Occupy Until He Comes: Living with Purpose, Not Fear

Welcome to the Kingdom Family Podcast, where

we rediscover our identity as sons and daughters

of Yahweh and learn to live the life of the Kingdom.

Let's jump in to today's episode. All right,

guys, we are back. The final episode for rethinking

the end times. This will be the final episode

for the next couple of months and then we will

kick back off again See July and August will

probably take off. We'll kick back in in September.

So we'll be back in September My goal is to let

this be the last time we have to do a break Maybe

I can get an extra recording done to get ahead

and stay ahead But we'll see how it goes There's

plenty of episodes to go back and listen to from

previous seasons and this season the revelation

of christ in all and to go back and listen to

even uh the rethinking the end time series so

plenty of stuff to listen to go back and re -listen

wrestle with it take it to holy spirit and do

all this that and the other um and so yeah we'll

be back in uh september but for this episode

we're going to be talking about our assignment

occupy until he comes so to close this series

i think it's important for us to understand that

jesus did not call his followers to hide to withdraw

or to wait passively for the end he called us

to occupy to engage to build to serve and to

remain faithful until he comes so regardless

of where you land on the end times after walking

through this teaching Regardless of how many

times you change what you believe about the end

and yes, that's allowed my friend It is more

important that we remain hopeful again The whole

point of this is not to get people to agree and

believe like I do It's to give you a different

perspective To challenge what we're taught, especially

in the West And to just cause you to rethink

and just come to your own conclusion. You take

it to Holy Spirit. You go do your own studying

That kind of thing. But it is more important

that we remain hopeful to partner with heaven,

partner with the trinity, and release the kingdom

within to the world around us. I want you to

ask yourself this question. If Jesus returned

tomorrow, what would you want to be found doing?

You see, growing up, I was led to believe that

the Christian life was about making it through

and getting to heaven once I die. But Jesus actually

gave his followers an assignment. to stay engaged.

You see waiting is not passive. Waiting is actually

purposeful. And I'm going to read to you several

scriptures here right off the bat from Luke chapter

Luke 19 · chapter mention

19 and we're going to read verses 11 through

27 because here Jesus is telling a parable to

a people that expected the kingdom to appear

immediately. And what is he doing? He's correcting

their expectations. So let's walk through this.

Starting at verse 11 says at this time Jesus

was getting close to entering Jerusalem. The

crowns that followed him were convinced that

God's kingdom would fully manifest when Jesus

established it in Jerusalem. So he told them

this story to change their perspective. Once

a wealthy prince left his province to travel

to a distant land where he would be crowned king

and then return. Before he departed, he summoned

his 10 servants together and charged them. I

am entrusting each of you with $50 ,000 to invest

while I am away. Trade with it and put the money

to work until I return. Some of his countrymen

despised the prince and sent a delegation after

him to declare before the royals, we refuse to

let this man rule over us. He will not be our

king. Nevertheless, he was crowned king and returned

to his land. Then he summoned his ten servants

to see how much each had earned and what their

profits were. Sorry, three servants. The first

one came forward and said, Master, I took what

you gave me and invested it, and it multiplied

ten times. Splendid! You have done well, my excellent

servant, because you have shown that I can trust

you in this small matter. I now grant you authority

to rule over ten cities. The second came and

said, Master, what you left with me has multiplied

five times. His master said, I also grant you

authority in my kingdom over five cities. Another

came before the king and said, Master, here is

the money you entrusted to me. I hid it for safekeeping.

You see, I live in fear of you for everyone knows

you are a strict master and impossible to please.

You push us for a high return on all that you

own and you always want to gain from someone

else's efforts. The king said, you wicked servant,

I will judge you using your own words. Now pay

attention to the language here. I will judge

you using your own words. He's not telling him

that he's correct in his assumption of how he

is. But I will judge you according to your own

words if what you said about me is true not saying

that it is That I am a harsh man pushing you

for a high return and wanting gained from others

efforts Why didn't you at least put my money

in the bank to earn some interest on it? The

king said to his servants take the money he has

and give it to the faithful servant who multiplied

my money ten times over But master the other

servants object objected why give it to him he

already has so much yes replied the king but

to all who have been faithful i will give even

more to them and for the ones who have nothing

even the little they seem to have i will take

from them now bring all those rebellious enemies

of mine who rejected me as their king bring them

here before me and execute them all right so

occupy verse 19th Chapter 19 verse 13 says occupy

until I come some translations say things like

do business until I return What is the meaning

of this it means to engage to work to build to

serve? The meaning of occupy there's a Greek

word for that Pragma Yeah, I'm not going to try

to pronounce that I would challenge you to go

look that up But it means the Greek in the Greek

definition means to trade to conduct business

and to engage actively. You see, Jesus did not

want us to wait around quietly. He told us to

engage faithfully, to go out into the world and

represent the kingdom, to release the kingdom

within to the world around. So I want you to

think about this parable that we just read of

the three servants. Each is given responsibility

to engage in one head. And I want you to understand

something that the problem was not failure. The

problem was inactivity. It was fear. It was avoidance.

The servant who he had was afraid. He did nothing

and he avoided responsibility. So I want you

to think today, fear produces passivity, but

faith produces action. Think about what is being

said. the one that said that I was in fear of

you for I have this assumption really of how

you are I have an assumption of your character

that you like to take what doesn't belong to

you which is funny because he's giving access

to what he owns think about this but the fear

that for that third servant is causing him not

to do anything it's causing him to do nothing

it's causing him to be afraid to to to do essentially

like Adam and Eve does in the garden, where they

run and hide. They forgot what their father was

actually like. And the master even says in this

parable, he says, you should have at least put

the money in the bank so it could do something.

If you were not gonna do anything, at least put

the money in the bank so the bank can let it

earn interest. Do something. Occupy until I return.

So again, You have a servant who's afraid, who

does nothing, and he avoids responsibility for

what he has been entrusted with. So ask yourself

today, what have you been entrusted with? What

has the Father entrusted you with? So I want

you to think about what does it mean to occupy

today? You see, occupying is not a military language.

It's kingdom language. It means to have faithful

living, to have purposeful engagement in life,

to have daily obedience, momentary obedience.

To be engaged purposefully, to have a purpose,

to know your purpose, to release that purpose

from inside of you to the world that you've been

entrusted with. To release the kingdom on your

job site. your workplace, when you're in school,

to release the kingdom when you're grocery shopping,

when you're at the cash register checking out

if you don't use self -checkout, to release the

kingdom everywhere you go. When you're at the

gas station, when you're sitting around the dinner

table as a family, when you're having discussions

with your children or with your spouse, to release

that kingdom within you to the world around you.

What are some examples of occupying today? Think

about this loving people Letting the love of

Papa shine through your life Allowing people

to encounter love by encountering you, you know,

there's a thought that I think about that I read

Somebody posted on Facebook and it just had me

really thinking about this But you know, there's

a spot where Jesus is he tells the disciples

he tells Thomas he said if you've seen me you've

seen the father and The question is can we say

the same thing? Can we tell the world around

us if you've seen me you've seen the father Now

really think about that if people see you have

they encountered the love of Christ Just just

just sit with that wrestle with that thought

think about that pause this Go away get along

with with the father get along with Holy Spirit

wrestle with this question But example to occupy

will be loving people loving being light Releasing

the love of Christ to the world around you to

those who were forgotten about for those trapped

in the trap of religion. It's releasing love.

Could an example of occupying be raising a family?

Being a present father, being a present mother,

raising your children, being engaged with your

spouse, spending time with your family, really

paying attention. Listen, I'm stepping on my

own toes just as much. Being present in the moment

not just being there but being there Not just

being in the room, but being present in the moment

Example of occupying working faithfully Serving

communities speaking the truth building relationships

You see occupying means living like the kingdom

matters right now because my friend It does.

The kingdom matters here and now. Speaking truth,

what do I mean when I say that? When I think

about speaking truth, I'm thinking about speaking

the truth over people. Reminding them of who

they are in Christ. Reminding them of the finished

work of Christ. That's a big deal. Reminding

them there's no hoops to jump through. There's

not a treadmill to run on. There's not a hamster

wheel in this life. It's about the finished work

of Christ. And now you and I get to simply be

a son or daughter of Yahweh. We get to be human

beings on the earth, releasing the kingdom. Think

about what it means to have the same spirit of

Christ, excuse me, the same spirit that raised

Christ from the dead living inside of you. What

does that mean, my friend? What does that do

for you? How does that impact your life to know

that the same spirit that raised Christ from

the dead resides within us? That's a big deal.

I was reading today, 2 Corinthians chapter 5,

2 Corinthians 5:20

verse 20, that we're ambassadors of the kingdom

of heaven. We get to release the voice of heaven

to the world around us. That's a big deal. That's

what I'm talking about when I'm saying occupy

until he comes to do business To give people

hope and take their hopelessness To release healing

to the world around us you say I can't do that.

Yes, you can because Christ lives within you

What is the will of the Father? Think about this

stuff wrestle with it It's kingdom my friend

Release the kingdom. John would call it life.

John would call it Zoe. The God kind of life.

The kingdom is life and life is the kingdom.

Release that to the world around you. Occupy.

Do business. Man, this stuff is good if you really

think about it. Why does this matter for end

times teaching? Why would I choose this? thing

right here to wrap this up because the truth

is if people believe that they're leaving soon

they often withdraw. They stop building. They

lose long -term vision. There's people that don't

have any kind of 401k investment because they

believe it's about the end so they won't need

to worry about it. I've heard of stories of people

coming up to pastors and leaders releasing a

different eschatology than what we've been taught

and Saying that they didn't have children This

is an older couple didn't have children because

they thought the end of the world was soon So

they didn't want to bring a child into that My

friend that's sad That that is that is something

that we really need to really think about That

we've created a culture where people are afraid

to have children Because of how dark the world

is and that goes back to what I said before if

the world is dark It simply means the light is

not turned off And you and I are that light in

the world According to Christ We are the light

of the world Because he is the light of the world

and he lives within us Christ lives within us

so people that believe that we're leaving soon

withdraw stop building they lose that long -term

vision but scripture teaches us to have faithfulness

to investment it teaches us stewardship to take

care of things yes even taking care of our planet

i do believe in that i do believe we should recycle

when we can To take care of the the the the world

the earth that we have been entrusted with I

Know that's an off -the -wall subject, but just

that just come to my mind it is important We

should take care of our planet. It's been given

to us by our father to rule over God did not

place us here to escape the world but to influence

the world And I want you to think about this.

The kingdom grows through people. It's seed growing.

It's slow, it's steady, and it's persistent.

The kingdom is very persistent. It just looks

like a slow process. No different than if you

go plant an apple seed. And if you nurture that

like it's supposed to be and take care of that

plant that seed will one day grow into a apple

tree that produces apples for your children and

grandchildren to live off that apple tree. That's

a big deal. It's just slow. It's not microwave

society. So what does that mean? It means your

actions matter today. Your small faithfulness

matters today. Your daily obedience matters.

Because occupant is not doing something spectacular,

it's about doing something faithful. It's very

practical. The small things that we do. The small

decisions that we continuously make. So I want

you to think about the goal is not panic. It's

preparedness, it's confidence, it's faith, it's

faithfulness. So what kind of people should we

be as sons and daughters? What kind of people

should we be? Should we be fearful like the third

servant? No, we should be faithful like the first

two. Expectation produces purpose. Fear produces

paralysis i'll say that again expectation produces

purpose fear produces paralysis start wrapping

this one up it's a big quick one i want you to

think about this jesus gave us work to do not

just waiting to do even when i talk about resting

and waiting See waiting on God is not uh waiting

on God is not sitting in your lazy boy with your

feet kicked up waiting no I don't have time to

teach this but wait if you go back to I believe

it's in uh Isaiah that talks about those that

wait on the Lord that word wait actually means

to um essentially that means to bind your perspective

up with Yahweh's to get a heavenly perspective.

I have to go back and really look at that definition,

but that's essentially what I'm remembering that

it means. It means binding your perspective with

Yahweh. When I say rest, rest is not doing nothing.

Rest is just understanding that you can have

the confidence that the finished work of Christ

was enough, that none of this relies on you and

me. I am releasing the kingdom of heaven to the

world around me because Christ finished it. When

healing flows out of us, it's not us doing it,

it's the finished work of Christ flowing through

us. Rest means I get to partner with heaven.

You know, number two is faithfulness matters

more than fear. Daily obedience means something.

Daily obedience counts. And then the final truth

I want you to think about is the kingdom advances

through people. The kingdom advances through

you, advances through me, it advances through

faithful living. The call of Jesus was never

to hide from the world, but to engage it. It

was not to retreat, but to remain faithful. It

was not to fear the future, but to live with

purpose and hope. Until he comes, we occupy.

We build. We serve. We love. Because the kingdom

is not waiting. It is advancing. And my friend,

I think we're still early in the game. That's

my personal belief. You don't have to believe

like I do. But I do hope that you'll remain hopeful

I do hope that you will look through life with

the lens of Christ and not Here here's the thing

if I'm wrong about what I believe about the end

and there is a so -called rapture I'm still going

because I believe But if those who believe in

a rapture are stuck on that and think we're not

going to be here therefore They're not planning

long term They're gonna suffer from that because

they won't be prepared for long term Be prepared

to hang out here be prepared to stay Think with

long term in mind think about your great -grandchildren

What kind of life do you want to live for them?

What kind of legacy do you want to live for leave

for them? What kind of world do you want to leave

for them? Think about your great -great grandchildren

What are you leaving for them? I'm not just talking

about money my friends. What kind of wisdom are

you leaving? What kind of life what kind of example?

What kind of what kind of What kind of kingdom

are you leaving them? Think about that Wrestle

with this question again, this is not about you

believing like I do it was never the intention

of this It's just to give you a different perspective,

a more hopeful outlook, and I hope I've done

that. I hope you see things without, if you were

in my generation, learning from the Left Behind

series. Used to watch those movies and eat popcorn,

and now I'm thinking, what did I do to myself?

Think about this stuff. It's about kingdom. It's

about our children. our grandchildren, our great

grandchildren. What kind of world am I leaving?

What kind of legacy? And man, I'm telling you,

I'm stepping on my own toes with this. Have a

more hope -filled approach. Just think about

that. Can I pray over you today? Father I thank

you for my listeners. I thank you for those who

have stumbled across this podcast or this YouTube

video if this goes on YouTube I Pray that their

eyes would be enlightened that they would be

like Saul being converted to Paul and the scales

would fall from their eyes But if they're living

in fear about the end that you would give them

hope for tomorrow that you would give them hope

for today And let me correct that, hope for today.

May you help them understand they have grace

for today. And to take each day with itself,

one day at a time, releasing the kingdom. Teach

them what it means to partner with you. Help

them to bind their perspective with yours, Father.

I thank you for each of them. Pray blessings.

I speak blessings over their life over their

family over their relationships In Jesus name

My friends, I hope this series has helped you

Man I would ask that you leave a review Let me

know Did this help? Do you think I'm just crazy?

Whatever But I would challenge you Leave a review,

share it with other people. And I will see you

guys in September. Until then, be blessed and

keep building the kingdom. Thanks for spending

some time with me today on the kingdom family

podcast. If this episode spoke to you. Take a

moment to share it and help someone else rediscover

their identity as a son or daughter of Yahweh.

And don't forget, follow the podcast so you can

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Kingdom Family Ministries. Until next time, live

loved, live free, and live from the life of the

Kingdom.