Worms in my Manna

When hurricane Katrina hit I was a bit thrown off-guard and filled with fear. The hurricane was bad enough but the aftermath was brutal. The media painted a picture of horror; where the lawlessness of people was only matched by the failure of government. The whole situation made me anxious and I began at that time to read up on survival and started making a store of food and supplies. I even called up my family and frantically suggested they do the same. After the turmoil of the disaster I continued to add to our food stock, though less zealously.

On a later occasion my daughter had run out of ramen noodles and we raided our survival store for a package for her. Upon opening and cooking it we discovered worms. We thought it may have just been an accident, but another package revealed the very same thing. Our food store was contaminated with larvae! In this I believe that God was teaching me an important lesson I would like to share.

Recently I've begun to get a deeper appreciation of the Biblical account of Israel's exodus from Egypt and trek through the wilderness toward the promised land. Throughout this, God was bringing the nation to himself as a collective son and preparing their hearts to receive him as Father and enter into his rest. With the ten plagues he brought against Pharoah he was proving his power and superiority over all the false gods of the Egyptians. He then brought his chosen people to a place of weakness in order to prove himself as a savior and provider. At the Red Sea he proved that he could save them from Pharoah's army. In their journey through the wilderness he was proving that he could provide their needs for food, water, and clothing. The wilderness was designed to bring the people into complete dependence and trust in Jehovah.

Reading the book of Numbers, it describes the nation of Israel's absolute failure to learn these lessons and believe in God. At each leg of their travel we are faced with their hardened hearts and incessant complaining. This culminates in a total failure as they reached the promised land of Canaan. Of twelve spies that were sent across the Jordan river to scope out the land, only two, Joshua and Caleb, expressed confidence that the Lord would give them the land. The others expressed fear that couldn't take the land from the inhabitants. The nation of Israel sided with the ten spies that brought an unfavorable report and refused to trust in God's promises. As a result that entire generation, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, had to wander the wilderness until they perished. Their failure is rooted in the sin of disbelief.

The New Testament book of Hebrews contains an encouragement for Christians not to be like that unbelieving generation. The author writes, "Take care, brethren, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ... Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobediance as theirs." (Hebrews 3:12) In our lives today we need to learn from that group's failure and believe and trust in the Lord.

The Word of God prophecies to a time of great turmoil and tribulation; a time when the people of God will not even be able to buy and sell. (Matt 24:21; Rev 13:17) In looking ahead at the potential of great global upheaval it is the natural reaction of the flesh to become axious and want to make physical preperations for salvation. I have found this to be particularly true in some Christian circles that focus on the "end times". For instance some ministries have been sponsored by companies that sell survival gear and foods. Some Christians are even laying up weapons for protection. Personally though, I'm increasingly of the opinion that laying up and putting our trust in such supplies can run contrary to the Word of God.

When I was faced with worms in my ramen I was reminded of what happened to Israelites in the wilderness. Having run out of food they complained to Moses saying, "If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this desert to kill this whole assembly with hunger!” (Exodus 16:3) God heard their complaint and told Moses that he would bring bread down from heaven, which the people called "manna".

In providing manna, God stipulated that each person was to gather only what their family could each that day; nothing was to be left over until the next morning. They were not to store up but had to manifest faith that God would continue to provide manna each and every morning for them. The people, being hard in heart, did not listen. The Scriptures describe what happened saying, "But they did not listen to Moses; some kept part of it until morning, and it was full of worms and began to stink, and Moses was angry with them." (Exodus 16:20) In much the same way, my stock of ramen was full of worms and virtually inedible.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, gives us these similar life lessons. He teaches us to be content with what we have each day and not to worry about storing for the future. He tells us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11) He says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own." (Matt 6:34) Jesus says, “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal." (Matt 6:19,20)

We may reason that this advice is well and good for everyday living; but, that desperate times call for desperate measures. With this in mind, it is important than to look at what Jesus said regarding the coming destruction of Jerusalem which was the worst tribulation ever to befall the nation.

"So when you see the abomination of desolation – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one on the roof must not come down to take anything out of his house, and the one in the field must not turn back to get his cloak." (Matt 24:17,18)

It is noteworthy that Jesus did not encourage his disciples to store up emergency rations in order to last through the time of trial. Such supplies would have been short lived when the Romans barricaded the city. At that time, a famine set in and things got so desperate that children were being eaten by parents. But even if they had stocked up supplies, they would have done no good, because Jesus commanded the people to instantly flee to the mountains without regard to any such provisions. According to Jesus, if a man was outside of his house he shouldn't run back inside for anything, including food and clothing. Similarly the man in the field shouldn't go back to get his cloak. This is an important detail because In Jesus' day the cloak was essential, minimal survival gear for travelers. It kept them warm in the elements and was also used as bedding. Thus, following Jesus' command during that day of disaster would have required total depedance on God and belief that he would provide and take care of their needs.

The Scriptures time and again call for us to trust in God and not in the arm of the flesh. Though some measure of provision may be practical it would be a mistake for us to put our faith and trust in such. Jesus tells us to store up treasures in heaven. When we believe and allow our Heavenly Father to provide for us now it is like storing up everlasting provisions for the future. If we build trust in reliance in Him today we will be prepared for any trial that can come upon us, great and small. We need to manifest faith that if necessary in times of trial our Father can even miraculously feed us by raining bread from heaven or by having ravens bring us food. (1 Kings 17:6) In Revelation when the "woman" flees to the wilderness it is to a place prepared by God where she is taken care of by him - not by her own devices. (Rev 12:6, 14)

Again God is ready to bring to ruin all the false gods of the world, represented by Egypt. Anything that man has put his trust in such as money, insurance, government, banks, medicine, and secular employment will be brought to nothing. And again God will bring his people into a wilderness where they will have to rely on him. At that time we will have no choice but to believe in God or perish. Those that have faith will be lead into the promised land and enter into God's rest.

Truth, A Screenplay

What follows in an introduction to a screenplay I wrote in 2002. It is available with the original screenplay as a 6x9 paperbook book for $10.00. It can be ordered here.

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The other day my wife and I were engaging in spring-cleaning. Finding ourselves running short on needed storage space we decided to tackle "the drawer". I suspect that every house has one or two of these drawers that seem to collect all things, lost and forgetten about – the at-home equivalent of a black hole. As we dug through the drawer we found checks to bank accounts we no longer had, a DVD borrowed from a friend that we have since lost track of, and several magazines we no longer read. As we neared the bottom I unearthed an early draft of the screenplay you are holding in your hand.

My interest in filmmaking ultimately goes back to my childhood friend Casey. Casey had a father who was a movie buff and made little Super-8 films as a hobby. As kids, Casey and I started playing with his dad’s camera and having just seen an “edited for TV” version of Terminator 2, were particularly enamored with special effects. Our effects were very low-tech and consisted of stop-motion clay "slugs" dripping out of faucets and crawling into my brother's nose. Around that time we got involved in pyrotechnics and began filming model buildings that we blew up. (I'm quite fortunate to have both hands to type this.) Like most projects that Casey and I were involved in, the Super 8 filmmaking kind of fell by the wayside for other passing interests, such as music, video game programming, and to some extent girls. I don’t know whatever became of that Super-8 film footage. Perhaps it is lost the bot-tom of a drawer in his parent’s house.

With Casey and I, hobbies went in cycles and some years later when we were teenagers we again got interested in film-making and special effects. Casey had upgraded from stop-motion claymation to computer animation and digital effects software. We talked somewhat about making a Star Wars “fan film” and did some brain storming sessions of plot-points and performed limited location scouting. (I envisioned that with some added decoration the oil refineries that dotted my backyard might look just like a spaceport.) In the special effect department Casey had figured out how to rotoscope the all important light saber glow over our homemade PVC lightsabers. I admit that I was pretty excited when I saw that test footage of us stepping through a choreographed lightsaber duel with spot-perfect lazer effects. Yet ultimately my heart wasn’t really into that sort of moviemaking. At this time I was much more interested in doing a smaller, personal film.

This change in preference was mainly because I began to take an interest in Independent Cinema. I would often go to the Tivoli theatre in University City and see the latest indie films and attend the annual St. Louis film festival. It was at this time that ultra-low budget films like Slackers and Clerks were begin-ning to make filmmaking more accessible to the everyman. Whereas before making a movie was a bit of a daydream at least now it was practical if you had enough credit cards. This be-came even truer when digital video became an option. Suddenly making a film was immediately feasible with a minimal amount of money and a prosumer DV camcorder. This caused me to really start looking seriously at the possibly of making a feature film. But, before I could have something to put up on a screen, I needed a screenplay.

The first screenplay that I ever wrote was called Knocked Up. It was a comedy revolving around a young married couple that is suddenly faced with the possibility of an unexpected pregnancy. Because my wife and I were just in such a situation it was familiar subject matter. When I wrote it my favorite writer/director was Kevin Smith and my script was heavily in-fluenced by his style. That is to say it contained rapid-fire dialogue and was heavily punctuated with four-letter words and crude humor.

I held the idea that I would one day film it; but since I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses I knew there would be serious repercussions if I ever did so. In the United States, Jehovah’s Witnesses unofficially, yet very forcefully, shun R-rated films and if Knocked Up was ever made it would have been pushing the limits of an R – and for that matter good taste. So I settled on the idea that I would try to sell it as a spec screenplay and hide behind a pseudonym. In the end, I never really pursued it and I put it to bed. After multiple computer changes and hard drive failures I lost track of that screenplay. All things said, that is a good thing. When I came to Christ in 2005 I probably would have burned it anyway.

Because I still wanted to make a film I decided this time to make it on a subject matter that I could actually bring to the screen without getting expelled from the Watchtower Organiza-tion in the process. I thought what better way to do it than to write about being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since I was born into the religion and was a devout JW this was something I knew all about.

At the time I had been married for a few years and was, I guess, transitioning into adulthood and looking back at my teen years. I was working with my dad doing home improvement and there was a considerable drive time to and from the job during which I daydreamed about what my story would look like. I thought I might center it around the annual District Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses; which, for Witnesses was an important event.

I finished the first draft of Truth in 1999, which was then called Fall in reference to the season the film takes place and it also served as a subtle foreshadowing of the dramatic center-piece of the story-arc. Whereas Knocked Up took me many months to complete Fall took only about a month. It helped that much of it was based on my own recent experience-though greatly distilled and then embellished.

Finding it again this year prompted me to sit down and read through it. After finishing the first draft I renamed it Truth as I wanted to give a truthful account of what it meant to be "in the Truth", a phrase that Jehovah's Witnesses use describe being in their organization. To say you are "in the truth" is to say you are one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

Though this work is fiction many of these characters are amalgams of people I know or situations I have been in. Be-cause, I would never be able to film at a District Covention I decided to keep things small and instead center the events around a house party. Apart from the weekly religious meetings and ministry service, parties and gatherings were generally the high points of our lives.

This particular party takes place in "the city". Growing up we often joked about "city witnesses"; because they tended to be a little less strict with their morals. Outwardly the confessed the same moral code that we did but their lifestyle was much more divergent with their beliefs.

All things considered our lives were relitively care free and I feel that the script reflects that childhood naievity. Of course there was the typical girl-boy drama; but the only major trauma that we tended to face was losing friends who were dis-fellowshipped, removed from the congregation. This may seem relatively minor to an outsider but to one of Jehovah's Witnesses being disfellowshipped is the equivalent to dying. If a friend got disfellowshipped you knew there would be a good chance you would never seem them again, they may as well be dead.

For me it would be interesting to look at these characters now ten years laters. What would have become of them? Most of the characters seem pretty confident in their religion and strong in their faith. They love being Jehovah's Witnesses and envision no other future apart from their religion. Yet that is how I once was and now I see things quite differently and therein lies the biggest irony. When writing Truth the character I mostly indentified with was Ash. While Ash argues hard against "leaving the truth", I have now done just that very thing.

In restrospect looking at the script, the character of Felicia stands out. In writing the screenplay I was on a certain level working out my feelings that I had about a friend of mine that had been disfellowshipped a couple of years earlier. Though in looking at the character of Felicia I believe she made some wrong choices in life she was at least honest about it and in that way is perhaps more true than others "in the Truth".

Regretably, in real life I cut her off after she was disfel-lowshipped and thought little of it thinking I was doing the right thing. When I was disfellowshipped myself some ten years later I was moved to contact her and apologise for dropping her so quickly and shunning her. I wish I could say that she ac-cepted my apology; but as might be expected she had some animosity toward me for my cruel treatment of her over the years and for that I am sorry.

While I started out attempting to write a screenplay that I could put on film and not get removed from the religion I won-der how ultimately Truth would have been received had I finished the project. In my attempt to make it honest and truth-ful to my personal experience I didn't hold back from painting a picture that may have been poorly received by Jehovah's Wit-nesses who are generally not use to anything but glowing portrayals of their religion as some sort of moral utopia or “spiri-tual paradise”. It would no doubt have been shocking to hear a character confess to premarital sex and admit that it was enjoy-able to them. Even more to have a character confess to homosexual feelings, though not acted upon, was definitely ta-boo and would have made many extremely uncomfortable.

When I originally set out to write the dialogue my goal was to speak the truth and now I still want to keep things true to my perspective back then as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Though I have been removed from the religion and will have detractors because of that, my desire is to honestly say in pre-senting this screenplay that it was written by one Jehovah’s Witnesses. I may not agree with it but it still stands as an honest portrayal of how things were then, or at least how I perceived them to be.

So why release a screenplay to a film that was never made? I guess rather than put the script back in the drawer and lose it again to time I decided to make it available in this printed format so that at the very least it can move from my junk drawer to my bookshelf. In preparing this screenplay for print I made the decision not to make any changes to the last draft I wrote in 2002, with the exception of correcting spelling and punctuation. This was not an easy thing at times as in retrospect some of things the characters say now make me cringe.

I've given up any dreams of ever making this film (or any film) as I'm quite content and busy in other efforts in quiet serv-ice of the Lord. In putting this out to the public I hope that some may find it of interest to read. In particular if you were one of Jehovah's Witnesses and a young adult in the 1990's you may be able to relate to some of the characters and the feelings they express.

Looking back at my life a teenager and young adult within the Jehovah's Witnesses religion I have few misgivings. I cherish my old friends and think fondly of many good times we had. Compared to many of our peers we tended to live a better life and were highly moral. When it came to the Bible we were educated and literate - albeit, from a Watchtower-centric per-spective. My one real regret though is that while we were outwardly moral and heavily involved in a religious system that we too often missed having a true, inner relationship with God and even more so with Jesus Christ. Today my relationship with the Father and the Son is the most precious thing in my life and for me it took leaving the Watchtower organization to gain them.

As previously mentioned, when the characters in the screenplay speak about “the Truth” they are talking about the Jehovah’s Witness religion, as is the title. What I’ve come to discover is that ultimately “the truth” is not an organization, or a set of religious teachings, or even a concept of right – “the Truth” is an individual, Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus says about himself, “I am . . . the Truth” (John 14:16)

In the opening scene of the screenplay, the character Ash says, “It never fails that the most dramatic upheavals in my life always take place during the fall.” At one time this was true for me but in the last few years this has shifted from the fall to the spring. Spring is typically the season for renewal and it was dur-ing that season that I came to the Lord. Religions tend to call such an experience by different terms such as being “anointed, “born again”, “receiving the Holy Spirit”. I don’t really know what to call it but I know it happened and it was powerful and it turned my life around and ultimately lead me right out of the Je-hovah’s Witness organization into the arms of Heaven. It gave me an initial glimpse of Jesus and like the apostle Paul the goal of my life since then is to ultimately “know Him” (Phil 3:10) Today I am very happy to be free in getting to know that real Truth that exists outside of religious organizations.

Paul's "Thorn In The Flesh"

Even because of the extraordinary character of the revelations. Therefore, so that I would not become arrogant, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to trouble me – so that I would not become arrogant. I asked the Lord three times about this, that it would depart from me. But the Lord said to me, “My grace is enough for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ, for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. - 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, NET

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A common interpretation about this passage is that when Paul speaks of having a "thorn in the flesh" he is speaking of some kind of physical sickness or infirmity. Poor eyesight is often suggested. However, in the looking at this scripture that appears to be a misconception.

It is helpful first to look at the different occasions in Scripture where similar terms to "thorn in the flesh" are used. In each of these cases the term very clearly relates to human adversaries and not physical illness.

"But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living." - Numbers 33:55

"know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good land the Lord your God gave you." - Joshua 23:13

"Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’" - Judges 2:3

Viewing this "thorn in the flesh" as adversaries also works more in harmony with the verse itself. Paul also calls this "thorn in the flesh", a "messenger of Satan". The Greek word here translated as "messenger" is angelos. It is alternatively rendered as "angel" by some translators in cases where they believe the context indicates a spirit messenger rather than a human. The word here transliterated as "Satan" literally means "adversary, accuser".

Paul says that this "thorn in the flesh" and this "messenger of the Adversary" caused him "weakness". Some Bible translators cause confusion by using the English word "infirmity" rather than "weakness". This makes the impression that Paul is referring to physical sickness. However within the whole context of chapters eleven and twelve in 2 Corinthians we can see that weakness is the proper word choice.

Paul uses the same terminology in 2 Corinthians 11:30 where he speaks about "boasting in his weaknesses (infirmities)" In his listing of these "weaknesses" in verse 24-27 never once does he mention physical sickness. These "weaknesses" are various persecutions and tribulations that came upon Paul throughout his ministry. Going now just a few verses later to our subject passage 12:7-10, we can continue the same line of thought as he speaks about "being content with weaknesses, with insults, with troubles, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ." Physical sickness is not implied here.

With this in mind let us look again at this "messenger of Satan" that Paul writes about. In understanding this there are a couple of options. If this is an angelic messenger from Satan then we might understand this as being a spirit of the Adversary that stirred up persecution and opposition to Paul's ministry. It is my opinion though that the context of 2 Corinthians chapter 12 lends this more to being human agents of Satan standing in opposition and slandering Paul. The reason is if we continue on to the very next verse, eleven, we see that Paul is speaking about "super-apostles" who caused severe problems for him and the Good News. If we jump back to Chapter 11 we can get even more clarity on these. Paul writes of such ones saying:

For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions. - 2 Cor 11:13-15

In these verses Paul likens these "super-apostles" as being servants (or ministers) of Satan. Because in scripture angels are also described as servants (see Hebrews 1:7) I think that this gives much support to Paul's "angel of Satan" being one (or all) of these "servants of Satan". This works in the larger context of Chapter 11 and Chapter 12, which is a direct defense of Paul's ministry against the charges of these false apostles.

This also clears up why God allowed this "thorn in the flesh" to remain and did not remove it at Paul's request. Unlike sickness Christians are not redeemed from persecution. Paul later writes to Timothy saying, "all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." (2 Timothy 3:12) This fulfills Jesus' words when he said, "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." (John 15:8)

In looking at this, it is interesting to note that Paul prayed three times that this persecution might be lifted. It struck me that this is the same number of times Jesus in prayer requested that the cup of persecution be removed from him. When it comes to our prayers John writes, "And this is the confidence that we have before him: that whenever we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." (1 John 5:14) It was not God's will to remove the persecution from Jesus and the Lord submitted to that. Likewise, as a follower of Jesus, it was not according to the will of God to remove Paul's persecution. Instead the Lord offered his grace to help Paul endure and overcome these persecutions - not that Paul would be glorified but that the Lord would be.

When we follow after Jesus we can equally expect distressing trials and even human adversaries. We may have to contend with our own "thorn in the flesh" or "messenger of Satan" while we declare the Good News. Almighty God allows such things to happen for a reason. Paul understood that these weaknesses helped to make him "perfect" or "complete". Along these lines James writes, "My brothers and sisters,consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. (James 1:2-4)

While these trials serve to refine us they also bring glory to the Lord. Peter writes, "Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away – and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." (1 Peter 1:7) When it speaks of Jesus Christ being "revealed" the apostle points to the coming day of the Lord. However, even today when Jesus grants us the power to overcome adversaries and obstacles his glory is revealed in us. As Paul writes, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. ... For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body" (2 Corinthians 4:7,11) No wonder James encourages us to consider such "thorns" as "nothing but joy"!

The Lord's Prayer, Answered

The Lord's Prayer (or the Our Father) is a well-known prayer in Christianity. Jesus gave this prayer in response to a request from his disciples that he teach them how to pray. (Matthew 6:9-13) Today many pray this entire prayer either personally or part of liturgical routine. Others may use elements from it as the basis for their own prayers. What may be surprising though is to find that the requests Jesus made in this prayer have already been answered spiritually in the lives of believers. In looking at the individual elements of Jesus' prayer I wish to take nothing from their natural application but hope to just add some appreciation for what has already been accomplished in our lives through Jesus. The fulfillment of this prayer has opened up many wonderful blessings and those that believe can by faith many now enter into them.

Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored

While on earth Jesus came in the name of the Father and thus brought great honor to him through the works he performed in that Name. (John 5:43) Toward the end of Jesus' ministry he requested that the Father "glorify" his name. A voice called down from Heaven saying, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." (John 12:28) In what way would he "glorify it again"? One way is that even after his death Jesus promised that he would continue to make the Father's Name known. (John 17:26) This was accomplished through the disciples that believed upon him.

When we do works in the name of Jesus and are recipients of his grace, we in turn bring glory and honor to our Father; just as when we honor the name of the Son we also honor the Name of the Father. (John 5:23) Jesus affirms, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13) The apostle Paul thus writes, "And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith, that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thess 1:11,12)

May your kingdom come,

When John the Baptist began his ministry his message was of the impending coming of the Kingdom of God. In the wilderness he cried out, "Repent! The Kingdom Is Near!" (Matthew 3:2) John heralded the coming of Jesus who was the embodiment of God's Kingdom as its Messianic king. The chief message of Jesus' ministry was the "good news of the Kingdom" and those who heard that gospel message and believed in it received its benefits, including the deliverance from disease, sickness, and demons. (Matthew 9:35; Luke 8:11) Jesus made clear that his powerful works provided a witness that the Kingdom of God had arrived. To unbelievers he said, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you." (Matthew 12:28) Similarly when his disciples healed the sick they were to make clear that, "The Kingdom of God has come upon you!" (Luke 10:11)

In his passing Jesus transferred the "keys of the Kingdom" to his apostles. (Matthew 16:19) He granted to them the same kingdom that his Father had given him. (Luke 22:29) These apostles would bring many into that Kingdom. To such ones Paul wrote affirmatively, "[God] transferred us to the Kingdom of the Son he loves" (Col 1:13)

Just as Jesus represented the Kingdom of Heaven, we today as "ambassadors of Christ" do the same (2 Cor 5:20) Although the Kingdom is yet coming, it is already come in the lives of those who believe in Jesus Christ and enter right now into that Kingdom through faith. Wherever Jesus was on Earth the Kingdom was made manifest in the people's very midst. (Luke 17:21) If we receive Jesus into our hearts the Kingdom comes into our midst. This is particularly when two or three are gathered in his name as a congregation. (Matthew 18:20) When we exercise Jesus' power over the dominion of Satan's world and administer the blessings of the Kingdom, its domain and sphere of influence reaches out to "come upon" those around us.

May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

As we have already considered, Jesus worked the will of his Father by administering the blessings of the Kingdom to God's covenant people. He said, "I do nothing of myself" (John 8:28) Though from Heaven, Jesus was obedient unto death so that he could fully submit to the will of God on earth. (Matthew 26:39) For it was for this very purpose that Jesus came into the world (John 12:27) And as he died he said, "It is finished" (John 19:30) It is through this that God's will was done on earth.

In his death Jesus brought atonement between man and God and today we have been given the responsibility of declaring this same message of reconciliation. (2 Cor 5:18) We speak not of what will be but what has already come to pass. Paul writes, "So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!" (2 Cor 5:17) When we enter into this relationship as a new creation, a son or daughter of God made in his image, we allow God's will to be worked through us. Paul writes, "More than anything else . . . we want to please him, whether in our home here or there." (2 Corinthians 5:9) We seek to make manifest God’s will on Earth just as it is done in heaven.

The writer of Hebrews says, "For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my anger, ‘they will never enter my rest!’” And yet God’s works were accomplished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4:3,4) Jesus, as the sacrificial Lamb of God, was "slain before the foundation of the world" (Rev 13:8) The Sovereign God exists outside of time and from his perspective all these things have already been accomplished. When we believe in what God has already brought through Jesus we enter into that place of rest where we cease from our own labors and enjoy what God has already brought to pass on Earth for us his covenant people. We become participants in the unfolding purpose of God and in our lives on earth his will is done just as we have been chosen in connection with Jesus even before the "foundation of the world" (Eph 1:4)

Give us today our daily bread,

Taken from a natural point of view it is appropriate to pray that our daily physical needs be met. However, again when we view things spiritually we understand that we have already received our daily bread once and for all. How so? In the gospel of John, Jesus likens himself to living bread. Speaking of himself, Jesus said, "For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven to give life to the world." (John 6:33)

This peaked the interest of those that were listening so they made a similar request as is in the Lord's Prayer saying "Sir give us this bread every day of our lives." (John 6:34, NLT)

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35)

If we physically received a piece of bread that filled us up so that we would never be hungry again would be continue to pray for more? No, because our daily physical need for food would have been met and we would be eternally satisfied. When we come to Jesus we are given such bread. We receive him but once and as long as we keep hold on him he cannot be taken away. We receive this bread as children of our Heavenly Father. (Luke 11:11) And as Jesus says, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." (Matthew 15:26) The only way we lose this bread is by rejecting Jesus. Jesus fulfills all of our needs and when we walk in his Kingdom we will not lack. (Matthew 6:32) It is appropriate then to show our appreciation by continuing to give thanks that Jesus has been given to us once and for all time. (Hebrews 9:26)

And forgive us our debts, as we ourselves forgive others

Speaking in the past tense, Paul encourages the Colossians to "Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (Col 3:13) This work of redemption has already been accomplished when Jesus' conquered sin at Calvary. Speaking of Jesus, Paul writes, "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace." (Ephesians 1:7)

Jesus has already provided forgiveness; but in order to continue to be recipients of it we need to continue to forgive others. At another time Jesus emphatically states this saying, “But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:15)

And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one

Again we turn to Paul's letter to the Colossians to find the fulfillment of this request. He writes, "[God] delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Col 1:13) In his calling Paul was given the commission by the Lord Jesus “to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God," (Acts 26:17,18) When we enter into his Kingdom we enter a realm of unending light and are delivered from the darkness. Paul testifies to this as he writes, “You were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.” He encourages us, “Walk as children of the light.” (Eph 5:8)

That we have been delivered from the "evil one" is shown in that we have authority over all of his power. Jesus gave us this when he says, "Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you." (Luke 10:19) That authority has never been rescinded and it may be exercised today.

Even the “last enemy” death has no hold over us. To Timothy, Paul writes, “[Jesus] has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel!” (2 Timothy 1:10) He who believes that believes in Jesus, “has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24)

All of what we have discussed is just some of the many ways that the Lord’s Prayer has already been answered in the lives of believers bringing us rich blessings. May our hearts be overjoyed by what has been accomplished on our behalf! May we join in thanksgiving with our brother Paul when he says, “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ!” (Eph 1:3)

AMEN