This is the fourth write-up in a series about the coming Glory and Judgment of God which is already upon us. The previous three episodes, and especially the first, will help give a proper context to this writing. However, it can be understood by itself.

In the last episode titled ‘Redeem the time', the promise was made that we would start discussing what we must do to prepare for the coming King and His glory. Despite all the wonderful spiritual experiences and revelations, what the Lord requires of us can be boiled down into two simple things. 

These two things are not my own summary. They are presented because the Holy Spirit said they are foundational. Without a foundation, it is impossible for any structure to stand no matter the cost or the beauty (Ps. 11:3). Likewise, there is a foundation we need to build before we can ask “what must I do?” in these last days. The foundation of any good act is the right intention. These two instructions will ensure that everything we do in these final days is of the right spirit because our intent or spirit is more pertinent than our actions (Pro. 16: 2).

Preparing for the King

The second coming of Christ is about God revealing Himself (Rev. 10:7), and cultivating an intimate relationship with His creation. This begs the question, why doesn't He just roll back the heavens and show His face in the sky and say, 'hello world'?

That would be a disaster for us all, because when He finally puts His face inside the created realm at the end of our age, the energy and glory from His face wipes out all the heavens and the earth instantly (Rev. 20:11 - 21:1), and that is why He told Moses that no man could see His face and live (Ex. 33:20). Likewise these scriptures back up the fact that God’s glory in this fallen world is like dropping a hydrogen bomb into a lunch box (John 1:18 5:37, I Ti 6:16, I John 4:12, John 5:37, ). Therefore He cannot manifest Himself in all of His glory. Our dimension cannot withstand such glory. So how does an uncreated, unlimited, omniscient, and omnipresent God who dwells beyond the confines of space and time fully explain or reveal Himself to creatures in our limited dimension?  To illustrate this, let us consider a modern-day parable. Please bear with this parable; it is merely a scaffolding to build the point.

The Parable of the Ants and the Botanist

Let us suppose there was a supernatural botanist, who loved ants.  After spending years caring for them, he decided he wanted to introduce himself, and in his deep love, to transform them into humans like himself. He reasoned that once these ants became humans their lives would be better, and even more importantly, they would finally enjoy the love he always had for them, which was unknown to the ants because they had neither the understanding of his love nor could they return it.

He eventually turned them to humans, but sadly, most of these formerants-turned-men refused to upgrade their life's purpose to match their body upgrade. They still lived like ants despite their human form. The botanist could upgrade them biologically, but these ex-ants alone could choose to fulfill the purpose of his gift to them.

Meaning

As should be obvious, we are the ants, God is the compassionate botanist who wants to reveal Himself to us.  Our New Birth is our spiritual upgrade.  The botanist gave them a physical upgrade so that he might have a deeper relationship with them.  Likewise, God has given us a spiritual upgrade for a purpose. So what is that purpose?

Purpose of Eternal Life

The ants were not upgraded to be more efficient at gathering sugar. In fact, human life spent gathering food particles like an ant is perverse. Similarly, the purpose of this new life is not to get a bigger car, betterlooking spouse, greater success than when one was of the world. Those purposes belong to the carnal or earthly man. God’s Eternal life is given for an eternal purpose.

Jesus said in John 17:3: And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. We are born again not to become rich, healed, successful, etc., but instead we have eternal life so that we can know Him.  Those other things are merely side effects of our New Life. It is the upgrade that allows us to know God. God cannot be reduced into the confines of His creation, so we need a spiritual upgrade to know Him. God is Spirit and those who worship/relate to Him must do so in spirit. (John 4: 24)

Falling Short of the Purpose of the Upgrade

If our sci-fi parable were true, consider how pitiful it is that the ex-ants remain dedicated to finding sugar and leftovers. The only difference is they now have the advantage of human bodies to perform ant-activities with greater efficiency. They had no interest in actually getting to know the botanist and living a higher form of life as humans.

Likewise, it is sad to see the New Birth reduced to escaping hell and having our earthly desires met. Until we seek God with our New Life, we are falling short of why we were given that gift. He won't force us to know Him. This is the first instruction for these end times. Seek to know God!

Seeking God is not limited to climbing mountains to be alone with Him. In fact, just as seen in the transfiguration experience of "The Glory of Rapture", we can seek God in even the most mundane things. 

God wants to be found and to ensure we look for him...

"He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us" (Acts 17: 26-27). 

Everything in our lives, from ethnicity, time of birth, etc. was intentionally picked for this purpose: that we may seek Him! That purpose has not changed from Adam till now, what will be different in these last days is that many will recover that purpose and chase it with the devotion it deserves.  May we be part of them by His grace.

Additionally, God's ranking system of people is based on how well they know Him. God, speaking through Jeremiah, said: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let Him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me..." (Jer. 9:24). The only human endeavor worthy of accolade to God is knowing Him. Everything else evaporates in eternity.  He seeks those who will submit themselves to seek Him.

Result of seeking and finding Him

What God is looking to do in these last days is to raise an elite team of seekers who will take the lead as He perfects the church.  To the degree to which we seek Him is the degree we will be glorified.   

Alternatively, If we are not seeking Him, then we run the risk of being part of the great falling away which is at hand (II Thess. 2:3 ).  Only those who lay down all will see the Kingdom of God in the flesh even before the rapture. 

What is this glorification?  

It is to be like Jesus when He rose from the dead (Eph. 4:13).  Others will be perfected at the rapture (I pray I will have the opportunity to expand on these statements from a biblical perspective soon).  The rest of this write up is on the first instruction of seeking God. We will take the second one next time.

Paul: An example of laying down all. (Phil 3: 7-21)

The above passage was probably the most important scripture received from the rapture experience. It reveals the truths that all the glory of these end times will be built on. In these verses, we see a summary of how to begin to seek for the glorification which we are destined to receive at the end. It is worth meditating on. These tiny write-ups cannot do its truths justice. Please, spend time with them in prayer.

What was Paul looking for?

What made him declare passionately that: “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”? Why such a draconian disposition to seeking God? It was because he had seen the glory of resurrection for our time! 

Paul knew that the last enemy to be defeated is death (I Cor. 15:26).  He also knew…that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father (Rom. 6:4)… so will that same glory swallow up death in us once we partake of it. When we give ourselves to seeking God, we are transformed in every encounter we have with Him, until the Eternal Life in our spirits gradually transforms us as it works its way through our soul into our flesh. At that point, death is swallowed up, and we become like Jesus on resurrection Sunday. Traveling in the spirit like Elijah, walking through walls, living without food, money, etc. becomes our new normal. At that point, even the devil and his demons will flee at our sight, because there is nothing to tempt you with. The glory of God would have swallowed up the sting of death which is sin. Your soul and body will be as perfect as the spirit. At that point, one is a perfect reflection of Jesus. This was what Paul saw and sought. He knew that that process would only happen as a result of knowing Him as we seek Him (II Cor. 3:18).  

He also knew that there were degrees of this glory. Just as the intensity of hunger determines the quantity of food needed, likewise Paul was intensifying his hunger for God. He did this by killing all other desire. He wanted to be so empty that he might maximize how much of God he could receive. 

To draw closer to God, we must drop the trash (all the cares of this life) so that we can create a vacuum for God to inhabit. Despite all of his spiritual accomplishments, Paul was hungry for greater intimacy with God. His desperation is clearly highlighted by the phrase "if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."  The prior sentence reveals desperation that is uncommon.  He was ready to do anything and give up everything for intimacy with God!

Paul seemingly looked at most of the items on our December 31st watch night service prayer list and counted them as dung. These are the things parents pray that their children should achieve in life. He counted career, spouse, money, fame, and even mega ministry as rubbish!  Is it that those things were bad?  No, but in comparison to the glory of knowing God, their value is rubbish. This is even more astounding when you realize the amount of revelation and knowledge of God he already had. This is the attitude required for these last days. A desperate hunger for God and a detachment from the things of this life is the path to glory.

Additionally, he knew that if he treated earthly accomplishments as things to pursue, he would be looking down instead of looking up as he advised us when he said, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." (Col. 3: 1, 2).

Desperate desire

Paul was so desirous of knowing God that he asked not only to know the power of His Resurrection but also the fellowship of His suffering. What a man!  Why would anyone put suffering on the top of his prayer points? He knew that true intimacy meant knowing a person in good times and the challenging times too. Some even say you only know your true friends in the days of trouble. For Paul, if the cross showed a part of God that is not apparent in His glory, Paul wanted that cross. This is why he said, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18).  As long as it revealed more of God, he wanted it. The process wasn’t important, whether in ease or in suffering, he was just hungry for God. Isn’t our King worthy of such devotion? 

Unfortunately, we focus mostly on the success part and disdain our beautiful cross. We judge the spirituality and value of men based on earthly parameters of success. God does not judge as men judge. It is not the level of your sufferings or success that determines His approval. It is how well you know Him.  Our metric system of spiritual success has been corrupted, and so Jesus said in Luke 16:15b “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” People are clapping for what is repulsive in His sight. May He have mercy on us.

It was this awareness that being intimate with God was of eternal and earthly value that made Paul declare that He was ready to suffer for that intimacy. And suffer he did. Some faith preachers have said that Paul caused his sufferings by his own confessions. Yet it is not what the scriptures say. 

At the very beginning of Paul's Christian Life, before he made any confession or knew any spiritual principles, Jesus told Ananias in Acts 9:16 that:  "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake.” The King Himself appointed Paul to suffer, why would men now claim Paul should have done otherwise. 

The key thing to know is that Paul like all of us had a choice. He could have refused and asked that the cup pass him over. God would have found another lover of His to complete the task.  However, Paul understood that if it passed him, there is a glory and intimacy of God that will pass with it. Therefore, he counted the suffering, the honor, the wealth of this world as animal feces. Just like Jesus, it was the glory of resurrection that He saw that helped him embrace the suffering. That glory was revealed in knowing God through the plains, valleys or mountains.

Balance

Paul knew he sounded crazy, and many have tried to sterilize us from his

“madness” by labeling it “for Paul only”. To address this probable rejection of this doctrine, the Holy Spirit says in the same passage of Philippians 3 that: Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind (He wants us to think as Paul did); and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you (In case it is too difficult to accept, God will show you later down the road that it is true).  Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained (to whatever level we have gained the understanding of this principle), let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind (do likewise) (vs. 15 & 16) (Comments in brackets are my interpretation).

What is written here is for the mature, and for those who find it a hard teaching because it is not what we are taught these days, Paul is advising that you hold onto it and practice what you know. He knows if you faithfully follow Christ you will grow and finally accept it as true. I would rather take the truth now than waste years and still end up having to accept the same thing.

Please don’t misunderstand this teaching. When you are learning a new skill, you drop everything so you can learn it properly. I may sound extreme because I am highlighting a truth, so here is my balanced belief. I believe we are supposed to be healthy and blessed too. However, that is not a goal. The goal is to know God. If we are required to go through a rough place to know God, will you still do it?

The evil ahead will demand martyrs as the Lord is revealing to so many people across the globe.  There will be crosses to carry as Christians. The glory of some will be in laying down their lives like the apostles and saints of old while some will crush armies and succeed materially to manifest His glory. Whichever way, it is not the things that we do that are most important, but that our desire behind the action is centered on knowing God.

For example, when we give offerings in church we are told it is to either prevent a curse or to get a hundredfold return. Whatever happened to giving God because your sacrifice is a sweet-smelling aroma to Him? Just as an act of intimate gratitude between friends/lovers.

Which Father would love his children to only do house chores, talk to him and buy birthday gifts because he will either get a hundredfold return or receive a whopping. A real son goes to spend time with his father to enjoy his company and know him better. The father then blesses Him. Our consciousness of earthly things is quietly building covetousness. Some of our leaders have repackaged this love of the world under the tag of ‘breakthrough and blessings' (again, there is nothing wrong with these if it is a distant second to seeking God). Unfortunately, some have made it a spiritual sounding veil to placate our conscience. It is time to wake up. These things are killing us. Rats will never eat rat poison directly. You must insert it in large amount of good food. When our attitude to Christianity is to get blessings rather than intimacy with God, we have opened the door to deception.  Our Father has tolerated this for long, but now the Spirit says that there is no fence to sit on anymore in these last days (Rev. 3:16).  Either you love God and despise the world or vice versa.  The great divide is already taking place.  Seekers are being separated from the users.  Please pick wisely

It is time to seek God to know Him and let the side benefits flow naturally instead of seeking the things of this world through God. 

What must I do?

Just start where you are. Talk to God after this reading. Ask Him to teach you how to release the love for Him that is already in your heart (Rom. 5:

5). It is Him who will work in you both to desire Him and to seek Him (Phil. 2:13). 

If Paul’s example seems so extreme that we want to give up, then we need to remember not to “…be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (I Cor. 11:3). What you need to do is so simple that it seems untrue. The starting point is to set your mind on Him.  Practice doing all you do as unto the Lord.  Speak to Him constantly while engaged in the activities of life, and set aside time to diligently seek Him.

Daniel was a prime minister over 120 provinces/countries (aka U. N. Secretary-General), yet he was able to remain intimate with God.  He had designated 3 prayer times every day (Dan. 6:7), and it is unlikely that he had hours to pray or desperado mountain trips to make weekly (nothing wrong with that either).  He simply was a diligent seeker in the small things, and God rewarded him (Heb. 11:6).  Even when working, practice setting your mind on Him.  That way, you have linked up with the ‘spiritual Wi-Fi’ of heaven, and the rest God will work out (Is. 26:3).  Combine that with set times of intimate fellowship and God will begin to help carve out more time and create a greater desire in you.  As you do so, encounters will become commonplace and will lead to your glorification.

Redeem the time!

Please listen to the news. The whole world is boiling! We are breaking records regularly in all the natural disasters, weather changes and conflicts around the world. The whole earth is groaning in expectation of the manifestation of the sons of God. This is just the beginning. The cars, houses, connections with men cannot save you from what is being released on the earth. Even the God of your spiritual parents cannot save.  The only thing that will save is your intimate relationship with God, and it will also glorify you and you will flourish. Take that step today. Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

Seek Him, seek Him, and seek Him. He wants to be found. If you take a step towards Him, He will take twenty.  Judgment is coming and glory is coming because the King is coming…our King is finally coming. Glory!!!

God bless you. I am open to comments, questions and ideas. You can reach me at: secondkingscoming@gmail.com. May God bless us.