Dr. Myles Munroe - The Myles Munroes Kingdom Series

Copyright 2010Myles Munroe

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations or occasional page copying for personal or group study is permitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted upon request. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." Emphasis within Scripture quotations is the authors own. Please note that Destiny Images publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns in Scripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and may differ from some publishers styles. Take note that the name satan and related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowledge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

DESTINY IMAGE PUBLISHERS, INC.

P.O. Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310

Speaking to the Purposes of God for This Generation and for the Generations to Come.

Previously published as Rediscovering the Kingdom by Destiny Image 2004

Hardcover ISBN 0-7684-2217-5 Paperback ISBN 0-7684-2257-4

Devotional previously published by Destiny Image 2005 as: Daily Devotional

Journal A 40-Day Personal Journey Rediscovering the Kingdom

ISBN 0-7684-2296-5

This book and all other Destiny Image, Revival Press, MercyPlace, Fresh Bread, Destiny Image Fiction, and Treasure House books are available at Christian bookstores and distributors worldwide.

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ISBN 10: 0-7684-3211-1

ISBN 13: 978-0-7684-3211-4

For Worldwide Distribution, Printed in the U.S.A.

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To the millions of religious people around the world working tirelessly to fulfill the hunger that still exists after all the rituals, customs, traditions, formalities, and workmay this book bring comfort to your mourning soul.

To the late Alma Trottmanyour life and legacy live on in our memories and thoughts of you.You truly lived a Kingdom-filled life and I know your time with the King now is like Esther. Perhaps you are both together enjoying royalty at its best.

To the youth of our worldmay your generation never have to struggle through religion to find the joy of the Kingdom.

To the King eternal,immortal,the all wise God,and my Lord,Jesus Christmay Your Kingdom and Your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven.

T his book has taken more than 20 years to prepare and three years to write, and many people encouraged me during the entire process. There were times when it seemed like I would never get through it. However, with persistence and a keen focus, it is finally complete. I want to acknowledge everyone who participated for their help and support, without which this project would never have been finished.

Nothing in life is ever successful without the corporate effort of many gifted people who were willing to network and submit their talent, experience, and passion for a common goal. I am always reminded that we are the sum total of all the people we have known, met, and learned from. This work is the product of countless individuals whose thoughts, ideas, perspectives, and work have given me the exposure to the knowledge I have placed in this book.

I wish to thank my wife, Ruth, and our children, Charisa and Chairo (Myles Jr.), for their patience and understanding during my endless travels and late-night writing. My achievements are yours, also.

To Don Milam, my excellent editorial advisor and guide in developing this manuscriptyou are an authors dream and a gift to many who will read this work. Thank you for pursuing me to get this done.

To all the members and staff of our ministry in Nassau, Bahamas, and around the worldthank you for allowing me to develop and refine these ideas and concepts by sharing and testing them with you. May His Kingdom come through you!

T he greatest threat to the future of the world is religion. Nuclear weapons, terrorism, SARS, shifting governments, military coups, and AIDS are simply tools used by religion. More wars have been fought in the name of religion than any other influence. Millions have died over the past 2,000 years under the destructive hand of religious zeal. Misplaced and misguided religious passion has produced such historical scars as the Crusades, the Inquisition, ethnic cleansing, and the horror of the Holocaust.

Why is religion so powerful and controlling? Why is it more powerful than politics, military arms, and scientific advancement? Because religion is not just a social, cultural, political, or ideological factor; instead it finds its power in the personal chambers of the soul of the individual. Within the soul we discover the source of the private motivation that forms perceptions and behavior. Man is more willing to die for the sake of his religion than for any political, social, or ideological reason.

Religion is as old as mankind, finding its roots in the private recesses of the human spirit. Every culture, no matter how old or far removed, has developed some form of religious practice that attempts to satisfy an elusive vacuum in the pit of the human soul crying out for reason, purpose, and significance. For mankind, life on planet Earth has been nothing more than a long tedious march down the road of time, with each new generation searching for something they cannot define. The long chains of civilizations have left undeniable imprints on the pages of historyevidences for our generation that the search continues. From the secrets etched on the walls of ancient caves to the grand archaeological monuments to the remnants of the great empires, man marches on seeking to find himself and make sense of his world. Mans travels through this world have produced a tapestry of religious practices and ideologies that only serve to create more problems than they solve.

A brief look at our modern, sophisticated, technocratic, cyberspace-age world of today can be the source of fear, depression, discouragement, insecurity, and uncertainty. From the archaic world of the cave men and bush hunters through the progressive succession of agrarian cultures, to the advent of the industrial revolution leading to the scientific age of post-modernism and the computer age, we are still no better than nor different from our ancestors of old.

The only difference seems to be the sophistication of our tools and weapons. We are smarter but not wiser; we live longer but not healthier; we have more but enjoy less; we can go to the moon, but we cannot go home to a good family; we have access to more information but know less about life. Tragically, we protect whales, but kill our children; we improve the quality of our food but produce less healthy strains for our consumption; we have more religion but less love; and we blame others for our choices as we look to ourselves for solutions to the problems we create.