Kingdom Currency

By Dion E. Leonard

Kingdom Currency will challenge everything you thought you knew about who you are supposed to be as a follower of Jesus. Using the financial systems of the world as a backdrop, Dion Leonard helps the reader understand how we are God's currency in the world. Money has become as as familiar and common to the human experience as the air we breath. Because of this familiarity we sometimes miss some important lessons God is sharing. Firmly grounded in Scripture, Dion Leonard helps the reader see how the financial systems reveals God's desire for the church to affect the world in the same way money impacts the financial system. This book is a refreshing look at our mission in the world. You will be challenged and encouraged to see with new eyes God's plan. Read Kingdom Currency carefully and consider the wisdom and insight contained on its pages.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Foundry Press
• Release date: Nov 15, 2014
• ISBN: 9781942221043

Book preview

Bronner

Chapter 1

The Currency of Heaven

When I was a child, I always went shopping with my parents. We would load up the car on a Saturday and take a ride to our local mall or convenience store. The closer we got to our destination the more excited I became. The excitement slowly deflated when I realized that everything in the store had a price. I remember telling my mother what I wanted from the particular store we were in and her response would often be, Do you have the money? Some would say she was being sarcastic but, I believe she was instilling the principle that nothing in life is free and that the desire to have something without the means of paying for it will always leave you without what you desire.

Now, currency has commonly been defined as a medium of exchange. This means that currency is the method by which an exchange happens. The kind of currency necessary for any given exchange is determined by the country or kingdom the exchange will take place in. For example, the currency of America is the dollar bill, the currency of Europe is the Euro, and the currency of Japan is the Yen.

Each of these places has their own individual mediums of exchange. These mediums of exchange are not interchangeable. I cannot take the Japanese Yen and use it as a medium of exchange in America. If I want to make a purchase in America I have to use American currency.

This same principle also applies in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has its own medium of exchange and that medium is called sacrifice. You see the reality of this medium in the Bible, from the sacrifice of goats and livestock in the Old Testament to the ultimate sacrifice made by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Whenever there was an exchange made between heaven and earth after the fall of man, there was sacrifice.

Let's take a moment to show the theological validity of this concept. Genesis 22:9-18 declares,

⁹ And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. ¹² And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. ¹³ And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. ¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, ¹⁶ And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: ¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; ¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

We find in the text God charging Abraham to sacrifice his son in an effort to test Abraham’s obedience. Once Abraham had proven his commitment to God, God provided a ram as a substitute sacrifice. The ram became the sacrifice (the medium of exchange), and in response to the sacrifice God established a covenant of blessing and multiplication over Abraham and his seed.

The Mosaic book of Leviticus further establishes the presence and continuity of this principle. The text tells us the following:

²⁷ And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty; ²⁸ Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. ²⁹ And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering. ³⁰ And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar. ³¹ And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour unto the Lord; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him. (Leviticus 4:27-31)

Here, the same principle is revealed. Should a man in Israel sin, he would have to bring a sacrifice (medium of exchange) to the priest and in exchange for the sacrifice he received forgiveness for his sin.

I know what you are thinking. These are all Old Testament examples. Well let's take a look at how this principle carries over into the New Testament using the greatest example of all, Jesus Christ. Be sure to pay close attention to the shift that occurs in Hebrews 9:12-15.

¹² Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.¹³ For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: ¹⁴ How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ¹⁵ And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

It is in the New Testament that Jesus eliminates the need for animal sacrifice and establishes the need for human sacrifice, by offering himself as the medium of exchange for our redemption. It is through Christ’s crucifixion that he establishes the principle and example he expects of all of us. Jesus example reveals that we are not just to offer sacrifices. We are to become the sacrifice offered. Paul picks up on this theme in Romans 12:1, when he says:, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Although the method of sacrifice changed forms between the Old Testament and the New, the principles supporting the intent remained intact. Paul is saying that in the same way Jesus Christ became the ultimate blood sacrifice through death, so now we who follow after Him must become his holy sacrifice through life. That is right. We are all to become New Testament sacrifices.

In summary, we have established the principle of sacrifice as God's currency or medium of exchange. We have also established that we as New Testament believers are living sacrifices unto God. Now, because God’s medium of exchange is sacrifice and we are that sacrifice; then we are also God’s medium of exchange in the world.

Kingdom Exchange = currency (medium of exchange) = sacrifice = you and I (the body of Christ)

Anything God wants to do in the earth, he has determined for it to be done through you and I. This reality places a high level of responsibility and accountability on each of us as we pursue the heart of God. However, God does not place this demand on us without giving us the necessary tools to effectively carry out the assignment he has laid before us. The coming chapters will allow us to peel back the layers and examine the depth of this principle.

Chapter 2

The Power of Circulation

Circulation is one of the most critical concepts to understand when it comes to currency. Let's take a closer look at how this works. In my study I found that American currency is circulated based on the need or demand of the public. Whatever currency there is not a demand for is held in a federal reserve bank until the demand of the public calls for it. These demands or needs vary based on the times and seasons; which brings me to my first point,

1. Where there is no need or demand, there is no release.

Once currency (you and I) has been produced as an act of our will, God places us on reserve until there is a need or a demand. It is at this point, that he releases us into the process I call circulation. The life of King David provides an excellent example of what this looks like. Let's begin with 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

¹ And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. ² And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. ³ And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. ⁴ And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably? ⁵ And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. ⁶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. ⁷ But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. ⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. ¹⁰ Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. ¹¹ And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. ¹² And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

Here we find David, who at this point in scripture is considered a shepherd boy, who takes care of his father Jesse's sheep. However, what Jesse did not know is that God was simply using his backyard as a waiting room or a Kingdom reserve until the demand of Israel required David's Kingship.

Please note in the text that while God's hand is still on Saul, David remains in his place of waiting. If David would have come out of waiting too soon, there would have been no place for him because God had already appointed a King for the season Israel was in. Here lies an important point, although David had great potential he still had to wait his turn.

This is one of the greatest issues facing our generation, because there are many who want to jump from production to position, but they have not been taught the power of waiting their turn. It was in David's waiting that he gained the experience necessary to unite, guard and tend to the people of God; and without these skills he would have been unequipped to fulfill his destiny. If we are going to be effective as God's medium of exchange in the earth, we must understand that there must be a demand before there can be a release. We also must be willing to wait patiently for the season and time of that demand.

If we were to be honest, many of you reading this book are on reserve. You have great potential but, you are waiting for there to be a need or a demand for what God has placed inside of you. Although waiting is necessary, it is definitely not easy. It is in this time of reserve where many of us experience feelings of doubt and questions of uncertainty. You know these questions:

Why am I here?

How long will this take?

What have I done wrong? It seems like I am so far from where I am supposed to be.

When will I be able to release all this potential?

How in the world am I supposed to reach my destiny when I am stuck here?

Although it is not explicitly written in the text, I believe David may have had some of these same questions. Why am I doing the work of a servant when I am a son and should be living with the same privileges as my siblings? How am I supposed to accomplish my destiny stuck tending to sheep in a field? What in the world am I supposed to learn from this? But, the reality is that these are questions that are designed to feed our impatient, inconsistent faith and ultimately lure us out of reserve before our time.

Whenever there is more currency released from the federal reserve than there is a demand for, the local banks return whatever access currency they have back to the federal reserve until there is a demand for it. This is where I must pause and ask many of our leaders a very serious question, Is there a demand for some of the currency we have released? If not, do you have enough integrity to admit that you released them prematurely and to return them to the reserve until there is a demand or a need for them?

This is also the place I will pause and ask every believer operating in what they believe God has called them to do, Is there a demand for the call of God on your life or have you removed yourself from the reserve because you got tired of waiting for your turn? If so, today I charge you to return and wait for the season and timing God has ordained for your release.

King Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:1-11,

¹ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ² A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; ³ A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ⁴ A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ⁵ A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time