Evangelist Kelly McDonald, Jr.

As a boy, whenever I left the house for school, a ballgame, or an event, my mother always used to say – “Kelly Jr, Do your best!”. Now, sometimes this situation was more serious and “You better do your best” was implied. The point is this – Mom used to encourage me to do my best.

As humans, we strive for mastery. We want to be the best possible – basketball, baseball, musician, artist, actor, banker, worker, or whatever natural profession you choose. In my case, I sell insurance. I want to be the best I can be. I want to be professional, courteous, and friendly. I want to be the best!

What about for God? Do we strive for this same level of mastery? So many times as believers, we strive for mastery in our natural lives, but God is second place. We spend God “when we have time” instead of letting time with God dictate the rest of our day.

Many times when we strive for mastery in life, it is because we are looking to seek to meet our natural needs. We are concerned about paying bills or meeting financial goals. Mastery is a way to meet our concerns. In Matthew 6, Jesus addresses human concern. In verse 33, Jesus said, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” The words of Christ point us to seeking Christ first and foremost. HE said that when we seek Him, all the other things in life we worry about will be provided for.

A job or profession is temporary. You will eventually find another one or have to retire. Think about what God has done for us. God created us. He gave us life and everything we have. He sent His Son to die for us. We have eternal life through Christ. Considering these things, shouldn’t we seek mastery for Christ First and foremost? I can tell you from experience that the times in my life I put God first that my insurance job is a lot easier. I have favor with my clients and with other people. God brings to my mind solutions to the issues I face. I have a constant companion to get through the day’s rigors and struggles.

We should strive for mastery as a believer in Christ. Do you want to be the best Christian possible? The best example of Christ? Christ knew the word. Christ prayed. Christ served. To be the best requires dedication. It requires submission. It requires the sacrifice of what we want to do with our time to do what is necessary to be closer to God. This is key to walking with God.

Here is what Paul said in I Cor. 9:24-27: “24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Let’s live our lives to win the prize. To be the best we can be for God. We will fall short, we will face challenges and trials, and we will make mistakes. However, Proverbs 24:16 reads, “…for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.” When we fall down or make a mistake, we pray and ask God to forgive us and give us the grace and strength to go forward. We continue running the race and striving for mastery in Him.

Jesus said in John 15:5, “apart from me you can do nothing”.  Paul said, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Eph. 4:13). In Him there can be mastery. Without Him, there is misery. Mastery of God’s things should be at the center of our lives. Let us seek first the Kingdom and let the Lord order our lives.

In Leviticus 23:33-43, we learn about the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a festival to be kept every year to remember the Israelites tabernacling with God in the desert on their way to the promised land. In John 7, Jesus kept this awesome Festival. In it, he spoke one of the greatest promises in the bible, which reads, “³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:37-38, NIV).

As believers in Jesus Christ, the Feast of Tabernacles is a time to look forward to the Kingdom of God, which is a 1,000 year reign. Christ will be tabernacling with mankind during this time. He will rule the earth with Justice and righteousness. It will be the greatest time of prosperity ever known on planet earth. This Feast is the greatest outpouring of God’s Spirit during the year.

From sunset October 8th through sunset October 16th, we celebrated this feast with believers from Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, and even Canada. It was truly one of the greatest outpourings of God’s Spirit I have ever experienced. The sermons were preached with sincerity and boldness. After 16 services in 8 days, many people had their lives changed and were set on fire for God’s Kingdom work. Let’s take the momentum from this event and go forward to serve our Lord and Savior. Amen!

In Genesis 3:6-7b, the Bible reads: “6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened….” (NIV)

 In the middle of the Garden of Eden were two trees. The tree of life would lead mankind to everlasting life, true spiritual knowledge, and an intimate relationship with God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil would lead to pain, hurt, and heartache. The serpent deceived Adam and Eve to eat fruit from the wrong tree. Their eyes fastened on it. They thought it could offer them something they desired. They ate this fruit, and their eyes were opened.

Mankind had the choice between seeing the world from God’s perspective or seeing it from our own perspective. When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, all of mankind lost spiritual vision. Now, we see things the way we want to see them. So often our eyes deceive us. They desire things in this world that are unhealthy for us. Unfortunately, we chase after these things. Our lost spiritual vision is why there is so much hurt and pain in the world.

In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John wrote to seven churches. To the last church, Laodicea, the Lord said to put “…salve to put on your eyes, so you can see” (Rev. 3:18, NIv). This is an appeal to allow Jesus to heal our spiritual eyes and restore our spiritual vision. Too often we let our culture transform and shape our view of God. We allow our culture to change us instead of letting the Lord change the world through us. I want to give you a simple example to show why our Spiritual vision needs to be restored. As believers, sometimes we fall into the thought pattern that our lives will always be easy. We think that nothing will ever go wrong. The Apostles Paul and Barnabas said we must suffer many things to enter into the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:21-22). Paul was stoned, shipwrecked, and left for dead. He also wrote one-half of the New Testament! We must go through trials in life to have Godly wisdom instilled in us.

How can our spiritual eyes be restored? In Mark 8:22-25, some people brought Jesus a man who was blind. They begged Jesus to touch him. When He touched the man’s eyes, His vision was restored. It takes a touch from Jesus to restore our spiritual vision. Does your culture dictate your view of God, or does your view of God change you? Are there some areas where you need to adjust your viewpoint? Spend time with the Lord today and ask Him to restore your spiritual vision.

Praise the Lord!

I had an awesome time at summer reformation. I preached on Saturday morning in Murfreesboro, TN, so I did not arrive at the conference until Saturday evening. I want to share with you a few things I learned at this conference.

1) Praying for others is one of the most exciting things you will ever do

During the conferences, I serve on the Altar team. This is a tremendous honor. I am always excited about praying for others to be touched by God. On Saturday evening, there was an altar call for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Hundreds of young people were baptized into the Holy Spirit. I would say that nearly every person that came up received it. It was so awesome to see that many young people hungering for God. Their hands were lifted high and eyes filled with tears to be touched by God. Praying for other people is exciting and helps you focus on why God called you. God calls us to be His hands and feet. Praying for other people is part of this.

2) An encounter with Jesus does the Body good

During the Saturday evening service especially,  I had a tremendous experience from God. I was touched by the glory so heavy that I could not stand up. Next, my eyes started to burn. I discerned this was from God. I felt the fire of God burn even into the back of my eyes and the nerves that connect the eye to the brain. It was something I never experienced before. I believe that God was opening up my spiritual vision even more than ever before. I will never forget this moment!

3) A Fire tunnel

In one of the services, we did something called a “fire tunnel”. This is something I had never heard of. In the fire tunnel, you get the ministers and servants of God to line up across from each other to form a tunnel. People then walk through the tunnel to be prayed for. All of the people forming the tunnel lay their hands on these people so that they get touched by God. The goal is to keep the people moved so that they get prayed for by everyone. We had two tunnels, so each tunnel prayed for about 1,200 people. I was soaked with sweat. Again, it was an exciting experience. I was so excited that I was ready to pray for 1,200 people all over again!

4) Iron Sharpens Iron

The bible discusses how Iron sharpens Iron (Prov. 27:17). During the conference, I got to spend time with Ricky Scaparo and Jason Armstrong. Whenever we get together, it is like iron sharpening iron. Each one of us had experiences that sharpened the other. It was like a cycle of power and revelation that flows through each one of us as the services go on. I am looking forward to what God is going to do in the future through us!

Discerning the Times:

Now is the Time!

 In I Chronicles 12, the Kingdom of Israel was being turned over to David. The northern tribes of Israel were being gathered to meet David and coronate him as King. In verse 32, the Bible reads, “And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.” The phrase “understanding of the times” means the understanding the time in which God is going to move. The Tribe of Issachar knew that it was in God’s timing for David to rightly take his place over the entire Kingdom of Israel.

There is a Biblical principle we learn from these verses. The Spirit of Issachar is discerning the times. This means discerning what God is about to do, but also how the people of God should respond to the upcoming events. The events in the world all point to the return of the Lord. The Lord has placed the Spirit of Issachar on my life. To this end, the Lord has given me the following understanding of the times: Now is the time! Now is the time to answer your calling! Now is the time to complete your Kingdom assignments! Now is the time to prepare for the final end-time push! Now is the time for you to build Kingdom reward! Now is the time to make things right with your family and others! Now is the time to get your life in order! Now is the time!

There is a great harvest of souls coming for the Kingdom of God. What we do right now, in this prophetic time period, is crucial to what we will be doing when this harvest comes. We can simply be in the midst of the harvest, or we can be administrating the harvest. We can simply be part of the harvest or we can be assisting with the harvest. Either way, the harvest is coming. How we prepare for it will determine what we are doing during it. The amount of Kingdom reward we receive will depend on how we prepare now. We need to ask God to apply healing salve to our eyes so we can see what we should do to prepare for this harvest (Rev. 3:18). You do not have much time to work for the Lord, for “…the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).