Kingdoms
A couple of years ago, our church conducted a study called Kingdom Come. The study was about six weeks long and led up to Easter. I was part of a small group hosted by my daughter.
Our pastor, in his first sermon on the Kingdom series, preached on the kingdom of this world vs. the Kingdom of Christ. Our world teaches, “get,” “get ahead,” “push,” “work harder to make more,” “look out for #1,” “negotiate for more”. The Kingdom of God teaches, “receive,” “love,” “give,” “sacrifice,” “take care of others,” “put God first”. The Kingdom of God also compels the world to “repent,” and “believe”.
As to kingdoms, there is one basic problem. We Americans don’t have a king. Our founding fathers determined from the outset that we would not have a king, an absolute monarch. We have a president and a congress, both elected by the people. We have the courts and other bodies, and all of these are supposed to keep each other in check. A king (or queen) is an absolute monarch who has the authority to call all the shots. The UK at least has a parliament and a prime minister, but her Majesty, the Queen, is ever present.
What is the Kingdom of God? How is the Kingdom of God carried out in our lives?
I read a book a couple of years ago called The Gospel of the Kingdom, by George Eldon Ladd. Ladd makes several excellent points in clarifying this topic, but I will mention only a couple.
One, the Kingdom of God is the Lordship of Christ in our lives. This is what Christ meant when he said, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21) This process began at conversion and will continue as time goes on, provided we nourish that relationship with Christ.
Two, the Kingdom of God is both present and future. In other words, it’s here right now, growing, being nourished, reforming us into the image of Christ. Also, the kingdom of God will be established on earth when Christ returns to take up his rule in the universe after he has made all things new. The connection between the two is, we have eternal life now, and when he returns. It is growing within us.
I have also begun to realize that the kingdom can look pretty unspectacular. No parades; no celebrities trying to gain attention; no lightning bolts from heaven; no mighty warriors riding in to eliminate the enemy; no heroes; does not seek revenge; does not boast; only Christ at the center of it all. It makes its presence known by displaying Christlike attitudes and acts of kindness where nothing is expected in return. It forgives someone for a wrong doing and then moves on. It may even be hidden. It manifests itself as Christians seeking to display Christlikeness in the world.
It also gets us ready for Christ’s return and the future kingdom.
Let the Kingdom of God come alive in your life. Accept Christ today and surrender to his Lordship. His is the perfect kingdom. He is the perfect King. His Kingdom is the only one that will last through eternity.
Thanks be to God.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Walking Daily
Walking Daily
I read something by C. S. Lewis sometime back that caught my attention. It was about mysticism. Lewis was saying that a mystical experience, one that lies outside the realm of reality or rationality, does not prove one’s spirituality, mainly because anyone of any religious persuasion can experience it. It can even be drug induced. Lewis compared a mystical experience to an event in a journey. He said that the journey is not as important as arriving at one’s destination, provided we are headed in the right direction.
Likewise, an event like an emotional experience should be kept in perspective. Something like that may provide some much needed encouragement, or be like a breath of fresh air for the moment, but we should not depend on these experiences for the entire journey. Emotions tend to be untrustworthy.
A little while back, I had been praying about a need to experience God in a special way. Looking back, I don’t really know what I was asking for. Then it hit me, I was already experiencing God in my everyday life. The emotional highs were only an occasional thing with me, but maintaining an obedient, daily walk with Christ, fed by prayer, his word, worship, and doing good works, or at least attempting to, was what my walk was all about, and still is.
My whole walk of faith seems to be a daily journey toward my goal, while avoiding some of life’s ‘potholes’ and climbing out of those I’ve fallen into. Not much really terrible has happened in my life, and I don’t experience moments on the mountain top that often either. I live mostly in between the two. My goal is simple: keep going, grow, and finally, make it.
My dad’s walk with Christ was a journey; day in and day out, walking the walk, so to speak. He would experience occasional moments of joy or happiness in worship leading the music, where he would do a kind of “laugh/cry,” but his faith was deeply grounded in Christ, who helped him deal with reality…sometimes a very bitter reality. Two infant deaths, laid off from his work for nearly two years, two broken arms during that time (same arm), my mom bed-ridden during the last five years of her life, two daughters in college who later went through tough divorces, financial struggles, trying to raise five kids, and the rest of life’s burdens, these kept him familiar with the bitter realities of life, but his faith kept him upright. It kept him pointed in the right direction.
I can almost hear dad now. If I could, I’d ask him, “Dad, how in the world did you do it?” He would say something like, “Boy, you HAVE to have God in your life. I don’t see how people make it without God. Stay with God, don’t EVER give that up. It’ll give you strength so sometimes you feel like a bear-dog [one of dad’s favorite metaphors]! You don’t always feel like that, but, you know what I mean. When you don’t feel like that, God keeps you through the rough times. You just have to keep going and God will help you.” Pretty straight forward, don’t you think?
We are like a small boat anchored in a stormy body of water. Without an anchor we would not survive. We may be battered and thrown around, or even take on water, but anchored we can survive. Dad and mom both survived life’s major storms, and ultimately made it to Heaven because they were anchored in Christ. We live in a world that gets more complicated every day. Somehow, we need to find that anchor that helps us survive. Christ is that anchor. He is capable of helping each of us adjust to the times and circumstances we live in.
We need to guard against desiring an experience more than Christ himself. These experiences may come occasionally and when they do we should enjoy them and then get on with our walk. A daily walk of faith is the answer. That may be the hard part, but it is the part that counts and will keep us upright.
Consider this prayer: Lord, help me to not seek after some mystical, unexplained experience or lots of emotional highs solely for themselves. Help me to walk with you daily on my faith journey with the assurance that you are walking with me. May I continue like this until my time comes to leave this world. If you will that I should have an unusual experience of some kind, I will glean from it what I can, and return it back to you, grateful for the moment. Thank you for your promise to be with us even unto the end of time. After all, that promise is the best part of our journey. Amen.
Thanks be to God
I read something by C. S. Lewis sometime back that caught my attention. It was about mysticism. Lewis was saying that a mystical experience, one that lies outside the realm of reality or rationality, does not prove one’s spirituality, mainly because anyone of any religious persuasion can experience it. It can even be drug induced. Lewis compared a mystical experience to an event in a journey. He said that the journey is not as important as arriving at one’s destination, provided we are headed in the right direction.
Likewise, an event like an emotional experience should be kept in perspective. Something like that may provide some much needed encouragement, or be like a breath of fresh air for the moment, but we should not depend on these experiences for the entire journey. Emotions tend to be untrustworthy.
A little while back, I had been praying about a need to experience God in a special way. Looking back, I don’t really know what I was asking for. Then it hit me, I was already experiencing God in my everyday life. The emotional highs were only an occasional thing with me, but maintaining an obedient, daily walk with Christ, fed by prayer, his word, worship, and doing good works, or at least attempting to, was what my walk was all about, and still is.
My whole walk of faith seems to be a daily journey toward my goal, while avoiding some of life’s ‘potholes’ and climbing out of those I’ve fallen into. Not much really terrible has happened in my life, and I don’t experience moments on the mountain top that often either. I live mostly in between the two. My goal is simple: keep going, grow, and finally, make it.
My dad’s walk with Christ was a journey; day in and day out, walking the walk, so to speak. He would experience occasional moments of joy or happiness in worship leading the music, where he would do a kind of “laugh/cry,” but his faith was deeply grounded in Christ, who helped him deal with reality…sometimes a very bitter reality. Two infant deaths, laid off from his work for nearly two years, two broken arms during that time (same arm), my mom bed-ridden during the last five years of her life, two daughters in college who later went through tough divorces, financial struggles, trying to raise five kids, and the rest of life’s burdens, these kept him familiar with the bitter realities of life, but his faith kept him upright. It kept him pointed in the right direction.
I can almost hear dad now. If I could, I’d ask him, “Dad, how in the world did you do it?” He would say something like, “Boy, you HAVE to have God in your life. I don’t see how people make it without God. Stay with God, don’t EVER give that up. It’ll give you strength so sometimes you feel like a bear-dog [one of dad’s favorite metaphors]! You don’t always feel like that, but, you know what I mean. When you don’t feel like that, God keeps you through the rough times. You just have to keep going and God will help you.” Pretty straight forward, don’t you think?
We are like a small boat anchored in a stormy body of water. Without an anchor we would not survive. We may be battered and thrown around, or even take on water, but anchored we can survive. Dad and mom both survived life’s major storms, and ultimately made it to Heaven because they were anchored in Christ. We live in a world that gets more complicated every day. Somehow, we need to find that anchor that helps us survive. Christ is that anchor. He is capable of helping each of us adjust to the times and circumstances we live in.
We need to guard against desiring an experience more than Christ himself. These experiences may come occasionally and when they do we should enjoy them and then get on with our walk. A daily walk of faith is the answer. That may be the hard part, but it is the part that counts and will keep us upright.
Consider this prayer: Lord, help me to not seek after some mystical, unexplained experience or lots of emotional highs solely for themselves. Help me to walk with you daily on my faith journey with the assurance that you are walking with me. May I continue like this until my time comes to leave this world. If you will that I should have an unusual experience of some kind, I will glean from it what I can, and return it back to you, grateful for the moment. Thank you for your promise to be with us even unto the end of time. After all, that promise is the best part of our journey. Amen.
Thanks be to God
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