What Now? The Kingdom

Has life improved over the last week? Has a little less stress and a little more confidence in the future become your reality? Probably not. They speak of a new surge in the Covid19 pandemic. New government restrictions and a limited Christmas celebration. It is all for our good, so they say. The cacophony of voices can drown out that still small voice of, "Peace on earth, good will toward men." In my last post I spoke of assurance we can find in a common prayer that many of us have memorized. It is recorded for us in Matthew 6 and Luke 11. A reminder that God is our heavenly Father. He has a perspective that we can lean on and a love we can trust. Our heavenly Father is not unaware of our situation. We are welcome to call Him, Abba, and rest in His arms of comfort and protection. In the times and situations we find ourselves in we may adopt a, sort of, bunker mentality. "Keep your distance and just let me hide away until it is all over." However, that attitude may well be self defeating when it comes to God's answer to the "What Now?" question. God's prayer not only gives us comfort it also gives us purpose.

"Your kingdom come, Your will be done", is the request we are to make of the Lord God Almighty. It is a thought provoking phrase. If I do not pray will that prohibit the coming of His kingdom? And what of God's will? In the long run can we ever escape His will? I mean, isn't God going to do what He desires to do? As sovereign Lord doesn't He have this all worked out in advance? If I sequester myself in my basement would it make any difference? That odd tension between God's will and my responsibility never seems to go away. Paul's question to the Romans's in 10:14 comes into play when we think of hiding in our attics. "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" We are the answer to the "how." Praying, like faith, takes action if it is going to be effective. James uses a bit of an edge as he directs those scattered to have a faith that works. James 2:16, "One of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what good is it?" If you are praying for God's Kingdom to come you need to be doing things to advance His kingdom now, day by day. Covid or not, government edicts or not, we are to be actively advancing His kingdom. We still have a purpose. We still have responsibilities.

To accomplish this we simply have to do God's will. That, in and of itself, could fill a significant number of posts. Knowing and doing God's will has been a means of selling a plethora of books while leaving many a weary believer feeling inept or discouraged. Jesus asks us to pray that God's will would be done, "on earth as it is in heaven." That is supposed to be helpful. However, I have yet to visit heaven or have viewed a valid documentary on exactly how heaven works. I do imagine it runs smoother and more in tune with God's will than our current situation here on earth. Fortunately the Lord has given us a book on establishing His kingdom readily available to most of us. We need to be well versed in His Word if we are to know His will. Let me just give a few hints that may be helpful. We should be those who live by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is a bit easier to know. The Apostle Paul was directed to give the Galatians a list of nine aspects of the Spirit's fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). Each day, even each moment, allows us to put this fruit on display. Our responsibility is to incorporate these various aspects of Spiritual fruit into our lives. It is fairly easy to imagine that being in glory would reflect these attitudes so we can both, do God's will, and advance His kingdom, as we live out Spiritual fruit.

Society is fragmented and hatred has spread like a cancer infecting millions. Sacrificial Godly love is the cure. We are surrounded by anxiety and fear so showing joy and peace would be a kingdom response. How about those lines with angry people joining in the odd contest of toilet paper hording? Could a bit of patience and self control put God's kingdom on display? Our communities could obviously use some gentleness and kindness. That just leaves the opportunity to weave a bit of faithfulness and goodness into our interaction with the local representatives of humanity. With that we are on our way to doing God's will and helping to get a little of His heavenly kingdom into our earthly realm. Could that be doable? We could even start tomorrow with minimal training. We simply need to make the choice to produce spiritual fruit instead of the world's corruption. It is one simple step forward that does not require governmental approval or the "right" person in the White House. 

What now? How about coming confidently to our loving heavenly Father, trusting in His care. Then we might start praying for God's kingdom to come and His will to be done. We could go about advancing His kingdom a little each day. There are lots of ways to be obedient. If you need a place to begin, living out His Spiritual fruit might be a place to start. It certainly couldn't hurt.

Want to Live Abundantly?

Who wouldn't want to live abundantly? Our lives are often immersed in the mundane and routine. I fear we seldom answer the question, "How are you today?" with "Living abundantly!". Yet that is a promise given by our Lord and Messiah, Jesus. John 10:10 records our Lord's words, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." We are promised a more abundant life. So why doesn't it feel all that abundant at times? Life often feels stressful, confusing, dull, even disappointing. Where is this abundance Jesus offered? Maybe I am misunderstanding the word. The Greek word is, perissos,and it means, exceeding some number or measure or need, over and above, more than is necessary, exceeding abundantly, supremely, superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon, more remarkable, more excellent. I would say that is pretty much anything I could have imagined as abundant. Perhaps our problem is with the words, "may have", in verse 10. Perhaps there is some sort of catch in realizing this abundant, extraordinary, uncommon, more excellent life Jesus speaks of.

The Greek word translated, "may or might", is echō. It is a present subjunctive verb. It means "have" however, the subjunctive mood tells us this is something available yet must be applied or have certain conditions met. The promised abundant life does not just happen. There are qualifications to be met. The Lord has made abundant life available; however, it is our responsibility to see it become a reality in our lives. Not to be harsh, but, if you feel you are missing out on the abundant life you have no one to blame but yourself. This leaves us with the question, "How do I acquire or apply this abundance to my life?" It may be more simple than you might think. Perhaps, it might be well to consider the things that rob us of this promised abundance.

Stressful situations can be very draining. An angry boss or disconnected management making unreasonable demands. The loss of a job, a loved one, or disruption in our homes may keep this abundant life out of reach. Maybe you or someone close to you is diagnosed with cancer or some other horrific disease. Almost anything that comes into our lives that is out of our control can leave us feeling vulnerable, distraught, angry, abandoned or any number of other damaging emotions. We may be the innocent party even the victim of so many things that accompany life. They are very real and often very painful. How can we overcome such assaults and know the life Jesus promised? The enemy truly does want to rob you of peace and hope. He wants to kill your drive for purity, your reputation, your dreams and a dozen other things you hold dear. He wants to destroy you so you feel useless, worthless or even feeling you have no reason to live. None can escape his oppressive attack on our lives and spirits. However, he does not have to win.

I offer a verse, a passage, and a plan to escape all of this and know that promised life of abundance. First, never forget 1 John 4:4, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." As God's children we hold the reality of His promises. The enemy is not as strong as our Heavenly Father. We are to be victors, not victims. This also means we have the ability to produce the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22 & 23. When we consider all of the attacks leveled at us they all have one thing in common. They draw our focus to ourselves. We lose sight of much of what surrounds us. The issues are real and need to be dealt with; however, they do not need to control or overwhelm us. He is greater, remember? The tool I offer is I Corinthians 13. Often called the "love chapter". The chapter contains a fairly comprehensive list of actions that emulate God's love. They are all within our capabilities should we choose to act upon them. We can choose to be patient, kind, to not envy, not brag, or be arrogant. You do not have to be rude, or selfish or angry. Do not dwell on the evil and lies that permeate this world, rather rejoice in God's truth. If we are honest we do not have to react, we can put up with most anything, live out that confident hope and endure. Be gentle, faithful, humble and self-controlled. Quite a list but it is one we can choose to do.

When you wake up tomorrow, no matter what your circumstances, you can choose to live out love and the fruit of the Spirit this day. If you can't remember the lists, put them on a card next to your bed and read it before you get up. Agree with God to live that way today. Be kind to the associate who sells you your coffee. Choose to be patent with other drivers. Say something friendly and encouraging to a co-worker. Excuse the arrogance of your manager and instead, pray for them. You do have the power to be selfless and self controlled as you give someone else that parking space. You can smile and be kind and pleasant to the other shopper in the check out line. If you begin to actively live out a Biblical 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love, abundance will flow into your life. No one can make you angry or irritated, or impatient, or bitter. You both choose that response and in reality give the irritant power over you to destroy your mood and day. Why would we want to give others power over us when we have the option of living out the power of the Spirit in us?

Easy? No. But how much do you want to experience the abundant life? Life's circumstances cannot keep you from being kind, gentle, patient, encouraging, and selfless. Such behavior does bring joy, and God's overshadowing grace. Why not give it a try? What have you got to lose? You might end up defeating the ones out to rob, kill, and destroy your attitude and day. Instead you just might replace it with the Lord's promised abundance. A much better alternative.

Are You God's Leaky Vessel?

God uses some interesting things to help us understand who we are in Him. We are sheep, a body, and living stones making up a temple. We are His friends, co-heirs, and God's sons. He also calls us His "earthen vessels". 2 Corinthians 4:7, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." Even though we came from the soil, check Genesis 2:7, the Lord has determined to use us to carry the glory of His message concerning His Son. The Spirit of God dwells in us and empowers us to live lives that have purpose and value. However, there seems to be an issue with God's plan. Even though all these things are true, God directs the Apostle Paul to warn the believers in Ephesus that their vessels may well leak.

Ephesians 5:18, "And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." Writing to a city that had pagan festivals which involved the consuming of wine to the point of intoxication, Paul warns the believers to avoid such conduct. Drunkenness removes self-control and leads to all sorts of actions that are wounding, foolish and sinful. In opposition to this the Spirit brings forth fruit, including , self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). To be consistent in our Spiritual fruit bearing we are told to be "filled with the Spirit". Individuals have had some interesting interpretations concerning this verse. Sometimes forgetting that "self-control" is an evidence of the Spirit's filling not lack of control. We, who are filled, should be bringing forth that Spiritual Fruit. You remember, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. These aspects of the Spirit's fruit integrated together reveal that "excellence of the power of God" we read of in 2 Corinthians 4:7. So we have the message and the power, however, we do not seem to always be effective at putting all that on display.

The problem seems to be that our earthen vessels leak. In Ephesians 5:18 the word "filled" is actually a present passive imperative verb. Meaning we need to constantly keep on being filled with the Spirit. The passive part indicates we cannot do this ourselves. It is something the Spirit does, we just need to be willing receptacles. In reality, it is less that we need more of God's Spirit and more like God's Spirit needs more of us. We crowd our lives with an enormous amount of stuff and push the Spirit into the corners of our existence. We replace the Spirit with things like anxiety, bitterness, complacency and insensitivity. It is never our objective to do so. We my never get drunk with wine but we may well replace being self-controlled by the Spirit. It may be that we acquiesce to the cry of the urgent and the tentacles of our illusion that we can handle things on our own. We often are unaware of how easily we can be drawn away from the Spirit and fail to receive His desired filling of our lives. It seems, in my own life, that my Earthen vessel leaks more often than I would want to believe. Paul shares some very good advice. We do indeed need to keep on being filled with the Spirit so we can produce the fruit of the Spirit so the excellence of the power may be of God, rather than having our own weakness on display. I do want to be more than a leaky vessel. How about you?