Servias Ministries Blog

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Don’t let your mindset keep you in a small place.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Corinthians chapter 2:

16 For “who has known the Mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the Mind of Christ.

Should we be walking in the Mind of Christ?  The Holy Spirit reveals the thoughts and purposes of Christ and we are meant to implement those purposes here on earth.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Philippians 3:

10  And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus and to experience the overflowing power of His resurrection working in me. I will be one with Him in His sufferings and become like Him in his death.

11 Only then will I be able to experience complete oneness with Him in His resurrection from the realm of death.

12 I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into His abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me His Own.

13 I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.

14 I run straight for the Divine invitation of reaching the Heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.

15 So let all who are fully mature have this same passion, and if anyone is not yet gripped by these desires, God will reveal it to them.

16 And let us all advance together to reach this victory-prize, following one path with one passion.

Our high calling is contained in The Lord’s Prayer.  Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 6:

9  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be Your Name. 10 Your Kingdom come. Your Will be done On earth as it is in Heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

“Thy Kingdom come” is generally neglected by the various ministries.  Most Christians today have no real idea what this means. Yet there are more promises and prophecies about this “Kingdom” than any other period in the entire Bible!

In the Old Testament, there were four unconditional covenants, commitments on FATHER’S part:

1.   The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12: 1-4)

2.   The Land Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:3; Genesis 15:18)

3.   The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:8–17)

4.   The Everlasting Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31)

The Davidic Covenant has yet to be fully established on earth.  Would Jesus have us pray “The Lord’s Prayer” if He did not plan to rule and reign on earth for 1,000 years, a millennium?

The Beloved Disciple recorded by The Holy Spirit in Revelation chapter 19:

11  Now I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.

12 His Eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His Gead were many crowns. He had a Name written that no one knew except Himself.

13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is called The Word of God.

14 And the armies in Heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.

15 Now out of His Mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

16 And He has on His robe and on His Thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Heaven is not ruled by a rod of iron.  However, the earth will.  Be assured that the devil’s kingdom, power, and authority will be fully removed by Our Lord Jesus Christ!

Are you willing to receive the Word with all readiness of mind?

Luke recorded by The Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 17:

10  That night the believers sent Paul and Silas off to the city of Berea, where they once again went into the synagogue.

11 They found that the Jews of Berea were of more noble character and much more open-minded than those of Thessalonica. They were hungry to learn and eagerly received the Word. Every day they opened the scrolls of Scripture to search and examine them, to verify that what Paul taught them was true.

12 A large number of Jews became believers in Jesus, along with quite a few influential Greek women and men.

Parables are prophetic in nature.

Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 25:

14  For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a Man traveling to a far country, who called His own servants and delivered His goods to them.

15 And to one He gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately He went on a journey.

The servants that Jesus was talking about here are His own servants— those who belong to Him. In other words, they’re believers. You can’t say that only two of the servants were saved and the third one was not. They were all “servants” and they were all “saved”—because they were all waiting for His return.

19  After a long time the Lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

To the first two servants, Jesus said:  ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’

24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

26 “But his Lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.

27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

28 Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The word unprofitable simply means “not worthy of” (in the sense of not being fit or prepared).  This man was not worthy of entering the joy of the Lord’s Presence, because he had not been faithful, obedient, or persevering. Thus, he wasn’t qualified to enter the joy of the Lord.

The word cast out means he was cast forth from his original position grudgingly, a position he was once a part of but was now ejected, sent forth, and sent away. This Greek word is always used in connection with the outer darkness or the darkness outside.  It’s simply the darkness outside the light of God’s presence.  It’s a place outside the room where the obedient servants are enjoying God’s presence, but evidently contiguous to it.

In this darkness outside, the unfaithful servant will experience weeping and gnashing of teeth, which simply means “profound regret.” Keep in mind that God does not wipe away our tears until the end of the Millennium.  Jesus says, “I will wipe away all tears from their eyes,” speaking of Heaven, not the Millennium.  The outer darkness is “the darkness outside the limits of the lighted palace.

The Beloved Disciple speaks of darkness when he wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1 John 2:

9  He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.

10 He who Loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

It’s all about walking in Agape Love and producing fruit thereof.

Don’t allow yourself to be disqualified from being an overcomer!

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Corinthians chapter 9:

24  Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.

25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.

26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.

27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified (a castaway).

To be disqualified means to fail the test or meet the requirements.  There is a difference between an overcomer and those who are “overcome”.

Paul also wrote by The Holy Spirit in Titus chapter 1:

15  It’s true that all is pure to those who have pure hearts, but to the corrupt unbelievers nothing is pure. Their minds and consciences are defiled.

16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are disgusting, disobedient, and disqualified from doing anything good.

If Paul was concerned about being disqualified, we should be as well!

Paul never doubted his justification for a moment, as he preached in Romans 8:38–39 that “nothing would separate us from the Love of God.” But he was concerned about losing the prize of the reward of inheritance.  He knew that it was possible to be saved and yet still not participate in the coming Kingdom, that is, to be justified and yet not have a part or a role in the Millennium.  Consider Moses who was disobedient and was not able to enter into The Promised Land.

We are to forget those things which are behind, and reach forth unto those things which are before, we are to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)

We will either overcome or be overtaken. The goal of the race is that we might become “partakers of His Holiness, conformed into His Image” and win the prize. This is the reason why Satan is on such a rampage to destroy the message of overcoming and inheriting the kingdom.

Peter understood this when he wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2^nd  Peter chapter 1:

2  Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,

3 as His Divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Paul, as well, wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 12:

7  If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?

8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.

9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of Spirits and live?

10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His Holiness.

Don’t run from the testing and chastening, embrace them with the expectation of becoming a partaker of HIS Holiness as an overcomer.

FATHER has given each of us different talents, abilities, and giftings to advance the Kingdom of God here on earth. The question is: What have we done with these talents? Have we used them wisely, squandered them, or buried them?

At Laodicea, Christ stood on the outside, not within. This is a major problem today and is a severe warning!

Laodicea represents the last days church, which is neither “hot nor cold.”  The music and worship programs create excitement, but the message is so watered down that it does not stimulate a renewed personal commitment of obedience and faithfulness to the Lord. As this Scripture notes, it is “neither hot nor cold.” It is lukewarm! Today’s deadness in churches comes from following the Truth only with our minds, not with our hearts or our lives. These saints said they were rich and in need of nothing, but in truth and from God’s perspective, they were wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. He is speaking about nominal and unfaithful Christians who are found to be “naked” because they do not have on the appropriate clean and white wedding garments.

Jude wrote by The Holy Spirit in his Epistle which describes the end-times:

11 Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.

12  These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;

13 raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

14 Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,

15 to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.

17 But you, Beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:

18 how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.

19 These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

If you go into a church, will you find The Holy Spirit?  Will you hear a message focusing on Jesus Christ?  Will you find an altar and a call to repentance?  I am just asking for a close friend… Jesus!

Paul also spells it out as he wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2^nd  Timothy chapter 3:

1  But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce.

2 People will be self-centered lovers of themselves and obsessed with money. They will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all that is right. They will ignore their own families. They will be ungrateful and ungodly.

3 They will become addicted to hateful and malicious slander. Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, belligerent haters of what is good and right.

4 With brutal treachery, they will act without restraint, bigoted and wrapped in clouds of their conceit. They will find their delight in the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of the Loving God.

5 They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these!

6 For they are the ones who worm their way into the hearts of vulnerable women, spending the night with those who are captured by their lusts and steeped in sin.

7 They are always learning but never discover the revelation-knowledge of Truth.

8 History has given us an example of this with the Egyptian sorcerers Jannes and Jambres, who stood against Moses in their arrogance. So it will be in the last days with those who reject the faith with their corrupt minds and arrogant hearts, standing against the Truth of God.

Look around and you can see every aspect of society mentioned above!

Interesting that FATHER has had Servias focus on the Book of Revelation as well!

Apophis means “a demon serpent of darkness.”

The second type of inheritance—inheritance from God—is a very precious commodity because Scripture tells us it can be lost.

Jesus spoke in Revelation chapter 3:

10  Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

11 Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

12 He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the Name of My God and the Name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My New Name.

You can obtain a crown and then later have it taken away while on earth.  Jesus warns us to understand this situation.  He is speaking to overcomers who will be known in Heaven as such.  We must finish the work given to us just as Joshua and Caleb persevered 40 years to enter into The Promised Land.  Reuben in 1 Chronicles 5:1 who defiled his father’s bed, and thus his birthright was taken away from him and given to the sons of Joseph. Nevertheless, again, he still retained his sonship.  These are types and shadows of the levels of inheritance.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in 1^st Corinthians chapter 3:

10  God has given me unique gifts as a skilled master builder who lays a good foundation. Afterward another craftsman comes and builds on it. So builders beware! Let every builder do his work carefully, according to God’s standards.

11 For no one is empowered to lay an alternative foundation other than the good foundation that exists, which is Jesus Christ!

12-13 The quality of materials used by anyone building on this foundation will soon be made apparent, whether it has been built with gold, silver, and costly stones, or wood, hay, and straw. Their work will soon become evident, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by blazing fire! And the fire will test and prove the workmanship of each builder.

14 If his work stands the test of fire, he will be rewarded.

15 If his work is consumed by the fire, he will suffer great loss. Yet he himself will barely escape destruction, like one being rescued out of a burning house.

This passage refers to believers who made it to Heaven—they had eternal security—but they lost their reward of inheritance. Where and what you invest your time and resources in will determine what survives the test of fire.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Hebrews chapter 3:

12  So search your hearts every day, my brothers and sisters, and make sure that none of you has evil or unbelief hiding within you. For it will lead you astray, and make you unresponsive to the living God.

13 This is the time to encourage each other to never be stubborn or hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

14  For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

All Christians are called to be overcomers, but not all Christians choose to be.

The word overcome (Strong’s # 3528, nikao) means “to conquer or to gain victory over something.” The inherent thought in the word overcome, is to be a conqueror or victorious in a contest or conflict. Overcomers are those conquerors and those winners who have successfully run the race of faith and conquered the numerous obstacles encountered along the way. They are those fruitful believers for whom special rewards are offered.  They are not perfect, religious, or good; they are just ordinary believers who have made continuing choices to follow Christ, regardless of how they feel.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Romans chapter 8:

37   Yet even in the midst of all these things (tribulations, distress, persecution, famine, peril, etc), we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and His demonstrated Love is our glorious victory over everything!

38 So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s Love. I’m convinced that His Love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken His Love.

Don’t let this second type of inheritance be lost but rather persevere!

An overcomer is not perfect! He is simply one who recognizes his choices, recognizes when he blows it, and chooses to turn around and follow Christ. He is not perfect, good, or religious.  However, he is willing and trainable. 

In an example in the Old Testament, Joseph, who had a God-given inheritance, did not pass straight from the slave market right into the royal palace and the throne, so a one-time pardon of a sinner doesn’t entitle him to become a king or a sovereign. Much is required to prepare and fit such a person for that blessing and that total change of life.  Joseph typifies the second type of inheritance given to those who overcome!

All Christians are Sons of God and therefore possess the free gift of an inheritance by birth that they can never lose. But not all Christians will receive an inheritance from the Lord because the “Inheritance from the Lord” is earned by faithfulness, obedience, and perseverance.  Consider the “if’s” in the Scripture.

Inheriting the land in the Old Testament is conditional and symbolic of inheriting the Kingdom in the New Testament:

Deuteronomy 6:18 “If they [the Israelites] do what is good and right,” then they will not only go into the land, but also possess it.

Deuteronomy 19:9–10 confirms: “If they shall keep the commandment, then they will inherit the cities and the land.”

Deuteronomy 11:22–23, “If ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to Love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him, then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.”

Matthew 24:43 and 47 say, “If we are faithful, [then] He will make us ruler over all his goods”

2^nd Timothy 2:12 says, “If we suffer, [then] we shall reign with Him”

James 2:5 says, “If we Love Him, we will be heirs of His kingdom.”

Hebrews 10:36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise

Inheritance from the Lord (co-reigning with Him) is earned, whereas, sonship is not.

An overcomer chooses to live Christ’s Life.  We won’t do it perfectly, but at least we will recognize our choices and continue to choose to follow Christ as best we can.

He who receives God’s Spirit (through Jesus Christ) enters the Kingdom; but he who partakes of Christ’s Life and overcomes the world, the flesh, and the devil will inherit the Kingdom.  Thus, the Millennial Kingdom will be inhabited by born-again Christians, but positions of honor will be held by faithful and obedient overcoming Christians (aka Overcomers).

Jesus spoke in Mark 9:

41  For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My Name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.

Your actions can cause you to lose a reward… think about it.

The Beloved Disciple wrote by The Holy Spirit in 2^nd John :

8 Look to yourselves, that you do not lose those things we worked for, but that you may receive a full reward.

James wrote by The Holy Spirit in his Epistle, chapter 1:

23  If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning.

24 You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word, but then you go out and forget your divine origin.

25 But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty are fascinated by and respond to the Truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!

Jesus Himself speaks about our works in Luke chapter 6:

46  “What good does it do for you to say I am your Lord and Master if you don’t put into practice what I teach you?

47 Let Me describe the one who truly follows Me and does what I say:

48 He is like a man who chooses the right place to build a house and then lays a deep and secure foundation. When the storms and floods rage against that house, it continues to stand strong and unshaken through the tempest, for he built it wisely on the right foundation.

49 But the one who has heard My teaching and does not obey it is like a man who builds a house without laying any foundation at all. When the storms and floods rage against that house, it will immediately collapse and become a total loss. Which of these two builders will you be?”

The role of the Holy Spirit is to help believers reach the goal of inheriting the Kingdom. God also looks at our faithfulness, our obedience, and our perseverance.

We need to develop a Kingdom perspective rather than an earthly view.  Let us stop before we react, think before we respond, and pray before we move.

Wisdom recorded in Proverbs chapter 13:

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.

The “hope of our salvation” is our inheritance in Christ, and that includes positions of authority in the coming Millennial Kingdom. When that hope is embraced, apprehended, and made real in our lives, it will become a tree of Life!  Hope is our positive imagination, and we should see what FATHER has for us and come to expect it in our lives.

All believers will be with Christ in the coming Millennium, but only the overcomers—the ones who constantly recognize their choices and choose to turn around and follow Christ—will inherit levels of responsibility in that Kingdom. So not only our rewards, but also our places of responsibility in the future Kingdom will be won or lost according to our faithfulness, perseverance, and obedience in this life. Our life here is simply the training ground for the next life there.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Philippians chapter 3:

12  I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose for which Christ Jesus laid hold of me to make me His own.

13 I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead.

14 I run straight for the Divine invitation of reaching the Heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus.

15 So let all who are fully mature have this same passion, and if anyone is not yet gripped by these desires, God will reveal it to them.

16 And let us all advance together to reach this victory-prize, following one path with one passion.

What is the point of a Heavenly victory without a prize?  Notice that Paul, who wrote 2/3 of the New Testament admitted that he had yet to acquire the fullness of what was revealed to him. 

Do not worry about your past or your insufficiency of attaining the goal.  Focus on the present and future!  It is not how you start the race, it is how you end.

The Millennial Kingdom is one of the major themes of the Bible. There are 1,518 identified verses in the Old Testament and hundreds in the New Testament that speak about this coming Kingdom and the importance of our being able to inherit it.

Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Galatians chapter 4:

6  And so that we would know that we are His true children, God released the Spirit of Sonship into our hearts—moving us to cry out intimately, “My Father! My true Father!”

7 Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own Sons and Daughters! And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs because of what God has done!

An heir has an inheritance and as Sons and Daughters, we have been given an inheritance as co-heirs with Jesus Christ!  This sonship inheritance is unconditional and automatic.

There is a second type of inheritance called an inheritance from the Lord (Strong’s #2817, kleronomia). This is an inheritance given by the Lord because of faithfulness, obedience, and perseverance.  It’s an earned inheritance and it entitles one to positions, rewards, authority, and blessings in the Millennial Kingdom. Colossians 3:24 calls this “a reward of inheritance.” So this type of inheritance is conditional.

Paul reveals this second type of inheritance when he recorded by The Holy Spirit in Colossians 3:

22  Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.

23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

There are two levels of inheritance:  who you are and what you are doing.