The topic I am going to share this week, and actually the
next couple of weeks afterward, is going to get into really the core of who we
are and our perspective of life.

What I am going to share today has the potential, actually, to completely change your perspective and your outlook on pretty much everything you do and with the way you think, what your priorities are.

Now, I am not saying this in the sense of I am above you or you need to come higher where I am sitting. I am saying this in the sense of this is where the Messiah is seated. This is where He exists. This is the world He lives in.

So, when I read these scriptures and I understand them, and view life this way, it just places me in awe. It inspires me. It drives me. It motivates me. It is why I am doing the broadcast… it is one reason.

And so, what I am saying is that what I am going to share with you today, and what places me in awe, is the Scriptures– the words that Yahweh has spoken and He is saying to us. And He is saying, “This is the way you need to go. Walk in it.”

And what I am sharing I believe is so important. I really just want to encourage you– please, listen to the entirety of the study and the next two studies if you are able. And I have never asked this before. If you miss a part of it, go back in the archives. Listen to the part you missed. It is that important.

It is salvational. It gets to the core of who we are and what we are focused on in life. I wish, actually, I could talk five hours straight, but I will split it up into segments. But it is more important maybe now more than ever as Pentecost (Shavuot, Feast of Weeks) approaches.

This is a time of year when Yahweh wanted to do something new. It is a time of year when He gave Torah to the children of Israel. A time of year when He gave a unique and special outpouring of His Spirit in Acts chapter 2.

And so, He has a created purpose for you. Now, we don’t have to all believe exactly the same in our doctrines and details, but He has a created purpose for you. You matter to Him.

And so, what I want to share with you today is a study I wrote a few years ago, but I have done some things with it, some alterations and some further examination, presenting it in a way, hopefully, is very compelling. Yahweh, help me to do that, in Yahushua’s name.

Anyway, what I want to share with you is a study I have entitled: Thy Kingdom Come.

Now, the graphic you see here is an artist’s depiction of the Ezekiel temple (the temple written about in Ezekiel, about chapter 40 to the end). This is where we need to be looking to– the Kingdom. “Yahweh,” we say in our prayer, “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done.”

And I want to start at the beginning. I like to start at the beginning a lot of times– Genesis. I like to start there because that is where everything begins. Really, you could teach almost any topic in Scripture– almost any topic in Scripture you can cover– and you can really start from Genesis as the foundation from which you say anything at all.

But, you know, sometimes we look so deeply into one little thing that we cannot see the forest because the trees are in the way. And I don’t ever want to escape from the big picture and just stare at one little point.

You know, Yahweh created everything. He created you for a purpose, you know, and He has an intent, He has a goal, for you and for me. And we are all happiest when we are doing exactly what He created us to do.

The last thirteen/fourteen years, I have had a small farm– I have had ducks, I have had chickens, I have had sheep, a horse (I have only had one horse), a llama– different animals in our places where we have lived here in Missouri, and you really learn things having animals.

I shared last week about we had bought some ducks. It was the first time we ever had ducks. I always wanted to have ducks, but I never had a pond. And so, we got this property here (2002/2003) and we have a pond in the front yard, and we are just like, “Okay, we have to get some ducks in the pond.”

And so, we have these ducks we bought from a swap meet. And we took them down to the edge of the pond, and we set the cage down near the water so they could get something to drink, and we fed them for a couple of days, because these were the kind of ducks that could fly.

But the owner of these ducks did not have a pond. From what I remember, he had this little children’s wading pool, you know? You buy big plastic tubs at the local store. Anyway, we set them there a couple of days at the edge of the property, and they were just, I like to say, chomping at the bill.

And I opened up the cage and it was like… they just went crazy out of that cage. They immediately swam out and just– WHOOSH! I mean, it was amazing. They were so happy. They were dunking in the water. They were drinking the water, and they were splashing with their wings. And they were just going crazy with this experience.

They had never had it before. All they had known is a little wading pool. You know, they were sitting there along that pond and thinking about that thing for two days. And they come out, and it was a glorious moment, you know– these amazing creatures, in their own way, expressing the joy of doing what they were created to do.

And, you know, all animals are happiest when we mimic their natural environment that Yahweh placed them in as much as possible and just let them do what they were created to do.

A few times we have had to pen up our sheep, and if you keep them in that pen very long, they are just not happy. You walk out there, and all you hear is “baa, baa, baa.” That is all you ever hear.

They are like, “Get me out of here. I am not happy. This is not where I was made to be, in this little pen. Shepherd, deliver me from the pen.” Right? That is what they are saying in their language, and you can tell they are stressed out.

You let them out, and they are like, “Whew! Yeah, let me out of here. I want to go graze. I want to go eat grass. I want to do what I was created to do.”

Now, what about us? What were we created to do, and would we be happiest doing what we were created to do? I venture to say we would be. If we were doing what Yahweh intended for us, then we would be just as happy as the ducks splashing around and as the animals grazing on the hills. We are going to be happiest doing what we were created to do.

Now, what were we created to do?

Genesis 1:26 – Then Elohim said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

27 – So Elohim created man in His [own] image; in the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them.

All right, so we are created for a purpose. We are created to be in Yahweh’s image. That is our purpose. What is the image of Yahweh? What is His image all about? What is He all about?

If we are created in His image, we know He dwells over the heavenlies, He is Master over the heavenlies, but (we see this here) He has given man a place of dominion. He has given us an important place– the entire planet of the earth.

He has given us a place of dominion where we are able to rule over all creation. And we are created to do that. That is why we were made. That was Yahweh’s plan for man, and to do so in such a way that would reflect the image of Elohim. Now, have we done that? No.

And so, what did Yahweh tell them? What did Yahweh tell Adam and Eve? What did He tell man? What did He tell man he was supposed to be doing? What was His plan? What was His thought in the whole deal?

We continue reading here. It says:

Genesis 1:28 – Then Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

All right, so He has a plan here. He has a mandate for us in the book of Genesis.

Four Mandates in Genesis: 1. Fill the Earth. 2. Subdue the Earth. 3. Have Dominion over all living things. 4. Be fruitful and Multiply.

That is His goal for us. That is our created purpose.

Now, these are root things here. He is not giving us the details, yet. The details are in the rest of Scripture, but this is the basic right here. The earth was created to be our own place of personal dominion. This is why we are here. We are created to rule over this planet that He has given us. He is glad to give it to us.

Now, both male and female were given the mission. First it was given to the man, and then when woman was created, she joined him in the role of a helper in completing this mission together with him. And I tell you, we get a high level of enjoyment when we are doing what we are created to do, just as the animals do.

You take a zoo. They want to mimic their original environment they were created to live in.

But there are things that we do today, things that men and women are doing today… And this is one of the reasons why I believe the Scriptures are Yahweh’s revelation. Yahweh knows us. He knows us, and He knows what makes us happy.

And these four elements, these four elements I shared with you, are found in a lot of different things. For instance, most of us have a pretty natural enjoyment of stories. We like to hear stories. And from the time that we were children, we love to sit on our parents’ lap and listen to stories. Why? Why do we like that? or watch movies?

Because, typically, they are stories of dominion. They are stories about struggle, adventure, conquest of some kind. Maybe they will take us away from our boring life, otherwise, into this world of stimulation, this world of excitement, this world of adventure. You know, we are created to like those kinds of things.

They speak of challenge. They speak of dominion. They speak of this problem that needs to be subdued, that needs to be resolved. And we are not happy with the story unless it has an ending that resolves the problem.

Most people have a natural enjoyment of playing games. I mean, look at all the games that people have put together. This isn’t even a smidgen of the different kinds of board games you can buy.

And you see men in sports that drive them to utter and complete exhaustion to win this goal– either to run the race, or play a baseball game, or football game or hockey. You name a game, and there have been men who have completely dedicated their lives to trying to reach this goal, and subdue, and have dominion, and rule and be victorious.

This all fits with the way we are created to be. We are created to have dominion. And this drive that Yahweh has placed in man, it is there, and that is why we have these inventions– like games and different things. And so, it is a very natural thing for us to enjoy that.

Even the last festival, the Feast of Tabernacles, we did some volleyball, and it was one of the funnest things we did the whole Feast. We enjoyed it because it was something to do with our children and it was a fun little activity that we did together. And there is nothing wrong with that.

It can be corrupted, but look at what Yahweh did for Adam and Eve:

Genesis 2:15 – Then YAHWEH Elohim took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

He says, “Here we go. Here is your place of dominion. We will put you in the garden.” And that fit perfectly with what Yahweh created man to do. He says, “Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth…” He gave man this. This is something He gave us.

And He created us in His image. Because He has dominion, He says, “Subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea… over everything.” So, we are basically created to enjoy anything that sets a challenge before us, gives us a realistic goal for us to achieve and has a reward at the end. That is kind of what we are created to do.

And so, that is one reason why men and women go to work every day. They have this challenge– “Okay, we are going to resolve these problems at work. We are going to get this done. And then we are going to have a reward in the form of a pay check.”

And then get home, and then see more of it on T.V., or hear more about it, or read more of it, or do something with children with the goal of raising them up to be fine young men and women. We have a goal for everything we do. There is some kind of intent there.

And so, the very first chapter in Scripture talks about this. And when we are doing this, we are doing what we are created to do.

Now, I am not saying that Yahweh made us to play games or to read books or to watch movies. What I am saying is the reason why man enjoys them, the reason why we like them, is because it fits well with our created purposes.

The scriptures are full of stories of struggle, of conquest, of challenges, of victories, of defeat. Yahweh knew that we would relate to them. There is no other created being on the planet that would be interested in hearing such things if they could understand it. We are unique because we are created to have dominion and to subdue.

Now, it seems to be more so in men than in women. Women were created to be a gift to man. Contrary to some men who think they are Yahweh’s gift to women, Scripture says that woman is Yahweh’s gift to man. And so, she is called to be his partner, his companion, his helper, and, yes, his participant in this conquest.

And she can, if Yahweh has called her to be single, she can still operate in this realm.

But with this innate desire to have dominion, to subdue, it is subject to corruption. And there are some men who want to dominate and control their family members, or dominate and control other people.

That is how cults get started. One man wants to have the control, and he supposes his control will result in something good perhaps. But that is not what we are created to do.

In fact, if we look at 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 2 (an example of leadership here), he says:

1Peter 5:2 – Shepherd the flock of Elohim which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;

3 – nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;

4 – and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.

Now, the Greek word translated “lords” here (as being “lords over those entrusted”) is the same Greek word found in the Septuagint (which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament) translated “subdue.” And so, we are not to “subdue” other human beings.

The same word is also translated “lord it over” here in Matthew 20:25. It says:

Matthew 20:25 – But Yahushua called them to [Himself] and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.

26 – Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.

27 – And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave —

Matthew 20:28 – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Now, I want to say something to the men here. If your leadership is control, it is not leadership. It is tyranny. If we are controlling, like a terrorist, our family members and scaring them into doing what we ask, then we are terrorists. We are not leaders. We are forcing people under us. And that is not biblical leadership.

Yahushua does not terrorize you. He gives you the choice, and we need to be the same way.

So, what is it we are supposed to subdue and have dominion over? The earth. Every living thing. We do not force each other into anything.

Now, when man was created to rule the earth, Yahweh’s plan was for man to do it the right way, not in a corrupted, selfish way. And we should take dominion within the boundaries and guidelines He has set in submission to the way He leads us. That is how we lead others. Not the way the Gentiles do, but the way He leads us.

And so, Adam was created. He had no knowledge of evil. And yet, he had all this dominion over the whole earth. And Satan, the devil, was manifesting in a creature, known as the Serpent.

And Yahweh had set this guideline when He commanded them not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But we see here, in Genesis 2:16:

Genesis 2:16 – And YAHWEH Elohim commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

17 – but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

18 – And YAHWEH Elohim said, [It is] not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.

So, this command was given prior to Eve being created. And then Adam, being a king and ruler over all the earth, was expected to keep all things in line with Yahweh’s rulership.

But we know it was Satan’s desire to rule anything that Yahweh has created. And so, we see this, Isaiah 14:12:

Isaiah 14:12 – How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [How] you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!

13 – For you have said in your heart: `I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of Elohim; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;

14 – I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’

And so, Satan, in his rebellion to be like the Most High, seeks to rule over anything Yahweh creates. And so, Satan knew if he could gain rulership over man, he would also gain rulership over the earth, because the earth was given to man for his place of personal dominion.

And so, we have the Serpent.

Genesis 3:1 – Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which YAHWEH Elohim had made. And he said to the woman, Has Elohim indeed said, `You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?

And we all know the story… how Satan used Eve to try and get both Eve and Adam to obey HIS voice rather than the voice of Elohim, and thereby when Adam chose Satan’s voice over the rulership of Elohim, then he failed to keep the earth under the dominion of Yahweh our Mighty One, and instead he gave rulership to Yahweh’s enemy, the Serpent, the devil.

And so, that has been the central struggle ever since: Who will be the King?

Now, since every man born after Adam has chosen to sin (and therefore has submitted to Satan’s rulership rather than Yahweh’s rulership), both man and the earth he was created to take dominion over and subdue has been under the dominion and control of Yahweh’s enemy.

Not because Yahweh gave it to him, but because man rejected Yahweh as his Mighty One and through sin chose Satan to be the ruler of this world. As Yahushua said:

John 14:30 – I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.

So, He acknowledged that Satan was “the ruler of this world,” not because Yahweh gave it to him, but because man gave it to him.

But He also said, “He has nothing in Me.” Not one time did He allow Satan to rule over Him.

Now, it is because of Satan’s rulership over men and over the earth. That is why Yahushua came. He said:

John 12:31 – Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.

32 – And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all [peoples] to Myself.

That is His purpose.

1John 3:8 – He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of Elohim was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Have you ever sinned? If you have ever sinned, you are of the devil. But Yahushua came to destroy the works of the devil. And He can do that in you.

And so, when He defeated the enemy, Yahushua said, in Matthew 28:18:

Matthew 28:18 – And Yahushua came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 – teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

He was anointed to be the King. The word “Messiah” means “Anointed One.” Yahweh anointed Him to be the King, and not just the King of earth, but the King of heaven as well. Yahweh gave Him that authority.

And He has now, since He is a son of Adam who refused to give dominion to Satan the devil, by default, He rules the earth. But Yahweh gave Him heaven as well.

And so, we have a calling on our life. This calling was given by Yahushua. He says, “I am with you always, even to the end of the earth.” Our calling is to “go therefore and make disciples.” That is our calling. That is our purpose. This is why we are here as a new creation in Messiah.

Now, when Yahushua came… I want us to pay close attention to some of the things He said when He was on the earth. One of the things He spoke often about was the Kingdom. In Matthew 4:17, He says:

Matthew 4:17 – From that time Yahushua began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

He keeps talking about the Kingdom.

Matthew 4:23 – And Yahushua went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

Many times He would tell people parables of what the Kingdom was supposed to be like and who would be worthy of entering that Kingdom. He would contrast those who would be worthy of entering and those who would not enter in.

When He taught us to pray:

Matthew 6:9 – In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

10 – Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as [it is] in heaven.

11 – Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6:12 – And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

And then in verse 13, we close out our prayers: “Yours is the Kingdom.”

Matthew 6:13 – And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

It is all about the Kingdom. And before you even ask anything, you declare the holiness of His name. When you address Him, He says, “Hallowed be Your name.” And then you say, “May Your Kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth like it is in heaven.” That is the Kingdom– His will being done on the earth.

And when you are done asking for the things that you want– after you have declared to Him you want His will in your life– you ask for the bread, you ask Him to forgive you of your sins, you declare that you forgive others, you ask Him not to lead you into temptation, but deliver you from the evil one.

That is the one who is trying to rule over you, and therefore rule over the earth. You close out declaring, “Yahweh, Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” So, it is all about the Kingdom.

Acts 8:12– What were they doing, the disciples?

Acts 8:12 – But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of Elohim and the name of Yahushua Messiah, both men and women were baptized.

Don’t knock me too badly for talking about the name of the Messiah. That is what they were doing.

Acts 19:8, talking about Paul here:

Acts 19:8 – And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of Elohim.

The central focal point of what he was talking about, what was it? The Kingdom.

And then later… it closes out in the book of Acts:

Acts 28:30 – Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him,

31 –

Where was the focal point of Messiah and His disciples? The Kingdom.

What about you? What about me? What is our central focal point? Are we walking out our created purpose?

You see, the enemies of Messiah do not want His Kingdom rulership. They do not want His rule over them. And therefore, Yahushua says:

Luke 19:27 – `But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay [them] before me.’

He gave a parable. What is going to happen to those who do not want Him to be the King? Well, they will not be part of the Kingdom. Every kingdom has a king.

The word “kingdom” is two words– “king,” and then “dom,” which is “dominion,” a place of dominion. And He is King of this dominion. And so, we have to recognize Him for who He is.

And it says:

Revelation 20:15 – And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

If you do not want Him to reign over you, okay, then you will go to where the devil goes, and you will be with him. That is what you wanted. Okay, there you go. That is where you will go, right there– the Lake of Fire, where he went.

But if you want to be where Yahushua is, then let Him rule over you. You want His rulership in your life. Rule over the enemy is what you want to do, right?

Now, notice carefully what Yahushua says in this next verse in Luke 17, verse 20:

Luke 17:20 – Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of Elohim would come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of Elohim does not come with observation;

Once again– “Kingdom.”

Luke 17:21 – nor will they say, `See here!’ or `See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of Elohim is within you.

Where is it? It is within you, right here. It is within you.

That is a very interesting comment, for we are praying for Yahweh’s Kingdom to come and we are declaring that His is the Kingdom, but Yahushua says His desire is for the Kingdom of Yahweh to dwell in our hearts.

And when Yahushua dwells there, and when Yahweh’s Word dwells there in our hearts, then the Kingdom of Yahweh is established on the earth. That is all it takes. If Yahweh’s Kingdom would be established in the heart of every man, woman and child on the planet, then you could say the Kingdom has come.

That is the beginning. It all starts with us individually making that choice for His Kingdom rulership to occur in our lives. And the Kingdom of Elohim will reside in us.

And so, when we are going forth, and we are saying, “The Kingdome of Yahweh is at hand!” that Kingdom needs to rule in their hearts. And if they are willing to receive it, it will have come already for them.

Now, I understand there is a grander picture when the Kingdom of Elohim will rule in every man’s heart, when Yahushua returns and reigns for 1000 years, but what I have learned here is that Yahushua has set a challenge before us. He has set a goal in front of us. He has set a plan for you and for me– a plan of dominion.

In Matthew 28:18-20, when He said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” He is giving a specific command for us to go forth and cause that Kingdom of which He is reigning over to become a reality in the lives and in the hearts of all mankind.

Matthew 28:18 – And Yahushua came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 – teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

He told us, “Go make disciples.” Yes, that is going to involve baptism. That is turning them to the Messiah for the forgiveness of sin. And what else? Two elements here. Teaching them to observe. That is it. We need to observe.

And so, there are two elements here He is teaching. This is the good news: Bring people to repentance so that they might observe all things, and bring them to baptism.

Baptism represents: “I am putting away the Adam man that was not subject to Yahweh, and now I am putting on Yahushua the Messiah, who is subject to Yahweh, who is the Ruler and the King of the Kingdom.”

And so, we are called, it is part of our mandate here, to be made disciples. And this is a calling that extends how long? “Until the end of the age.” That is now.

Now, Yahushua, we know, is the embodiment of the Word, that He is called “the Word of Elohim made flesh” and dwelt among us.

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

He is full of grace because He offers grace to all of us. But He is full of truth. Those are the two elements once again– grace through Messiah through baptism, and an example of how to live, making us disciples. That is the fullness of His glory.

Yahweh’s glory is not just the Law. Yahweh’s glory is not just grace. The fullness of His grace is seen in Yahushua the Messiah– an example of how to live, and offering redemption and cleansing for those who want to turn toward His ways.

The word “disciple” means “taught one, one who is taught.” That is what the word means. Well, what is it that we are learning?

Well, the word translated “Law” in the Hebrew tongue is “Torah,” and what it really means is “teaching” or “instruction.”

And so, when we are teaching them to observe, when we are making disciples, when we are making “taught ones,” what are we teaching them? We are teaching them the teaching– the “Instruction Book,” the manual.

And so, the Torah, the Law of Yahweh, needs to be brought into the hearts of all men. And if the Law is written in our hearts– and most Christians would claim, “Well, the Law is in my heart,”– if it is, then it needs to reflect so on the outer layer.

But, you see, this earth that we are given is not for the wicked. It is not for them. Yahweh did not make it for wicked men. He made it for those who are desirous to walk in the image of Elohim.

Yahushua was a perfect example of what that image of Elohim really is. He was full of the glory of the Father– the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. He is the fullness of Yahweh’s glory, in both example and in mercy… and in love and compassion.

But the earth was not created for people who are not compassionate. It was not created for people who refuse to walk in mercy. That is why the Master’s prayer included, “Forgive me of my sins, and I will forgive those who sin against me as well.”

It was not created for unmerciful people. That is not the image of Elohim. And it was not created for people who refuse to walk in the image of Elohim. And so, Scripture says:

Psalms 125:3 – For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest On the land allotted to the righteous, Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.

The land, the earth, is allotted to the righteous, not to the wicked. That is who it is for. It is for the righteous. So, the wicked will not remain here forever.

And so, the scepter of righteousness– that is Yahushua’s scepter, His rulership. The land is allotted for those who are willing to yield themselves to the will of the Father.

What is the will of the Father? That we would love. That we would love Him with all of our heart, soul and strength. That we would love our neighbor as ourselves. That is what every commandment in Torah is really about– how to love.

We were created to love. But the kingdoms of this world, they are confused about what it means to love. Maybe they want to love, but they don’t really know what love is. They are not willing to yield themselves to Yahweh’s definition of what love truly is.

And so, they go about in confusion– in the United States of America and in all the countries around the world– making laws, trying to compel people to do what is right. But a lot of times those laws are very unjust.

But once we realize, “Okay, this land is not for the wicked, it is for us. The earth we live on, it is for us,” and we realize that we have the authorization and the blessing of Yahweh behind us to take this Kingdom and seek to implant this Kingdom into the hearts of every man, woman and child on the planet (that is His goal– “Go into all nations!”)

All of a sudden we stop caring about what people think that are not of the Kingdom. We are the ones in authority here. This is our house. This is our world. This is our earth. Yahweh gave it to us, not to the wicked. We stop caring about what they think of us.

Now, that does not mean we have to be rude and arrogant and prideful, but we do need to say, “Wait a minute. The things going on here right now is not the way it is going to be forever.”

We walk into a store, or we walk into anywhere, we look around and we see things that are not, or people that are not, subject to the King.

When we share, when we open our mouth and we share, we have to realize all of heaven is behind us, because this is Yahweh’s world. It really is.

So, here is a blessing I want us to see. We see these two scriptures.

Matthew 28:18 – And Yahushua came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19 – Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 – teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.

We see the mandate here by Yahushua– “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations… baptizing them… teaching them to observe all things.” This is His command for us as a body of Messiah. This is what we are called to do.

Now, look at what we were called to do in Genesis:

Genesis 1:26 – Then Elohim said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

27 – So Elohim created man in His [own] image; in the image of Elohim He created him; male and female He created them.

28 – Then Elohim blessed them, and Elohim said to them, Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Have dominion; walk in the image of Elohim; subdue the earth; have dominion over the earth.

Do we realize there is a direct connection between these two scriptures? Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all the nations (through baptism and teaching them to observe),” and Genesis 1:28 – “Be fruitful and MULTIPLY; fill the earth and SUBDUE it; have dominion…”

There is a connection between our created purpose and what Yahushua called us to do.

He wants us to multiply/To make disciples. Be fruitful/Bear fruit. Multiply/Cause others to be disciples. And subdue the earth/Make them disciples. Cause them to be disciples/Cause them to walk in the image of Elohim.

“That is what I created man to do– to walk just like Yahushua walked. That is why I made man,” Yahweh is saying to us.

He did not make man to do the ugly things he is doing in sin. He has made man to walk in His image. And Yahushua did walk in Yahweh’s image. And so, when we make disciples, we are being fruitful and we are multiplying. And I realize He is talking about “go have children.” Well, we want our children also to be His disciples.

We create disciples, by the hand of Elohim, through the bearing of children that we have. It is all part, it is all underneath the umbrella, of Yahweh’s created purpose for every one of us. It is the core of who we are and why we are here. It is why He made us.

Our created purpose in Messiah is to do the same thing Adam did. The world we live in needs to be placed back under the dominion of Yahweh. Now, much of it is under the dominion of the devil. Yahushua came to destroy the works of the devil.

And now, we in the body of Messiah are charged with this duty of restoring the world we live in to the state it was prior to the fall– under the subjection to the King of kings, willing to abide by His rule, not focused on the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but the tree of life, abundant life.

And so, what is our goal? Our goal needs to be Yahushua’s goal.

And that is to bring as many people as we can to the realization that they need to be living their lives as though Yahushua really does have power and authority in heaven and earth, and by doing this, not through force, but by the simple act of sowing Yahweh’s seed and causing it to grow up into a fruitful vine of Messiah.

And by that, we, the gardeners (wasn’t Adam created to be a gardener?), are planting the Word of Elohim in the hearts of men. And by that, we are subduing and we are taking dominion on the earth just like Yahweh intended when we were first created, with Yahweh being the One we serve through it all.

If we can just grasp this… Okay, these are words I am giving you. Let the words be implanted in your heart. Our created purpose in Messiah is to proclaim and to build His Kingdom, Yahweh’s Kingdom.

And when we see things around us that are not in accordance with Yahweh’s Kingdom, some area that has been given over to the enemy, it ought to really bother us! We should see it as a major problem that needs fixing and seek to rise up to the challenge of fixing it, with Yahweh’s help.

He created us for that purpose in causing this earth to be subdued under His dominion. This has been stolen. The hearts of men have been stolen by the enemy. The enemy seeks to take the Word and rip it out of people’s hearts. But our created purpose is to recover it, to take dominion.

And we should look around us. And we see the kingdoms of the world. They have intimidating armies, and intimidating weaponry, and intimidating technologies, and power, and might, and strength.

But here we are, a new creation in Messiah, saying, “Hmm, I am a new creation. I am not of this world. All things have become new.”

2Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone [is] in Messiah, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

“What is my mandate? What am I created to do? What am I supposed to be doing about all this? I look around me, and I see the nations around me, and I say, like Yahweh said in Psalm chapter 2”:

Psalms 2:1 – Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?

2 – The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against YAHWEH and against His Anointed, [saying],

That is the Messiah, His Anointed One.

Psalms 2:3 – Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.

4 – He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; YAHWEH shall hold them in derision.

He is realizing they are nothing. All of their might and their strength is nothing in comparison to Yahweh’s awesome power.

Psalms 2:5 – Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:

6 – Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.

Where is His King, brothers? Yerushalayim– the heavenly Yerushalayim, which will one day rest upon the earth.

Psalms 2:7 – I will declare the decree: YAHWEH has said to Me, `You [are] My Son, Today I have begotten You.

8 – Ask of Me, and I will give [You] The nations [for] Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth [for] Your possession.

And He did that.

Psalms 2:9 – You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’

When Yahushua returns, when He comes back, there won’t be any option anymore. If you do not subject yourself to that King, He will break you. That is what He says. He will break you. Like a potter’s vessel, He will break you.

Psalms 2:10 – Now therefore, be wise, O kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth.

11 – Serve YAHWEH with fear, And rejoice with trembling.

12 – Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish [in] the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed [are] all those who put their trust in Him.

Awesome, awesome prophecy of the Messiah here in Psalm 2.

Yahweh is not forcing man. He is giving man this choice at this point as to whether he wants to let Yahushua be his King or not, or if he wants Satan to be his king.

That is what Yahweh really wants– for us to love Him out of choice, not out of force. It will get to a point where we refuse Him long enough, and the day is going to come when He is going to say, “It is enough. No more. All right, you made your choice.”

But our goal at this point, during this time between, is to bring all nations under subjection to the Messiah. He wants us to engage in world conquest. And we can’t think small. We have to think big because Yahweh is a big Elohim. He is a big Mighty One.

If Nineveh could repent, why couldn’t the United States? And so, wherever we see ground that has been taken by the enemy, He wants us to go forth and proclaim truth to that ground so that that ground may be given back to Yahweh and bring all of mankind under this willing subjection to the King of kings. Are we willing to do that?

Now, I am sounding like I am repeating myself for a reason. For a good reason. Because we need to have this. When it says in Scripture, “You shall therefore teach your children,” it means repeat it over and over.

So, I want to try to plant this word deep in your soul, and there are different ways of explaining it. I am hoping it will cause us to grab a hold of this.

When Yahweh brought the children of Israel into the land, what were they doing? They were conquering ground. They were taking ground. It says in Joshua 18:

Joshua 18:1 – Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them.

Why does he say the land was subdued? Weren’t the people subdued? He says, “The land was subdued before them.”

Then we see again, in Numbers 32, verse 20:

Numbers 32:20 – Then Moses said to them: If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before YAHWEH for the war,

21 – and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before YAHWEH until He has driven out His enemies from before Him,

22 – and the land is subdued before YAHWEH, then afterward you may return and be blameless before YAHWEH and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before YAHWEH.

All the land is what? “Subdued.” The same word in Genesis. (Talking about the tribes that wanted to reside on the east side of the Jordan.)

Now, what about us? Who are we? We are the children of Israel. We are. Because Yahushua dwells in us. It is no longer we who live. Yahushua dwells in us now. We take on His identity now. And so, in Him, we are called to go forth and to subdue land.

We are created from the dust of the earth. We are created from the dirt. And we are, not to go forth and take up arms physically to destroy, but it says:

2Corinthians 10:3 – For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

4 – For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal but mighty in Elohim for pulling down strongholds,

5 – casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohim, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Messiah,

2Corinthians 10:6 – and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

So, we have spiritual weapons casting down arguments. Any area where we see things that are exalting themselves against the knowledge of Elohim, we have to bring those thoughts, within our own hearts, into captivity to the obedience of Messiah, and also cast down arguments, defeat the enemy with the sword of Yahweh’s Spirit.

And so, anytime we sow a seed, we are working together with Yahweh to destroy the enemy. We are using the sword, and we are taking his territory away from him.

And every time we present a biblical worldview to someone who is sold out on the enemy’s worldview, we are doing damage to the enemy and his desire to steal the earth away from us and from Yahweh.

And little by little, as we engage the culture we live in and we present the Word of Yahweh through Messiah to them, we are doing damage and we are taking ground away from Satan, and bringing the earth and all its inhabitants under subjection to Yahweh.

We are taking dominion, not through force, not through control, not by power, not by might– but by the power of Yahweh’s Spirit.

Does He do these things?

I have a picture in my mind. You can grab this picture, this vision, this thought I have in my mind of what this looks like if you were to realize… we all have pieces of property that we live on, right?

We have pieces of property we live on, and you are there and you are part of this land. And that piece of land is a land that, because you live there, is under subjection to Yahweh.

There are other people who are not servants of Yahweh, who are not believers, who are not subject to Yahweh.

And so, we are connected to the land that way. We are created from the dust of the earth. We eat from the dust of the earth. We eat nutrients, we survive, on vitamins, minerals and things, from the earth… from the water… from everything.

And so, when we are called to go out and take ground, I have this picture in my mind here. These little squares represent areas of the world, and we need to bring these different areas of the world under subjection to Yahweh because right now they are walking in complete darkness. They are walking in darkness.

Not the whole world, but maybe the area around us, where we see all this darkness around us. But we want to have this land subdued. And so, rather than sitting back in our easy chair and doing nothing, we make a conscience decision, “We are going to share with somebody.”

“We are going to share with someone about Yahweh and His Kingdom,” and they receive it. Or maybe someone is doing something they shouldn’t be doing, and because of that, we brought light into them and they decided they were going to do something different. All right, and then we share with some other folks besides them.

And then we join with other brothers and we share even more… and more… and more. Do you see the picture I have here? We are called to bring light and shine light in the darkness. That is what we are called to do. That is what Yahweh’s goal is for us– to take ground and bring light into the dark places. That is His goal.

And so, when you go and you sit around and do nothing, and you do not share with anybody the good news, what are you doing? The land around you is dark, and you are not doing anything about it.

But if you even open your mouth and share just a little with somebody… you have this earth that we live in. This is a place that Yahweh has created, and He wants you and He wants me, and all of us, together, as one people of Elohim, to be motivated, to engage in: World Conquest. That is what He wants out of you.

But if you are just sitting around not fulfilling the purposes for which you were created in Messiah and not being proactive and sharing the light with your fellow man, then you are not walking in love, because your fellow man is on the way to hell and you do not care. On the way to the lake of fire and you don’t care.

On the way to judgment and you don’t care. You are too timid and too afraid. And so, you sit there and let the world around you remain in darkness and do nothing. But if you can just begin to share a little bit. We need to care.

And when we care, we are doing what Yahushua commanded us to do. And we don’t have to be afraid as we engage in world conquest. And we don’t have to think small, either. We can think big. Our goal is to conquer the world.

Scripture says in Romans chapter 8:

Romans 8:35 – Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? [Shall] tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

36 – As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

37 – Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

So, no matter what it may look like on the outside, it may look like we are just going into the slaughter like sheep, it doesn’t matter. In Yahweh’s eyes, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Romans 8:38 – For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,

39 – nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of Elohim which is in Messiah Yahushua our Master.

And so, when we see our lives in this way– in terms of challenge, of conquest, of warfare, of adventure– we don’t have to fear. We don’t have to be afraid.

And anyone who won’t surrender to Yahweh and join us with our conquest, and they want to fight against the Spirit of Yahweh, they will be subdued (Psalm chapter 2). It will happen. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess.

And we need to realize we are not alone in this thing. We have all of heaven behind us, because Yahweh Most High is awesome!

Psalms 47:2 – For YAHWEH Most High [is] awesome; [He is] a great King over all the earth.

3 – He will subdue the peoples under us, And the nations under our feet.

So, if they are not willing to be subject to the Kingdom when we reign with Messiah for a thousand years, they will be under our feet.

Micah 7:16 – The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; They shall put [their] hand over [their] mouth; Their ears shall be deaf.

They will be ashamed of all their strength. They will realize how piddly and small it really was.

Micah 7:17 – They shall lick the dust like a serpent; They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of YAHWEH our Elohim, And shall fear because of You.

“They shall lick the dust like a serpent; They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth.” Because that is who they were following.

“They shall be afraid of Yahweh our Elohim, And shall fear because of You.” When Yahushua returns.

You think, “Oh, fear, because of me? I’m not worthy. I don’t know, Tom. I still have sin I am struggling with. I don’t know if I can do this.”

Well, do you know what? Yahweh knows that. He sees you struggling against it, and it is a struggle that He is looking for. It is what He is really after, that you struggle against it– not that you will lay in it like a pig going back to the muck, but that you struggle against it. And the blood of Yahushua Messiah will cover you.

It is a fact. The righteous may fall seven times, but he gets back up again. And the ones who get back up again are the ones He is looking for.

Peter wasn’t perfect, either. He denied Messiah. He wasn’t submitting to the good news of Messiah in Galatians chapter 2, copping hypocrisy.

He did not call the righteous ones into His ministry. After all, Messiah did not die for perfect people, did he? I think He died for the imperfect.

Look at King David. He committed murder and adultery. And yet, Yahweh still accepted him and still blessed him.

Not only in our lives as the manifestation of Yahweh’s Kingdom, in terms of we want to be an example of Messiah to all, but when we fail, we are an example of Messiah as well in that we are granted grace anyway, because our hearts are yielded and we want to live what is right. We want to do His will.

And so, you know what? You keep reading this passage here in Micah:

Micah 7:18 – Who [is] a Elohim like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights [in] mercy.

See, the remnant has their issues.

Micah 7:19 – He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.

Wow! And so, while our sins are forgiven through what Messiah has done for us, the wicked who will not repent and who will persecute us will be ashamed. They will be like serpents licking the ground. They will fear Yahweh because of us. And they will see that Yahweh has forgiven us of our iniquities, casting all of our sins into the depths of the sea.

Is that beautiful or what? Is Yahweh an awesome Elohim or what? All I can say is, “Blessed be the name of Yahweh!” He will subdue our iniquities by casting them into the sea of forgetfulness.

So, do not fear. Okay, you have some issues in your life. Don’t be afraid.

In fact, the more focused we are on serving and getting the Word out, and proclaiming it, the more focused we are going to be on others, the less focused we are going to be on self and the more ability we are going to have within and from Him to keep those commandments, because we are not self-focused. We are others focused. We are Him focused.

See, our problem is, we let other things get in the way. And sometimes our problem is we feel like Moshe, you know– “Are you sure you picked the right guy? I mean, I have these uncircumcised lips. Maybe you can go find somebody else.” Or maybe like Jonah– “I’m going to run away.”

Neither Moshe nor Jonah could run away. You see, a believer’s life is not about sitting back and waiting to feel spiritual… “Oh, I am a believer (looks around). Great feeling, you know.”

You can’t just hope you have feelings of contentment and happiness that just comes from the state of being a believer. If you live like that now, you probably have substitute goals and substitute missions that have nothing to do with gaining any ground for Yahweh. And the devil will be delighted to keep you in that condition for the rest of your life.

But Yahweh has a higher plan for you, something that could bring greater happiness, greater contentment, than any substitute goal or mission ever could. He has a mission for you and goals within that mission that need to be completed, that need to be checked off here.

He has called you into His army. He is looking for a few humble men and women who will serve in the fight and in the battle we are all called to fight in. Nobody is on the sidelines. Nobody is a cheerleader in this battle. We are all in it.

He has called you to fight and to conquer ground for Him on this earth He has given you as a place of dominion. And we need to be the arms, the legs and the body of Messiah, bringing all things into subjection to Him. And as I mentioned, we are going to be happiest when we do what we are created to do. And there are no exceptions to that.

I think Yahweh created these pleasure centers in our brain that cause us just to enjoy it. And so, our life, brothers, is not just about getting to the Kingdom. It is about offering this Kingdom to others and building the Kingdom within our hearts.

And we have a greater Kingdom. Therefore, we have authority over the enemy’s kingdom. We don’t have to be afraid of Satan and the unclean spirits. We don’t fear them. It is Yahweh we fear, because what we fear, we give power to.

We attribute power to that which we fear, as if Satan was Elohim, as if Satan was the one to be feared, as if he was the “god” around here. He is not. So, don’t fear him and thereby make him your “god” or your “elohim” or your “idol.” Fear Yahweh. Fear Elohim.

Listen, if you have come to the understanding that Yahweh has given this earth to you and to me, we start taking ground.

If you have come to the understanding that Yahweh’s Kingdom is going to include things like Sabbath keeping and Torah keeping, and you are one of the few that understand that, that the Kingdom which comes is going to include those things… we see Isaiah chapter 66:

Isaiah 66:22 – For as the new heavens and the new earth Which I will make shall remain before Me, says YAHWEH, So shall your descendants and your name remain.

23 – And it shall come to pass [That] from one New Moon to another, And from one Sabbath to another, All flesh shall come to worship before Me, says YAHWEH.

When? New Moons and Sabbaths. New Covenant time period here. Whoever said the New Covenant did not include Sabbath and New Moons is mistaken. They will find out when Yahweh establishes His Kingdom on the earth. This is what He is trying to do right now.

He wants us to gather on His Sabbath, even on the New Moon day– especially the New Moon of the seventh month, which is the Feast of Trumpets.

Isaiah 66:24 – And they shall go forth and look Upon the corpses of the men Who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.

They were not subject to His Kingdom. They were not subject to the rules, His laws.

And so, we have a prophecy of Messiah:

Isaiah 42:21 – YAHWEH is well pleased for His righteousness’ sake; He will exalt the law and make [it] honorable.

See, the Law has not been exalted in our churches. It has not been made honorable. It has become a thing synonymous with oppression and Phariseeism. And that is why the people are robbed and plundered with these lies, snared in holes, hidden within the denominational prison house they happen to be affiliated with.

They are for a prey, and no one says, “Restore!”

Isaiah 42:22 – But this [is] a people robbed and plundered; All of them are snared in holes, And they are hidden in prison houses; They are for prey, and no one delivers; For plunder, and no one says, Restore!

How about us? Are we going to say, “Restore!”

I say, “Let’s say it!”

“Restore!”

Say it with me.

“RESTORE!”

Restore what? Restore this earth to be back under the subjection of Yahweh our Mighty One.

Do we realize what an honor it is to proclaim a Kingdom that hardly anybody knows about at all? Do we realize that we are called into this awesome calling, that we are one of the few carriers of this true Kingdom, this true good news that proclaims a Genesis to Revelation message?

Do we realize that we are among the few who bear the name of Yahweh when Yahweh comes and it says He will restore all the earth to one language and Yahweh’s name will be one? Do we realize this is the true token of authority, His name, and we are among the few who baptize in the name of the Messiah, just like He told us to do in Matthew 28?

You know, this is an honor. It is an honor for Yahweh to have revealed this to you, and we cannot take it lightly. We can’t be prideful about it. Knowledge puffs up. Don’t get prideful and judgmental. Yahweh gives, but Yahweh can take away. With what judgment we judge, we can be judged.

So, rather than getting prideful, let’s get thankful with a thousand songs of thanksgiving! And out of that thanksgiving we want to spend our time bringing others this blessing because we love them, too.

But if we are spending our time focusing on taking dominion in other ways, areas that have no eternal value, Yahweh is jealous of our time, brothers– sports games, our jobs, entertainments, things that have no eternal value, ultimately. To some degree our jobs can. But we serve a jealous Elohim.

I am not saying we can never engage in recreation. I am saying, try to think of things from a heavenly perspective. If we are spending excessive amounts of time on things that have no value for the Kingdom, we are not redeeming the time that Scripture mandates.

And we see Yahweh has given us this entire planet to take dominion over for Him. What do you think about that? Yahweh is looking down on the earth from His throne. He sees this world is in a huge mess. It is a very wicked place.

And He sends His own Son to die for us so that we can be saved from the miry pit we dug ourselves into and tells us to go forth and make disciples of all nations.

He wants the Messiah to be proclaimed, and we are sitting around playing, watching other people play, watching other people play pretend in movies, engaging in self-gratifying entertainment, building our homes, building our material wealth.

I mean, if you watch a movie or read a book or something for that reason, what have you really gained? You watch a fictional show about good triumphing over evil, and you feel really good about that. Then you go back to your normal life. Nothing accomplished.

But what if you started living a life of taking dominion in such a way that good would triumph over evil before your very eyes because of the calling which He has placed in your life, because of the work of Elohim being done through you? Wouldn’t that be awesome? Far more awesome than watching something on a screen or reading it in a book?

If you play a game and you win the game, what have you really gained? Nothing. You won it. But if you started living a life that puts you on a mission with a preset goal to accomplish, with challenges, with rewards enjoyed along the way– much more interesting, and I would say, more entertaining and enjoyable, actually.

But we have a goal, and it fits with what man does all the time. Man loves to see a goal being accomplished. We bring a soul into His Kingdom. Mission Accomplished. Next.

And the more we bring, the more visible His Kingdom is, and the more it multiplies. As we become fruitful, it will multiply.

We have an important job to do. We are on a search and rescue mission. The goal is saving men, women and children from eternal death.

Proverbs 24:11 – Deliver [those who] are drawn toward death, And hold back [those] stumbling to the slaughter.

12 – If you say, Surely we did not know this, Does not He who weighs the hearts consider [it]? He who keeps your soul, does He [not] know [it]? And will He [not] render to [each] man according to his deeds?

See, brothers, in the age to come, we will have an entire eternity to contemplate the souls that we will have won. Only a few hours to win them. So, we are not called to sit back and observe our neighbors on the path to destruction. That is not love.

Leonard Ravenhill once wrote: “Could a mariner sit idle if he heard the drowning cry? Could a doctor sit in comfort and just let his patients die? Could a fireman sit idle, let men burn and give no hand? Can you sit at ease in Zion with the world around you damned?”

We were created to love. If we are not inspired to love our fellow man, maybe we are serving Yahweh for the wrong reasons. Maybe we are not really grasping the entire point of our walk. Maybe we are just going with the flow and doing the bear minimums to get by while we focus on ourselves.

Maybe we don’t understand what love is or the power of love or the sacrifices sometimes involved in loving another human being. Maybe we are not willing to be like Yahushua and lay down our life like He did.

Our own desires, our own plans, our own ways– maybe our heart is not fully submitted, and we need to cry out to Yahweh for a heart change. Or maybe you feel content where you are because you don’t realize what Yahweh is offering you.

In my house, on my desk, I have this parakeet sitting there in a cage. If you have ever called on the line, you probably heard my parakeet. My parakeet is a reminder… I like reminders… but every day this parakeet sits there in his cage. And the caged life is all he has ever known. He has never known anything better than that.

And he seems content enough with just being there. I open up the cage and he has the ability to fly out anytime he wants to, but for some reason, he almost never does. On occasion, he will fly out and just look around and come right back to the cage again. He is content to sit there.

I have this little mirror sitting in there, and he is happy just to look in the mirror. He loves that mirror. It is a reflection of himself, and he chirps, and he cackles, and he tweets for hours in front of the mirror, thinking he is actually somehow interacting with another parakeet, I guess.

Or maybe he knows it is not another parakeet, but he is happy enough to sit in front of the mirror. It is all he knows. A caged life is all he has ever known. He is too afraid to venture out of the cage. He is somewhat hand tamed. I can lure him onto my hand if I offer him some millet or something. More recently he flew on my shoulder.

But do you know something? There is an object lesson here. Some people are content to sit in their cages because they don’t realize how joyous life can be if they would venture out and subdue the land, to do what they were created to do– to take ground for Yahweh.

They are content to sit and look at themselves in the mirror, build their own little selfish, self-focused world– even though they realize how temporary it is. Every time that bird walks away from the mirror, his friend disappears. His whole world there disappeared.

And my little bird is content with that self-gratifying entertainment because he doesn’t realize how good life could be outside the cage. He has no reference point. But if he was willing to step outside the cage, only then would he realize how awesome it is to fly, to be set free– to do what he was created to do.

And I say to you, it is only when you are willing to step outside of the cage that you may realize how awesome life can be, to be able to do what you were created to do. You may go through blood, sweat and tears, but you are not happy until you are serving others, because it is always more blessed to give than it is to receive.

If you sit back and receive in front of the Satan box eight hours a day, there is no joy in that. It is always more blessed to give.

And maybe, like my bird would soon realize, it is a dangerous world out there. If I let him go, he could be eaten, he could die in the cold, he could get hit by a car. It is a dangerous world we live in.

But, you know, as a new creation in Messiah, it is the heart that fears the unknown that never learns to live.

2Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore, if anyone [is] in Messiah, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

And He is not calling the cowardly into His Kingdom. He is calling us to be overcomers.

Revelation 21:7 – He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his Elohim and he shall be My son.

8 – But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

We are called to be overcomers.

Yahushua said a parable:

Luke 13:6 – He also spoke this parable: A certain [man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none.

7 – Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, `Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’

Are we this fig tree bearing no fruit? Yahweh has mercy.

Luke 13:8 – But he answered and said to him, `Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize [it].

9 – `And if it bears fruit, [well]. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’

See, brothers, our calling is a choice, but unless we care enough about our fellow man to share the faith and be about our Father’s business, we are in trouble. I mean it. We are in trouble. I just read it. We cannot be fig trees just taking up the ground.

Yahweh is sending the fertilizer. He is sending the nutrients into our soil, so that we are able to bear fruit. If we cannot bear fruit even in the good soil, we are in trouble.

And so, I am not saying that you can’t work for a living. But even in that which we do in working for a living (you have to work for a living), let it be the primary goal in your life to subdue the earth with the funds which He gives you, with the money with which He provides.

Use that as a tool for which His Kingdom will be built. Not your own little kingdom. Not your own little world. His Kingdom.

Yes, you can have a modest home. Yes, you can have a decent car. But it is all for the purposes. All the goal is spiritual, because we are a new creation in Messiah.

And if we just sit around and focus on this present world with a consume and enjoy mindset– consume and enjoy, consume and enjoy, consume and enjoy– and we are just taking up the ground, and we are not being of any use to Yahweh? Why do we think He would have any use for us in the age to come?

Yahweh is wanting to seal more servants. And we don’t have to be afraid.

Psalms 118:6 – YAHWEH [is] on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Let’s go out and be useful. Let’s say, “Yahweh is on my side. I don’t have to fear. What can man do to me after all? When I have Yahweh on my side, what can man do?” Don’t fear those who can kill the body. After that, there is no more they can do.

We were not created just to be in the image of Elohim. We were created to take dominion. I know we can do a lot more together than we can as a fragmented body. Let’s go out and be useful together. The battle is Yahweh’s. It is His battle.

King David knew that. He subdued a lot of land for Yahweh. And Yahweh was with this humble shepherd as he defeated Goliath. David knew he did not need a sword or a spear. The battle is Yahweh’s. So, let us do what David did. Let us take ground.

Psalms 149:6 – [Let] the high praises of Elohim [be] in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand,

7 – To execute vengeance on the nations, And punishments on the peoples;

8 – To bind their kings with chains, And their nobles with fetters of iron;

Psalms 149:9 – To execute on them the written judgment — This honor have all His saints. Praise YAHWEH!

As we defeat the enemy, Satan, and we bind him by the power of Yahushua Ha Mashiach, and we defeat the enemies with a two-edged sword of Yahweh’s Word, and bind these unclean spirits by the power of His Word, we will realize there is no one like the Elohim of Yeshurun.

Deuteronomy 33:26 – [There is] no one like the Elohim of Jeshurun, [Who] rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds.

“Yeshurun” is “upright one,” a name for Israel.

Deuteronomy 33:27 – The eternal Elohim [is your] refuge, And underneath [are] the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, `Destroy!’

By the power of His Word. We need to be farmers. We need to be gardeners in His earth, don’t we?

Deuteronomy 33:28 – Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew.

29 – Happy [are] you, O Israel! Who [is] like you, a people saved by YAHWEH, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places.

And so, brothers, with the two-edged sword in your hand, let’s get off our easy chairs and be about our Father’s business, and take an active part in the war, that we might dwell in the promised land with Yahweh– that land of grain and new wine and dew. And then we shall be like the stars.

Daniel 12:2 – And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame [and] everlasting contempt.

3 – Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.

Forget the movie stars and the sports stars and the counterfeit stars of the world. We want to be Yahweh stars. We want to turn many to righteousness. We want to subdue the earth. We want to proclaim His love, His mercy, His ways to all who are willing to hear.

Yahweh promises He will be with us. Let’s do it. Let’s do it together.

And as you do so, my brothers and sisters, may Yahweh bless you, and may Yahweh have mercy on us all.