Lust

0518 and all is very well on the Nightwatch

Here are some scriptures on lust, in case we forget what the Bible says about it (let us not forget)

Pro 6:25 Do not lust after her beauty in your heart, Nor let her allure you with her eyelids.
Pro 11:6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, But the unfaithful will be caught by [their] lust.
Eze 23:11 “Now although her sister Oholibah saw [this], she became more corrupt in her lust than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister’s harlotry.
Mat 5:28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Rom 1:27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
Rom 13:13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.
1Cr 10:6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
Gal 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
1Th 4:5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
Jam 4:2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet* you do not have because you do not ask.
2Pe 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption [that is] in the world through lust.
2Pe 2:10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. [They are] presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
1Jo 2:16 For all that [is] in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.
1Jo 2:17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The knowledge of God

0433 and all is well on the Nightwatch

“knowledge of God” is the most awesome query I’ve ever punched in to a bible search engine. Here’s the results:

Pro 2:5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God.
Hsa 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD [brings] a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.
Hsa 6:6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Rom 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable [are] His judgments and His ways past finding out!
1Cr 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak [this] to your shame.
2Cr 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
Col 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing [Him], being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

That’s just awesome. It makes me think of an incredible song by Misty Edwards, “Something bigger’s going on,” where she sings,

“fill me with the knowledge of God,
with the knowledge of You,
with the knowledge of the Holy, Holy!”

Our Spiritual Identity

(0300 and all is well!)

From Mike Bickle’s excellent notes from tonight’s (last night’s?) Encountering God Service at IHOP:

Our core spiritual identity – Are we essentially a slave to sin who struggles to love God? Or are we essentially a lover of God who still struggle with sin? Are you a hopeless hypocrite who is trying in a futile attempt to love God or are you an authentic lover of God who is still struggling?

The Kingdom of God

BTW, 0200 and all is well (still awake and alive on the Nightwatch)

Here’s a thought… what is the Kingdom of God?

Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

I’ve heard a lot of preaching that would indicate that the Kingdom of God consists of all of the businesses owned by christians, and all of the countries run by christians. While that is a very real aspect of the Kingdom of God, it isn’t the primary one. The main land that Christ is interested in isn’t physical real-estate, but rather the hearts of men (and women, of course). So what is it really to be in the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom of God?

The kingdom of God is the state in which God’s will and presence is manifest. When I open my heart up to the Lord, and ask Him to have His way in my life, the kingdom of God is being manifest within me, and I am walking around as an encapsulated bubble of the kingdom of God in a world that is completely anti-Christ and lying in the wicked one (I John 5:19).

Here’s the powerful thing: when those who have come under the authority and government of God begin to walk together in unity as a true expression of the body of Christ (and not just a bunch of unrelated people living separate lives and meeting once a week), the power of that expression of the Kingdom of God increases exponentially!

While the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are the same concept, I believe that from the context of where the bible differentiates between the Kingdom of heaven and the Kingdom of God, that the Kingdom of heaven refers to the eventuality of God’s will being manifest in totality on the earth, while the Kingdom of God seems to refer to the will of God being manifest in men on the earth today.

On the Nightwatch

Psalm 63:6 When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.

Tonight I’m on the Nightwatch at home alone. I’m standing in prayer with the dedicated intercessors at the International House of Prayer. I’m looking forward to enjoying the Lord’s presence tonight as I feed on His word, and I’m thankful to Him for giving me the boldness and strength to make the violent decision to “waste” my friday night on Him