Applying the Kingdom

1 Copyright 2007 Myles MunroeAll rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of shortquotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations arefrom the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternationalBible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights note that Destiny Image s publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture thatrefer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers styles.

2 Take notethat the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him,even to the point of violating grammatical IMAGE PUBLISHERS, Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310 Speaking to the Purposes of God for this Generationand for the Generations to Come. BAHAMAS FAITH Box N9583 Nassau, BahamasThis book and all other Destiny Image, Revival Press, Mercy Place,Fresh Bread, Destiny Image Fiction, and Treasure House booksare available at christian bookstores and distributors a bookstore nearest you, call more information on foreign distributors, call reach us on the Internet: ISBN 10: 0-7684-2489-5 ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-2489-8 Paperback ISBN 10: 0-7684-2597-2 ISBN 13.

3 978-0-7684-2597-0 For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the Cover 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 / 09 08 07 Paperback 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 / 09 08 07 CONTENTS Preface IntroductionChapter One First Things FirstChapter Two The Danger of Misplaced PriorityChapter Three The Exclusiveness of the Divine PriorityChapter Four The Divine Priority MandateChapter Five The Power of RighteousnessChapter Six Righteous Positioning: The Key to Abundant KingdomLivingChapter Seven The Benefits of RighteousnessChapter Eight The Kingdom Key to Accessing the Things of theKingdomChapter Nine The Kingdom Principle of AdditionChapter Ten Service: The Heart of Kingdom CultureChapter Eleven The Process of Entering the KingdomTPREFACEhe number one priority of humanity is material security.

4 Popsinger Madonna made it to the top of the music hit charts with asong, Material Girl, that did not make much logical sense. Thesong sold millions of copies around the world including the UnitedStates, Europe, Africa, South America, Canada, Japan and the Caribbean,and stayed on the top of the charts for question that must be asked is why did this seeminglyunimportant subject attract so many people, both young and old? Ibelieve this phenomenon was due to the fact that the lyrics of this simplesong captured the spirit of the age and the preoccupation of our and allgenerations.

5 Many adults who may not agree with the personality,lifestyle, philosophy, or musical genre of the pop culture cannot denythe truth this song entire world seems to turn on the axis of materialism . Whetherone lives in the shadows of poverty of the industrial concrete jungle inthe economic capitals of the world, or sits on the corporate boards ofFortune 500 companies located on the 60th floor of an executivebuilding, or lives in a Third World country village, the allure ofmaterialism generates a magnetic field which causes people to sacrificeany and everything to obtain older generations of the world s nations pursue material goods atthe expense of personal health, family, marriages, wholesome moralityand values, and spiritual sensitivity.

6 They build houses too big forfamilies they lose; buy expensive cars to drive to a job where they spend16 hours a day; they buy designer clothing that gathers dust in thecloset; and, they join country clubs they have no time to sacrifice their loved ones on the altar of temporary pleasure andjoin the rat race in hopes of becoming the big rat. Others purchasesecond homes they never live in and buy complicated adult toys theynever others provide heaps of material goods for their children whohave no appreciation for the value or cost of the goods, and apply theculture of use and toss reducing the spirit of gratitude among theyoung.

7 What a material tragedy. It seems as if the philosophy of thisgeneration is founded in the belief that one s value, self-worth, self-esteem and self-concept is derived not from who they are but from whatthey possess. Their life is measured by the things they accumulate notwho they are. They fail to understand that we don t need things to havelife, we need life to have more staggering are the children and youth of this oldergeneration. The culture of materialism is the driving force of life foryouth worldwide. The worlds of fashion, music, sports, education, socialstatus, and careers are all driven by materialism .

8 The explosion of themusic-video industry promoting the image of riches and affluenceflaunted by young men and women who portray no record of an honestday s work further compounds the idea that success in life is measured interms of material success of television shows like Lifestyles of the Rich andFamous strike a deep cord in the psyche of our materialistic culture anddraws on the hidden aspiration of millions to pursue material preoccupation with materialism is also the source of much of thecriminal activity within many communities of our nations and manifestsitself in antisocial scourges such as the illegal drug industry, gangs,prostitution, robberies, and corruption in corporate and political hypnotic power of material things has controlled mankind fromthe days of the early Egyptian civilization and can be traced throughoutthe human journey history.

9 Warnings against this controlling power canbe found in writings as far back as Moses and Kings David and Solomonof behavioral scientist and psychologist Abraham Maslow didextensive researched on the subject of human motivation, and concludedthat all of the billion humans on planet Earth are motivated byprimarily by the same needs and are willing to pursue the meeting ofthese needs at all cost. His list of human priority needs include: food,water, clothing, shelter, housing, and 2,000 years ago the greatest teacher of all time, Jesus Christ,presented His list of human priority and admonished mankind toconsider these material priorities.

10 One of His students, Matthew,recorded these words by His master teacher while addressing this subjectof the priority of human motivation:Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about yourbody, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more importantthan clothes? So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? (Matthew 6:25,31).His admonition for humanity to move their primary focus frommaterial needs and place it on what he calls the more important matters of life is a startling contrast to our current global this book I explore this repositioning of priority and the philosophybehind it.