Our God Reigns

By Garold Andersen

God has made us to be yeast to those around us. We need to be ready to take the message of His love to those we meet every day.

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My heart is filled with so many thoughts from the Lord regarding this group of people, this portion of the body of Christ. I want us to take a few moments to consider the idea of this song. It was a song saying “We will work the fields together – one person does this, one that”. It’s the uniqueness of this relationship with God called Christianity, this following of the ways of Christ. The ways of Christ say each one of us is called individually and yet we fit together. Each of us is involved in very different aspects. I want you to consider where your involvement is – the place you work, the faces you meet. I’d like to pray:

“Father this is the field that you have given me, and I don’t know how to work in that field, but I give all of my heart to be your representative in that field. Where my talents and ability take me, I want to be your representative of your goodness, grace and compassion.”

Parable of the yeast: I don’t know if you can call this a parable. It’s a little piece of wisdom which Jesus throws out. I love the statement, “What can I compare the kingdom of God to?” From a theatrical point of view, this is very significant. Jesus often said this. What I see is Jesus, the son of God, who is doing everything He does by listening to the spirit of the Lord – “I'm only doing what my Father says.” He could have done everything Himself, but He’s trying to give us an example.

He asks “What can I use to give you a picture of the kingdom of God?” and God says, “This is what these people need to hear.”

He says it’s like yeast which a woman took and hid in 50 lbs of flour. She mixes it until it influences the entire mix. That’s the kingdom of heaven. Flour. Flour is wheat, life, bread. It’s life that is not alive. It’s crushed. There’s nutrients in it, but the grain has been picked crushed, and there it is. The possibility of something coming together and giving life is there. Yeast is something different. Yeast is a living organism. It’s life. This is what Jesus was saying. The kingdom of God is like that yeast. It’s small. It seems insignificant, but when it’s mixed into the loaf ... You can put flour together with water, and you have a dough. But you add yeast, and that little bit of dough you had has grown, because you’ve added to it something of life. The kingdom of God is about life.

What I want to leave us with is the simple idea, that you have a field of influence, but you also have this yeast, this life. I honestly believe that this is such an amazing time for this body. I think there has been a lot of transitioning, and I am filled with expectation for you. You have considered where God has brought you. The things you have learnt have been good things. They are good foundational ideas. And now you are open to say, “Where exactly do we go from here?” There is an expectation. And I want to plant a seed for what God has for you – an excitement.

The early church ... The church was in Rome, and in Rome, the early church was facing a great deal of persecution. The Roman government was based on using the worship of the gods to control its people, and now along comes a group of outsiders – Roman citizens, but blasphemers, because they believed in only one true God. The Christians faced persecution. They were sent at times to be fed to the lions, to be burnt. And something happens in Rome, because of bad water supply, bad sewage disposal. The plague enters Rome, and people begin to get sick. In the pagan religion, the idea was that the person who is sick is cursed of the gods – and if you leave that curse in your home, the curse will come on you. So people took their own sick children and threw them into the streets. The sick and the dying were lying everywhere in the streets, and you had to go other places to avoid them.

What is the need of the person lying in the street dying a horrible death? One of the leaders of the church in Rome gathered together the believers and said, “Though these people have hated and persecuted you, we have an inheritance of mercy and grace. Go into the streets and show those people love. Help them to die with compassion and mercy.”

And as they beginning to go an minister, pagan family members saw what they were doing, saw that they were taking care of their own family, and they asked, “What is this hope that you have in your lives? Who is this God that you serve?” It was one of the great moments of transformation in the Roman empire. At this point, the Christian faith entered into Caesar’s own household. Through the difficulty of the world they were in, the Christians rose to the occasion and showed compassion. And that changed the hearts of those around them. It was the beginning of the true Gospel of compassion penetrating into the world.

Isaiah 52:7

I really want us to grasp this. Isaiah is speaking truth. Within the world, the feet of the messenger who says, “I’m sorry to say you have to pay an extra $50,000 in taxes.” “I’m sorry you’re going to lose your job.” ... those are not lovely feet. The lovely feet belong to the messenger who comes and says, “Here’s a message for you – peace.” Good things. Good news. I like that message. Who in the world does not like that message? What is that message? Good news.

I want to go back to the idea of the pagan gods. We had gods for eating. We also had very strong gods who were the gods of war. And Isaiah is saying, “The news we have is that there is one God and He is not the God of war, but of peace, mercy and compassion.”

I was about ready to go on tour one year. I was performing in normal theatres. I would ask God, “What message would you give me to speak to the people?” As I would speak to people, God would give me a foundational idea of what to say. This time, God said, the message is “Our God reigns.” When God spoke that to me, it clicked. I know this message was to Zion, but through Christ it becomes the message to the entire human race. And it is not my God reigns, but our God reigns.

In the neighbourhood where you live, they may not know that. Maybe they think God is the god of war, or of religion. But the good news is that our God, the God of peace and good things is truly God, and our God reigns.” Our God reigns.

When I first began to speak to people about my beliefs, I would see them as someone distant from God. I would approach people thinking, how could I break through and reach them with the message? This thing changed my idea. It changed the position in my thinking. I was always viewing things in this way – “me and them”. But the transition God gave in my heart was this ... our God reigns. Even though you may not understand that, our God reigns. God wanted me to find a relationship with those people so I could speak to them that message – our God reigns.

That needs to be our understanding. But for many people we will meet, it’s not that easy. I want to end with a very quick concept, challenge, hope, encouragement ...

In Nigeria there are young people who are having visions and dreams – and those visions and dreams ... God is very specific. He works through humans. He said He looked through the world to see if He could find someone to stand in the gap. God made us kings and lords of this planet, and He’s asking if we’ll partner with Him. Ask Him for His power and mercy on your neighbourhood. Those visions and dreams are coming because of prayers – beyond a shadow of a doubt. These people are being discipled and are going back to the field from which God has called them, with a message – our God is not the harsh Allah, but the God of peace, grace and mercy.

Daniel faced a very interesting situation. He grew up at a time when the children of God were a mess. This is so significant. The church that Daniel was a part of – they were a mess. And yet, in the midst of this, some people were mentoring Daniel and his three friends. Those four young men had a foundation which was a rock. We need young people who have foundations in their lives which are rock solid. We need people like that who can be world leaders – leaders from this body. World leaders, who understand peace, good things, life.

Daniel and his friends were taken and were brought into the kingdom. In ancient cultures this was done for this reason. I conquer a tribe. But I don’t want to bring them all back to Babylon. So I look for the best young people and bring them as hostages. And now I infiltrate them with the yeast of my culture. So now your next generation of leaders will be from my cultural perspective.

Daniel and his friends were given food to eat and did not know how it was prepared. They didn’t know if blood had been mixed into the wine, as it often was. The children of God had been told that life was in the blood and they should not eat.

Daniel asked permission from the chief official. God granted Daniel favour and compassion. But he said, “You’re asking me to put my neck on the chopping block. You want to eat only vegetables and water. But my captain will notice, and you’ll be skinny. And my captain will ask what is going on, and it will be my neck.” And Daniel says, “Just test your servants for ten days. Test our appearance. And deal with us afterwards based on what you see.”

After ten days they looked healthier than all of the others.

And God gave these four young men knowledge and understanding in every kind of wisdom.

I want to look at a verse which tells us the heart of who Daniel was. When the king has a dream, and can’t remember it, Daniel is given the dream and the interpretation. He reveals it to the king, and the king says he’s amazing. But Daniel says God is amazing – but God gave you the dream.

Eventually Daniel becomes one of the main leaders in Babylon and influences Babylon with the yeast of God’s kingdom. But He did it by serving, bringing news of good things.

I pray with all my heart that I can leave you with this simple picture, and this challenge. There is truly a power of life which is the yeast of the kingdom of God. It is the power which brings people back from the dead. So many people have lives which, behind the busyness, are empty. And the yeast of God’s kingdom is real and is life. We must begin to be like the people I spoke of in Rome, who take out of the goodness of God’s blessing and life. This is what you already do, but I believe God is calling you to do even further. The yeast is not doctrinal ideas. It is the yeast of life, the yeast of heaven – heaven, life, goodness, compassion, mercy.

I believe in the world right now there are many changes happening. And we can either remain in a place of safety, of saying, “I’m a Christian, praise God, and I come together with nice people and we do nice things.” That’s good. But the challenge now is that we should rise to the occasion. It’s not something difficult, but it is something real. Believe you have the power of the yeast of the kingdom of God in your life. And take that yeast into your neighbourhood. And live the power of that yeast in the world. Have beautiful feet. And be people of good news of great joy.

The message is not that you get to go to church every week. The good news is life and peace. Daniel wasn’t removed from persecution and difficulty. But it is the good news of life.

Micah 6:8

Love mercy, love compassion, walk humbly with God. It was humility which opened the heart of the officials around Daniel. Serve your community with this yeast of power and life.