The Feast of Tabernacles is a collection of teachings by Richard Mikelson.

 

These teachings explore spiritual depths of influential texts of scripture,  and of the human condition.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

The Kingdom of God is being established within the lives of believers by a spiritual power that changes men to make them new creatures just like Christ Jesus. His instructions still challenge us to understand:

“Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.” John 3:5

Once a man is born again by the water of God’s Word mixed with the kindling touch of His spiritual understanding, that man can be established in God’s righteousness. He needs no political laws to enforce righteousness upon him. The Lord’s government will change the nation's governments by changing individual men by His Word and the Spirit. Only the mighty word and spirit of God can save us now. Only God’s word can deliver us from death and transform us to accomplish the work of entering the reign of His righteous government.

The political practices in America today have not brought peace, love, and joy through the ballot box. But some political actions and organizations of religious people in the United States are awakening people to their original roots, national heritage, and spiritual heritage. Most immigrants from Europe came here to America to escape religious persecution in the governments of European nations. Some are realizing that Godly righteousness, being alive to God, cannot be legislated into people.

We can put prayer back in schools. We can outlaw this and that sin but it does not change the corruptible character in the HEARTS of men one iota. What the world needs today is not more political laws or more military might trying to establish righteousness. Christian men and women must be born to grow in experience with a greater spiritual regeneration.

We must have a complete transformation into His dominant life within by a new spiritual move coming to us from above. This is only effected by the SPIRITUAL POWER OF CHRIST sent by God to become manifest within His people. Any movement where the carnal religious mind dominates will certainly fall short again, although they may appear very anointed for a period of time.

We are announcing the Kingdom as proclaimers and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God. Kingdom priests are advocating and praying for God to move by blessing and healing our HEARTS. We are then enabled to view the presence and rule of God as perpetual, constant, and progressive within — never vacillating and never retrogressing.

Our God is abiding within to progressively bring us from one level of glory to other levels of glory, from realm to realm, from dispensation to dispensation. This is not just by revival followed by going to sleep in the darkness again. This glorious RESTORATION comes by being raised by His resurrection power to be alive within, spiritually.

God is in control of all that happens to us, good and evil. He works ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL. We Kingdom sons are built on prophets and apostles, a spiritual house that is a place God is inhabiting. He has started this process within our own spirit and soul as an abiding HABITATION. This is not a resort for Him to visit occasionally on Sunday morning. He wants to build an ETERNAL ABIDING PLACE in all of us.

What God desires now in His priesthood is a place to stay, a temple in which to dwell. We are to be enthroned in our spirit as He connects with us by transforming our earthly nature to be alive spiritually as sons of God about their Father’s business TODAY. We are growing in stature, in love and maturity, peaceably preparing for a manifestation of God that surpasses all past and present revivals and spiritual movements of church history.

This is the time of a new, unfolding dispensation coming by the spirit from the throne of God. This new dispensation is better than even the best of past anointing and better than the old heavens of pentecostal church. The Feast of Tabernacles’ dispensation is arising from within us to take us step by step into God’s New Kingdom Day. The spirit is life, the flesh profits nothing. The strength of the flesh or the ways of the world to promote and build the Kingdom of God is iniquity in God’s eyes.

Church ministries have been trained to build in carnal ways but this new dispensational work is done within one by the spirit of Christ ONLY. Once we learn these facts, we are tested for the proving, for every child of God is tested as they mature in sonship to God. Church leaders have been duped into having confidence in the flesh, trying to motivate men to busily and craftily work FOR God, kept busy building temporal organizations rather than seeking first the Kingdom of God that comes WITHIN.

We are taught by spirit to wait until HE works by the spirit. It is iniquity for religious men to work by fleshly means to try and do what the Spirit alone can do. Thus, iniquity has ruled meetings and created conflict as it takes charge of the church. What is taught are elementary doctrines about the good things of God, in the hope that God will second their efforts if they are good enough, if they do the good works promoted by their church systems.

However, there are a few who have spent their lives doing no outer works while waiting upon God to form His Kingdom within. It has taught them how most Christian men are motivated in the strength of religious flesh. All that is PROFITABLE, however, is motivated by the Spirit of God. Iniquity is merely motivated by the good intentions of man’s soulish works.

The early Christian church all the way to the present Christian teachings are full of this false standard. The iniquity of passing heavens has no great place or reward in the Kingdom of God. It is no wonder Paul said to the Galatians:

“Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish in the flesh?” Galations 3:3 NIV

Through many foolish teachers who desire preeminence, power and status, believers are trying to do this impossible task! No wonder many are WEARY AND HEAVY LADEN with the yoke of man instead of His yoke which is EASY AND HIS BURDEN IS LIGHT. There is little real anointing in the rituals, ceremonies, programs, traditions, ordinances, methods, techniques, choirs, and formulas of the passing church dispensation.

How much better had it been for the Lord’s servants to expend their energies, like Mary of old at His feet, learning to know Him by the spirit and being led by what HE motivates?! How much better to be enlightened to the Day of the Lord, to spend time in our prayer closets now, humbled and waiting to relate with what God reveals by understanding deeply how to trust our Father’s spirit.

What great hindrance to growth in spiritual life to sonship have been the fleshly efforts and programs of religious ministry that project traditional good works upon God’s people in the church. Christians need to have their eyes opened to the well-placed snares of the adversary to see how secret and how subtle is the temptation to have confidence in doing some sort of work motivated by fleshly ideas.

How easily most Christians have been duped by knowledge of the scriptures, trying to do by fleshly efforts what can only be done by the Spirit. This type of religious knowledge of the scriptures causes head knowledge that “puffs up” the pride in man. It is time to STOP, to find REST, and learn to trust only in that which is being motivated by the Holy Spirit. He shows us how to walk after His spirit in every part of our life, to do things which please the Father, bringing about, at last, our rest:

“…we are aware that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up yet love builds up. If anyone is presuming to know anything, he knew not as yet according as he must know. Now if anyone is loving God, this one is ‘known’ by Him.” 1 Corinthians 8:1-4 Concordant

“Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-30 KJV

The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, “lead us not into temptation” is no longer a prayer to escape temptation and testing. Rather it comes from a longing to PASS EVERY TEST, to pass EVERY sealing measure, to pass the LAST GREAT TESTING REQUIREMENTS to obtain the victory of Jesus. He would have us reign over every vestige of the world, the flesh and the devil. We pray for a fulfilling of our life's trials and chastisements to transform into His character, operating from His heart.

After being formed by these trials, we obtain entrance into the heavenly place our Father has chosen to reserve for believers now about His throne. We learn by the spirit how to put the practices of iniquity to death BY THE SPIRIT. God is coming to dwell within our spirit. This is how He changes our soul and quickens our body — by the shining brightness of His Word and Spirit. And the whole of creation will become focused on fulfilling that promise within themselves.

We pray to come now to the FULL STATURE found in Jesus Christ, to be enabled to fully overcome every temptation by having the mind of Christ. We desire to be enabled to stand in the power of His resurrection, raised in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ:

“…to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, conforming to His death, if somehow I should be attaining to the resurrection that is out from among the dead. Not that I already obtained, or am already ‘perfected. Yet I am pursuing, if I may be grasping also that for which I was grasped also by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:7-11 Concordant

Our prayer is asking to go BEYOND TEMPTATIONS into the anticipated formation of the eternal, unchangeable, untemptable life of God as our very own reality. We pray: “Father, lead us not into more temptation”. He will lead us beyond the temptable realms and deliver us from death and corruption into His life in accord with the lessons we have learned.

He has raised some to stand in spiritual mount Zion who are given the Father’s name "written in the forehead" for the consummation of this sonship walk. Oh, yes, God is leading us beyond temptation in our inner man! He causes us to go beyond temptations into a flawless condition of FULL SALVATION as His Word and Spirit brings glorious freedom from death. Amen and amen.

Free of Fear

To Rule the Earth