Lessons From The Tent

SECTION 2 
In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 
LESSON 14 ─ Applying faith and believing to the invisible kingdom 
Bible References: 
Luke 17:20, 21(1) 
Hebrews 11:6 (2) 
Romans 6:16 (3) 
Romans 6:18, 19 (4)  
James 1:25 (5) 
Matthew 5:6 (6) 
Luke 19:14 (7) 
 
Good morning, and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I am sitting at my desk in the tent, and as I do quite often, I have rolled up one side of my tent to allow a soft, cool breeze to blow inside.  
Just outside the bug netting about six feet away is a small flock of grouse meandering by. They are unaware of me, so they are in no hurry. Watching the goofy way grouse walk adds some great entertainment to my morning. God definitely has a sense of humor. 
This week we will review lesson #4 about the Invisible Kingdom and apply faith and believing to this mysterious wonder. I will be concentrating on the main thought of that lesson where Jesus said: 
“The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will anyone say, ‘Look, here it is! Or, There it is!’ Then Jesus said, ‘pay attention to what I am about to tell you next; the kingdom of God is in your midst.’”(1)  
What Jesus taught here is a great challenge to faith, for He revealed the kingdom of God cannot be seen by our human eyes. Yet, it is real, and it is powerful, and it resides inside God’s favored ones. Remember that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen,(2) which certainly applies to the invisible kingdom. 
If you remember, the original word for kingdom refers to the reign of a king. It has nothing to do with land or a castle. So, if we are talking about faith in the invisible kingdom, then the actions of faith must first, be willing to acknowledge and surrender to God’s invisible reign, and second, any actions of believing must be in harmony with God’s visible word the Bible, just as if God was standing next to you asking you to do something for Him.  
When God created us humans, He designed us to become slaves of doing what is right. But when the first two people disobeyed Him, that slavery to righteousness suddenly reversed and all humans from that time on became enslaved to doing wrong. Listen to what God says about this in the Bible.  
“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to a change in the way you experience life for the worse, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.”(3) 
And then God follows this up by saying: 
“I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to doing wrong, which led you deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to doing what is right so that you become slaves to righteousness.”(4)   
And God calls being enslaved to doing right as the type of freedom that leads to a life of rich happiness.(5) 
Like everything about God there is great benefit in obeying Him. But it all comes down to a willing attitude of surrendering to the invisible kingdom reign of God living inside of you. Faith must have the assurance and conviction that the invisible kingdom does live inside God’s favored ones, and that He wants us to willingly surrender in obedience to His will. The believing actions of this will then be seen in a person’s desire for a righteous lifestyle.(6) 
One day Jesus taught a parable that illustrates what this type of willing surrender to the invisible kingdom looks like. If you remember, a parable is a story that may not be true in all its details but is absolutely true in the lesson it teaches.  
In this parable, Jesus revealed what the correct attitude of surrender to His invisible reign is like, and He teaches this through a group of people who actually have the wrong attitude. We see this in what they say about the nobleman, who in this parable represents Jesus, and I quote them, “We don’t want this man to reign over us.”(7) 
The word want used here actually reveals the correct attitude Jesus is looking for from those in His kingdom. The original word means to love to or take great pleasure in doing something. And these people strongly admit they do not want Jesus to reign over them. That is a clear revelation they are not God’s favored ones. 
This parable reveals everything we need to know about the correct actions of believing. The followers of Jesus should take great pleasure in surrendering to His reign, and they willingly do this because they love being under His rule. 
This is the right attitude a person with faith in the invisible kingdom should have, and you can see how this attitude of believing would affect a person’s relationship with God. 
With God’s power, He can make even His enemies surrender to Him. But God does not use His power to make someone love to obey Him. But, because the Spirit of God resides inside His favored ones their desire to do righteousness is something that God’s Spirit naturally produces. And that’s why surrendering to His reign is so important to His favored ones. We simply surrender to doing what is right. 
One thing that stands out loud and clear throughout the Bible is attitude is everything to God. Therefore, following Jesus comes down to willingly letting the invisible Spirit of God lead us. This is why we need to get to know the Bible so we can learn how God wants us to act while living in His invisible kingdom. The Spirit of God will move a person to do what the Bible says with an attitude that loves doing it. 
Remember, the result of obedience to God’s word is becoming a slave of righteousness. Whereas disobeying His word results in enslavement to sin. This is the choice God’s favored ones have every day, while those who are not His favored ones have no choice but to live enslaved to sin. 
Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ The kingdom of God may be invisible, but real faith responds with an attitude that loves doing what the Bible says. 
 
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com
 

Thanksgiving, 2025 
This will not be another lesson from the tent. Today is Thanksgiving and I would like to talk about something I am truly thankful for. At first it will sound very strange that I could be thankful for what I am about to share but please bear with me. What I want to share with you is recently my wife Joan was diagnosed with breast cancer. We do not know the full extent of this disease yet, but we will find out next week. What we have been told is that it is not good. So how can I talk about my wife having breast cancer while at the same time talking about being thankful? It doesn’t seem that those two concepts should ever be thought of together.  
Joan and I were married at the age of eighteen and that was fifty-five years ago. That’s fifty-five years of learning about God, learning about each other, learning about love, learning about grace, learning about forgiveness, learning about joy, learning about our human shortcomings, discovering what is truly important, and understanding how to work through the trials and tribulations that everyone has to deal with at times in their life.  
This moment in time challenges everything that we have collectively learned together for nothing can happen to either of us without directly affecting the other person just as much. That is married life. And I wouldn’t want it any other way. Joans cancer is my cancer. My struggle is her struggle. We share it all – the good times and the bad times.  
So how can I honestly be thankful in the middle of this devastating disease? Let me share with you what cancer means to two people who have spent the past fifty-five years getting to know God and serving Him together.  
God made Joan and I uniquely different, so we are not two peas in a pod as they say. We are closer to being the north and south poles on a magnet that sometimes oppose each other, yet at times will be stuck like glue to each other. That is not unusual it is how most married couples are, and I think that is exactly how God designed marriage to be. It is this attraction and polar opposition that makes us stronger, more loving, more creative, more fun, more interesting, and much wiser than we could ever be alone. 
Now let’s get to the scariness of this cancer – there is a possibility that I may lose my most cherished possession here on earth and if that happens, I will be alone having lost one-half of me. For that I am not thankful, nor will I ever be. I could lose both my arms and legs, and it would not affect me as much as losing the woman who has truly been with me every moment of these past fifty-five years; both physically and internally because I cannot possess even a thought without her presence somehow being involved in it. We have become one just as God designed marriage to be. And this is what fuels my thanksgiving despite the terrible disease cancer is. 
One thing cancer does is it sure makes conversations take a different course. There has been hardly a day during these past couple of months where that ugly “c” word hasn’t been involved in our conversation. And each time it has, Joan and I end up talking about the joys of our life memories. And as we reflect on life and now the possibility of death, we so often find ourselves in a state of thankfulness because life becomes even more precious when death may be lurking around the next corner. 
So, what drives our thankfulness during this time of reflection and coping with cancer? It is everything these podcasts have been about. When I started these lessons, we didn’t know that Joan would soon have breast cancer. During all our conversations the one thing that keeps bringing us back to a place of thankfulness is the truth of our relationship with God. You see, without all that the kingdom has brought to our lives and what it means for our future, our outlook on life would be completely different. There certainly would not be any thanksgiving. And most likely there would be anger, frustration, hopelessness and the uncertainty of the future would be flooded with harsh cold moments that turn into days, weeks, months and years of mental anguish.  
Instead, the truth behind these podcasts is our reality. They are behind the memories that flood our souls, and they are the future that we depend on. And death is not our reality. Life in the eternal kingdom is. It is there we will relish the eternal relational partnership with God in ways we have never experienced here on earth. The reality of the kingdom means death is only a doorway into the great future that God designed for us when He created this world. And in that future world, our greatest and fondness experiences that we have shared here on earth will not be even close to the smallest moment we have in the world of God’s eternal kingdom. Death only opens the door to the life God prepared for us at the foundation of the world and for that, Joan and I are eternally thankful.  
That awful word cancer has brought the reality of all I have taught in these lessons from the tent into the circumstances we are dealing with now and will continue to do so for some time no matter what the outcome is. Cancer will either take Joans life, or it will bring new suffering and challenges for both of us to deal with, but life will not be the same from now on.  
And this we can be certain of; the outcome of our life is not determined by this cancer. Our future was determined when Joan and I were rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son, and nothing we experience on earth can alter or take that away from us.  
So, I share our dilemma with you all and once again there really is just one thing – our thanksgiving is not determined by our circumstances, it is the result of God’s amazing gift of His kingdom and for that we are thankful even in the middle of struggling with cancer this Thanksgiving day. 
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com

SECTION 2 
In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 
 
LESSON 13 ─ Applying faith and believing to why life is so difficult (part 2) 
Bible References: 
Matthew 4:1-11 (1) 
Colossians 1:13 (2) 
 
Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. This is the second part of applying faith and believing to the question; why is life so difficult?   
I would like to continue to examine the domain of darkness freewill that causes all the problems of life. Just imagine for a moment you started a new job today in the emergency room of a hospital. Once there you find out your boss and the staff are all only five years old. Can you imagine the difficulties that would arise from the choices they make throughout the day? Their decisions were not made with evil intentions, but they would surely be made in blind ignorance.  
The best way to describe the working conditions of your new job would be total chaos. Well, that is pretty much the way things are when all the people in the world make choices from their blindly ignorant freewill. The net result is a world of chaos that is out of harmony with God’s purpose and will.  
I know this is a pretty absurd illustration, but it does depict the irrational way we fallen, blindly ignorant people choose to live when not concerned with the God’s intended purpose for their life. I’m sure at times we look as foolish to God as a group of five-year-olds running an emergency room does to us.   
We do fairly well with the simple choices that face us most of the time, but life is filled with many difficult and challenging things that we need to make decisions about. For example, let’s talk about the biggest one. Since life comes from God then each of us has a responsibility to orchestrate their life according to His purposes.  
This is why blind ignorance is so devastating. A tree has life, and it also has been created by God just as we have. But a tree does not have freewill to do something other than be a tree and therefore it will always fulfill the reason God created it. But not so with us humans and this is where faith and believing must be applied to life. We have the ability to choose a thousand different things we can do with our lives; therefore, it is imperative we apply faith and believing to God’s purpose for life.  
But this can be extremely challenging for us. Do you think, in your blindly ignorant way of understanding the ways of God, that you know exactly where you fit into His plan for this world? 
If you fully did understand the significance of this question, it should make you feel like a five-year-old trying to run an emergency room. If you ever expect to live your life purposely and consistently according to God’s plan, then you must apply faith and believing to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son because that is the world He transfers His favored ones into once He rescues them from the domain of darkness.  
Let me illustrate how we do this with a true story where the importance of knowing and obeying God’s purpose greatly affected the choices Jesus made, which then greatly affected everyone on earth. Right after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, He went into the wilderness to allow Himself to be tempted by Satan.(1) Three times Satan tried to influence Jesus to go against God’s established purpose for Him by trying to get Him to choose an easier path then the one He came to accomplish.   
Each time Satan offered Jesus a choice, Jesus very confidently quotes from the Bible and refutes what Satan is trying to get Him to do. And every time Jesus does, Satan does nothing but move on to another temptation. After failing three times to influence Jesus even a little bit, Satan left, knowing he could not influence Jesus to go against the purpose God had for His life.  
As the result of Jesus not falling for Satan’s alluring temptations, everyone living on this planet has the opportunity to be rescued from the evil domain of darkness and be transferred into the wonderful kingdom of God’s beloved Son.(2)  
If Jesus would have succumbed to the temptations of Satan, His life would certainly have been a whole lot easier, but it would not have attained the purpose for why He was born. This illustration from the life of Jesus is exactly how we apply faith and actions of believing to life. 
God has a purpose for everyone, and it is here where we make our biggest mistake. By faith our decisions must be made according to what is important to God and we do this by learning what the Bible says and then applying actions of obedience to it. Jesus quoted the Bible to Satan and then obeyed it. If He did this, then how much more should we blindly ignorant people do the same.  
Unfortunately, we make choices about our lives based on cultural norms and personal aspirations that come from the domain of darkness influence such as, how much money you want to make, what kind of life you want to live, what you think is important, and the biggest one – what will make your life easier. Decisions like these are most often made without any concern for what God thinks is best. 
Make sure you catch what I say next, by faith you must be convinced that Satan wants to influence your blindly ignorant freewill to live contrary to God’s purposes. It is from the truth taught in the Bible that we get the right perspective for the choices we need to make about life. If you are not fully assured and convinced of this, then you are doomed to being controlled by your blindly ignorant freewill. Is there any wonder then why life is so difficult?  
Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing – The greatest and most important decision you will ever make is the one requiring faith that God will rescue you from the domain of darkness and transfer you to the kingdom of His beloved Son. 
 
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com

SECTION 2 
In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 
LESSON 12 ─ Applying faith and believing to why life is so difficult (part 1) 
Bible References: 
Colossians 1:13 (1) 
Ephesians 6:12 (2) 
John 17:17 (3)  
1 Thessalonians 2:13 (4) 
 
Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Today we will look back at lesson #2 and apply faith and believing to the question; why is life so difficult? 
If you remember, we learned that our life problems come from the domain of darkness(1) which refers to the freewill of Satan, all his demonic followers and the blindly ignorant freewill of us humans. Now we need to apply faith and believing to the truth that this domain of darkness world we live in is not our friend. In fact, it is our greatest enemy. Look what God says about this in the Bible. 
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (2)  
Typically, when life is difficult or downright rotten, we immediately assume the cause to be flesh and blood humans who are responsible for it. And that usually means a spouse, a neighbor, a friend, a boss, an employee, a teacher, the president, a political party, a race of people, a cultural system or the government. This list could go on and on, but all these things are part of the flesh and blood world and not the ultimate source of what we struggle with.  
What God says is behind all our difficulties are the 
 “rulers, and powers, and world forces of darkness, and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.  
These cannot be seen by our human eyes therefore we must apply faith and recognize them as being real. And if you choose not to think like this, you may as well just punch the air, for you will never strike your enemy where it will do any good. You must first recognize who your real enemy is, by faith, if you want to battle with him. 
So, by faith, you must acknowledge what God said about the corrupted freewill of Satan, all his demonic angels and their influence over our blindly ignorant freewill. It is this domain of darkness influence that is behind all the difficulties of life. Once you recognize this then you can understand your need to be rescued from this insane evil world. 
I want you to pay great attention to what I am about to say ─ there is a strong connection between Satan, his demonic followers and all humans and that connection is the right we have to make our own choices.  
The decisions we make every day are far more influenced by our personal history that comes from the domain of darkness than they are by what is taking place at any particular moment. Our life experiences are kept in what the Bible refers to as our heart, which neuroscience calls the default mode network in our brain. Every choice we make is actually more influenced by our past experiences, which far too often are the result of life in the domain of darkness.  
Satan knows this, which is why it is imperative we understand that the domain of darkness is not our friend. It is his world so faith must recognize and be aware of this. If we don’t, we will just walk through life making decisions controlled by our blindly ignorant freewill. 
So, what does it look like to apply the believing actions of faith to God’s truth that Satan’s influence over our human freewill is our greatest enemy? The first thing we need to address is the arrogant lie that we are smart enough to control our lives. Think about this ─ intelligence is measured by how it compares to everyone else. So then, who are we measuring ourselves by? It is other blindly ignorant people, and that’s not a very smart way to determine intelligence! 
The only true measure of intelligence and also right and wrong is God and His word the Bible, because neither of these has ever been influenced by the domain of darkness. This is the only source of pure truth in this world. And this is where we must apply faith and believing. Listen to how God says we need to view the words of the Bible.  
“For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” (4) 
That explains how you apply the believing actions of faith to the things we have been looking at. You must be fully assured and convinced that these truths are from God and not from men. Then, if you choose to obey God’s word you can know for sure that you are making a choice not the result of your blindly ignorant freewill. 
In lesson 11 we learned about the need to memorize and meditate on God’s truth so it can reside inside of us and then influence how we think and act. Let me ask you a question; what do you normally think about when your brain is free to mull over something? If your answer is, you don’t know, or you’re thinking about some issue of life, then your mind is most likely living in the domain of darkness world instead of gaining more wisdom from God’s word.  
And that brings us to another question ─ how do you fight against the effects of Satan, and the world forces of evil over your blindly ignorant freewill? The only way you fight this is to change the way you think, by increasing the amount of God’s truth residing in your brain. We all need a new source of wisdom to draw from and that is one of the great results of being transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son – so, I hope with your decisions, you decide today to choose wisely. 
Well, that’s it for today and once again there is just one thing ─ the only hope you have of overcoming the influence of this dark world on your freewill is to relocate to the kingdom.  
I hope you will join us next week for part 2 of this lesson. 
 
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com
 
 

SECTION 2 
In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 
LESSON 11 Applying faith and believing to the purpose of life
Bible References:
Matthew 25:34 (1)
Romans 10:17 (2)
Genesis 2:7 (3)
2 Timothy 3:16 (4)
Hebrews 4:12 (5)
 
Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Last week we began a journey into the world of faith and believing. I didn’t mention this then, but I will now; this journey into the world of faith is not something you will ever complete while living on earth. It will always be a journey of growth because faith is a living thing.
The best way to understand faith and what believing actions should look like is for us to walk back through the nine lessons we have already talked about and apply the concept of faith and believing to each lesson.
We will do this by going back to lesson 1 where we learned that the reason we have been created is because God wants a kingdom full of people; and the purpose of life is all about determining who will be the ones He favors and get to inherit His kingdom. Let me restate the words of Christ that we focused on in lesson 1.
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are favored of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”(1)
Here is a promise made by God and so now our faith must have assurance and conviction concerning what He promised. And remember, faith must also believe.
So, what would faith and believing in God’s purpose for us to become favored, look like, in everyday life? First off, faith should cause a person to live with full assurance and conviction that becoming favored by God is truly the reason they are alive. And second, if a person has faith, then there should be an interest in learning as much as they can about the purpose for their life.
But, if a person is not absolutely sure about God’s promise, then they will have some degree of doubt, which will be seen in the degree of interest they have in His promise. If they do not have a great degree of interest in doing this, they must realize their faith has not yet come to the place where God is pleased with it. Certainly, faith has begun, but it is not where it needs to be. It still needs to grow.
All people will experience some degree of doubt on their journey to God so please don’t ignore yours. Doubt is averse to faith, so you need to do something that will help dimmish your doubt and grow your faith.
God explains how to do this when He says:
“Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”(2)
According to God faith, that is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen, comes from hearing the word of Christ. Now this word hearing is not just listening to something with your ears; it means you need to understand the details about what you are hearing. And that usually takes time and effort.
And the way the words of Christ make a person’s faith grow is really quite remarkable. These words are the Bible, that God says He breathed into existence much like He did when He gave life to His human creation with just His breath.(3)
Yes, He used humans to write the Bible, but God says the Bible, or words of Christ, are inspired and that means they came from the breath of God.(4) They are not just words from a human brain written down on paper like other books. God says;
“The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”(5)
This means the words of the Bible are actually alive, and they actively take part in growing your faith. I can tell you from years of my own personal experience that there is nothing that comes close to how the words and concepts in the Bible instruct you, motivate you, and judge your thoughts and intentions.
How they do this begins with you memorizing the words of Christ so you can meditate or think about them as often as you possibly can. For example, you take what Jesus revealed is the purpose of life and work on memorizing His words for as long as it takes, until you can think about them anytime without having to visually look at the words.
And then, whenever you have a few unobstructed moments, think about what these words say and what they mean. You can do this while you are driving, going for a walk, doing mundane things like chores, or working around the house.
There are plenty of opportunities every day to meditate or think about the living word of Christ. Do this, and what God said about the purpose of your life will take root in your soul, which then allows it to actively work on your thoughts, and intentions to help your faith in the promises of God, grow.
How can you be assured that your faith is growing? You will notice you are beginning to understand what God says and your desire to experience this will also increase. As it does, so will the opportunities to live out the truth of what you have been meditating on.
Memorization and meditation upon the living word of Christ is what causes your faith to grow. God tells us this numerous times in the Bible. And where once you may have been unsure, hesitant, indecisive and maybe even skeptical, the living and active word of God together with the Spirit of God living inside you will increase your assurance and conviction that will then allow you to respond correctly to the God who is and who also is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Faith and the actions of believing concerning the purpose of your life are the starting point to a lifetime journey of faith in the kingdom.
Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Faith in the promises of God, become real as you meditate on what the Bible says and then respond to its truth.
 
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com

SECTION 2 
In this next section I would like to look at the necessity of faith for God says without faith it is impossible to please Him. If that is what God says then we need to understand exactly what faith is and how it applies to our relationship with Him. These next episodes will give you some practical ways to apply faith to all you have learned so far. 
LESSON 10 ─ The necessity of faith  
Bible References: 
Hebrews 11:1 (1)  
Hebrews 11:6 (2) 
 Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. This is our tenth lesson and by now we have learned enough about the kingdom that it is time to apply the concept of faith to these lessons because faith is absolutely vital to everything we learn about God.  
Let me read what it says about faith from the Bible – Here is what it says. 
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen.”(1) 
 
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”(2) 
This gives us a good starting point for explaining how to apply faith to the promises of God that we have learned about. I would like to start with the words – without faith it is impossible to please God because this shows how absolutely necessary faith is to the kingdom of God. There is no pleasing God without it. 
And God defines faith here in some very practical terms. The first thing He says is faith is the assurance of things hoped for. Now assurance is a pretty easy thing to understand. We actually use this concept numerous times every day. This word has to do with a firm trust in something. Not just any trust, but a firm trust; one that is unshakable.  
Let me give you an example; whenever you sit down to eat at a table, you pull out a chair and never question if that chair will hold you. You don’t examine it at all; you just immediately sit down in the chair with no concern about it. This is firm trust, and this is exactly what God wants you to have in Him and His promises. An assurance, or firm trust that doesn’t doubt He can and will do everything He says.  
Next God says faith is the conviction of things you can’t see. Conviction is all about confidence and the strength of this confidence is almost arrogant. You are so convinced of something that nothing can change your mind, even though you can’t see it. 
I played a lot of sports growing up and baseball was my favorite. After several years of playing, I had developed a confidence that if the game was on the line and we needed a hit to win, I knew if I could come up to bat, the game was already over. I was absolutely certain I would get a hit, and we would win. Was that arrogance? Well, there probably was a dose of that in there, but it wasn’t something that I ever boasted about. I just went out and did it, because I had the conviction this would happen before I even stepped up to the plate to hit. This is the confidence God wants us to have concerning what He says He will do. Once again ─ 
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen.” 
This is the type of faith that God says ─ without it, it is impossible to please Him. But God explains more about faith by giving us two additional concepts concerning how someone with faith should act. He says the person who comes to God must believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” 
These are two essential ingredients that must be a part of faith because, as it says here, faith must believe. 
The original word for faith is a noun while the original word for believe is that same noun conjugated into a verb, which then means, since believing is a verb, it refers to some sort of action in regard to your faith. 
What God just said is that the type of faith He is looking for must have appropriate actions connected to it. And God even identifies what those actions are.  
Faith must first have actions of believing in the fact that God is. But faith must also respond to the fact that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him. And there we have it – two very practical ways that describe the actions God is looking for to validate a person’s faith.  
Now let’s look at these two actions ─ what does it look like to respond to the fact that God is? This is much easier to understand than you may think. For example, you have never seen an electrical current. But even though you cannot see it, you do believe in it and that is seen by your actions that you will not grab ahold of a bare wire that you think has a few hundred amps of current running through it. Your believing is seen in the fact that you will never purposely touch live bare wires. 
Is God real? Of course He is, even though you cannot see Him. God is a Spirit, and human eyes cannot see into that world. But the evidence of Him can be seen everywhere in His creation.  
If you have the assurance and conviction that God is real, then you will show it through your actions of pursuing and following Him. Your faith in God cannot just sit idle, you must respond to Him in every way you can. For that is how you believe that God is real. 
But faith must also believe that God will reward you if you seek Him. And what is the reward He has for all those who do? If you have learned anything so far you should know that God wants to reward your faith and believing in His promises by giving you the gift of His kingdom.  
All these lessons we have looked at so far are built around promises that God made, therefore faith must be put into actions of believing in these promises. So, for this next section of lessons we will go back through lessons 1-9 and this time apply faith and believing to each of the promises of God that we looked at.  
Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Remember, without faith it is impossible to please God, and true faith must also believe.
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com
 

Summary of Episodes 1-9: Lessons from the Tent
Life boils down to one pursuit: becoming favored by God to inherit the eternal kingdom prepared since creation, rendering all else meaningless without it. Difficulties arise not from divine punishment but from the “domain of darkness”—a realm of unchecked freewill, corrupted by Satan’s deception and humanity’s ignorant choices since the fall. But God offers rescue: transfer into the kingdom of His Son, where individuals are “born again” allowing His favored ones to experience daily renewal, fostering hope amid chaos.
The kingdom is revealed as an internal, omnipresent reign—not a distant or visible empire, but God’s rule “in your midst” via the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. Miracles and transformation flow from this hidden power, equipping God’s favored ones to navigate external struggles with internal strength. Entry demands humility: becoming “poor in spirit,” a state of spiritual bankruptcy where one owns their unrighteousness, unwisdom, and uselessness before God. This honest self-view unlocks the kingdom without pretense or self-improvement efforts.
Recognizing brokenness naturally sparks mourning, but God responds with profound comfort: the Holy Spirit’s grace, poured out through Jesus’ propitiation on the cross, which satisfies divine justice and turns sorrow into overflowing joy. When the kingdom “comes,” it manifests as God’s will, which is an intimate partnership being experienced on earth as in heaven, inviting humans into collaborative rule from within, fulfilling humanity’s original design for closeness with the Creator. God’s divine will emerges as eternal life: a marriage-like “knowing” of God and Jesus, influencing every decision like a devoted spouse and binding lives in unbreakable strength. What delights God the most? Lavishing His kingdom on the favored, a gift so precious it cost His Son’s sacrificial death. Though hating the sin Jesus died for, both Jesus and His Father rejoice in this redeemed partnership purchased through the sacrifice of Jesus. Human responses of gratitude pale against God’s immeasurable joy, underscoring the call to prioritize this treasure above all.
Overall, this first section shows spirituality to be a practical transformation: from darkness to light, mourning to comfort, isolation to union. It urges listeners to embrace humility, pursue internal renewal, and revel in God’s relational invitation, promising a life of purpose, resilience, and eternal happiness far beyond fleeting achievements.
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com

SECTION 1
During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.
LESSON 9 ─ What makes God happy? 
Bible References: 
Luke 12:32 (1) 
Acts 4:27, 28 (2) 
Hebrews 1:9 (3) 
Hebrews 12:2 (4) 
Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Let me start today’s lesson by asking you a simple question – What gives you great pleasure? I ask this because whatever makes you happy reveals much about your heart.  
Let me give you an example of something that gives me great pleasure. I am referring to my cat. She was born in this tent when Joan and I were living in it. She was one of six kittens, and we planned on giving them all away. But as it turned out, one kitten attached herself to my heart within a few weeks of being born and there was no way I was going to give this little one away. Since then, she has only become more attached to me.  
One of the things she does that makes me smile is she will run up the 10-foot wooden post that stands in the center of my tent. I covered this post with carpet to make it easy for her to run up it. There is a tall bookshelf standing right next to the post. And as soon as she gets to the top of the bookshelf she flops over and hangs her head off the side. She then lets out a soft meow which is her way of asking me to come over and scratch her head. As soon as I get near her, she begins to purr loudly and doesn’t stop the whole time I am scratching her head. I usually do this for a few minutes and then sit down. Within a few seconds, she will give me that soft meow again and of course I will respond. I must confess, the way she responds gives me great joy. Remember this sentence because it will be quite significant as we move on.  
I tell you this because today we will be looking at something that gives God great pleasure and as we do, we will learn something about His heart and soul. Listen to what Jesus told His followers about God, His Father. 
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.”(1) 
What an incredible revelation this is about God. Let’s begin with the word gladly for everything Jesus said here springs from this word. The word gladly means great pleasure, or to be favorably inclined to do something. And the something that gives God great pleasure is to give us the kingdom.  
Did you catch that? God receives great pleasure from giving us the kingdom. And if you remember last week’s lesson, we learned that eternal life is a deep, intimate partnership with God and His Son Jesus. Obviously then, it means a whole lot to God to have this relational partnership with His human creation. 
So why would giving us broken people the kingdom cause God’s feelings to be so aroused? That is something we need to understand. It gives Him great pleasure because this eternal life partnership with His favored ones is the purpose He’s always had for His human creation from the beginning of time. 
The only way we can really appreciate what this means to God is we must know what it cost Him to give us the gift of His kingdom. Jesus is the one who revealed this, and He knows full well that it will cost Him His life so His Father can give us the kingdom.  
Before we go on, I hope you understand that the Romans and Jews did not kill Jesus – His Father did. The Bible very clearly says that God Himself orchestrated everything that put Jesus on the cross and also everything that took place while He was being crucified.(2) God willing gave His only begotten Son to become the sacrificial punishment that allows Him to give us the kingdom. 
How much joy God receives from giving us the gift of His kingdom can only be measured by what it cost Him to give us this gift. And we know that God, had His Son brutally sacrificed and become all the sin ever committed by us humans in order for Him to be able to do this. And sin is something God and Jesus both extremely hate.(3)  
God considered this worth it because of the great joy He would receive from giving us His kingdom. Remember back to what I said about why I enjoy my cat wanting me to scratch her head, it was because of how much she enjoys me doing it. Do you think God’s great pleasure has anything to do with how we would respond back to Him for giving us such a special gift? That is something to ponder. 
The Bible says that Jesus endured all He went through looking ahead to the great joy He also would receive being King over this fantastic kingdom.(4) 
How special then is the kingdom, to God and to Jesus? I know I am thrilled to have received the gift of the kingdom, but my happiness pales in comparison to God’s joy in giving it to me. And that is because God and Jesus gave everything so they could give us the kingdom. But the only thing it costs us to receive it is that we become poor in spirit, and that’s not much of a sacrifice on our part. 
As a child I always loved Christmas. My parents did not have much money, especially while raising seven children, but they always found a way to have presents underneath the tree Christmas morning. I didn’t appreciate this properly as a child but when I had my own children and it was my turn to give gifts, the sacrifices my parents made became so much more precious when I understood what it cost them to be so giving. The quality of any gift can only be measured through what it costs someone to give that gift. Therefore, the most appropriate response we should have towards God is to be thankful and overjoyed at the marvelous gift of His kingdom. 
Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Don’t ever forget that it gives God great pleasure to give us the kingdom. 
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com

SECTION 1
During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.
 
LESSON 8 ─ What is the will of God? 
Bible References: 
John 17:3 (1) 
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (2) 
 
Good morning and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. Well let’s get right into our lesson for today. One thing I have learned from my personal journey to the kingdom of God is how similar it is to the path we travel on to become married. Let me explain what I mean. 
The first thing that occurs on the journey to marriage is a person must find something attractive about another person that will cause them to begin pursuing that certain individual. And the more we learn and like about that person, the more intense our pursuit becomes, until one day the journey ends, when you find yourself standing next to your new spouse and are pronounced husband and wife. 
Today I would like to introduce you to something about God that I hope you will find attractive enough to cause you to strongly pursue becoming favored by Him and remove any thoughts you may have that what is important to God is religion. 
In last week’s lesson if you remember we talked about when the kingdom comes, God’s will is done. I think it’s time we look at the will of God and try to understand a little more of what takes place when the kingdom comes.  
The day before Jesus was crucified for all the sins of His human creation, He paused the busyness of His life and spent some intense personal time talking with His Father. It is in this prayer we see Jesus reveal what the divine will of God is.  
At the beginning of His prayer, Jesus said to His Father that it pleases Him to give His followers eternal life. And He says this in such a way that you know that no one has ever experienced this before.  
Then, He continues by explaining what eternal life is, and when He does, we get to understand why no one had ever thought of or experienced this before. Listen to what Jesus said in His prayer:  
“This is eternal life, that my followers may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”(1) 
Now make sure you catch this; Jesus just defined eternal life as an eternal relationship. He doesn’t mention anything about our physical life lasting forever. What Jesus calls eternal life is a relationship between God, Himself and His favored ones that never ends.  
But what really makes this even more interesting is His use of this word know, and that’s k.n.o.w, to define this relationship.   
The original word know means knowledge and understanding in the deepest, most comprehensive ways. That is amazing when you realize how difficult it is for us mortals to know God and Jesus Christ, because they are beyond the capability of our limited human minds to fully comprehend, yet Jesus connects eternal life to understanding the unknowable depths of God.  
But this word know adds far more meaning to eternal life than increasing our understanding of God. This word know was also an axiom for the intimacy of the marriage relationship. This means Jesus just defined eternal life as an intimate partnership between His Father, Himself and His favored ones. Let me say this one more time – according to Jesus’ eternal life is an intimate partnership between God, Himself and His favored ones that never ends.  
Normally people think of eternal life as some heavenly thing going on in the clouds, but Jesus brings this eternal life relationship with His Father and Himself into our life now, while we live on earth. And through His use of this word know, He brings the relational partnership aspect of marriage into our daily life with God here on earth and in the future after we leave here.  
From what Jesus said, we can actually look at marriage and learn some things about how this eternal life partnership works. For example, I can distinctly remember how much my life changed after I said, “I do” want this woman to be my wife. From that moment on, no longer was I a single guy doing whatever I wanted to do. I was now in an everyday partnership with my new bride and this relationship affected everything I did. I no longer had the freedom to just do my own thing, because whatever I chose to do had repercussions on my wife and our relationship. The same applied to whatever she chose to do.  
This is how a marriage partnership is supposed to work, and it is also how our relationship with God is designed to work. When Joan and I both said, “we do,” we gave up our singleness and exchanged it for something far greater in terms of who we could become and what we could experience. Listen to what the Bible says about this.  
“Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.”(2)   
Now think about this in terms of the relational partnership between yourself, God and Jesus. How much stronger and more interesting would your life be with a threefold cord connecting you with God and Jesus as your partner? And then imagine this as a relational partnership between a husband, a wife, and the third person, or cord, being God. How strong and fulfilling could that marriage be? 
And remember, what we are talking about here is the will of God. What we see in this is God’s will, has nothing to do with religion. It is all focused on a relational partnership between God and His favored ones. And this is the will of God that the kingdom brings to earth. I can honestly say from my own personal experience in my life with God, there is nothing like this relationship in the world.  
Well, that’s it for today and once again there’s just one thing – Eternal life, the will of God and the purpose for your life are all about a relational partnership between God, Jesus, and His favored ones. 
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com

SECTION 1
During these first nine lessons I would like to talk about why we are here on this planet called Earth. I do not believe we are here by chance or by some cosmic accident. It is obvious there is a purpose for our existence and that is what Lessons 1-9 are about.
 
LESSON 7 – When the kingdom comes 
Bible References: 
Matthew 6:10 (1) 
2 Peter 3:9 (2) 
Acts 3:19 (3) 
Matthew 13:44-46 (4) 
 
Good morning, and welcome to another Lesson From The Tent. I wish you could see the male peacocks strutting around the tent right now. They are in full bloom, and their tails are about five feet long and look spectacular. I sure enjoy God’s creation. 
For this lesson I will be continuing with the idea of God ruling from inside His favored ones, and I would like to begin with a question ─ why would God even want to live and rule from inside such poor in spirit, sinful people? 
Well, the answer to this question explains the reason God created us, and it also reveals His heart, His soul, and His character.  With all that said the answer to this question is actually a pretty simple one in terms of words. But it is far more complex than all the knowledge known to mankind.  The simple answer is, He created us humans to have an intimate, relational partnership with Him. He has no desire to rule over those in His kingdom from a distance like other kings and rulers do. He wants a hands-on working partnership with us.  
Yes, He is God and the creator of everything. Yes, He rules over us. And yes, we are to surrender to His reign. But God is unique in this way. He has a singular desire when it comes to His human creation and His kingdom – He wants more than anything to have an intimate, personal relationship with us even though we are so inferior and terribly disobedient to Him.   
God did something entirely different when He created us. He gave us humans a soul filled with emotions and individual desires with the freedom to express them within a partnership with Him, even though He knew beforehand that we would eventually fall into sin. But it is our willingness to participate in this intimate relationship with Him that He desires. He will never force anyone to be in His kingdom who does not want to participate in this partnership with Him. 
To help understand this kingdom relationship we need to look at what Jesus said takes place when the kingdom comes. One day while teaching His disciples about prayer, Jesus told them to pray for the kingdom to come soon, so God’s will can be done on earth, just as it is in heaven.” (1) 
Now that is an interesting truth about God and His kingdom. Jesus said, when the kingdom comes, God’s will is done on earth, just as it is in heaven.  
If when the kingdom comes, God’s will is done, then that would mean His will, His desire, and His perfect plan is to reign from inside His favored ones with His invisible Spirit, which is exactly what happens when His kingdom does come. 
I know a lot of people think God loves to judge them and that He gets a kick out of sending people to hell. But that is absolutely not the God of the Bible. That is not His will at all. In fact, Jesus said hell was created for the devil and his angels. It was not created for us humans. But there are only two places that we can go after we die and leave earth – one is hell, and the other is the eternal kingdom of God.  
If you understand what the kingdom is, why would anyone choose to go to hell? You may be thinking, “Wait a minute, no one chooses to go to hell.” But I’ve got to tell you, we choose our own path when we reject His kingdom so in actuality, we send ourselves to hell when we reject His desire to live and reign from inside of us. 
Let me give you one of the great truths about God’s will that is taught in the Bible, that says. “God is not willing for anyone to be sent to hell. He wants everyone to change the way they think about the purpose of their life and return to Him.” (2) 
Now that is the will of God. And it takes place when the kingdom comes. Or, to say it another way, when you change how you think about God and His purpose for you and become poor in spirit, you receive His kingdom, and that is what God wants for each of us. 
In another place in the Bible God says it like this. “Change the way you think about God and Jesus and return, so that your sins can be completely wiped away, so times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and He can send you the gift of His Holy Spirit.” (3) 
Once again, this is the will of God, and it is fulfilled in all those who become favored. God’s will is to live and reign from inside His favored ones and this all takes place when the invisible kingdom comes to earth. This is not only the will of God but it is also the purpose of your life. 
Even though we are fallen sinful people we were originally created in the image of God and that is why we are such relational people. But, because of our fallen sinful nature, we find it very difficult to experience relationships the way we were meant to, yet we still want them because this is what we were created to do. And the number one relationship we were created to experience and participate in is with God.  
But remember, it is only when the kingdom comes that we will be able to experience this relationship the way God wants. And once we do, we can then begin to experience relationships with others the way God meant them to be.  
If you have learned anything through these first seven lessons you should at least understand that the kingdom of God is the greatest treasure anyone can ever obtain,(4) because everything in life works the way it was meant to when the Holy Spirit reigns inside God’s favored ones. When He doesn’t, life is very frustrating and difficult. 
Well, that’s it for today and once again, there’s just one thing ─ Pray that God’s kingdom comes to you so His will can be done in your life just as it was meant to. 
 
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Guitar by Cole Criske 2020 All rights reserved
For great coffee order Cole's coffee here: https://colescoffeeco.com/
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Produced by Dereck Bradley
Contact us at mike@lessonsfromthetent.com