“The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man PRESSETH INTO it” (Luke 16:16; KJV). “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12).  

So, who are the “violent men”? We are. These verses speak of an urgency and a passion in following after God and I believe this urgency is birthed in prayer. The apostle Paul also talked about pressing in. In Philippians 3:12-14, he told us that he was pressing in to win the prize and he then encouraged us to do the same thing. People who are seriously training for any kind of athletic event will give it all they've got to win the prize and that is how we need to be about pressing in to God.

We need to be aware of the warnings Jesus gave to the lukewarm church at Laodicea in the book of Revelations: “I know thy works, that they are neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth”.

If we are going to make an impact on our society, our Christianity cannot be halfhearted.

How does God guide and direct us? In Proverbs 3:5-6 we are told that we should trust him with all our heart, not our understanding and we should acknowledge him, or give him thanks, in all things or at all times, and he will direct our paths. We must hear from God.

He primarily talks to us by the Holy Spirit (John 14 16-18). As we read the Bible the Holy Spirit can open our spiritual eyes to see and understand God’s word (John 14:26; John 16:13-15). In our times of reading and mediating the word God can bring direction to our lives.

The Holy Spirit can also communicate directly to our spirit with a scripture verse, thought, words, conviction or an idea. Elijah fled from the evil Queen Jezebel, who threatened to kill him. God found Elijah hiding in a cave and had him stand on the mountain. God passed by and there was a there was wind, earthquake and fire but God did not speak in any of these but in a still small voice (1 Kings 19:12). It is through this inner witness or still small voice of the Holy Spirit that God will primarily speak to us. We will know it is God as God’s wisdom comes with a real sense of peace and assurance (James 3:17).

We could say well I know that. However, when we come to God, do we come with open hearts or for him to simply agree with our agenda? Perhaps we need to come with an open mind and no preconceived agendas, so God can truly guide and direct us in his ways and according to his plans; me thinks the that would be good.

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In Matthew 18:19 the Apostle tells us that if just two of us can agree on a prayer request God will do it. “For where two or three or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). Wow, where just two or three come together in unity to call out to God he is there in their very presence! With God one can put a thousand to flight but two can put ten thousand to flight (Deut 32:30).

Unity and the prayer of agreement are so powerful. Praying in agreement is not just everyone praying about the same thing but doing it in perfect accord, perfect harmony and in unity.

God loves unity in his people, it allows him to work, to bless: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore” (Ps 133:1, 3). The disciples prayed in one accord in Acts 4:24-37 and just look at the results, the house was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they preached with boldness, thousand were added to the church and they had all things in common.

Is God telling us something here?

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“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matt 12:34). We know that what comes out of our mouths is what we believe and that our faith is strengthened by hearing the word: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17).

So, let’s build up our faith by hearing some words that God says about us. We are sons and daughters of God, children of God and joint heirs with Jesus (Rom 8:14; 16-17). We are his (God’s) work of art (Eph 2:10). We are new creations (born again) in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17). Jesus was triumphant over all the powers of darkness (Col 2: 15). In Christ we have the victory over those powers of darkness (1 Cor 15:57). We have been conveyed from the kingdom of darkness into God’s kingdom of light (Col 1:13) We sit in heavenly places with Jesus (Eph 2:6) Greater is he (the Holy Spirit) that is in us than he (satan) that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

These words were written to us, about us; my, how God loves us. Meditate on these words and speak them out, let them build up your faith.

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“And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Ex. 19:6; KJV). These are the words that God spoke to Moses. One of the responsibilities of the priests was to minister to the Lord in praise and worship.

As you know things in the Old Testament are a type and shadow of things in the New Testament. In 1 Peter 2:5 we read: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an HOLY PRIESTHOOD, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”. Spiritual sacrifices refer to worship and praise. In v.9 of the same chapter it tells us that we are a: "royal priesthood" and that we are to proclaim the praises of God.

The priests in the Old Testament led the praise and worship as I said but now, WE are the: “royal priesthood”, so we can do this for ourselves, we can: “sing unto the Lord a new song” (Ps 96:1), we can be a people: “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph 5:19). It’s up to us though, we have to make a decision to do it; our flesh doesn't always feel like it. However, it says in Hebrews 13:15 that we need to make the: "sacrifice of praise". I think that means we are supposed to do it whether we feel like it or not.

In Psalms 22:3 King David wrote that God: “inhabitest the praises of Israel”. This has the sense that God comes down, settles down and invades our very presence when we praise him! I don’t know about you but I surely desire that intimacy with our heavenly Father.

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 Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.