Life Lessons of a Wet Water Walker

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PROLOGUE

In every life there are moments of decision, revelation or consequence that propel us to the next leg of our journey here on earth. It is our response to these moments that shape us and affect those in our circle—and even have the potential to impact countless others. I can easily reflect on the key events that led to my quest to know the Kingdom of God, and to share it wherever I go.

In October of 1973, my life was completely changed when the revelation of Jesus Christ was birthed into my heart. Like so many, I had gone to church at different times throughout my life without experiencing the reality of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in my heart. This heartfelt revelation—being born again—was the beginning of my relationship with the Lord. After being baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking with tongues, the language of heaven, my life became consumed with the reality of Jesus Christ. I only wanted to live for Jesus and follow Him; nothing else mattered since then. My desire to live for Jesus soon took on a deeper meaning when in February of 1974, a very unusual young man came to visit me at the Best Western Motel and Restaurant that we owned with two other partners. He was dressed in a long robe that brought me no little discomfort, and his name was Joseph. He was from Jonesboro, Arkansas, and he ministered to the college kids and to people in the park. We went to our restaurant for lunch, and there he told me the Lord had sent him to give me a scripture, which was Matthew 6:19-34. I had no idea the level of impact this would have on me, but this Word has changed my life and given me confidence to go about the Father’s business with great conviction. At the time, I only knew that a very unusual man had said that God told him to give this message to me.

As I began to meditate on the Word in Matthew 6:19-34, the Scripture starting with verse 31 came alive to me: Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. The very simple fact is that we quote God’s Word, but don’t respond to it. The Word was saying, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. What did that mean? Like many of us, I could spend my life wondering what this means, or I could not pay any attention to it. But, I wanted to know more, since God had brought the Word to me in such an unusual way. I started reading books on the subject and asking people, What is the Kingdom of God? One person said that seeking the Kingdom of God first means that you pray to God first and then you go about getting it or doing something to receive it. Well, I wasn’t convinced that was it, but I spent about six months praying this way. I would say, Alright God, I want this, and away I would go to get it myself.

What I found myself praying for was exactly what God had already promised to give: food, clothing and shelter, as well as all things that pertain to life and godliness. This would be like my children praying to God and asking Him to speak to me to make sure that I would feed them today. None of my children ever had to pray and beseech God all day that they might have some food to eat. Nor did they have to do so that they might have a place to live or clothes to wear. That is because I have already committed myself to taking care of them. If they’ll just stay within my realm, within our home, within my realm of provision, I will take care of them. Wherever I am, their provision will be. However, if they decide to run away from home and do their own thing, they may starve before I know they have a need. But, when they are in my home, or in my place of provision, I’m committed as a father to give them the best of everything because they are my children.

Likewise, I realized, God wants to take care of our every need in the same way. He will provide our food, clothing and shelter, and He doesn’t want us begging for it each day. We are in His Kingdom and, as our King, He wants to meet every need we have. God tells us if we play the game of life by His rules, we win! If we play the game of life by our own ways, we lose. Paul said in Philippians 4:11, For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. God wants us to find that place of contentment in knowing Him because when we learn to trust the Lord, we can put off the cares of this world. We can come into the Kingdom of God as His contented children knowing that He will provide for us while we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.

For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Matthew 16:26. In short, it was this revelation about the Kingdom of God that has changed my life and given me confidence to go about the Father’s business with great conviction. My heavenly Father has graciously taught me so much about His divine provision and the rights he has bestowed on each of us as His heirs and children living in the Kingdom of God. When we grasp the truth of what the Kingdom of God is; where the Kingdom of God is; how you enter into His Kingdom; the blessings in the Kingdom; how you walk in the Kingdom of God; as well as the importance of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and how it relates to God’s purpose for your life, we too can find the contentment the apostle Paul talks about in Philippians 4:11.

CHAPTER 1

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

What is a kingdom? Just the word kingdom provokes one’s thoughts toward rulership or dominion of a certain place, realm or sphere. And in every Kingdom, there has to be a king. So, just what is the Kingdom of God?

First, we know that God is King in the Kingdom of God. He possesses all knowledge, all power and all control over His vast, eternal kingdom. He sent His Son, Jesus, to be the fullness of the perfect manifestation of the Kingdom here on earth. God was King in Jesus, and because of that the Will of God was done through the life of Jesus. I Corinthians 15:24 says, When he shall have delivered up to God, even the Father. In other words, Jesus had been given this Kingdom as He went about the earth, and in the end He would deliver the Kingdom back up to His Father, God. The Kingdom of God is a true existing kingdom that awaits the child of God. It exists today in the hearts and minds of God’s people, and it is ready to be released in our lives as we continue to let Jesus Christ become Lord in our lives. The Kingdom of God is the rule and reign of Jesus in our lives as believers.

Romans 14:17 emphasizes this for us. For the Kingdom of God is not meat nor drink,—that is, it is not a physical, natural thing—but it is righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is righteousness, which is right standing with God which produces in us right doing, living in obedience to the Word—in short, receiving a right relationship with God. It is also peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Meaning, no matter what is happening in our lives, we can have peace; not worry nor anxiety nor frustration because of who our King is. And we can experience the joy of the Lord in our lives—a true joy, not a forced happiness, but a deep joy in our spirit.

Next, we know that the people of a kingdom can be identified by certain traits, such as language and customs—by their way of life. If righteousness, peace and joy are the key hallmarks of citizenship in the Kingdom of God, what can we learn about achieving these traits and how can we embrace the culture, customs and lifestyle?

Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God, and Paul preached the Kingdom of God. So, let’s press on to discover the Kingdom. 1 Peter 2 begins to describe God’s Kingdom, and will help us identify it, respond to it and be loyal to our King and what He has called us to be. Remember we are to be human beings, not human doings. God has ordained our generation. From the beginning of the earth, even before the foundations, we have been ordained for this generation and for this time for the purposes of God. 1 Peter 2: 9 says, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light: which in times past were not a people but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you—I violently urge you—as strangers and pilgrims, abstain—turn away—from freshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation—lifestyle— honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works,—not words— "which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." Peter is proclaiming to the church the reality of God’s Kingdom. So, what we see is that the culture of the Kingdom of God is a lifestyle of being honest, moral, and dying to the desires of the sinful nature; and proving to all that Jesus is truly alive within us.

AMBASSADORS & CITIZENS IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

2 Corinthians 5:20 says: "Now then we are Ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God." God’s desire for us is to become His ambassadors. We have been appointed by God to represent His Kingdom on earth. If we study what it means to be an ambassador, we find out that an ambassador does not act as an individual, but as an embodiment of the country he or she represents. God has called each of us to become a walking representative of the Kingdom of heaven here on earth. An ambassador is fully taken care of by his country, so that he may focus on his work. Likewise, Jesus describes taking care of us in every way—food, clothing, shelter, everything—because we are His ambassadors and He is responsible for all our needs (Matthew 6:19-34). In all ways, He becomes our provider. We are then citizens of heaven, and while we are in the world, we are not part of this world. We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of heaven, and we become that walking representative by living a surrendered life to God’s leadership here on earth, allowing the fruits and the gifts of the Spirit to operate in our lives. The fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. The gifts of the Spirit listed in I Corinthians 12:7-11 are the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues and interpretations of tongues.

Our biggest problem with serving God and becoming true citizens of His Kingdom is that we approach Him from our worldly understanding. The United States is a democracy, so therefore the people control the government. In our Constitution we begin by proclaiming We the people. Our Constitution is the result of people’s thoughts and intentions. With our form of government in the United States, we have a Senate, House of Representatives and a President. Their roles are to lead the government based on the will of the people. Anytime the people want to change something, we vote on it and change it. In a democracy, the people can change the law because they created it. The authority is in the people.

We see in Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you, that God’s original plan from the very beginning of this earth was a theocracy. A theocracy is a group of people who are submitted one to another in love as a chosen generation, as a royal priesthood, as a holy nation who are pursuing the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

God is the King of His Kingdom, and the Bible is His covenant with mankind. In a kingdom the King’s word becomes law. In a kingdom, the people cannot change the covenant, since they do not possess the authority. Only the King can change the law because he created it. That is why in our Bible, God says, I am the Lord, I change not Malachi 3:6. He is the creator of the covenant, and He does not change. Many approach the Bible from our nation’s point of democracy. We want to change what God is saying about certain things, and we try to become God by interjecting our thoughts, ways, wills and contemporary societal standards into the Bible. This is why we have so many translations of the Bible; because man doesn’t want to do things God’s way, and so he creates a new translation to serve his needs. At the end of the book of Revelation, God has a warning for this kind of action. Revelation 22:19 states, "And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in." God does not give mankind the right to change His word; He is the Lord!

What then, are the rules? Seek first what? The Kingdom of God! In Matthew 6:34, the extra benefit of following the Lord is revealed, Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto this day is the evil thereof. Each day has enough trouble of its own. What then, is God saying? He is telling us, because we are seeking Him, we don’t worry about tomorrow! We don’t have to lay awake at night thinking, Oh, dear Lord, will I have something to eat tomorrow, will I have a place to live or something to wear? God is telling us, we don’t have to worry about these things. If we seek His Kingdom, He will take care of all these things. We are not to worry about things! Why? Because we are His ambassadors! He takes care of us. We are to cast our cares upon Him. When we begin to understand God’s faithfulness to His Word, we will begin to live in victory.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND

In Matthew 3:2, John came preaching, Repent ye for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent means an about face or going in the opposite direction. It means you must turn from sin and be born again before you can spiritually see the Kingdom of God. We see Jesus’ example in Matthew 4:17-25 when He was coming out of the wilderness and calling men to follow Him. Verse 17 says, From that time, Jesus began to preach and to say ‘repent’, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. The Kingdom of heaven is used in Matthew thirty-two times, and is written to the Jews. To the Jews, it was blasphemy to say the name of God, so Jesus preached the Kingdom of heaven. The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of heaven are identical. It is not found in any other Gospel. Matthew 4:18-19 continues, And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishers. And He said unto them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

In just four short years of married life, I had worked in the grocery business, managed stores and both of us had become part owners of a Best Western Motel and Restaurant in Arkansas. It was during this time that Penny and I had noticed the emptiness in our lives. So when we went to a Full Gospel Businessmen’s Meeting and heard the gospel of the Kingdom preached, we both eagerly accepted Jesus as our Savior. We decided to follow Jesus after learning what the Bible said, and just as Jesus called the disciples to follow him, that was when I left my net (my vocation), to follow Jesus. It was then that I had found true success—by following God, not my own will. This became a revelation to me, and since November of 1973, God’s faithfulness to His word has been proven in my life. Matthew 4:21-23 says further, "But they left their nets and followed Him and going on from thence, He saw two brethren, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. And Jesus went about all Galilee,