“But our citizenship is in Heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 3:20
Thank God there is more to life than what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. Life without Christ is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship, i.e., troublesome; oppressive. Everyone who is born on this earth automatically belongs to the “onerous” life. Everyone who is born-again belongs to the “Oneness” life (John 10:30, 17:22; Romans 12:5). Let us examine the above verse more closely.
In Philippians 3:20 Paul used the word “citizenship,” which in the Greek of Paul’s day referred to a colony of foreigners. In a secular sense it was also used to describe a capital city which kept the names of its citizens on a register. He also used the word “Heaven” which is the place where God dwells and where Christ is present. It is the eternal home for all true believers (John 14:2,3) where their names are registered and their inheritance awaits (1 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 12:23). The Kingdom to which we belong is unchangeably established under the rule of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. And finally we have the word “await” which is translated from a Greek verb which is found in more than one passage in the New Testament and expresses the idea of waiting patiently, but with great expectation (Romans 8:23; 2 Peter 3:11,12).
KINGDOM: HERE AND THE HEREAFTER
Unlike the world wherein multitudes live without Christ, God’s Kingdom will be and is now a place without sadness/sorrow, pain, troubles, sickness/disease, wars etc. All the life-threatening and vexing maladies that attack us physically, mentally, and emotionally will be gone. This is definitely something to look forward to with great expectation! .
Of course, like most good things, this amazing life with God has a price. Don’t get confused at this point. I am not saying you have to “earn” this gift or pay for it some way. That is impossible. God gives these blessings to us freely. The only condition we need to fulfill is that we must get ourselves to the place, spiritually speaking, where we can receive these wonderful gifts from God. It is a matter of logistics not ability or qualification. It would be as if someone told you they wanted to give you a beautiful gift at no cost to you. Yet because of the nature of the gift they can only give it to you at a certain location. So, if we want this great gift we must make it to that location. The great thing with God is that with the things He wants to give us we don’t have to physically go anywhere. And the fact that God is omnipresent (everywhere at once at all times) makes it even better! So what’s the catch? .
When it comes to the great things God wants to give us the Bible tells us there is only one way to get to, go inside of, and reside in the Kingdom of Heaven where all these things are waiting:
“Jesus replied, ‘With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you are born again, you can never get into the Kingdom of God.’. . .’What I am telling you so earnestly is this: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God’” (John 3:3,5 The Living Bible).
THE NEW BIRTH
Being born again literally means being born from above: i.e., a regeneration of spirit, a “coming alive” spiritually. “And you He made alive, being dead in transgressions and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). This new birth is an act of God within us whereby eternal life is imparted to us (see 2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1,4,18).
Jesus’ comments on water/spirit spoke of our need for cleansing. Of course “cleansing” was the Old Testament metaphor for spiritual cleansing (see Numbers 19:17-19; Psalm 51:9,10; Isaiah 32:15, 44:3-5, 55:1-3, Jeremiah 2:13; Ezekiel 36:24-27; Joel 2:28,29). In His discourse with Nicodemus Jesus was referring to the spiritual washing or purification of the soul which is accomplished by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God at the combined moment of repentance, confession, and salvation (Ephesians 5:26; Titus 3:5). The reality of the Gospel we find in the New Testament, the Gospel that countless multitudes throughout the centuries have proclaimed, is that unless one repents of his/her committed sins through humble confession one cannot see nor enter the Kingdom of God. Again, we are not “earning” our salvation. Yes, repentance is something we do, yet it is not done with the intention of putting God under any kind of obligation to us. It is the result of realizing our utterly hopeless situation and our desperate need of God’s forgiveness. We are begging, not demanding.
PRAISE???
Following is a quote from something called “Free Will Astrology”:
“Today I praise the renegade meditators who say they’re as likely to bask in the sweetness of enlightenment while heating a frozen burrito in a microwave under the fluorescent lights of a convenience store as they are when they’re contemplating the Great Mystery on a straw mat in a remote mountain sanctuary.” Well, that’s not the kind of praise/enlightenment I have in mind. No doubt, one can be “enlightened” by a false light, and many have been. Yet Jesus is (present tense) the true Light of the world. He gives both natural light (Gen. 1:3) and spiritual light (John 1:5, 3:19, 8:12, 12:36). Jesus is the ONLY way spiritual darkness and death can be defeated and truly vanquished.
REBELLION
We know what caused humankind to fall from grace in the beginning–rebellion. One of the consequences of that initial tragedy is that we live in a fallen world which rebels against the True Light. I saw a large sign that read, “Another World Is Possible.” I thought, “Not without God!” People fail to realize that another world without Him would be exactly like the one men and women are seeking to exit. Today’s world, especially during the Covid-19 crisis, is one filled with stress, pain, fear, & confusion (I caught Covid in prison when I was 75). Many who are not plagued with Covid are afflicted with neurocardiogentic presyncope, a fancy term for fainting (see Isaiah 40:31; Psalm 63:1; Mark 8:3; 2 Cor. 4:1 etc.). Undoubtedly fear can cause one to faint, both literally and figuratively speaking.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT?
In this world, in this time, we must choose whether to face the enemy/enemies or run from it/them. God has given us the weapons and wisdom needed to win. We must make up our minds to diligently fight the enemies that seek to destroy us. Then there are other things which we can’t run from, like the nasty chemtrails that cloud the blue sky almost daily. Yes, they are still spraying us with poison. They? Who really knows “who”? “They” are secretive. These Geo-engineers are polluting the environment, killing trees, wildlife, and people alike. One chemtrail awareness site read, “A nation can survive its fools, but it cannot survive treason from within. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims and he wears their face and speaks their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men.”
There is no doubt in my mind all this spraying in the sky is purposed. Is it any wonder that so many Americans are sick and dying? Devious men carry out black ops all over this nation, right under our red, white, and blue noses.
OCCUPY CONSCIOUSNESS
What consciousness? Our national consciousness is sick and dying! To be conscious means to be aware, mentally awake and alert, i.e., it is to be at the upper most level of mental life of which a person is capable. How many citizens are AWAKE, ALERT, AWARE of the dangers all about? How can they be when their daily diet is lies, mis/disinformation, and deceit?
America is already greatly disturbed and disoriented.
You can be sure there are more debilitating illnesses and pandemics waiting in the shadows that God will purpose and allow upon the nations, the world, who have rebelled against Him. Let us seek to PLEASE the Lord daily.
~ GEN. JIM, POW