
King Jesus sits on the throne in the third heaven with the scepter prophesied to him by His progenitor, Jacob. (Genesis 49:10). Jesus is referred to as the Lion from the tribe of Judah in the book of Revelation (Rev. 5:5). Zion is the seat of the authority of the Kingdom of God. “The Lord will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘rule in the midst of Your enemies.’” (Psalm 110:2). The rule of King David in the earthly Zion in Jerusalem points to the rule of the Root and Offspring of David, the Lord Jesus, in the heavenly Zion (Hebrews 12:22).
The Lion of Zion is roaring in a new era in history! While we come into a new day and a new season, we are now entering a new era for the nations including our own. The nations will be inherited by the Son of God (Psalm 2:8). The rebellion of the nations and their leaders will be broken either through repentance or removal (Psalm 2:2,9,12).
In this new era, the Body of Christ will step forth and discharge its Ecclesia responsibilities on a new level. The Church seemed to find its footing in the recent election. Dr. Franklin Graham says that the election outcome was due to the hand of God. I would add that through kingly and priestly intercession, and through political involvement, i. e., voting, the people of God awakened to their authority delegated to them by King Jesus! (Matthew 16:19). This discovery should ongoingly motivate us to pursue our main stewardship, that is, ‘the keeping of the keys’ of the Kingdom of God. No other entity in the earth has these keys! We have the authority to have them and to use them so that the will of God is increasingly done in our nation and the nations of the earth!
LOOKING FORWARD IN THE NEW YEAR
One of the main challenges for our FMCI family in 2017 is to go to the next level in training and equipping the people of God in our stewardship of Kingdom keys. This stewardship will advance us toward stronger local churches, regional transformation, and a national spiritual awakening.
We will press forward in our RRIs (Regional Reformation Institutes) in the new year. We already have a date for our Marietta, Ohio, RRI which will be hosted by Pastor Rodney Lord at Freedom Gate Church, April 27-29.
The date for our annual international conference in Denton, TX, has changed this year because of the availability of Camp Copass. The dates are October 16-18. Please mark calendars now! Other RRIs will be announced soon.
Advancing together,
Jim Hodges