basileia

Cause I got changed by what I've been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin' on
Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I'm free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I'll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven fills me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me
And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the Son of God is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we're the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon
Farther Along-Josh Garrels

βασιλεία - Kingdom. Authority. Soveriegnty. Royal power.

He teaches me how to let go of what I thought living was.

"The one who trusts in Him will not be put to shame."
He opened my eyes to the truth that I wasn't receiving full benefits of an heir because I wasn't really rendering full authority. Because of this lack, I built kingdoms here and there and never experienced real freedom.

The power of Christ in me offers power to say no to anything that would master me, but only if I really give Him the authority.

This morning I wondered how many times I sang "I surrender all" with an Ananias and Sapphira mind, body and/or spirit.

Matthew 6, Jesus tells them "seek first the Kingdom of God...and all these things will be added to you""The heathen (commoner, orphan) concern themselves with those things!"
ζητέω: seek. to seek by inquiring; to investigate to reach a binding(terminal) resolution; to search, "getting to the bottom of a matter." Pursue diligently, dig to the root.
πρῶτος: first. foremost. greatest priority. number one.

I am not sure where I acquired the idea that "seeking the Kingdom" meant copying the good things I felt I could manage by exertion. Recently the Spirit has enlightened me to the reality that rendering by will every Good Thing is seeking the Kingdom. Giving authority. Multiplying. Abounding. Acknowledging.

In His own radical language, He opened my eyes to the truth that to the degree I withheld part of my being, I was rejecting abundance in favor of poverty. Whatever isn't rendered to His authority will remain at basic human capacity. This means even an educated, brilliant mind might not even have the capacity to be present. 

One person cannot have two masters.
Despise: scorn, insult, disregard.
Mammon: the treasure a person trusts in
(matt 6:24)
Herod Antipas was known for taking whatever he wanted. John the Baptist was beheaded because of his rejection of this behavior.
The Pharisees were known for appearing righteous when cold as stone. This attitude resulted in Christ's death.

The yoke of Jesus Christ is THE ONLY ONE which promises full joy and all needs met.
But here is the thing we can't seem to stop staring at. It requires laying down my life. 

He knit together seek first the Kingdom and My yoke.
One by one as I lay Good Things down I find the most desirable life.
Money.
Time.
Children.
Body.
Mind.
Spirit.
Marriage.
Always enough in every way.

Rhema came to me this morning, saying "being 'kingdom minded' doesn't mean copying the things we feel we can accomplish, it means having the Spirit move us as we yield to the yoke". Without an actual connection to Christ, we aren't hearing the cues and basically guessing by using the Bible (collections of writings from people who HEARD the Word) as a new law.

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word. His Kingship affects every part of my life. I'm no longer making my own "choices", because being possessed by the Spirit of God makes my heart say "I have come to do the will of the Father". Heaven's authority is on my life, and I cannot hold back bits and pieces for my own "use". He said to me "Do not say 'I have been bought at a high price' and then do as you please with your appetite, mind, energy, as though you belong to yourself".

I didn't think He spoke to me. I couldn't sense it, feel it, believe it in the core of my being, my flesh, blood and bones, my mind and my spirit until I actually gave those to Him. Sensing His yoke requires my engaged attention and when I gave that to idols, I missed the inheritance.

My mind didn't perceive or receive His wisdom when I (mis)applied it to shadows (knowledge).
My body didn't feel beautiful no matter how I worked when it was submitted to religion.
My spirit was incapable of intimacy when I believed in my wounds above the power of Jesus.

All things rendered to the Spirit are made fully new and nourished.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created anew in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

There is just no way to please God without faith. Faith comes by hearing.
Rhema. This is what getting the mind of Christ looks like. This is where faith grows.

He whispers a line. I'm free to pursue it or not. He's training me to pursue it, to cultivate faith that He really is talking to me on purpose. It does not return void. It is powerful. It fuels everything. My eyes open. I lose fears I didn't know I had. Every fear He's eradicated was rooted in attempted dual allegiance. Idols. This is for another day, but he sparked an interest by saying "education is a misapplied mind". Then He whispered "Ptolemy". Yikes. Acts 17. Romans 1. Deuteronomy 6. Isaiah 30. Under one yoke, my children's "learning" usually aligns with the Word that He's offering me--this time a book my daughter chose on ancient cultures revealed all the idols and mortal foolishness at the root of "western education". Turns out even what I thought the ability of the mind was intended for was dead wrong, because culture has been saturated in "knowledge" from a cesspool of idolatry --darkened minds--for so long we don't even notice.
Splitting allegiance in my mind to my own purposes and His meant that I despised Him as Master and if He spoke, I felt fine disregarding it. The same goes for the body. If it is fully rendered to His service, participating in death for my own pleasure isn't really my choice to make. And the crazy thing about the appetite for me was this revelation: under His Lordship, every appetite was transformed to crave life. This was a yield. When it was my goal, I always fell short. Now I find myself so attracted to every manifestation of life that is Authored by Him.
John 10:27-28, luke 12:32

Each day, submitting to the yoke. Yielded.
Time. Children. Marriage. Mind. Body. Spirit. Money.
There is no pursuit I need to take care of myself. 
Full trust = full peace.
His is the Kingdom. The power. The glory. Forever.