Shekinah Today Podcast

God's Plan for You is Bigger Than You Think!

• Shekinah Today Ministries • Season 1 • Episode 9

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Rediscover why God's plan for your life is far bigger than you've ever imagined!
When most people think about God's plan, they think about salvation, heaven, and eternity. Yet, Scripture reveals an even larger story—a breathtaking Kingdom plan that began in Genesis and reaches far beyond what most Christians have ever considered.

In this episode, Darrel and Cindy deVille uncover God's original design for mankind, why seeing the bigger picture is essential to understanding your destiny, and how a Kingdom perspective transforms the way you live today.

In this episode rediscover:
• The bigger picture behind your purpose, calling, and divine destiny
• Why God's plan for your life has always been far greater than simply getting into Heaven
• How a Kingdom mindset transforms how you see your future
• The paradigm shift that helps you live with greater vision, purpose, and hope
• Explore what God has planned in the ages to come!

This episode will change your big-picture perspective on life—forever.

Based on Chapter 4, "God's Original Glorious Plan," from the new "Rise of the Glorious Church" book.

Episode 9 Timecode Chapters:
00:00 Intro & Welcome
00:50 Rededicate 250 Event Report
02:04 Recap and Preview
04:40 Seeing the Big Picture Story

07:15 God's Original Plan & Purpose Introduction
08:38 Original Purpose #1
13:14 Original Purpose #2
16:23 Original Purpose #3
21:04 Intro to Break Invite

22:04 Two Main Phases – How Jesus Establishes God’s Kingdom
25:30 A Glimpse at the Ages to Come?
29:30 The Royal Family Training for Reigning 
32:58 Preview 5 Glorious Church Fundamentals (Must Knows)
33:16 Special Exhortation
34:14 Review & Final Thoughts

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Learn about our new book – Rise of the Glorious Church!
ShekinahToday.org/RGCbook

Shekinah Today TV Channel
Youtube.com/@ShekinahTodayTV

Intro & Welcome

Speaker 1

Today, we're going back to the very beginning to uncover what it seems most believers have never fully understood: God's original plan and purpose for man. God's plan for your life has always been far greater than simply going to heaven. And once you see it, you'll never see your life the same again. Then stay with us because we will also explore what God has planned in the ages to come that will change your eternal perspective forever. Welcome back to the Shekinah Today Podcast, where your hosts Darrel and Cindy deVille.

Speaker 2

Welcome everyone. This is Cindy, and we are so excited about this episode and sharing these truths with you. You

Rededicate 250 Event Report

Speaker 2

know, I just got back, not just within the past few weeks, from the Rededicate America, which was an amazing event and so significant. You know, for so many, you we see and hear all the noise and all the things that are going on in the nation, and often it can look so dark. But being there and seeing and hearing the so many things that God is actually doing, He is working on so many levels. And so I just want to encourage you in that because that was a very significant day. Yes. That our president, the head leader of our nation, wanted to rededicate this nation back to God. That's right. And partnering with the pastors and spiritual leaders of the nation was very powerful.

Speaker 1

Yes, it's amazing to actually see some of the things we actually wrote about in our first book, God's Answer for America, starting to actually take place in our nation. Yes. Just the early stages of that.

Speaker 2

The call to repentance and prayer. And we actually talked about at the end of the book, we talked about the leaders of the nation calling them to do such a thing as to rededicate our nation back to the Lord. That's right. So that is absolutely amazing.

Recap and Preview

Speaker 1

All right. Well, we're continuing to walk through our new life-transforming, church-changing book called Rise of the Glorious Church. And in our previous episodes, we walked through part one of our book, chapters one to three, about how an end time stage is being set. We shared a prophetic glimpse of what's coming and what the glorious church will look like. Then we also shared three right in time paradigms to have that will help you correctly navigate the days ahead. If you've not seen or heard those yet, go back and listen or watch those. We also shared an amazing, epic vision of Jesus opening up seven end time doors and why he was opening those up. Again, go back and watch those to hear what was going on and why. It's an amazing process to see. Then the last couple episodes, we talked about how God is bringing forth a rebirth of the church that will change everything. How he's using this to prepare and select his glorious end-time army. So part one was really a big picture focus about the body of Christ, what God is saying and what he's doing. Now we start part two of the book called The Living Glorious Church. This is a focus on you on the personal level, what God wants to do in you and through you, and the glorious, amazing plans he has for you.

Speaker 2

Amen. It's amazing because walking through all that, it just expands your vision. It does. And now to be able to bring it to the personal level, which is so important. And we want to remind you today that not only does God have a plan, a purpose, a destiny for our nation, for the body of Christ as a whole, but he has a glorious plan, a purpose, and destiny for you personally. His original plan that we will be sharing provides a big picture context for our divine destiny and why we are called to walk gloriously, both personally and corporately. It really all begins at the personal level.

Speaker 1

That's right. That's right. God raising up the glorious church actually begins not with the church itself, because ultimately the church is the body of Christ and it's made up of people.

Speaker 2

That's right. And we're all parts of that body.

Speaker 1

That's right.

Speaker 2

And what's so powerful is when we come together in unity, we start flowing and working as one body. That's when we're gonna accomplish so much.

Speaker 1

That's right, that's right.

Seeing the Big Picture Story

Speaker 1

So what we want to talk about now is seeing the big picture for your life.

Speaker 2

Because seeing the big picture is critical and it helps frame the why behind our destiny and everything that God has called us to. This following story Darrel's going to share about three bricklayers illustrates this so well.

Speaker 1

So just picture this. One sunny day, a man's walking in a city, and he starts walking by a construction site where three bricklayers were working. He went to the first bricklayer and asked, What are you doing? And the man replied, I'm laying bricks. Then he went to the second bricklayer and asked, What are you doing? And the man replied, I'm building a brick wall for a door. As he approached the third bricklayer, he heard the man humming a joyful tune while he worked. Then he asked them, What are you doing? The third bricklayer stood back, looked up at the sky, and smiled and said, I'm building a cathedral, a house of God.

Speaker 2

That is so amazing. That just illustrates right there our perspective. That's right. And how we need to see big and think big because God is big. That's right. And we need to ask, you know, which bricklayer are you? We need to ask ourselves that. The first two bricklayers, they had a small, limited vision of their purpose. The third bricklayer saw the big, beautiful picture, which gave him great joy and a grand sense of purpose. That's right. You know, it makes me think of the scripture, you know, without a vision, my people perish. God wants you to have vision for your life, for your family, for our nation, for the body of Christ. But this story of the three bricklayers helps illustrate the importance of seeing the big picture. Yes. We want you to see that today, the big picture. God wants to cast vision before you. Um, seeing the big picture and why behind it is a theme throughout this book. If we fail to truly understand and appreciate the bigger picture, we risk losing sight of our purpose in life. If we lose sight of that, our whole life begins to be just about, oh, I gotta pay the bills. I need to go to work, I need to do this. Whereas when you have vision, it changes everything. So when we lose that sight, this results in mediocre lives and mediocre churches. By majoring on the minor things, we miss God's bigger and eternal purposes.

Speaker 1

That's right. And that's

God's Original Plan & Purpose Introduction

Speaker 1

why this chapter four is called God's Original Glorious Plan and Purpose.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

The big picture can be seen in God's original glorious plan for his kingdom and for mankind. Look at it like this God's original plan and purpose is revealed like bookends in the first two chapters of Genesis and the final two chapters of the book of Revelation.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

In Genesis, we see the creation of man in God's image and his plan to expand his kingdom. Then the last two chapters of the book of Revelation, we see the kingdom of heaven coming to earth, symbolized by the new Jerusalem, right? How exciting. That's right. So now let's examine God's original plan. And we believe it's really a threefold purpose that's revealed in Scripture and how they work together towards his eternal purpose.

Speaker 2

You know, it's amazing because we need to remember and we want to remind you that if you are a Christ's follower, you've been born again, you are going to live for eternity. That's right. We should be asking the question: what is that gonna look like? Am I just gonna float on clouds with a harp? That's right. And sing, maybe if you have a good voice, right? But this is something we want to look at so you can actually see what does scripture say? What is God revealing to us in his word?

Original Purpose #1

Speaker 1

That's right. And see, God's original plan and purpose, number one, was this to create a glorious royal family to reign with him.

Speaker 2

Through eternity.

Speaker 1

Through eternity. That's right. Just like you said, our eternal purpose is not to just make it to heaven and float on clouds and play harp. God's plan is so much greater for his church, for his people, more glorious than I believe we can even imagine or grasp.

Speaker 2

You know, when I look at the creativity just on the earth, the earth, the sky, the so many things he created, he's a creator, he's a dreamer, he loves doing things baby. That's right. So you know his plans for his people, who he loves, that's right, are great.

Speaker 1

Amen. And the insight to this is the Lord Jesus' model of prayer, which starts with our Father who art in heaven. And see, God is a father who from the very beginning desired a family, a royal family, to be trained and prepared to rule with him throughout the universe in the ages to come. Yes. How exciting is that!

Speaker 2

Amen. That's why we we need to know him. We yes, we know God is the almighty, all-sufficient, powerful, but we need to also embrace and know him as Father. That's right. And how he works in our lives and his love for his family. So this is amazing.

Speaker 1

That's right. As we said, it all began in Genesis 1. When God started creating his royal family in his image and likeness, amen.

Speaker 2

And just think, he said, be fruitful, multiply, take dominion. That's right. He wanted the family to grow.

Speaker 1

Yes. He wanted us to work in partnership with him to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth and then expand it throughout the earth.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

That was his original plan. His plan has not changed. That's right. That's what he wants to do.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

And ultimately, like we say, that's what we see happening in the book of Revelation, the last couple chapters. Then when Jesus comes back, that's when he's going to start doing it. Yes. Just like the original plan was.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

Right? Amen. So we see that God's original plan was actually multiplying his son in order to have many sons. Sons and daughters.

Speaker 2

That's right. We have to say daughters because you know they're they're the ones that help multiply.

Speaker 1

Well, actually, the term sons of God is really more of a title. It does not really refer to gender. Right. As we see in Romans 8 19, it says the earth is yearning for the sons of God to be manifest. Sons of God is a title that refers to mature children of God. Yes. Both sons and daughters of God. And these sons of God will carry the same spiritual DNA of Christ, his divine nature, his love, his power and glory. Amen expressed through their unique gifts and personalities.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

In fact, C.S. Lewis echoes this when he said, The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.

Speaker 2

Amen. You know, we see this throughout Scripture. Once again, we see God's original plan after Moses helped deliver his chosen people from slavery and brought them to Mount Sinai in Exodus 19, 5 through 6. And he said, Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. So God expressed his desire to have a special, a holy nation, a collection of royal priests and ambassadors, carrying out his plans and his purposes.

Speaker 1

That's right, ambassadors to all nations. And see, both Peter and John echo this. First Peter 2, 9 says, You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Amen. And then John writes in Revelation 1, 5 to 6, he says, He has made us kings and priests unto our God and our Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Speaker 2

I think it's amazing that the word kings, he has made us kings and priests. I mean, that is amazing about you think about that in identity as part of his family.

Speaker 1

That's right.

Speaker 2

We now have the blood of the king of kings, the DNA of the king of glory in us.

Speaker 1

That's right. So we see God's original purpose number one was to create a glorious royal family to reign with him.

Original Purpose #2

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

Then God's original purpose number two was God dwelling with us, really like the ark of his presence. Yes. And again, we see that in Revelation 21, one to three. God's ultimate plan to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth and to dwell with his life. Amen.

Speaker 2

Well, you know, just think about that as a father. How much do we love it? Like, you know, our children are grown, but we have grandchildren. But it is such a delight. That's right. When the family comes together, we come together with our children and our grandchildren. It is, it brings such joy. And just think God is a father. That is exactly how he is. He loves to come and he wants to be right there in the midst.

Speaker 1

That's right. God loves family. He has always desired to dwell among his sons and daughters. He loves us deeply and wants us to encounter him, to know him, to walk with him and dwell with him.

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 1

We actually see this desire of God. We see this symbolically represented throughout scripture over and over again. First in the Garden of Eden, and when he was walking with man in the garden.

Speaker 2

You see that intimacy right there.

Speaker 1

Yes, it was a daily basis. He was walking with them. And then the tabernacle of Moses, we see how he set that all up. And it was in the middle of the whole community dwelling there in his presence, represented his presence.

Speaker 2

That's where the ark was.

Speaker 1

The Ark of the Covenant was. That's right. And then the tabernacle of David took that to a whole other level, which we will cover later in the book. Amen. And so in the Old and New Testament temple and tabernacle, we see this. And then we see this most of all, as clear as can be, in the ultimate tabernacle symbol, the New Jerusalem, described in the book of Revelation, which says, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them.

Speaker 2

I love that. That just my heart rejoices because I I love the scripture where he says, I will be your God and you will be my people. That's right. And I will walk among you. That's what he wants.

Speaker 1

That's right. See, Jesus came to model this very thing. John 1 14 says, the word, Jesus is the word, became flesh and dwelt. No, it's tabernacled among us.

Speaker 2

That's right.

Speaker 1

That's what God's ultimate plan is all along.

Speaker 2

That's right.

Speaker 1

And he was here for a while. He was here on earth. It was like God living among us for a while. So God wants to be with us, in us, and through us.

Speaker 2

Amen. It's amazing to see because God was not satisfied merely to just dwell among his people. He wanted to dwell in his people and work with them in divine partnership. The centerpiece of God's original plan and eternal purpose is to establish a habitation for the kingdom of heaven on earth and reign with a people who will walk in Christ's likeness. We're to be part of his royal family, advancing the kingdom of God, walking in his divine nature, adorned with his glory and emanating the fragrance of heaven.

Speaker 1

Amen.

Original Purpose #3

Speaker 1

Yes. That leads us to the third original purpose God had is for the kingdom of heaven to be expanded. Yes. Upon this earth and beyond.

Speaker 2

That's right.

Speaker 1

We say to infinity and beyond. That's right.

Speaker 2

You know, I think about that, the expanding of the kingdom. You go, you know, even look across our nation and the nations of the earth, you see places that are so dark. But what God wants to do is his royal family, he's commissioned us to go. That's right. And to be a light and to bring the kingdom of heaven into those places.

Speaker 1

That's right. So God's original purpose, number three, is the kingdom of heaven to be expanded. Amen. As in Genesis 1, God made mankind in his image and likeness to take dominion, to establish and expand his kingdom of heaven on earth and beyond.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

And we see this spoken about in Isaiah 9:7. This is talking about the Messiah, Jesus. The increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Wow. And then in Luke 133 says, in his kingdom there will be no end.

Speaker 2

That is amazing because when you think about it, you see the word government. That's the government of God. It's the kingdom of God. And that's why I think Herod and those in Jesus' day, knowing these scriptures, it's like, oh, we need to be, do we need to be afraid?

Speaker 1

You know, one recent Christmas, we were teaching our young grandchildren at the time three reasons Jesus really came. When we say really came, we mean besides the reason he came to bring salvation for man. Jesus came so one, so we could be part of God's royal family.

Speaker 2

He wanted to restore that.

Speaker 1

That's right. Two, the reason to he came was so we can know God and dwell with him.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

And then the third reason was to expand his kingdom to infinity and beyond. In fact, what's funny is we would use this on our screen on the on the TV, we would show this through our keynote. And when we said to infinity beyond, we'd push a button and it would cause Buzz Lightyear Woody fly across the screen and say, to infinity and beyond.

Speaker 2

Yes. We wanted to share that with you on this video, but copyright.

Speaker 1

I don't think that would let us. Yes. But the kid, you know, the grandkids just loved it, and they it would lock that in for them. So they to this day can quote to you the three reasons Jesus really came besides salvation.

Speaker 2

We want our grandchildren to think big.

Speaker 1

Yes, that's right.

Speaker 2

We don't want them to limit God. And you know, when you think about why Jesus came, and I've said this before, but to just bring this in, that we know he came to seek and save the lost. He knows he came to destroy the works of the evil one. And he know that he came because he he says, I have come, I have come, that you would have life and have it to the full. And that's what he wants from us as the church, the body of Christ, to take Christ into the nations, seek and save the lost, destroy the works of the evil one, bring that life abundant that He that He bought and paid for. God's original plan was for the earth to be a reflection of the kingdom of God. That's right. I mean, think about the garden. That's why the Lord says to pray this way: thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So we need to ask ourselves what is heaven's plan? What does heaven look like? That's right. Jesus' ministry was filled with messages and parables about the kingdom of God. His final messages to his disciples before his ascension was about the kingdom in Acts 1 3. The apostles in Paul preach the kingdom of God. Throughout the book of Acts, we see Acts 8:12, Acts 20, 25, and Acts 208, 30 through 31.

Speaker 1

That's right. It's all over the New Testament. When you look at Jesus' parables, Jesus' message before he ascended, and then the apostle Paul saying, Hey, I preached the kingdom. Yes. He emphasized the kingdom. I know everybody talks about his message of grace, but he himself says, My main message was about the kingdom of God. Yes. And so we see that the book of Revelation also clearly shows the purpose Christ is coming again is to complete what he started. Revelation 11:15 declares, the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

Speaker 2

Forever and ever.

Speaker 1

That's right.

Speaker 2

And we, who's reigning with him? His royal family. That's right. His sons and daughters.

Speaker 1

That's right, his royal family.

Intro to Break Invite

Speaker 1

All right. So next we're going to cover the two faces Jesus is using to establish his kingdom upon the earth. And we're going to give you a glimpse of the ages to come. Then we're going to share how God is getting you, part of his royal family, ready to reign and rule with him.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 3

We'll be right. Decades ago, God began shaping within Darrel and Cindy a grand vision, revealing his end-time plans and blueprints for what he's about to do in his church and in the nations. And now the time has come to share these from their new book, Rise of the Glorious Church. To learn more about all this, we invite you to watch our engaging and prophetic trailers and inspiring shorts on our new Shekinah Today YouTube channel. Then subscribe, share, and see more details on our website at shekinah.com. ChinaToday.org.

Two Main Phases – How Jesus Establishes God’s Kingdom

Speaker 1

All right, welcome back. Before the break, we're sharing how God's original glorious plan was for us to have a royal family that he can rule and reign with, a family that he can dwell with, and a family he can expand his kingdom with. Amen. So we see Christ Jesus re-establishing God's kingdom on earth in two phases. First, the why, like an epic movie of good versus evil, the Genesis account unfolds with the emergence of a villain, Satan, who sought to steal, derail, and destroy God's original plan. We see in Genesis 1 to 2, God made mankind in his image and likeness to take dominion. Then in Genesis 3, Adam's disobedience led to the fall of man. Sin was introduced, and a curse came upon the earth, a 6,000-year deter from God's original plan. However, God already knew what was coming and had a plan in place to send his son, Yeshua, to rescue mankind and restore God's original plan in two phases. Amen. And then phase one was Jesus' first coming, which really we believe was like an internal focus. If you look at it, Jesus came to restore the destiny of man. Think of it like in computer terms, like a divine reboot or upgrade 2.0 for humanity. Jesus came to reboot God's special creation of mankind. Jesus sacrificing the cross and victory over death not only restored and rebooted humanity's original position and access to God, but also made available a major upgrade in the form of the Holy Spirit and the seed of Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Speaker 2

Amen. So Jesus' death on the cross not only removed our sins, but also granted us power over sin and restored our relationship with the Father. It restored our true identity, our position, our power and authority. Now we are positioned to fulfill God's plan and destiny for each of our lives if we will walk in it. That's right. It's interesting to see this and understand that Jesus' first coming, what it did is it began an internal establishment of his kingdom within the hearts of his people. As Jesus said, the kingdom of God is within us in Luke 17, 21. The results of Jesus' first coming include preparing a bride, a people that would grow and mature to manifest and release the kingdom of heaven on earth externally before his return.

Speaker 1

So we see phase one, Jesus' first coming was an internal focus to get the kingdom of God within us. Yes. And now the second phase, Jesus' second coming, is an external focus to expand his kingdom on the earth and beyond.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

And we see when Christ returns, he will complete his union with his bride and merge the eternal kingdom in us with the external kingdom in fullness.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

That's what's going to start building when he returns. It's going to be amazing. Yes. Think about it like this: a thousand-year reign of Christ is just the beginning of God's grand eternal plans.

A Glimpse at the Ages to Come?

Speaker 1

After the millennium of Christ, there's going to be a final purge of evil that arises. And then after that, the entire universe opens up to expand God's kingdom. Oh my goodness. Just like Isaiah said, of his kingdom there will be no end.

Speaker 2

So maybe Elon Musk has some inside information.

Speaker 1

So think about that. What this could this possibly look like? What's exciting to consider is there is a purpose in all of this that goes beyond this earth. It begins here, but it doesn't stop here.

Speaker 2

What's amazing because when you look at scriptures, you see the those things being revealed.

Speaker 1

That's right.

Speaker 2

But his kingdom, there will be no end. I love that about the word.

Speaker 1

It's it's like that's right. So consider this. If the increase of his kingdom is truly without end, then how far could it possibly expand? Think logically. The planet Earth can only contain so much growth. Is it possible the expanse of the universe with its innumerable galaxies and planets is just not for show? We serve a big God who loves to create on a grand scale. Imagine having him plan to establish his kingdom of heaven through his glorious bride throughout the universe. Now that's big.

Speaker 2

Yes, that's big. It's like goes beyond my natural mind, is like clink, clink.

Speaker 1

In fact, the ramifications of this and speculation could be what kind of amazing technologies could be developed and unlocked during the millennium that will help us to actually travel to other planets and expand the kingdom of God. Yes. I mean, just imagine just when King Jesus returns, a whole new age and universe of possibilities open up. Amen. It's gonna be amazing. And see, God is extravagant. We just look at his creation, even just under the sea, with the incredible creativity and colors, and just wow, he is so extravagant. It staggers the mind. It does. And just like in Corinthians 2 9 says, you know, eye has not seen, nor is ear heard, nor is it entered into the heart of man those things that God has prepared for those who love him.

Speaker 2

And are called according to his purpose.

Speaker 1

That's right. And what's interesting to think about is this. Jesus stated this to his disciples, I have so many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. See, and he was actually saying, Listen, I have so much to tell you, but you can't handle it right now. Just stick with what you do know, what you need to focus on right now. And so, hmm, what can that be about that he was talking about or referring to, right? Yes. One thing for sure is the future external and eternal kingdom of heaven is going to be exciting and far greater than floating around on clouds.

Speaker 2

Yes, yes, and amen. And you know, this may to you may seem like, wow, that's really out there. You know, but we have to be careful not to put God, our amazing God, the Almighty, that's right in a box.

Speaker 1

Never can.

Speaker 2

No, because he breaks out of them. That's right. I don't know why, but that scripture is coming to mind. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the honor of kings to search it out. That's right. He said, We are kings and priests unto our God. And so he re- as we search these things out, he says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Speaker 1

That's right.

The Royal Family Training for Reigning

Speaker 1

And so Jesus came to restore our rightful place and position as God's royal family.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

And thus we must have a royal family kingdom mindset in all of that.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

And when you look at that, our royal family mindset needs to include an eternal king to perspective. Think about this. We are not limited to this world and its systems. Scripture says we're in the world, but not of this world. And just like Jesus says, this world has no hold on him. And that should be the same for us. This world should have no hold on us. That's right. We are just passing through. We are here as royal ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven. That's right. And we must have this kingdom mindset as we move forward.

Speaker 2

You know, when he says we are in the world but not of it in John 18 36. Think about that. That's right. We're not limited by these world systems, by the things the world puts on us. God wants us to rise above all of that. He wants us to operate as the church on a higher level. He wants us to move on a higher level. But we have to see it first. That's right. We have to get understanding. And we pray that his word, the entrance of his word, brings light, it brings revelation, it brings understanding. And that's why as you go through, which I love the word, it's almost like sometimes a mystery. You know, Paul talked about the mysteries of God. And it is, and I love that. I love mysteries. If I get a chance to watch TV, I will watch some of the old, old classic mysteries. And it's it's amazing to see how God works.

Speaker 1

That's right. See, King Jesus taught us about living his kingdom ways in the Sermon on the Mount. Some people actually call the Sermon on the Mount the constitution of the kingdom.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

When you look at it, how it's laid out. It's pretty amazing. And the various parables about the kingdom shows how we are to live and operate in the kingdom of God. Amen. And so we see that we're actually, as part of his royal family, we're in basic kingdom training, which we'll go more into the next episode a little more.

Speaker 2

Which is really good. We're not just part of God's royal family, but we're also part of his army.

Speaker 1

That's right.

Speaker 2

Every kingdom and nation requires important basic training for their military. This training covers the fundamentals of how not only to survive, but how to operate in the victory Christ purchased for us in everything we do. We're going to dive into more details about this training in part two of this chapter.

Speaker 1

That's right, which is the next episode. We actually talk about the five glorious church fundamentals, which is so incredibly important. So a key part of our training is learning how to reign in this life through Jesus Christ. Amen. As Romans 5.17 declares. What does that really look like? God has called and empowered us to first rule and reign over our own lives. Amen. Dying to self. Self is the first territory we have called to conquer in Christ, right? And we see that we are crucified with Christ in Galatians 2.20.

Speaker 2

We see it throughout scripture, but often the church as a whole tries to avoid those things that we think are painful. They're not actually painful, they're glorious because they take us to whole new levels. That's part of our royal family training. Yes, it is.

Speaker 1

That's right. And so we are also to reign and exercise our authority, pushing back the kingdom of darkness with faith in the light of Christ, rescuing souls, making disciples, and advancing his kingdom.

Speaker 2

Sadly, it seems that many in the church are not living up to their true potential in Christ, which shows the need for the recalibration we mentioned in chapter three.

Preview 5 Glorious Church Fundamentals (Must Knows)

Speaker 2

This requires a return to the basic kingdom training and five key fundamentals we introduce next.

Speaker 1

That's right. Those five glorious church fundamentals we'll cover next time, shape your divine destiny and help you to walk in the fullness of all God has created.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Special Exhortation

Speaker 2

You know, I just want to say this to you that are listening and to the body of Christ as a whole. God wants you, your family, to walk in victory, gloriously and victoriously in these last days. And he gives us the keys. But he has the plan. It's like the word of God is like our success manual in the earth. That's right. And this is how we conquer, this is how we win. And it's not just about us winning and us being victorious and glorious. There is a purpose in that calling. It is so we can be a light to the nations of the earth, so we can transform lives, families, cities, and nations and cause his kingdom to come. We can't do that if we ourselves have a victim mindset, if we don't see ourselves as we truly are in Christ.

Review & Final Thoughts

Speaker 1

Amen. So, in quick review, God's original glorious plan for you and for his people is one, he wanted to have a royal family created in his image. Yes, right? To reign with him.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

Secondly, he wanted to come and dwell among us. Yes, to dwell with his people, which is represented by the ark of his presence, the ark of the covenant, as we see throughout scripture. And then the original purpose number three, to expand the kingdom of heaven to infinity and beyond. And we see this again played out in two phases. Jesus' first coming was an internal focus to establish and reunite us with the Father and re-establish the kingdom of heaven in our hearts.

Speaker 2

And that original plan.

Speaker 1

That's right. And then his second coming, when it comes again, it's fusing together the internal with the external kingdom of God. And then a whole new kingdom, age, and universe opens up. It's going to be so exciting.

Speaker 2

Amen. Amen. So the kingdom of God within us isn't going to just stay within us, it's going to expand. And we can do that daily. We are every everywhere we go and everything we do, the kingdom of God is within us, and you can release that.

Speaker 1

That's right. All right. Well, I hope you've really enjoyed this episode. It's been a blessing to you. Next time we start talking about the five glorious church fundamentals that shape your divine destiny and will help you walk in all that God is destined to do it.

Speaker 2

Amen.

Speaker 1

You do not want to miss that one.

Speaker 2

What's so powerful about the five glorious church fundamentals is I think about the scriptures says everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But we are of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. But if we don't have those fundamentals and those foundations strong, we're going to shake just like the world does and be moved.

Speaker 1

So we look forward to you joining us next time and together in Christ.

Speaker 2

Let's rise up glorious and transform lives, families, cities, and nations. Amen. We'll see you next time. Bless you.

Speaker 3

We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Shekinah Today Podcast with Darrel and Cindy deVille. We invite you to subscribe and leave a review wherever you're listening. And please share to help get this important message out. And if you haven't yet, we encourage you to get a copy of Rise of the Glorious Church. It goes deeper into what Darrel and Cindy are sharing and will help you prepare for what God is doing in the days ahead. If this message and ministry has been a blessing to you, we want to invite you to sow into the vision and mission of Shekinah Today Ministries. Our mission is to exalt Christ, raise up his glorious church to reveal his glory, advance his kingdom, and transform lives, families, cities, and nations. You can donate by going to our website at shekinatoday.org. Thank you again for joining us. Until next time, let's rise up glorious.