By Angela Errett
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:9 KJV
The Kingdom has a governing body, built by God, who knows the truth about good and evil–abundance and lack.
Water, like air and blood, is necessary for life and all three flow. Man can create none of them; he can only manage them. They are fruitful when they are placed inside of boundaries but can be destructive when they breach their confines. In other words, they get out of balance.
The same analogy can explain what happened in the garden of Eden. Adam was to manage the domain of the earth, but Satan trespassed into the garden–Satan breached his boundaries and appeared before the woman.
The consequence of the seed Adam sowed by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is what we call Sin Nature.
————
Let’s take a look at water. Behind a hydroelectric dam, water will stay in place and be productive until there is a problem such as too much rain (abundance/prosperity) or a break in the dam (brokenness/lack). At that point, the boundaries become of no use, and the water will burst forth. An imbalance of resources creates a power mightier and stronger, which allows the water to supersede the original enclosure. Also, if there is a crack in the wall, it can start small and turn into a huge problem. Living in a world ruled by Sin Nature, destruction will come whether there is an abundance or lack.
Unshakable balance is achievable through divine stability. For example, the oceans come no further onto the land, and the sky doesn’t fall to the ground. Both are under perfect balance.
A Higher Governing Power
Too much of a good thing will kill you just the same as a bad thing will. Did you know that if you drink too much water in a short amount of time the sodium levels in your blood can fall too low, causing a condition called hyponatremia? It is also called water intoxication and can be fatal. Thank goodness for me, it was not. I experienced this condition after drinking a couple of two-liter bottles of water while at work one day. I physically felt great, but suddenly, it felt like I had consumed two bottles of wine. I had to go to the break room to rest for a while. Once my sodium levels rose, and I could function again, I returned to work.
For another illustration of the imbalance of Sin Nature, read Exodus chapter 16. While the Israelites were in the wilderness, God supplied them with daily provisions, a determined set amount of abundance, by raining down manna from Heaven. He placed a boundary on how much they needed in a day so Sin Nature could not consume them and strip God of His Glory. The Israelites would have the choice to either relinquish their faith in what God told them through Moses or choose to believe and receive the prophet’s words. The juxtaposition to the manna is that while they were slaves, they were in a state of lack and had very little to eat, yet they complained regardless.
With manna, each family was to gather enough to eat daily and only take twice as much for the Sabbath. If more were collected, it would breed worms and stink. He gave them exactly what they needed when they needed it!
In Exodus 17, there is an example of the outcomes of two different choices that Moses made; one where he listened to God’s instruction and one where he followed his emotions. It shows how, in Sin Nature, obeying God’s commands are the only way to achieve balance. Otherwise, there is a consequence that leads to separation. Our minds have been deceived into thinking our emotions tell the truth. In reality, they are under the ruler of this world and our flesh.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:54
John 6:54 KJV
I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of Sin.
Romans 7:25 KJV
The Israelites journeyed from the wilderness of Sin to a resting place in Rephidim between Egypt and Sinai, but there was no life-giving water. The people complained, and Moses (which means to draw out of the water) sought the Lord. He told Moses to take three elders and the rod to Horeb, also known as Sinai. God would stand before them upon the rock, and Moses was to strike it. He did, and the water came forth in the presence of the elders. Moses heard the Lord, obeyed, and the water came bursting out of the rock–abundance. Make note that Moses was only in front of the three elders here and was able to obey.
Now fast forward to Numbers 20:8. This time God told Moses to speak to the rock in front of the congregation so they could see the water flow from the rock. However, Moses yelled at the ‘rebels’ and hit the rock twice, disobeying God’s voice. This time, Moses was in front of the whole congregation, and he allowed their emotions to influence his decision. He was out of balance, or you could also say he was out of agreement with God.
You can clearly see the two different commands of God and two levels of obedience and faith. The first time, Moses was able to believe and to strike the rock to receive the blessing of God. The second time, his inability to treat the Word of God as sacred, letting his emotions rule his actions, cost him and the congregation from entering the promised land here on earth, even though they drank again from the rock. The wages of sin were death–so the fullness of time for Joshua to go and Moses to die occurred when all the offenders were dead.
To overcome the Sin Nature and tap into the life-giving fountain, you must believe and obey what God says in the Word, through the prophets of the Bible and today, and what He speaks directly to you. Thankfully our God is patient, and He established Grace and Mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus. That Divine Patience continually listens for us to return His words back to Him, as bold as a lion, so that He may perform them. A higher level of maturity believes God’s words will achieve precisely what is said. If we don’t speak them from this higher level of understanding and through obedience to His ways, the words of the world will replace them. This action creates either an abundance or lack of His words in our atmosphere. Also, we can see there is an abundance of the enemies words floating around today. You can see the effects of this right now in our society.
Truth in Action
If someone is sick, and they eat the flesh of the world–speak/think negative words–they will remain unwell. The more they consume, the more they are filled, and it will eventually destroy them due to the Sin Nature. However, when you consume the spiritual flesh of Jesus by speaking and thinking HIS words, and proclaim the words as given by the Holy Spirit, you shall be filled to overflowing with life! An eternal Spiritual Life! So when you have that much positive spiritual Word in you, your earthly flesh has to obey the commands of God and burst forth with healing! When God is present, He overcomes the effect of too much abundance, which should kill us in this imperfect state, and commands healing! Now, we all came from the ground with a spiritual seed from God within us, and our bodies will return to the dust, but because we are spiritual beings like our Father, those who believe will return to Him! Glory hallelujah!
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Proverbs 23:6-7 KJV
Canaan–The Promised Land
God spoke to Moses and told him to send 12 men, one from each tribe, to search the land of Canaan that He had given them (see Numbers 13). Ten of them came back with a story of great abundance but, said the people in the land were strong giants, and the city walls were tall. Two of the men, Hoshea, from the tribe of Ephraim (which means double fruit) and Caleb, from the tribe of Judah (which means praise), saw it differently. Oh, so you are wondering about Hoshea. Let me explain. Moses divinely knew who Hoshea was. Hoshea means deliverer and Moses prophetically gave him a new name, Yahoshua or Joshua, which translated also is Jehovah, and means salvation and to become the existing one who will liberate. Caleb’s name interestingly means forcible.
The Promised Land will not just fall into your lap; it must be taken by force. Read the words of Jesus Himself, written in red in Matthew 11:12,
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Matthew 11:12 KJV
Another ruler, Satan, has seized the Kingdom, and the violent (means strong, energetic) will only take it back by choosing to live by the Word of God and by obeying His voice.
Now, what did they find in Canaan? They found large grapes and many riches. More than they had ever seen! The grapes were so large that one cluster had to be carried by two men (Numbers 13:23). What do grapes make? They produce wine. They saw the water flow out of rock in the wilderness with the effort from God, but now divine wine is to be made in the Promised Land by them.
The water took no effort on their part, God supplied, but after being raised up in the commandments of the Lord, they should now have the knowledge of how to take the grapes, by force, and go through the process of making wine–a divine abundance. In God’s Kingdom, wealth is the norm!
The Israelites were delivered from the enemy of Egypt, passed through the Red Sea, and given their Salvation, but they were not ready for the Promised Land–a supernatural abundance. The time spent in the wilderness was to educate them under the tutor of the law so they would be equipped to go into the Promised Land where there is endless abundance! They found a river flowing with milk and honey or in other words, riches, and overflow! They had never known anything other than being slaves, and the Lord knew that without learning His ways and who they really were (children of God), Sin Nature would consume them. Also, even if He filled their cups to overflow, Sin would devour it or destroy them. If they didn’t know how to manage or govern the abundance, it would fly away (Proverbs 23). For the Sin Nature to not have the power to steal it away from the Israelites, they must believe what God said and follow His commandments! By doing so, abundance had to come because that is the natural state of God and eternity!
Now back the book of Numbers. Caleb hushed the crowd and out of a lack of understanding of what God was teaching them on the way to Canaan, they murmured in fear. He said to them, let’s go up at once and take the land God promised because his spirit believed in God’s Word, and that they were well able to overtake the area. The ten other men gave an evil report out of fear of what they saw, and the crowd wept all night. The next morning, they murmured again, and Joshua and Caleb pleaded with them to not rebel against God or fear the people of the land because they were to take the ground and process them like the wine! However, they wouldn’t listen, then God showed up.
And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? And how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
Numbers 14:11 KJV
God pardoned them according to the words Moses spoke. They were unable to move from being governed by the law into a higher plane of thought where new revelations from God could enter their minds.
Each of the previous stories tells of abundance and lack. With the manna, God supplied for all their needs but being slaves experiencing lack left them without knowledge of how to manage abundance–God’s overflowing, supernatural abundance. The lack was already killing them, but the Promised Land would too. When the twelve men went to spy out the land, the journey revealed that only two out of the ten had gained the knowledge necessary to understand what they must do to move from the Sin Nature of lack and abundance and return them to the supernatural prosperity of God. A higher ruling spiritual government should be governing their thoughts.
Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went, and his seed shall possess it.
Numbers 14:22-24 KJV
Only God can withstand fatness, weightiness, great abundance, and eternity because He is the creator of the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He can rise above the effects of too much or not enough, and it is only through the blood of Jesus we can claim heirship with Him and rise above the knowledge of good and evil and seek out His Kingdom. The Holy Spirit is here to help guide us into all truth. The Truth of the Kingdom and how to achieve the destiny God has placed within each of us. In other words, thy Kingdom has come, and it has been placed inside each person reading this! It is now time to seek God and find out what He wants you to do for His Kingdom.
_______________________
Feature Image: Bigstock.com Unless otherwise attributed, scripture quotations are taken from the KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible.
