There was a time when only a few could or did know God.  But when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea all that changed.  God Himself became universally visible for the first time, not just to a select few prophets or wise men, not just to the priests and levites serving in the temple, and more importantly, not just to the few who actually met Jesus in those few years He spent building His ministry, developing a following, and initiating His kingdom on earth to coordinate in harmony with His kingdom in heaven.

“Because you have seen me you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed” – John 20

The key to becoming a priest is establishing an unmediated relationship with Jesus Christ as your only God.  Don’t hide.  Don’t try to enlist someone else to take care of it for you.  Its about you and God.  Its between you and God.  And only you and God can sort it out.

So, to become a priest, here are the basic steps that God has provided, for anyone who desires to find Him:

1. Take ownership of your life.  Every decision you have made.  Every experience you have lived.  Every thing that has been done to you.  Everything that you have done.  And all of the results both good and bad.  Accept where you are and who you are with complete openness, honesty, and the willingness to see it for what it is. 
2. Evaluate your decision making based on the results you acheive.  God’s answers always work.  So if the decisions you are making aren’t working, they aren’t God’s will for your life.  Identify where God is already blessing your life and areas where you are still in need of blessing.
3. Commit your life, your decisions, your property, and your personal identity to Jesus Christ as your only God.  Jesus is God.  Embracing this reality will take your perspectives, your decision making ability, and the results you achieve to places you have not even thought possible before.  And commiting your life to Him changes the way you interact with other people, what you choose to do with the time and resources He provides for you, and at the heart of it all your commitment changes who you are – because by choosing a relationship with Jesus as your only God, you are born again.
4. Get baptized by full immersion in water in the name of “Jesus Christ”.  Baptism is the physical act of commitment indicating your ordination into the priesthood.  No other names, titles, or aspects of God should be used in the baptism of new believers than “Jesus Christ”.  Although only your own commitment to walk with Christ can make your baptism effective, and so who physically helps you into the water and makes the statement “I baptize you in the name of Jesus Christ”  is of little consequence, the best practice is to be baptized by the believer who introduced you to Jesus as your only God.  This connection through shared experience will provide you with a mentor in the faith, and a fellow disciple to walk with on the path to eternal life.
5. Take your baptism to the next level.  The baptism in water is your ordination, but your calling is to receive full immersion in the holy spirit and fire.  God’s spirit comes on those who pursue, study, pray for, and accomplish His will.  And as you discover His will, come to understand the actual gospel, and persist in your commitment to staying right in your relationship with Him, exercising your rights as a believer and facing your responsibilities as well — the passion for the salvation of souls, for making the world a better place because you have lived in it, your ability to see God’s will in the present, and receive the persistent blessings God showers on you will rise up like a flame and the power of God’s love will come into you, over you and around you — and through you into all those you reach.
6. Make disciples.  It is the first and most important responsibility of every believer to introduce others to God.  As a priest you are a disciple, a follower and servant of Jesus Christ.  It is your job to make more disciples, not for yourself, but for God.  You may not be the first or the last person to introduce them.  They may not be ready to hear, or they may have deep seated rejection of God in their hearts.  But you make sure the witness of your life, and the testimony of your words accurately reflect, embody, and convey your relationship with Jesus Christ as your only God. 
7. Live with integrity.  One of the best measures of your own faith, is observing how consistent you are.  God is completely consistent and so has perfect integrity.  Evil, on the other hand is completely inconsistent and lacks all integrity.  God’s vision for your life is to bless every single thing you think, say, and do.  Every word you speak.  Every decision you make.  Every task you take on.  Everything.  Everything you choose to do either empowers the presence of God on earth, or limits His ability to bless you and those around you. 
8. Engage reality and so change it.  Don’t get bogged down in your mistakes, overcome them.  The only unforgiveable sin is one that you won’t face or for which you don’t want forgiveness.  God doesn’t hold mistakes against you, but there is nothing He can do if you don’t accept reality and choose to change it.  Our God is bigger than every challenge you face today.  And there is nothing you can do that will turn Him off of His desire to work with you.  God is a very persistent giver.  Accept the goodness of God, not because you believe you deserve it, but because you know that He wants to give it to you.  Every time you fall, get up.  Every time you stumble, take one more step.  Focus your life on discovering and accomplishing God’s will, not on reliving the past.  Every moment is a new opportunity to engage reality and so to change it.  Take that opporunity.

God isn’t holding anything back in His relationship with you.  His will always provides the best possible outcome in every situation.  And so as you embrace the reality of His will for you, you will be perfected not just individually in your relationship with Him, but also collectively with all other believers as we all work together in becoming the living body of Christ. 

Are you ready?  Then pray this prayer, “Lord Jesus, I accept who I am, I understand where I have been, and I repent of my sins.  Right here, right now, I commit the rest of my life to you.  Come into my heart.  I make you my one and only God.  Save me.  Amen.”

If you prayed that prayer, I believe you were born again.  Get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, pursue and accomplish His will, and get ready to accept the blessings and the promises of God that will chase you down and overcome you now that you are a priest and a believer, a disciple of the one true God and eternal life, Jesus Christ.

By this logic, business owners and managers ordain employees every day.  Every four years the United States ordains a President.  And many communities, from local churches, to neighborhood associations, to non-profits, and businesses ordain leaders to support and direct their purposes.

But more importantly, today and every day, Jesus ordains you.  He has officially chosen you.  You were hand picked.  He didn’t just ask for anybody.  He is asking for you.  In fact, He asked me to find you.  And now I have.

It’s amazing to me that He would ask ME to find you.  Who am I?  Why would He choose ME?  Simple.  He chose me because I could reach you and He needs the specific gifts, abilities, and skill sets that you bring to the table.  Your resume matches a job description He is looking to fill in His kingdom.  So if you are available, He chooses you.  Let Him know your interest in the position as soon as possible and He’ll set up a meeting to go over what you can do for His kingdom.  And just so you know, there really isn’t much competition for your position in His kingdom, because you are indispensibly unique and valuable to His mission and purpose.  So please consider accepting this ordination.  Jesus wants you.

Jesus warned, “You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

There is only one teacher — Jesus Himself.

He is the holder of the keys, and He freely gives them to all who are willing to accept them.  It is His will that whenever we discover one, we share it.  And so, here are just a few of His keys to His kingdom that I have discovered in my walk with Him.

Jesus Christ is God

• Jehovah God Created Heaven and Earth (Gen 1:1)
• Jehovah God Himself is and Always Has Been the Savior of the World (Isa 43:11; Hos 13:4; Isa 47:4; Isa 63:16)
• Jesus Christ is Jehovah God (Isa 9:6-7; Isa 7:14; Mt 1:23; Isa 25:9; Isa 40:3-5; Jn 1:1-14; Ps 33:6; 1 John 5:20)
• Jesus was Born of the Virgin Mary – the Divine Soul in a Mortal Body and Mind (Lk 1:35)
• By His Own Power Jesus Made Himself Fully Divine, Completely One with His Soul, so that After Resurrection and Ascension He Was and Always Will be Jehovah God All the Way Down Even to His Body, whose name we now know “Jesus Christ” (Jn 14:6; Lk 24:39; Jn 14:9; Jn 3:25; Mt 11:27; Mt 28:18; Rev 1:8-11)
• Jesus Christ is the Archetypal Human, in whose image and likeness we were made — and so to be human is to be Christlike(Gen 1:26-27)
• Saving Faith is Believing and Following the Life of Jesus Christ (Jn 3:36; Jn 15:4-5)
• Every Believer is a Priest (Exod 19:6; Jer 31)
• Every Person has an Individual, Direct, Unmediated Relationship with Jesus (Jn 15:15)
• Jesus Christ Made His Second Advent (1745 - 1770) when He appeared in Person to Emanuel Swedenborg and Commissioned Him as a Revelator (Jn 16:12-15; Mt 24; Rev 1-22) as the prophets had foretold

Only God Explains Truth With Authority

• The Written Revelations Given By God contain Divine Truth Itself (Jn 6:63; Mk 13:31; Lk 16:17)
• The Written Text of these Revelations Describes the Truth, but it is a Believer’s Living and Present Relationship with God that Prescribes Answers for Life (Jn 16:12; Mt 5:17)
• Every Believer Can and Should Search the Scriptures for God’s Eternal Message (Mt 7:7-8; Mt 21:21-22; Mt 23:25-26)
• The Ten Commandments (Exod 20:1-17) Summarize Civil, Moral, and Spiritual Law(Mt 22:35-40; Lev 22:31; Jn 14:15; Jn 15:10)

Every Person’s Life is Their Faith, and Salvation is God’s Ability to Bless, Correct, Improve, Restore, and Resurrect

• There is Only One True Faith that can save no matter what (Mt 16:16-18; Ephesians 4:4-13)
• Saving Faith is Complete Confidence in Jesus Christ and Trust that Everyone who Lives a Good Life and Holds a Proper Belief is Saved by Him (Jn 11:25; Jn 3:16)
• Doing God’s Will and Obeying God’s Commands are Required to Facilitate the Gifts of Faith and Salvation Even Though These Actions Do Not Cause a Believer to Deserve or Merit Heaven (Jn 3:27; Jn 15:4-8; Jn 13:17; Mt 13:23; Mt 7:24-26; Lk 10:27)

Salvation is God’s Purpose for Every Life, Because He Wants You to Succeed and Be Blessed like Everyone Else

• Heaven Isn’t Just a Destination After Death, it is a Quality of Life, Right Here, Right Now (Lk 17:21)
• In terms of Physics (position, velocity, and acceleration) – Heaven is a Velocity, not a position.
• Everyone Lives Forever One Way or The Other (Jn 14:19; Jn 11:25)
• Heaven is Full of People Who Love God and Love People Like God Loves Them (Mic 6:8; Lk 10:27)
• Hell is Full of People Who Love Themselves and the stuff they can own, control, and manipulate (Ps 9:17; Lk 12:5)
• Heaven and Hell are Both Eternal (Lk 16:26)
• Every Human Being is Created for Heaven but is Free to Reject it (Lk 17:21)
• People in Heaven are Married, One Man with One Woman, to Eternity (Mt 19:4-6)

Every Moment of Every Day, Jesus Christ is Using Everything that He has to Bless You

• All Humans Have Free Will in Spiritual Matters and so Determine The Network and Context of their Own Eternal Life by Their Lifestyle Decision For or Against Jesus Christ (Ps 54:6; Isa 1:16-17; Jn 8:31-36; Jn 15:14-16)
• Confessing Sins to Jesus Christ alone without another mediator, changing the decision for sin, giving back for the Damage Caused, and being Born Again to New Life in His Name is how we accept restoration, blessing, peace, and success (Jn 3:3; Jn 3:5; Lk 3:3-8; Mk 1:4; Mk 1:15; Lk 13:5; Lk 15:7; Mt 10:39; Ps 51:10)

Two Processes that Can Change You: Baptism and Holy Supper

• Christian Baptism Replaces Circumcision (Deut 10:16; Galatians 5:6; 6:15)
• Baptism is an Introduction to a Network and Context of Believers on Earth and in Heaven (Mt 3:13)
• Baptism is Full Immersion in Water in the Name of Jesus Christ (Mt 28:18-19)
• Baptism of Water is only a stepping stone so that a Person will be Born Again by the Spirit of Jesus Christ the living and only God (Jn 3:5; Mk 16:16)
• Jesus Christ is Present With, Redeems, and Opens Heaven to Those who want to walk with Him when they Take the Bread and Fruit of the Vine in His Name (Jn 6:51-56)
• Eating and Drinking with Jesus Connects the Believer’s Life with Jesus Christ and so renews their Freedom in Him (Deut 8:3; Jn 6:27)
• Grace is the immediate willingness of God to work with us no matter what
• Mercy is the empowered love of God that restores what was broken as we walk with Him in new life.

There are so many keys, these are just a few that have turned my life around.  Take them, try them, and when God reaches into your life, like He has so many time in mine and takes these thoughts or others and makes them keys for you, keep a copy for yourself, but pass the original along to someone else in your life.  Because it is only when we bring someone with us that any of God’s keys will open the door to eternal life.

Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their ancestors in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; my covenant that they broke, although I was a husband to them, says Yahweh. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says Yahweh: I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people: and they shall teach no more everyone their neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yahweh; for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Yahweh: for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.

God calls every individual to walk side by side along the road of life with others, to give counsel and encouragement, to study and teach His Word for those less educated in its message, to worship and praise Him together in communities, to witness important life events such as marriage and death and teach the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper, and to lead others by means of the gifts of vision, perception, and wisdom to discover more of the blessings that God has in store for all people.  These gifts are what set apart the pastors, the preachers, the ministers, and the priests – and these are all roles that any believer can take if that is where they are called by God and gifted to serve.

Man or woman, young or old, every believer is a priest following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ who is the only teacher, the only priest, the only mediator, the only God.

“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-29)