Day 12 – The Kingdom Is Within
Saturday August 4
by David Demian

One of my first mentors was a Coptic priest in Egypt. One day he told me a simple story. There was a dog that was very hungry and suddenly he saw a prey running in the street. So he started chasing after it and barking. Other dogs in houses all around heard him barking and they came out of their houses to see what was going on. And when they saw him running, they got excited, and thinking there must be something worth chasing, they started running after him. The more dogs that ran, the more noise they made and the more dogs that started joining in until there was a very large pack running through the streets. They ran from street to street for a very long time.

After some time had passed, some of the dogs began to get hungry and tired. So one of the dogs in the back of the pack said to the dog next to him, “What are we running for?” And the other dog said, “I don’t know! I saw the other dogs running, so I started running too.” So the first dog said, “Well I’m getting tired, do you see anything up there?” And the second dog looked and then answered, “No, I don’t see anything except a lot of dogs running.” And so the first dog said, “Well I’m tired and I’m going home.”

As he left, the questions started spreading among all the dogs. “What are we running for?” “Do you see anything?” But no one could see anything. So soon all the dogs started going home.

And the priest looked and me and said, “David, do you know which dogs remained until the end? The ones who actually saw the prey – they could not quit, even in their tiredness and hunger, because they knew what they were running for.

I think this story is a good illustration of where we are in the church today. Many of us are running but we’re not really sure what we’re running for. We hear the commotion and the excitement, we see many running and so we run too, afraid that if we don’t, we will miss something good. And it’s true there is something worth running for – something real. But after a while, the question comes to our mind “What are you running for?” And if we don’t know the answer, if we haven’t seen the prey, we are tempted to just stop running and go home.

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

Then he said to his disciples, "The time is coming when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Men will tell you, 'There he is!' or 'Here he is!' Do not go running off after them. Luke 17:20-23

I believe the Lord is really focusing at this time on consecrating our hearing. He wants us to know that we don’t have to look here or run there trying to find Him. We don’t have to read every new prophetic word or attend every great conference hoping to hear the word of the Lord. If God tells us to do these things, wonderful, we need to do them in obedience expecting He will speak. But God doesn’t want us running on someone else’s excitement. He wants to speak to each of us – face to face – like He did with Moses. Like a man speaks to His friend. It is His great delight to share with each one of us the secrets of His heart.

We received a beautiful testimony a few days ago from a sister in Ontario.

“As I read the email tonight, I asked God, “Do you really speak like that, Lord? What is that like?” I dismissed this thought, not expecting an answer as I’ve done so often in the last few years because of disappointments, and read on. Well, the Lord was waiting for me as I came to the line in the declaration prayer near the end “Lord, I ask You to search my heart and expose in me any mindset of defeat.” I couldn’t get past this line, so I paused. I heard the Lord, say quietly to me, “Rose, I love you”. I quietly said back, “I love You, too.” Then He said, “Can you hear me now?” I said, “Yes, I hear You, Lord” and then “Be still and know that I am God” came into my mind. And I quietly waited and it hit me…I had accepted a mindset of defeat that the Lord just wouldn’t speak to me the way He does to other people. I’m just in awe. I can’t describe it except to say, it’s so AWESOME to hear Him so clearly, personally, and KNOW it is Him and not my own thoughts!!

Lately, Father, has been directing me to these themes in His Word or in books: needing to abide in Christ; the Kingdom of God is within; seek Him with all my heart and the promise that I will find Him. And today…seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. I’m weeping with joy now as I realize that He has opened the eyes of my heart with a new understanding that He is IN me—completely, utterly, wholly HIM INSIDE ME—I’m finding Him by looking within. It seems such a simple truth, but it is new!”

I believe what God did for Rose He wants to do in ever increasing measure for us all. He wants to bring us back to the simple truths of walking with Him. He wants to allure us into the desert, into the secret place and speak to us tenderly (Hosea 2:14). He wants us to show us what He sees and tell us what He hears.

Tomorrow (Sunday August 5) we felt the Lord was telling us not to post any exhortation (and we will be doing this from now on, one day every week) in order to allow each of us to take a special time with the Lord so He can speak to us His unique personal exhortation for that day. If you want to share with us any testimonies or what the Lord reveals to you, you can send it to kingdom@watchmen.org or fill out the sharing what you’re hearing form on our website. But the most important thing is that you enjoy your time just being the presence of the Lord.

Let’s pray this prayer together: Lord I love you and I’m in awe that you want to speak to me as a friend. God I want to encounter You face to face and I want to see what you see and hear what you hear because I want to know You and Your heart better. Thank you for consecrating my hearing so that I can hear you with greater clarity than ever before. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen!

David Demian is a man of singular passion: to be a friend of God. This passion has led him on an amazing journey in life and ministry.  David is a spiritual son to the founder of Watchmen for the Nations, Pastor Bob Birch, who passed the mantle of leadership of the ministry to David in 1998.  David lives in Vancouver, BC, Canada with his wife Ruth and seven children. 

David can be reached by email at director@watchmen.org.