Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Today I am challenging us as leaders to set an example in living our lives with the mark of God on the back of our hands and upon our foreheads. What do these two terms imply? Is it an actual mark on the back of our hands? Is it an actual mark on our foreheads? Those who focus on events as being the testimony of the end, or simply those who focus on the end of times, often become concerned with what Revelation chapter thirteen talks about as the mark of the beast. The Scripture only talks about the mark of the beast in one chapter of our bible, but the mark of God is talked about in many places of the Scripture. Wherever the mark of God is revealed it is a testimony of living to know the life that God gives us to give His life to our world. Let me present three key places where the mark of God is mentioned.
The children of Israel were to keep the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles and they were to teach their children to observe these feasts. The keeping of these feasts was to be as a ‘mark on the back of their hands’, and a ‘mark on their foreheads’. To understand these idioms of speech we must understand what God says to anyone who rules in the kingdom of God.
A king in Israel was not to be like the kings of the world. A king in Israel was to be dependent upon God and they were to live for His kingdom to come and His will to be done in and through their lives, even as it is in heaven. God was to be their source, their strength, and their purpose in life.
Deuteronomy 17:14 “When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, you shall not return that way again.’ 17 Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.
God desires all of us to be kings and priests to our God. As kings we cannot count our treasuries, our horses and chariots, or our means of posterity according to the flesh. He wants us to know that we live, move, and have our being in God. He gives us life, He gives us breath, and He gives us all things.
The mark of God is not some physical mark upon our hands or upon our foreheads. It is a way of thinking and a way of doing things. The mark of God is the testimony of faith, hope, and love. It is a mark of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. It is knowing that our identity, testimony, and purpose comes from God in heaven, and it causes our kingdom to be a testimony of Jesus as our Lord and Christ. In each description of the feasts they were told to teach it to their children, and it was to be a ‘sign on their hand’ and a ‘memorial between their eyes’.
The feast of Passover signifies a way of life that knows it is in God that we live. He gives us life! We are loved by Him! He is our righteousness in all things. This is to be in our thinking and in our way of doing things (Ex. 13:8, 9).
We are sons and daughters of God and as His children we manifest a testimony of being one with Him. Peace with Him in the Holy Spirit gives us a testimony in our world that reveals that we move in Him. He gives us breath and we are an expression of Him. This is the testimony of His overcoming Spirit working in and through us to reveal His strength within us. This is a way of life that reveals a feast of Pentecost that testifies of God (Deut. 6:4-8).
Our future is in God. We live for His purpose and will in all things. This is a partnership with Him where we know Him abiding in us and us abiding in Him. This is an experience of Tabernacles with God as our Father for the glory of His name as He is the one who gives us all things (Deut. 11:18, 19).
As leaders we lead others to be givers of life to their world. It is in our way of doing things and in our way of thinking. We live, move, and have our beings in God for the glory of His name in all things! By this, we will give life to our world.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
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