Month: April 2016

 Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, spends a lot of time talking about what it looks like when the kingdom is among us – when we are abiding in the kingdom of the heavens. It is a wonderful place where things are turned upside down from the world’s point of view – where the first will be last and the meek will inherit the earth.

What does that look like in every day life though?

• like moving our family to a place where people desperately need to hear the good news about Jesus even though it is far away from home?
• like being a beacon to those in our neighborhood, school, and job that leads them to Jesus’ perfect love?
• like being best friends with the one that most would avoid?
• like bypassing the things we want so that we can provide things that others need?
• like refusing to take revenge – in traffic, in sports, in life?
• like sacrificing our rights so that others can be saved?

 

The kingdom of God lived out on Earth looks like the Daggett’s or the Meyers or the Thomas’s – giving up the “American Dream” of a bigger house, a nicer car, better clothes, and better schools because they are sold out for Christ and the life He offers, and want, and at all cost, to share that with their world.

The kingdom of God lived out on Earth looks like a teenager standing up for what’s right at the risk of being ostracized or made fun of, or protecting the one who has become the butt of everyone’s jokes.

The kingdom of God lived out on Earth looks like those who serve those who have little, regardless of the reason for their poverty.

The kingdom of God lived out on Earth looks like inviting a child into your

family through fostering or adopting because that is what God did for every one of us.

The kingdom of God lived out on Earth looks like washing the feet of those who would be your enemies as a way to bridge the gap made by Satan.

We are all in charge of our own personal kingdom – the question is: Does your kingdom fit inside the parameters of His?

Tammy

I believe that understanding the ‘nature’ of the kingdom is very important in order for us to know how we fit into the bigger framework of the kingdom of God.  However in understanding the ‘nature’ of something we all need to start at the same basic point understanding or interpretation.  It seems to me that one of the problems when trying to understand the nature of God’s kingdom is that we often leave too much open to individual interpretation!  In the process of discovering what the kingdom or ‘church’ really is, too many people improperly interpret the church by what they have experienced.

If they’ve experienced harsh leadership, inflexible attitudes or hypocritical relationships, their interpretation is bound to be skewed.  I believe that we can only really arrive at the right understanding when we let the Lord tell us what His kingdom is all about!

There a re many scripture passages that talk about the Kingdom of God but I want to quickly remind you of two.  In John 18:36 Jesus says, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”  The nature of the Kingdom is not about fighting to establish our particular brand or a group identity to outshine some other religious group.  The nature of the Lord’s Kingdom is about being all that He wants us to be and to accomplish that by being in ‘submission’ to his divine will and purpose, which is to reflect Him in all that we do so that others will be drawn to Him also.

The bible also states in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”  I believe that the apostle Paul wanted to convey to us that the nature of the Kingdom is not based on the material things that impress people or the felt needs of those looking to get what they want out of life.  Rather, it is understanding the deeper spiritual principles that lead us to live righteous lives before God and one another.  When we begin to understand this, we find the peace and joy in the spirit, which I believe, truly embodies what the nature of the Kingdom is all about!

~ John Phillips Jr ~

In one version of the story of the mouse and the lion, the lion is rolling around in agony because there’s a thorn stuck deep into his foot.  He cannot see the thorn that’s been stuck there for a while and doesn’t know what’s wrong with him.

The mouse approaches the lion and asks what the problem is and if he can help.  The proud lion is reluctant and in disbelief that the mouse can help at all.

“What can you do to help?” asked the lion.  “You’re so small and I’m in such great pain for some reason.”

The mouse, seeing from his vantage point exactly what the problem was, said, “I know I can help, but only if you want me to.”

The lion relented and allowed the mouse to approach him and reach under his great big paw and yank out the sharp thorn.

The lion was grateful and humbled that something so small and insignificant was able to be of help to him and relieve the pain that kept him from living normally.

For me, God’s kingdom is like that.  In ministry work and in “everyday life”, I see so many people who are sometimes overwhelmed with issues, problems, pain or maybe even just struggling with the boredom of the normal flow of events in life and they don’t know what to do or how to get help.

In our pride, I think we are reluctant to accept help or guidance from anyone because we think we’ve already got things figured out.  We think if people would just “get it together” and follow our plan, do what’s right, use common sense, etc., then everything would come together.

But a lot of times it doesn’t.  And we get stuck.  It’s in those moments that we finally are in so much pain, like the lion rolling around in agony, God whispers to us…if we’re listening.

His Spirit asks if he can help.  Initially, we’re reluctant to believe that this “church guy” God/Spirit-person, that we go to worship in a building occasionally, can offer any help for every day, real-life concerns.

“Well, what can you do to help?” we ask.  “This isn’t a church thing.  This is a real-life issue.”  But the Lord, seeing from his vantage point, knows exactly what our problem is and says, “I know I can help, but only if you want me to.”

If we relent and say, “Okay. Fine. Please help me”, the Lord can come into our lives and do some pretty amazing things.

But he’s the kind of king, the kind of helper who never forces his way on us.  He goes where he’s invited. When asked to teach his disciples how to pray, one of the things he taught them was to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Lord invites us to invite him into our lives and into our world.  Sure, he’s always at work all around us, all the time, but we often don’t see him at work until we ask for it and invite him to show us what he has done and is doing.

God is ready to move into and through our lives as individuals and as a church, but only if we want him to.

Why not ask him today?

Wade Poe

 

When asked by the Pharisees in Luke 17 when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God is already among you.”

How do we know that? Is it measurable? Can we see it?

Sometimes the kingdom of God is tangible in your life. Sometimes it’s not as much as you would like it to be. Below are 4 evidences that the kingdom of God rules in your life.

1. Your life doesn’t make sense to the outsider

Many times the way of the cross and the life of the Christian seems foolish to those not belonging to the faith. Relying only on worldly wisdom, they don’t understand many foundational principles that our faith stands on.

And can you blame them? I think it’s safe to say most people want life to be easy; however, the things Jesus asks us to value in our lives usually don’t come easy. It’s not easy to forgive people who don’t deserve it, to love your enemy, to tithe regularly, or to care for people who can’t care for themselves. But even though the outsider might not understand our ways, we know that following Jesus’ commands leads to true life and kingdom growth.

2. Your prayers are Christ-like

Your prayer life is a window into your soul; it shows you what you truly value. The things at the top of your prayer list are the things that are most important in your life.

As far as we can tell, prayers for safety, happiness, comfort, better things, or better jobs didn’t consume Jesus’ prayer list. He prayed for unity in the church (John 17), for God’s will to be done here on earth (Matthew 6) and for God to send people out into the “harvest field” (Matthew 9). Jesus’ prayers were, at their core, about the kingdom and about others. What do you pray about?

3. You trust God’s care more than people’s advice

If the kingdom of God rules in your heart, you will be prompted to risk much in order to advance it— even if your financial advisor, bank, boss, or your own family/friends advise against it. Jesus regularly asked people to sell everything they had and follow him. Talk about taking a risk!

But we can be risky people because we trust that God will ultimately provide for us and care for us. Do you believe that? What have you risked for the sake of the kingdom?

4. You lose yourself in God’s grand narrative

Throughout history, God has been telling his story of how much he loves us and longs for us to be in a relationship with him. The best part is that he invites us to play a role in His story!

Kingdom-minded people lose themselves, day by day, in God’s grand narrative. How do you do this? You kill your selfish desires and align yourself with God’s will. You make sure you are in the world, but not of it (John 17). And you chisel off anything in your life that does not look like Christ through repentance.

John 3:30

In the end, the kingdom reigns in kingdom-minded people.

I think John the Baptist really understood how to put the kingdom of God first and foremost in his life. He dedicated his whole life to preparing the way for Jesus to usher in that kingdom. As people who allow the kingdom to reign in our life, our motto should sound like his:

“He must become greater; I must become less.” (John 3)

 

Corey Stumne

 

We pray for God’s kingdom to be one earth as it is in heaven where his will is done like it is in heaven. But what does that really look like down close, where we live? If you look into Matthew 6, where Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer he says a whole bunch about what the kingdom on earth should look like.

It’s a place where we lay up treasures in heaven instead of on earth. That sure sounds strange. What does it mean anyway? I think it means that we aren’t trying to make our heaven now. We aren’t to build our lives around what we own or what we can purchase. Our life should be built around Jesus and living for him in the world. It should show that we trust him with our life, our future and our eternity. We must not turn money and things into our God that we glory in all the time. Money makes a wonderful servant but a lousy god.

He said that we shouldn’t worry about everything if he is the king in our lives. Instead we should have faith in him about what will happen. It is difficult for most of us not to worry about all kinds of things. He mentioned worrying about where we will live, what we will wear, and how we will take care of ourselves. He said that worry about these things and anything else was a sign of a lack of faith in him. Do you suppose today he would say, worry about who is elected as the next president of the country shows a lack of faith in Him? I think he would. He wants us to trust him even in things like that. As strange as it seems to us, God has said all along that he is the one who chooses the leaders of a nation and he is the one to takes them down. He said he was the one that raised up Nebuchadnezzar as king of Babylon and he was the one who took him out with the Persian army under Cyrus. I sometimes am confused on his choices but he hasn’t asked me what I thought on the matter. His word is “Trust me.”

After this he gave the command to “Seek his kingdom and righteousness first, and he would provide the things like food and clothes and shelter that we need.” Again, the notion is if we really allow him to reign as king in our lives, we must trust him to provide for our needs. Now that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want us to work, to plan and even to save. It just means we should do all those things trusting him to take care of our future.

His final charge in this context of Matthew 6 was to stop worrying about tomorrow and live today. There is enough to keep us busy and concerned right now, so live today and don’t try to solve all of the problems of the future. Imagine the difference it would make in your life if you didn’t worry about anything that happened in your past but just asked for forgiveness of any wrongs and trusted that God fully forgave you. Then imagine not ever worrying about what will happen someday. We can’t know the future. It is out of our hands. So, stop worrying and trust God who is already there.

That is what I believe it means to have God’s kingdom on earth now.

Leon Barnes