WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2
Scripture: Mark 1:12-15

Mark 1:12-15 states, “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’” Jesus brought a message of the Kingdom. He did not bring a message of devastation or a message of surrender. What He brought was a message of the Kingdom. The Greek word is bas-il-i-ah and it literally means, ‘dominion or rule of a higher power.’ The church is supposed to represent the dominion and rule of a higher power. So when government begins to advance what is biblically abominable, the church has an obligation to bring the Hand of God’s governmental dominion on those people who promote what will destroy society. To do anything less is to forfeit our harvest field to demons. Jesus did not forfeit any territory to demons. And yet when we look at the church, it appears that we are forfeiting territory one day after another. But that happens when we do not know the dimensions of God’s love that arrest evil. If all we ever do is “turn-the-other-cheek” we enable evil to advance until it fully dominates in our society. The dominion of the Living Christ is to be prayed, declared and decreed. When we get to Layer Five of God’s love, we see a love that preserves a nation and judges the perpetrators that would destroy it. It is a different dimension to walk in. When all our tradition has settled for Layer One, which teaches “turn-the-other-cheek,” we have consistently walked away from confrontation and enabled evil. But Jesus did not do that unless He was paying the price to birth salvation. God has a plan for a victorious end-time church that does not bow to evil, but arrests it with the anointing of God. The witnesses of Revelation dispense justice as they will! That may be the greatest transition in Scripture! Would our theology allow us to justify such ministry? How well do we know the judicial Christ? What degree of surrender will be required to walk with Him? Our first goal is salvation, but judgment is sometimes necessary to demonstrate the need for salvation!