Kingdom Lines

Kingdom Lines

3/3/14

A defined line has been a sticking point in human’s lives when they try and define a certain boundary.  We like to have a visual marker that says we are now entering Colorado or you are now leaving Texas.  While these types of lines can be drawn on a map and exercised to a degree in real life, it is almost impossible to draw a physical line of each boundary that exists.  The same concept comes into play in the spirit realm when dealing with kingdom boundaries, but one needs to know just exactly what defines these boundaries in order to understand the directions that they fluctuate.  Understanding where our physical boundaries lie and where the spiritual boundaries are located are equally important and it is imperative that we recognize the movements of each within our lives. 

When I was a teenager I played many sports and for those of you who know what I look like and how my physical body is built you will understand that God has a sense of humor when it comes to placing a huge heart in such a short physical stature.  The movie “Rudy” comes to mind as an example of my abilities.  In order for me to play with the big boys I had to do things harder, faster and stronger than what my body normally could muster.  While I was young and active this type of lifestyle was no big deal for I felt good and could perform at the level that I needed to be competitive.  Now while my physique defined my body my heart defined the desires that I had and since both of these systems were contained within one body, this too was a struggle inside.  Given these limitations that my physical body placed on me along with my heart’s desires I soon found a temporary way around this limitation, but as I was keeping my body in this state I knew that I could not continue this level of expectations forever and that one day all of my conditioning was going to catch up with me.

Every time I had to go get a physical the doctor examining me would always shake their head in amazement because they could see the evidence of what I was doing to my body in order to keep up with the other players.  Almost every time the doctor would tell me that when I quit playing sports and that I aged a little bit more my body would tighten up and I would have some constant pains in my life because of what I was doing to my body at this time in my life.  One physician even put up two x rays of my joints from different examinations and politely showed me the comparisons and the differences from the first one till the second picture, and continuing to note that I was going to have severe problems if I did not change my regime.  Having an interest in the medical field even at this young age I knew that what the doctors were saying was true but as soon as those words hit my ear they went right through my hard and empty head and out the other ear.

Even though I understood the meaning of what those physicians were telling me I continued to allow myself to push my body in such a manner that today I have fallen into that daily painful category that they warned me about.  Given the information that I knew about my body I took that chance in life to obtain a goal that I knew would not really lead me to anything on a grand scale, just my personal pride. At that time in my life I believed that I could achieve any status without any future complications or bodily retributions, and it was not until decades later when my physically I began to slow down and I learned about my blood heritage that the things that I was willingly doing to my body were actually increasing my chances of something severe occurring to me.  This new biological familial information informed of my true physical history and for the first time in my life I knew the “rest of the story” as Paul Harvey used to so famously say.

It was this so called defined physical boundary that I believed I could continually push, knew exactly where this boundary’s limits were located and what all of the factors meant for my life.  However, when I found out further details about my life the understanding of my physical boundary became more defined and with this new knowledge along with how my body feels today I can honestly say that there will be more issues that will appear as time rolls along in my life.  Now, whether these issues will present themselves in my later life, in my daughters’ lives or all of the above remains to be seen and I pray that the genetic patterns are more lenient within their bodies than what I am facing in the coming years.  When I continually approached this physical boundary of mine along with the limited amount of information about my life, I was actually really creating more problems for myself instead of keeping up with the others.   And for many of us we take this type of philosophy into the spiritual chambers as well and treat this realm with the same attitude.  But we need to understand that the spirit has a boundary as well and is just as defined as our physical ones.   

All of us have the opportunity to go across the country to visit relatives or to take a family trip to a new place.  One familiar sign that I saw a lot when I was growing up was the one that said I was entering Texas.  With my parents being ministers it meant that we traveled across the country which also provided chances for our family to back track across the country to visit these relatives during vacations, and with these traveling vacations, sometimes it took a couple of days to arrive at our destination.  While I recognized the sign saying that I was entering Texas I never officially saw a physical line that indicated which side was Arkansas and the other side of that line was Texas.  But I knew as soon as I passed the sign that I was now in the great state of Texas.  Did this mean that no line existed and that Arkansas continued?  No, it was just the fact that there was a boundary there and at a certain point we were in Texas.  The same features are present when one goes to the Four Corners Park and tries to place each one of our limbs in a different state, those boundaries are there but we cannot actually draw a visible boundary after a few feet from those intersecting points.

International boundaries have similar characteristics as state or county boundaries but sometimes these can prove to have more entertaining physical defining points where people can enter.  I have been in places where you have to stop at the border and get out of the vehicle and allow the officials to search your possessions, and then you cross over into the other country after passing through a tall fence and gate along with the appropriate compliment border guards.  As one passes through this border point a person can look in both directions and see the defining landmarks that separate the two countries.  If one continues to follow these physical landmarks then they can see that these extensions will follow a certain path for as far as the eye can see, which means that a true and defined border has been established. However, when humans are involved this does not mean that each person legally stays behind this defining line for as in my personal example above we all tend to cross these lines without thinking twice; all the while that these lines of landmarks do not change.

A good visual picture of a boundary and just how separate both sides are represents comes from a couple of rivers.  In South America most of us are familiar with the Amazon River and how mighty and lengthy this river is.  We can look at it on a map and follow its pathway all the way to the ocean.  But along the way there are many other smaller rivers that flow into this massive river and when these junctions occur it is possible to see where both joining rivers are located.  In the picture at the beginning of this article, one can notice exactly where the Negro River comes into contact with the Amazon River due to the color variations of the water.  Where as the water in the Negro River is almost black in color the water color of the Amazon is blue and one can see a defined line where the two river contents do not mix. This is a great example of how God’s Kingdom and the kingdom of His enemy works and while they are close together and actually touch neither one can truly mix with each other.

When wars come to the world it is known that these events will have something called a front.  A front is defined as a line where the main fighting of this conflict is occurring and if necessary can be generally drawn on a map for visual purposes.  Sometimes there is a physical line of soldiers and equipment that form a line that marks this territorial position but for the most part only groups of soldiers within a general geographical setting define this line.  Most of the time during a war the front line is not a straight line for there will be parts of the terrain that may not be conquered yet so that portion of the frontline is back further than other parts.  But no matter where those soldiers are located it is their objective to advance forward and to move that line when called upon.  Since war and the fronts that it presents, it is the most easily defined type of setting that describes the two sides that are opposed to each other and it is this atmosphere that we also need to be aware of when we are talking about God and His enemy.  And through this war, our lives are defined by what is taking place all around us. 

There are times throughout the year that these defining contact lines between the two rivers change in location.  There are times when the brown / black water of the Negro River is located further down the waterway due to the fact that the amount of water and its force is greater at a specific time than that of the Amazon River.  The reverse is true concerning the Amazon River and the visible changes of this advance and decline can be apparent along with these fluctuations.  It is possible for us to understand through these examples that the same forces are present on the spiritual sides of our lives and these spiritual lines can fluctuate just as our physical boundaries do based upon what we allow to occur within our lives.

Even though many humans do not like the concept of war or having to deal with war and everything that comes along with this status, humans need to know that there is a huge war being fought for our lives and that our lives represent the centerpieces of this action.  While we might not immediately be able to physically see this fight we need to consider what is occurring in the spiritual realm around us does have an effect on affect on our lives, and it is our responsibility to identify these sights, sounds, and fluctuations that are ongoing all around us.  Just as a group of soldiers can hear the track sounds and engines of a heavy armor column approaching we need to spiritually hear this type of enemy movement as well.  Our spiritual ears and eyes should be in tune enough with what is transpiring that we have an opportunity to defend our lines even before they are attacked.  We also need to understand that these lines are spiritual in nature and even though they cannot be witnessed immediately their effects will be noticed in a very short time if they are not dealt with in an appropriate manner. 

It is the touching of these spiritual boundaries of the two warring kingdoms that define the struggle for our lives.  The constant engagements between these two kingdoms vie for eternal supremacy through our lives and how we live them.  Every action, thought, word or situation that we face or use dictates how these kingdoms advance, succeed, retreat or lose territory.   Both spiritual lines are strong enough to support a continuous eternal fight yet both kingdoms understand that a deadline is intact.  The only difference within the two kingdoms is that one kingdom, our enemy’s, is already a defeated kingdom yet mankind gives its commander an opportunity to pick us off a little at a time.  When we allow the earthly kingdom to take a life without giving that life an opportunity to hear the eternal truth, the leader of the earthly kingdom has just advanced.  It does not matter which area our lives participate in, whether good or bad if the truth about their life and their purpose for being on this planet and most importantly the One who gave them this life in the first place is not told to them, our enemy actually wins and can draw a line one step further ahead while God’s Kingdom must respond with a step backwards.

Recognizing this kingdom line fluctuation can be just as easy on an individual level as it is on a larger scale.  If a person changes a philosophy on a spiritual issue that means some type of influential condition has caused that person to view things differently.  This does not mean that the fluctuation of a view is a bad thing, good changes can occur just as readily.  An example of a larger kingdom line fluctuation is when a group of people have similar views and convince their church or denomination to accept a worldly practice as part of their doctrinal teachings, this is when the kingdom line of the world advances and pushes back God’s Kingdom line. 

Back in the Garden of Eden God readily walked and talked with Adam and Eve.  His presence was a constant in their lives and His appearance to them was something that the physical earth welcomed.  God had made the Garden holy and everything within its established area was holy.  This meant that God could have free access to His creations since at that time both God and man were holy in creation. When man fell and allowed sin to enter into their lives, God could not be in the same physical state with mankind because of the change that had occurred within mankind’s life.  So after God quickly took care of the details, He no longer had physical contact with man, which means that His Kingdom cannot have any mixing with any other kingdom.

This means that both levels, the individual and larger, make a difference on how each kingdom advances and retreats.  As in the physical war when one line is pushed back the other line is automatically advanced, it is the same for the spiritual kingdoms as well.  These lines, just as boundaries of countries cannot mix they have a definitive line present.  If God’s laws and ways are kept within the heart of His people then the things that they do will be God Kingdom centered and thus advance His kingdom and push our enemy’s kingdom backwards.  If those who do not wish to live for God then they will automatically advance Satan’s kingdom.  It does not matter how things occur or what happens in your world your actions determine the movement of these lines.

The same principle is taken into account on a wider scale since it takes more than one human to form a wider scale.  If more people follow an idea and then make it a standard amongst others, then that act must advance one of the two kingdoms that are in play, automatically. This type of advancement is how human history has progressed and transpired in our lives for as long as man has recorded the things that matter to our lives.  We cannot afford to end our observations with just the physical patterns but also must take into consideration the spiritual aspects to which our physical choices have upon our spiritual conditions.  We must heed to the root of the issue and not just the physical surface of the tree.  And until we figure this truth out our problems will only divide and multiply instead of dying.

Where are these kingdom lines drawn?  They are drawn within your heart.  It is not hard for one to draw a conclusion about another heart just by listening to what comes forth from another person.  The concept that a person cannot serve two masters provides another example of why a person must voluntarily choose between the two and it clarifies the root of the reason why these two kingdoms cannot mix.  In other words it is impossible to mix the two kingdoms, in any way, shape or fashion.  I do not care what you believe about God and Satan, these two entities and their kingdoms cannot mix.  That is why the Church cannot be alive and thrive in a world that she is mixing with, the two kingdoms cannot mix!!  Everything may seem to be going according to mankind’s plan with the mixing of the Church into the world but I am here to tell you that the two kingdoms cannot mix and with this belief and actions that our enemy’s kingdom is being advanced!!

The kingdom line is not up for discussion, especially when a bunch of whiney, faulty, and finite beings who would like to believe that they have God in a box are the ones trying to negotiate the kingdom lines.  The old phrase of either you are for me or against me serves its tenure here and it becomes the foundation of what God is saying to you in this article.  It is time that we stop playing games and believing that this line is negotiable for it is not.  The Church is supposed to be a presence within the world but she is supposed to be separated from the world so that people have a holy and true refuge to go to in order to restore their hearts back to God.  The Church is not there to pacify one’s desires and to allow them to have a false sense of security by not addressing the people’s ungodly beliefs.  The two kingdoms cannot mix!!

If God’s Kingdom is present within your life then your heart will be grieved when those kingdom battles are drawn and God is pushed backwards.  Those battles should be tugging at your heart in such a manner that you want to ensure that there is no sin harboring within your life, and that you protect your heart from any potential destructive forces that wish to invade.  A church denomination that accepts anyone’s worldly beliefs as her own becomes a camouflaged church and thus advances our enemy’s kingdom.  God’s Kingdom and Satan’s kingdom cannot mix!!  Even the correct way to write the two kingdoms are different.

Sadly I have to admit that this concept has not been taught in too many seminaries nor has it been preached about in pulpits.  Our lack of understanding about Kingdom has severely limited us in being able to effectively combating our enemy.  We have allowed our enemy to take the knowledge of Kingdom and wrap it around our spiritual necks and to strangle us with God’s own unknown truth.   It is a simple concept but it is one that requires some thinking about along with a little bit of faith, but when one does open the eyes of their hearts to this concept God will show you exactly what is at play and how important that everyone knows this truth.  God loves His people and He wants us to open our hearts and to understand exactly what is at stake.  God hides nothing from our hearts it is us who refuse to give up our selfish eyes that deliberately blind our hearts.  God shall never force His ways on our lives, it will always be our choice to accept or to deny Him. 

Once the concept of kingdom is in place then one can gain the knowledge of exactly what is occurring around us.  It is an exciting feeling to have yet at the same time it has a devastating effect because we know just who is winning the war against our lives.  Everything that we are revolves around these two kingdoms and everything we do advances or retracts those two kingdoms.  You are the epitome of God’s creation and you have a specific purpose to fulfill and it is the job or our enemy to do everything within his authority to stop us from accomplishing our mission.  Search your heart and see where the Kingdom line falls within your heart.  Yes, it is that important and yes, it is just as important that everyone else in the world knows it as well.

DLB