Violence and the Kingdom of Heaven

Well, the last post the I wrote stirred something inside of me, and I began a 7 day fast to lay hold of the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus. I have been asking, seeking, knocking, praying, but so far, he has not been healed. God has sustained him, and I am so full of gratitude, but this is not healing. But something has stirred in my heart. I simply must lay hold of the kingdom of heaven for my father.

Something has risen inside of me and said "Lord, are you not God in heaven? Do you not hear my cry? Is healing not a part of the Kingdom of God that is to come on earth?" This is the conflict the spurs something violent in my spirit: the promises and claims of scripture are not being realized in this situation. God promises healing through Christ, answers to prayer. The prayer of faith shall heal the sick. Jesus gives his children power over all of the power of the enemy. As of yet, none of these promises have materialized. Is God a liar? Is the Bible unreliable? Are certain conditions not being met? Is it a matter of time, perservering and never waivering? It is something, and I have set my heart to find out what it is!

Divine discontent, holy desperation, if you will, has seized me. I thank God for it, because without it we will never obtain the promises of God. Today in prayer, I felt the Lord say this to me: I am relentless for you, for the church, and you must be relentless for me. I experienced a heavy burden of the Lord for his church, his children, that we would relentlessly pursue him and lay hold of the abundant, glorious riches that are ours in Christ Jesus.


Jesus mentioned this holy violence when he spoke of the kingdom of heaven. Of this kingdom, he said that it is "pushing forward violently, and the violent are forcing their way into it." In the Greek, the word violence is translated, force. The kingdom comes in force, and some force their way into it. These violent ones are the poor, the broken, the desperate. Violent ones do crazy stuff, like the Gentile woman who had the audacity to suggest to Jesus that he should share the children's bread (healing) with her after he had effectively compared her to a dog. (She was not Jewish). Those of us who are less violent and desperate would have been highly discouraged by his remark, if not put-off, or plain ticked off. But she recognized who he was, and so she pushed her way into the kingdom. Jesus was amazed by her faith - because she recognized exactly who he was.

I have noticed that the violent ones experience two things that others do not: a desperate sense of need, and Jesus's identity. As I read the New Testament very closely, I see that whenever someone recognized who Jesus was, miracles happened. When the Living Word meets Living Faith, mountains move, always. This is best illustrated in the story of Lazerus I believe. Jesus said that he was glad that he had not been there when Lazerus had died, so that God would have greater glory. Well, couldn't Jesus had been there and allowed Lazerus to die, and then raised him? I don't think so.

Upon his long awaited arrival, Jesus proclaimed to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life, if any man believes in me if he dies he shall live, and if he lives, he shall never die." Both Martha and Mary demonstrated their faith level when they said to Jesus, "if you would have been here, my brother would not have died." And he would not have died, because people do not die in the presence of the resurrection and the life. Martha and Mary were believers; they had a despearte sense of need, and they recognized that Jesus was the Christ.

Our Lord and Savior is pure life. I have a desperate need, and I know who Jesus is. He is the Christ, the Son of God, the resurrection and the life. Can I become so full of faith and expectation that I draw out that resurrection power for Dad? I absolutely believe that I can. It lives in me, and it lives in all of the believers who have stood with me. Though the healing delays, I am not deterred. I actually feel stronger than when I first began this journey. I know that this is the Holy Spirit's quickening power in me, for I could never produce such tenacity. It must be God. He seeks an intercessor, one to stand in the gap- and for this, he picked me. Thank you Lord.

I am more and more convinced that we have specific, divine purpose in our lives. I have never felt such a sense of divine purpose, and I am weaker and poorer in the natural than I have ever been. So Lord, I bring my weakness, I bring my poverty to you and I ask you to come. Do what you do! Glorify your name on earth, as it is in heaven. I will in relentless pursuit of you!