WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE?
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
The great expectation of the people at least among the Jews of Jesus time was that the Messiah would come as a great King, and leader who would free the people from the rule of the Romans. They wanted the Jewish Nation to be restored to her former glory in the sight of this world. Jesus used a completely different approach to the growth of God Kingdom than anyone including His own disciples knew of.
Luke 13:18-21 finds Jesus telling those who would listen about the quiet beginnings of the growth of a Mustard seed. It starts out as one of the smallest seeds, and grows to be a huge and strong tree, or even like the effect of a spoon full of yeast within bread dough which grows and expands to twice its size. It is this kind of growth that would eventually change the world. In many cases however, we are much like those who expected something much different from the Messiah than what He brought. In truth I don't believe we still understand the Kingdom of God in the same ways that Jesus created it to be like in this world. I am very much someone who wants to see activity within the church, and efforts made to expand the Kingdom come about through example to the world around us of how that Kingdom should operate so that those who are seeking salvation can clearly see and be drawn by the power of God's Spirit.
The real Kingdom of Heaven is made up of those who want to love and please not only God but one another through the surrender of their own lives to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. While we are responsible for placing ourselves in the hands and control of God's Spirit we cannot of ourselves become transformed or perfected in any way...that work is left to God alone. Even though we do not like the initial thought of it we are called to walk in a blind faith walk with God where He is at all times leading us into the next phase of our daily lives. In that way we become a people who need to develop a trusting relationship with God in every phase of life. That life we live will be constantly changing as we ourselves are grown and developed by God's Spirit within us. We will never find a time where we are actually in control of our lives once we have given ourselves over to God, and if we do seek to be in control it will produce a very difficult journey for us because of the constant friction it will cause and the irritation that will be there between our physical life and our relationship with God.
At some point we must realize that our objective is not to be happy in this temporal existence, but we should at all times be preparing to be with God for all eternity in His Kingdom. We become only strangers to this world as our citizenship changes the deeper we go with God. Our true home then is with God. Our loyalties and our life is found in the Kingdom of Heaven even though we still are stranded here in this life for a time. This time frame is a temporal time frame, and God's Kingdom is eternal. So what is the truth about reality? Is it that which will only last for a while then decay...or is it one which will endure for all eternity? May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
The great expectation of the people at least among the Jews of Jesus time was that the Messiah would come as a great King, and leader who would free the people from the rule of the Romans. They wanted the Jewish Nation to be restored to her former glory in the sight of this world. Jesus used a completely different approach to the growth of God Kingdom than anyone including His own disciples knew of.
Luke 13:18-21 finds Jesus telling those who would listen about the quiet beginnings of the growth of a Mustard seed. It starts out as one of the smallest seeds, and grows to be a huge and strong tree, or even like the effect of a spoon full of yeast within bread dough which grows and expands to twice its size. It is this kind of growth that would eventually change the world. In many cases however, we are much like those who expected something much different from the Messiah than what He brought. In truth I don't believe we still understand the Kingdom of God in the same ways that Jesus created it to be like in this world. I am very much someone who wants to see activity within the church, and efforts made to expand the Kingdom come about through example to the world around us of how that Kingdom should operate so that those who are seeking salvation can clearly see and be drawn by the power of God's Spirit.
The real Kingdom of Heaven is made up of those who want to love and please not only God but one another through the surrender of their own lives to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. While we are responsible for placing ourselves in the hands and control of God's Spirit we cannot of ourselves become transformed or perfected in any way...that work is left to God alone. Even though we do not like the initial thought of it we are called to walk in a blind faith walk with God where He is at all times leading us into the next phase of our daily lives. In that way we become a people who need to develop a trusting relationship with God in every phase of life. That life we live will be constantly changing as we ourselves are grown and developed by God's Spirit within us. We will never find a time where we are actually in control of our lives once we have given ourselves over to God, and if we do seek to be in control it will produce a very difficult journey for us because of the constant friction it will cause and the irritation that will be there between our physical life and our relationship with God.
At some point we must realize that our objective is not to be happy in this temporal existence, but we should at all times be preparing to be with God for all eternity in His Kingdom. We become only strangers to this world as our citizenship changes the deeper we go with God. Our true home then is with God. Our loyalties and our life is found in the Kingdom of Heaven even though we still are stranded here in this life for a time. This time frame is a temporal time frame, and God's Kingdom is eternal. So what is the truth about reality? Is it that which will only last for a while then decay...or is it one which will endure for all eternity? May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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