when the professor picked up his chair, plopped it on his desk and wrote on the board: "Using everything we have learned this semester, prove that this chair does not exist."

Fingers flew, erasers erased, notebooks were filled in furious fashion. Some students wrote over 30 pages in one hour attempting to refute the existence of the chair. One member of the class however, was up and finished in less than a minute.

Weeks later when the grades were posted, the rest of the group wondered how he could have gotten an A when he had barely written anything at all. His answer consisted of two words: "What chair?"

231. IT'S AN ILL WIND.....
"This house," said the real estate salesman, "has both its good points and its bad points. To show you I'm honest, I'm going to tell you about both. The disadvantages are that there is a chemical plant one block south and a slaughterhouse a block north."

"What are the advantages?" inquired the prospective buyer.

"The advantage is that you can always tell which way the wind is blowing.."

230. HEAVEN AND EARTH
Near the end of a particularly trying round of golf, during which the golfer had hit numerous fat shots, he said in frustration to his caddy, "I'd move heaven and earth to break a hundred on this course."

Hundreds of Christians in Iran have been arrested and imprisoned since the beginning of this year.

The crackdown has led to 285 believers in 35 cities being arrested in Iran in the past six months, according to Elam Ministries, an organization that serves Christians in that country.

Many of those Christians have spent weeks and even months in prison, often serving long stretches in solitary confinement. They also have endured interrogations and psychological abuse.

Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat is with International Antioch Ministries. He hosts a satellite television show that is broadcast into Iran.

"Most often the Revolutionary Guards arrest and don't even tell their family. They can't have a lawyer, not even a formal charge. Sometimes they get killed without even a formal charge," he explained.

When he became president in 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pledged to halt the spread of Christianity in Iran and launched a crackdown at that time.

But David Yeghnazar, the U.S. director of Elam Ministries, says the government's efforts are now intensifying.

"In particular in this last year, this persecution has gained momentum and I really think that is because the church is growing with increasing momentum," he explained.

Yeghnazar and Shariat say the government, for the first time, has admitted that Iranians are leaving the Islamic faith and becoming Christians.

"They are writing about it in the newspapers. They are warning people. They have stated publicly that they will arrest people who are becoming Christians, that they will close down networks of house churches," Yeghnazar said.

"The government is intentionally going after the house churches. The supreme leader last October came and said the house churches in Iran are a threat to our national security," Shariat told CBN News.

And that was a signal, Shariat says, for the government to target house church Christians -- especially their leaders.

According to the Iranian Christian news service, Mohabat News, Iranian Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has warned against the strong attraction of Christianity among Iranian youth. He recently admitted the government crackdown has failed to stop the spread of Christianity in Iran.

But Iran's Islamic government is likely to continue the crackdown. And many Iranians are worried that similar radical Islamic governments could arise in other Middle Eastern countries.

As revolutions and uprisings spread throughout the Middle East, Shariat says his Iranian viewers are warning Arabs to learn from what happened in Iran in 1979 when Iranians protested against the Shah and got Ayatollah Khomeini instead.

The incredible story of how the Lamb of God is foreshadowed 4 times in the Old Testament, comes as the Lamb in the New, sets our example and will return to claim His kingdom.

DAYS OF 'CHUNDER'!

When you take a landlubber like me,
Put him in a yacht, way out at sea,
While the yacht itself, does not go under,
The fledging crewman, he does 'chunder'!

Being seasick's not a matter of great delight,
Never to be given into, without a mighty fight!
But as the swell rose up, then down, corkscrewing around,
My stomach's contents, soon over the side, were found.

First lot gone - then I did reach,
Wishing I still, was on the beach!
But another lot arose from deep inside,
Perfectly timed to remove all pride!

Yet still another flow from me did pour,
Surely God - there can't be any more!
But there was to be one final spew,
And then you see - it all was through.

Hey David, you feel a lot better now,
Stomach's all the better for the scour.
"I'll be alright, for the rest of the trip",
Glibly off the tongue, words do slip.

But the sea was soon ready to have another turn,
Oh no! Once again, the 'gurgly gut', it did return.
Surely Lord, can't be anything left!
Of all composure, I was now bereft!

I held on for as long as I could,
Much longer than I really should.
But forth came the spew, in a fountain,
I'm off once again, around the mountain.

Yes, another flow, then a third,
Finally a fourth - what a nerd!

Feeling good again, I must be spent,
For my guts apart, they had been rent,
Nothing left inside, now to come out,
Surely nothing left, for me to spout.

I slept well for a couple of hours,
Fully in control of all my powers.
Now surely I have conquered the sea,
But if not the sea - well, at least me!

For an hour or two throughout the night,
I enjoyed the trip - the stars were a sight.
My mate Neil, was able to have a snooze,
Confidence in me, again starting to ooze.

But the sea, was not yet ready to finish,
Determined my pride, to fully diminish!
Yes, the swells they did rise in an uncomfortable way,
'Old man sea', always determined to have the last say!

By now my stomach, surely was bare,
Empty of food, with the sea to share!
But how little about myself, do I know,
For there was still a little left, to let go!

And let go I did, four times more,
The sea now, really settling the score.
Before calming down all the rest of the way,
"Beginning to enjoy this," I could now say.

Of course, all adventures do come to an end,
Back on solid earth, my time now to spend.
I had conquered the challenge inside of me,
My fear overcome - with a little difficulty!

As I reflect upon what I have done,
Of a victory earned, a race won.
The surprising parallel of life at sea
With God's working, occurs to me.

For as He continues to purify us in the fire,
To remove the dross of sin, as is His desire.
It can be likened to the act of 'chunder',
Which wrenches the stomach asunder!

To empty ones gut, overboard,
With some, will strike a chord.
An example of removing sin from life,
As God seeks, to keep us from strife.

Letting go of things, is not always easy,
Amazing, how we hold on to the sleazy!
But once we have given our homely habit away,
We wonder, why so long, we allowed it to stay.

But surely Lord, there can be no more!
I'm good enough now, to be in your store.
But like the spew spraying forth, from the gut to the sea,
The Lord finds more that needs changing, inside of me.

No more Lord! Please - I've had enough,
My life's spew is horrible tasting stuff!
But as the seemingly endless bouts of 'chunder' go on,
A voice says "eat my food, and your sickness will be gone."

Along with another friend, Collins Christopher, in Nigeria, who also responded at the same time, I have built spirit to spirit relationships, for they understood, right from the beginning, what it was the Lord was saying through me.

Over the years since, both have been extremely generous with their time and sacrificial with their money, in the cause of promoting the kingdom of God. I honour them both today.

True friendship is a precious commodity, particularly in this day and age of selfish individualism and instant gratification. For building true friendship takes time and effort.

This is true too, of our relationship with Jesus. While salvation is instant, intimacy with and maturity in Christ, takes time and effort on our behalf. In today's busy, busy world, too few are prepared to make the sacrifice.

How about you? How about me?

Until next week___

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD.

His servant and yours

David Tait

Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: STRUNG