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Day 7: The Pioneer:
Congratulations! You made it to the final day of the Kingdom Pioneers Plan. I’m honored you chose this devotional and I hope that over this week you have been encouraged and empowered to live as a kingdom pioneer for God’s glory.

On our final day, we’re discussing your role as a pioneer.

Being a pioneer sounds so attractive until you realize it means taking the first deep cuts. Laboring for a land you can’t see. Pushing through intense pressure. Showing up when you don’t feel like you can take another step forward. Caring when nobody else seems to care.

Leading others where they don’t want to follow to a promised land they’ll probably get to enjoy without you. Being the invisible foundation others will build on and get all the glory for. Clearing the path so others coming after you have it easier. Dying to comfort and popularity. Discovering a million ways to make something not work. Failing and choosing to try again. Sometimes, losing relationships you’ve spent years investing in and choosing to love like Jesus anyway, knowing there will always be the risk of people walking away. Experiencing warfare on another level. And experiencing it frequently. Sign me up, right?!

The apostles and prophets are the foundation of a house, not the roof. They are the foundation, not the top of a hierarchy. If you crave being at the top, that could create some tension between you and the Lord if He’s called you to be the foundation of something. Forcing people to stay under your lids may have the appearance of self-preservation, but it’s actually one of the most self-sabotaging moves a pioneer can make. We are called to equip and release people into their destinies. Not doing that is forsaking the essence of our calling as pioneers.

The point of a foundation is for everything else to be built on top of it. For everything around you to grow bigger, better, fuller, and taller. To last longer. When we draw our final breath, the goal should be for whatever we built on this earth to thrive without us. If what you’re building can’t thrive without you, you’re missing the point. If we do it right, a foundation becomes invisible while everyone is increasing and being built up around them. But the Lord sees and rewards everything that was truly built for His glory. Everything else turns to dust anyway.

Good fathers and mothers WANT their children to surpass them. At least Paul believed so:

“It is my honor and constant passion to be a pioneer who preaches where no one has ever even heard of the Anointed One, instead of building upon someone else’s foundation.” —Romans 15:20 (TPT)

Pioneers are the bottom of a great cathedral. Not the cornerstone. Not the capstone. But part of the foundation. Everyone admires the stained glass and the painted ceilings, but without a strong foundation, that building would collapse on everyone inside of it. There would be nothing to build on. Pioneers are protectors of what the Lord is building and protectors of what the Lord values. If you’re a pioneer, the rewards are in heaven with the Father. It’s in the fruit of seeing what was built outlast you. It’s in the health of those who come up after you.

Where was the honor for John the Baptist when he was beheaded? Or when Jesus's sweat turned to blood for our emotions to be healed? Where was the honor when He was disfigured, so we could be His image bearers? When His head was pierced with a crown of thorns, so we could have a sound mind and be a royal priesthood who lays our crowns at His feet? Where was the honor when they whipped His back so brutally, bone was exposed, and flesh was ripped for our healing? Or when the nails pierced His feet so we could walk in His peace? Where was the honor when His hands were pierced so we could carry reconciliation to the nations? Or when they pierced His side, so we could be born again of blood and water? Where was the honor when He was pulling Himself up for oxygen, so we could be filled with the breath of His Spirit? He didn’t do it for honor. He did it for love.

It’s not just a memory. It’s a love story. Understanding His delight in you will flip your whole life upside down. Nothing about Jesus should be treated as common or familiar. He deserved all the honor but chose a cross, and while we’re waiting for the esteem of men, He’s waiting for us to pick up ours. Not to complete what He already finished. We never want to give power to something Jesus disempowered on the cross. But He is calling us to carry our own cross and that looks different for each of us. Suffering and joy. Glorification and lowliness. They are a drink from the same cup. Jesus asks that we stop bargaining and drink the cup and carry the cross like Jesus did: “I never have a need to seek my own glory, for the Father will do that for me, and he will judge those who do not.” John 8:50, (TPT)

Or like our forebears did:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” —Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)

You’re moving forward to a wild frontier with unimaginable possibilities. It’s a new day. Obedience is your only job now. You’re retiring formulas and stepping into the flowing river of God. This ends in a wedding. Go low. Protect your oil. Stay wild. Be free from rejection and the fear of man. Be led by the Spirit and aligned with His Word. Keep your love pure and your heart free from offense. Only build what Jesus asks for—and build it with Him. You’re not stuck. It’s not over. It’s just getting started. So, be a pioneer like the first disciples: “Immediately, they dropped their nets and left everything behind to follow Jesus.” Matthew 4:20, (TPT) You can’t hold onto your net and follow Jesus. Whatever the cost, He is worth what He asks for.

Thank you so much for joining me on this 7-day devotional journey. If you’re hungry for more on becoming a Kingdom Pioneer, you can check out my book, Kingdom Pioneers: The Call for a Purified, Positioned Priesthood to Return to the Father’s Heart and Pioneer Wild Rivers of Personal Revival by going to [LINK].

Cheering You On!

Rhea Falig