Nicholas Lewis

JUNE 22, 2021

Praise God — we are redeemed! We have been released from the tyranny and oppression of the Kingdom of Darkness. I particularly like the way Colossians 1 addresses the relationship:

9. So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard of you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow and you learn to know God better and better. 11. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12. always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people who live in the Light. 13. For He has rescued us from the Kingdom of Darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son. 14. Who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

Verses 15 through 20 tell who Christ is and why He could provide the blood sacrifice needed. Verses 21 through 23 tell how we now are recipients of this relationship and how we can stay connected.

15  Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17 He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. 18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

Historically, the Church has concentrated on redemption, and restoration has not been a frequent topic of discussion, teaching, or preaching. The Kingdom message is a message of restoration as well as redemption.

Redemption gets us into the Kingdom, and restoration provides the system to live on earth in power and dominion as we were charged to do at creation. The central theme of the teaching of Christ was the Kingdom of God. Christ taught Nicodemus that redemption was the only way to gain access to the Kingdom of God. We are told to seek the Kingdom of God first, and to discover His way of doing and being right.

Somehow the majority of the Church does not understand or teach the restoration of the Kingdom relationship that comes from the new birth. It appears the desire is to get humanity in, but not to let them know about the provision of our King for those who through faith enter in.

The knowledge that comes from knowing to seek His way of doing and being right, and then to follow His system no matter what situations, circumstances, and relationships are indicating is one of the most powerful and enabling benefits of the Kingdom relationship. That is what was lost when sin entered the relationship between God and Adam. When we as Citizens follow His plan, we will demonstrate the results that humanity is longing and groaning for. We will show results that are from the Sons of God.

Situations, circumstances, and relationships that are manufactured by the defeated Satan to deceive us and to get us to abandon the promises and benefits of our God are defeated when we speak our God’s Words out of our mouths in faith. As we are instructed, “we must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it.” Father, may it be so with us!

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JUNE 10, 2021

Redemption: to free from captivity by payment of a ransom

Restoration: the bringing back to a former position or condition 

The blood of Jesus Christ frees those who believe and accept its provision as a one time, permanent sacrifice for our sins. We are told that the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus frees us from the Law of Sin and Death.

The use of this description carries a legal reference and an accounting reference. Legally, it is a matter that has been through the court system of heaven and has been decided. It is a completed work.

Interestingly, it is very similar to humanity’s relationship to the law of gravity. Humanity does nothing to make gravity work. It is there and it works. Our regard and respect of the Law of Gravity could be described as an accounting entry.

If we do not honor the Law of Gravity there can be grave consequences. When we recognize and work within the understanding of the Law of gravity, good things happen.  When we reckon gravity to be an influence on our challenges with weight, we can take the proper actions and accomplish our missions with ease.

So it is with the redemption we receive through the blood of Christ. We must not only accept it, but we must settle the fact that we are free from the tyranny and oppression of the Kingdom of Darkness and act upon our relationship with our God with the same respect and honor we do the Law of Gravity. Honoring the reality of freedom from Satan’s powers will bring fantastic results in the life of the Believer.

There are many references to the redeeming relationship of the Followers of Jesus Christ with his sacrifice on the cross and the provision of His blood. Here are a few for you to review:

• Ephesians 1:7-8
• Colossians 1:14
• Titus 2:14
• 2 Corinthians 8:9
• Hebrews 9:22
• Revelation 1:5
• 1 Peter 1:18-19

Next week we will continue our discussion on Redemption and Restoration.

MAY 28, 2021

Jesus told us how to walk daily in miracles.

1. Have faith in God. This is easy to do if you know Him, but not if you know about Him. How do we do this, have relationship with our God? Relationship comes from fellowship, fellowship comes from time spent together, and time spent together come from the commitment to the time. If you have heard my teaching before, you know how much I believe this the key to experiencing the Kingdom Government of our God. The example that unlocks the relationship question for me was my relationship with Fran. We have been married more than forty years. If on our wedding day I had delivered Fran to a place I had prepared especially for her and told her, “Hon, I will visit you for a couple of hours on Sundays. Now I will not fellowship with you, but I will listen to someone else tell me about you. Occasionally on Wednesday evenings I will repeat the process. I will not talk to you, but I will listen to someone else tell me about you. But when I need you to perform for me, I want you to be ready instantly to do so. Whatever the need. That covers a lot of territory.” I am confident that would not have worked for Fran, and I am positive it does not work with God. God is a God of relationship. No shortcuts.
2. We must “know and speak” the will of God for each need – situation, circumstance and relationship – because we have already gained that knowledge and understanding and established it in our minds through our fellowship with Him and the prompting/unction of the Holy Spirit God.  We have allowed the Word of God to change the way we think. We no longer think as the world thinks. We know that God does not respond to need, but to seed. What is the Word of God, what are words spoken in Faith?
3. We cannot allow doubt to enter into the knowledge of the will of our God. Doubt is really negative faith. It is scary to listen to many Citizens of the Kingdom and hear where their faith is placed. “I cannot do that, I cannot deliver miracles to mankind in their need simply as a born again Citizen of the Kingdom, that is for people especially chosen by God, not ordinary people like me, I am not sure I can pray for your healing, I am not sure it is God’s will for you to be healed, I will have to pray about it, that prosperity message is off base, poverty keeps you humble, and on, and on, and on. We must know and understand the plan and the will of our God and not doubt it. We do not perform miracles, we are Citizens of the Kingdom that deliver them through our knowledge and understanding of the system Jesus placed on the Earth for us to operate in now.
4. We must pray and believe we have already received God’s will for our miracle. The three Hebrews at Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace knew Jehovah God. They understood his power and provision. They saw the outcome and had no doubt and no fear. We must know that God produces the desires of our spirits and minds by our fellowship with Him. Our thoughts have become His thoughts. Our will has become His will. Our plans are established and they succeed.
5. We must forgive. There can be no unforgiveness in our spirits or minds. Unforgiveness stops the flow of miracles. Do not belabor this and drag up every incident in your past. Only address what the Holy Spirit God brings to your memory and your thoughts. Make a conscious decision to forgive and take all of your unforgiveness to God in prayer. Follow His Word and the direction of the Holy Spirit God. They will agree and they will not steer you incorrectly.
6. Expect miracles. Look and listen for situations where you can be used to “birth the Kingdom” into the lives of mankind by delivering the “Kingdom Natural” will of the Father into their need. Do not make it spooky or super spiritual or a religious act. Do not expect that assignment from God to be for someone else. The other guy syndrome. Know that you are ready, willing and able to walk in this reality with your God. He is the True and the Living God. He is the only wise God our Father. His plans and provisions for us are not lacking. We have not been shorted the relationship of power all of humanity is longing and searching for. We must show His praises by our acts and our deeds until He returns. It is the goodness of God that draws humanity to salvation and a relationship with Him.

Praises be to Him for His plans/systems are perfect. May we understand and tap into them.

MAY 21, 2021

We cannot allow the lies and deceits of the defeated Satan to be our understanding and our confession any longer. We must recognize them for what they are and from where they come. We must put a stop to them by speaking God’s Word out of our mouths in faith and declaring what God has shown and declared to be true. Miracles are not “supernatural.”  They are “Kingdom natural,” and in fact they show evidence of Heaven coming to earth just as Jesus instructed us to pray for and to believe in its presence and power in our lives.

Miracles should not be a surprise. My Father had a good friend and mentor in the faith that used to create his own scriptures or ism’s. One I have always remembered was, “Blessed is the man who expecteth nothing, for he shall not  be disappointed.” In many, if not most, of the miracles we see there is a real expectancy of the desired results if the person can get to the person they believe can deliver the answer for the need (Jesus). This was usually motivated by the person in need’s recognition of who Jesus was/is. This is the case with the centurion, the woman with the issue of blood, turning the water into wine, and all of the other miracles that were delivered by Jesus while He was on earth. I challenge you to re-read the gospels and review the major miracles Jesus performed. Note the following about each one of them:

1. The presentation of the need
2. The specific reply of Jesus
3. How the need was delivered
4. What action was required by the person with the need
5. What instructions were given to the person whose need was met

The purpose of this review is not to establish the validity of miracles. Most of our world accepts miracles. A recent poll by Newsweek writer Kenneth Woodward stated,

“Eighty-four percent of those questioned for the news weekly said they believed that God performs miracles, and seventy-nine percent said that they believed the miracles described in the Bible actually occurred. Sixty-three percent said they knew someone who claimed to have experienced a miracle, while forty-eight percent told researchers they had seen or experienced one themselves. Although the report points out that miracles are reported in all the major faiths, it is Christians – ninety percent – who overwhelmingly believe in them. Only forty-six percent of non-Christians said they believed that miracles happen. Ninety-eight percent of evangelical Christians said they believed.” 

Our quest is to examine miracles and establish their place and functionality in the Kingdom government of our God that Jesus delivered to the Earth, and is now operating as the system He has provided for man’s dominion here on the earth, now.

When we read about Jesus performing miracles in the gospels, it is clear that He viewed them as a “natural” act of a person in relationship with God the Father through the Kingdom. There was no hype, no conjuring it up with music, no rolling in the floor, no shouting as if those around could not hear — just the simple, straightforward verbal declaration of the will of the Father.

What has happened? Why do we today believe there must be something ridiculous occurring before the miraculous can intervene and redirect the course of anything on earth? I cannot find a scriptural basis for this conviction. From where did the belief come that miracles are not a normal part of a Believer’s life, a Citizen of the Kingdom’s function on earth, to deliver Heaven to earth?

That in itself begs the question, why have we been taught to live our lives in pursuit of leaving Earth and going to Heaven? Jesus taught to pray and believe for Heaven to come to Earth. Earth is where mankind/humanity is to rule and reign.

So I encourage you once more. Examine what you believe and determine its origin. If it was not taught by Jesus Christ — God — while He was on Earth, find out what He taught about the subject and make that your belief.

We will pick up along these lines next week with Part Four of our discussion of Miracles.

MAY 12, 2021

In the  Kingdom provided by God Himself that He has placed inside our spirits, miracles are commonplace. However, sometimes we Citizens do not recognize them as miracles.

Because of the term “supernatural,” the day-to-day average run-of-the-mill miracle is overlooked because it is not dramatic enough. When forced to accept the many miracles that dominate our lives, we often classify them according to an arbitrary ranking decided by the  sensationalism of  the miracle (much as we  do our shortcomings or sins). In reality, as Citizens of the Kingdom government of our God, our lives are infused with a continual occurrence of miracles.

Could it be that if we would recognize the miracles, thank God for their presence and intervention in our lives and those of our families, that the faithful recognizing and honoring of God for all of the small miracles that happen for us every day, perhaps we would walk into the pledge that because we were faithful in the small things, we would be given authority to walk in greater things, greater miracles?

How do we actively cultivate miracles in our lives, and walk continuously each day in this experience?

Jesus established both by conduct and by expectation what the Kingdom life offers in regard to miracles. I do not recall a single record of where Jesus had to work up His karma in order to flow naturally in the manifestation and workings of miracles. It always seemed to flow naturally. Like taking a drink of water, or maybe sharing a drink of water. Whatever need was presented, Jesus knew the Father’s will and freely delivered the Father’s response to the request. Rarely was it emotional for Jesus, although most of the time it was to the recipient.

Jesus disrupted the natural growth of the tree with no fruit. He violated the laws of nature by walking on water. He healed a young girl He had not even seen because of the faith of her Father. He opened blind eyes, straightened twisted and deformed hands, brought people back to life who were deceased, delivered many who were tormented by evil spirits, and in many other ways He intervened and changed the “natural”(or maybe “unnatural”) course of people’s lives who had needs in order to demonstrate the Father’s heart, His love, His concern, and His plan and provision for all such needs on the earth. He said many things to His disciples, the Citizens of His Kingdom now living in His government. Most notably, “You will do greater things than I have done. Freely you have received, freely give. I came to destroy the works of Satan, I give you dominion, and you have power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. Now go and deliver these same miracles to those in need and tell them the Kingdom of God has arrived. It is here.”

As Kingdom Citizens, this is our charge. May we be faithful to recognize, cultivate, and be grateful for the miracles He surrounds us with every day. 

I recently heard a song that captures this idea well. It’s called Million Little Miracles by Maverick City Music and Elevation Worship. Take a listen and reflect on all the miracles in your life.