Violently Taking the Kingdom: The Call to Holy Passion and Relentless Pursuit
The Kingdom of Heaven is breaking in—only the passionate will take hold of it.
What does the presence of God mean to you? Is there a fire burning deep in your soul that consumes everything inside you, or have you grown cold and indifferent to the things of God?
Friend, now is the time to seek the Lord. We have reached a place of great significance in the earth and in the timeframe of the Lord. He is opening doors and releasing His Spirit as the Word promised.
If ever there were a moment when you needed to pour out your heart to seek the Lord, now is that moment. There is a new kingdom seeking to overtake your life: the Kingdom of God. His kingdom is coming on the earth in deeper and stronger measures, and the people of God must begin to press into it.
The Bible says in the book of Matthew, “From the moment John stepped onto the scene until now, the realm of heaven’s kingdom is bursting forth, and passionate people have taken hold of its power” (Matthew 11:12 TPT). Another translation of this verse states, “the violent take it by force.” Today, let this verse become the pursuit of your life. Begin to search for, seek after, and pursue the kingdom of God until it becomes the treasure of your heart and the life of your soul.
Violently take hold of the kingdom of God and then humbly submit yourself to the King of all kings. This is not the violence that we see in the news; it is the holy violence that refuses to submit to demonic powers and authorities and seeks to gain the things of God at any cost. This “passionate” taking hold of the kingdom will start an overflow of His presence and glory in your life that you will not be able to live without.
Whatever you need is available in His kingdom. Scripture declares this to us in the book of Matthew.
Matthew 6:31-33 TPT—[31] “So then, forsake your worries! Why would you say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ [32] For that is what the unbelievers chase after. Doesn’t your heavenly Father already know the things your bodies require? [33] “So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly.
Friend, what are you chasing after? What is it that you pursue? Your pursuit sets the course of your heart and defines the outcome of your life. Your pursuit leads you down roads that end in specific destinations. We can always gauge our life by what we pursue. When we pursue all the things of this life and the world, it ends in misery and want. Nothing good will ever come through the pursuit of gain and worldly things. However, when we invest our lives in the pursuit of the kingdom and presence of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, we will come to possess everything our heart desires. How is this possible? It is possible because when He becomes your deepest pursuit, He becomes your greatest desire.
The Lord will not withhold Himself from the one who purposes to pursue Him. Lately, my own heart has been set on a quest to find God and know Him more deeply than I’ve ever known Him. I have found that the more I pour out my heart and soul, the more He pours in His Spirit and presence. He becomes more real than ever as you open your heart and seek Him with everything you have.
It was in this place of seeking the Lord that He spoke a word in my heart that I want to share with you, the remnant. I encourage you to receive it for yourself and pray over it. Let the Lord set your heart on a course that changes your destiny.
“If you will cry after me and seek after me as for hidden treasure, you will find the goodness of the Lord. He will be released upon your life in greater and greater measures. The presence will descend and remain upon those who set their hearts to seek me. I will become their North Star and the One who guides them. No evil will befall them, for I the Lord walk ahead of them. I protect and defend. For My mighty Holy Spirit is poured out upon those who seek me earnestly—desiring to have me, longing for my presence—I will overwhelm the barren places with growth, and my hand will extend to the furthest reaches of your life. Nothing will be outside my reach as you seek me and pour out your heart before me. I stand before you this day to release myself and my Spirit upon your life. Receive me and try me. I am faithful.”
Remnant people of God, let’s again purpose in our hearts that everything we are and hope to be belongs to Jesus—that our entire life comes under submission to Him and His Holy Spirit. This kind of submission releases the kingdom of God to work and move in your life, and you will never regret the outcome of this quest.
Allow me to encourage you to take action in a couple of areas.
Have a secret place with God.
Find a place to come before Him alone and immerse your life in His presence. You will find that He saturates every fiber of your life as you lay yourself before Him in secret. This secret place with the Lord becomes the most important part of your life, and its influence will be felt far beyond the time you invest with Jesus. Furthermore, there is a promise attached to the secret place with God. The Bible says that those who look for Him in secret will be rewarded openly.
Begin a quest to find God.
Most of us have read about the great men and women of years past—those who prayed revivals into existence and saw nations changed because of their prayers. Finney, Whitefield, and Roberts are but a few of the men who sought the Lord with all their might and saw heaven seem to open above them. You could also mention Billy Graham and the German evangelist to Africa, Reinhard Bonnke. These men saw untold numbers of people come to Christ and witnessed miraculous, documented healings.
My heart wonders what kind of prayer it will take to see even a portion of what these men saw. How much time will it take in the presence of God to possess a measure of His Spirit that starts shaking the foundation of hell and releasing the kingdom of heaven? I, for one, am on a quest to see how much of my life I can pour out in the presence of the Lord.
There are some who will never understand what this means. This quest does not mean we stop trusting God or that we no longer hold to the firm doctrines and beliefs that have anchored our faith. It simply means that we recognize there is more. There is more to the Lord than knowing about Him. We can know Him personally, deeply, intimately, and become acquainted with His Holy Spirit and thirst for His presence. This is where my heart has found a landing place and a dwelling place—the presence of the Lord.
I pray that your heart ignites with a holy hunger and thirst to press into the Lord more deeply than you ever have before. After all, this is harvest season, and we do not want to miss anything God is doing.
Blessings on you in Christ,
Larry Shankle