#KINGDOM OF GOD

[thewordfortheday]

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’...But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. Matthew 6: 31&33

How often we push our Bible reading and prayer to the end of the day. We hurriedly read a verse or two, say a prayer and plop into bed. We hardly have the energy or even the concentration to understand His word. It's no wonder that we feel stressed and drained even before it's midday. 

The Bible urges us to seek the things of God first, His kingdom and His righteousness. The verse doesn't mean, Jesus will immediately make us rich or influential. It means, when you seek His kingdom first, He will be faithful to provide strength, wisdom for the day and all that you require, just at the right time, and you will surely glorify His name.

[avengers-21]

today’s verse ✨

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬ ‭KJV‬‬

[dramoor]

“It seems to me that I have found my heaven on earth, because my heaven is you, my God, and you are in my soul. You in me, and I in you – may this be my motto.”

~ St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, O.C.D .(1880-1906)

[iipeleng]

You want to have unwavering faith? Learn from demons and lepers

In the Gospel of Mark, we encounter extraordinary examples of faith in unexpected places- a demon and a man with leprosy.

Mark 1:23-24(NIV)> Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

The title "Holy One of God" shows Jesus' special status and divine power, even recognized by demons.

It's surprising and important that a demon acknowledges who Jesus is, showing His true power.

While many people struggled to understand Jesus, the demon knew right away.

If even demons can see who Jesus is, we should confidently affirm our faith in Him as the Holy One of God.

Mark 1:40(NIV) >A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

The leper's use of "if" shows he fully believed in Jesus' power. He didn't doubt Jesus could heal, he knew it for sure. The question was whether Jesus would choose to do it for him personally.

If a leper could have so much faith in Jesus' power, how can we not? This challenges us to trust Jesus' ability and have faith in His decisions for our lives.

If demons and lepers could have such faith in Christ, how much more should we, who have been redeemed and made righteous by His blood?(Romans 5:9) Let us be encouraged by their example and approach Jesus with unwavering faith, knowing that He is able and willing to meet our needs.

𝄞 to reaffirm your faith👼🏻 :

[thelordismylightandmysalvation]

Verse of the Day - Colossians 1:13-14

[thurifer-at-heart]

Rachel Held Evans: What is the kingdom of heaven?

When Jesus himself talks about the good news, he frames it primarily in terms of “the kingdom of God." … As N. T. Wright and other New Testament scholars have shown, it’s important to understand that kingdom terminology refers not to some faraway paradise filled with disembodied souls, but rather to the will and reign of God, unleashed into the world through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. "God’s kingdom in the preaching of Jesus,” explained Wright, “refers not to postmortem destiny, not to our escape from this world into another one, but God’s sovereign rule coming ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’ . . . Heaven, in the Bible, is not a future destiny but the other, hidden dimension of ordinary life—God’s dimension, if you like. God made heaven and earth; at the last he will remake both and join them together forever.” (Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, 19) What this means precisely remains something of a mystery, for Jesus’ favorite way to speak about the kingdom is through story, riddle, and metaphor. The kingdom, Jesus taught, is right here—present yet hidden, immanent yet transcendent. It is at hand—among us and beyond us, now and not-yet. The kingdom of heaven, he said, belongs to the meek, the peacemakers, the merciful, and those who hunger and thirst for God. It advances not through power and might, but through missions of mercy, kindness, and humility. In this kingdom, many who are last will be first and many who are first will be last. The rich don’t usually get it, Jesus said, but children always do. This is a kingdom whose savior arrives not on a warhorse, but a donkey, not through triumph and conquest, but through death and resurrection. This kingdom is the only kingdom that will last.

—Rachel Held Evans, Inspired, p. 153-154

[artandthebible]

Christ Instructing Nicodemus

Artist: Jacob Jordaens  (Flemish, 1593–1678)

Genre: Religious Art

Date: Between 1615 and 1635

Medium: Oil on Panel

Collection: Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Jesus' discourse with Nicodemus is related in John 3:1–21. For fear of the Jewish authorities a ruler in Israel, Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees, comes by night to see Jesus. Jesus explains to him that to enter the Kingdom of God, he must be born again of water and of the Spirit.

As Jesus talked with Nicodemus, He said, “‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again” (John 3:3–7).

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” "How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

[tracinggodsstory]

Jesus Came to Proclaim the Kingdom

We often think the central message of Jesus was the forgiveness of sins, but I think Jesus himself came proclaiming a larger message.

The gospels leave little doubt as to the focus of Jesus' preaching and teaching - it was the Kingdom of God.

At the beginning of Matthew and Mark, we see Jesus directly proclaim his reason:

Matthew 4:7, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Mark 1:15, "The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

In Luke (and Matthew), we see Jesus' battle with Satan in the wilderness, including Jesus' rejection of Satan's offer of 'all the kingdoms of this world.'

It was the message he took everywhere: "But he said to them, 'I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose" (Luke 4:43).

It was the same message he told his followers to proclaim when he dispatched his followers, "Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, 'The Kingdom of God has come near to you' (Luke 10:8-9).

What is the kingdom of God then?

George Eldon Ladd describes this beautifully:

"The Kingdom of God is His kingship, His rule, His authority. When this is once realized, we can go through the New Testament and find passage after passage where this meaning is evident, where the Kingdom is not a realm or a people, but God's reign. Jesus said that we must 'receive the Kingdom of God' as little children (Mark 10:15). What is received? The Church? Heaven? What is received is God's rule. In order to enter the future realm of the Kingdom, one must submit himself in perfect trust to God's rule here and now.

We must also 'seek first his kingdom and his righteousness' (Matt. 6:33). What is the object of our quest? The Church? Heaven? No; we are to seek God's righteousness--His sway, His rule, His reign in our lives.

When we pray, 'Thy kingdom come,' are we praying for heaven to come to earth? In a sense we are praying for this; but heaven is an object of desire only because the reign of God is to be more perfectly realized than it is now. Apart from the reign of God, heaven is meaningless. Therefore, what we pray for is, 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven.' This prayer is a petition for God to reign, to manifest His kingly sovereignty and power, to put to flight every enemy of righteousness and of His divine rule, that God alone may be King over all the world."

Jesus was not announcing that God's country had arrived, but rather that his rulership was imminent. It was a message of activity, not of a truth to be acknowledged. He was announcing the present reality of God's action - His rulership, His reign, has come.

God's rule, however, doesn't just enter the world uncontested. His kingdom is not the only kingdom present in the world. When Jesus proclaimed that God's kingdom was at hand, he was waging war on the counterfeit kingdom. He was announcing the beginning of the invasion of the enemy's territory. Jesus was not only announcing the establishment of God's rule, but that he was displacing the rule of the kingdom of darkness.

"This means we must understand our lives in light of the spiritual battle. Much of the Church has been taught to understand the world through a very different perspective, one in which God is pulling every lever and orchestrating all the events in a great cosmic machine; we assume that any of the events that occur in our lives happen because they are God's direct intent. The Kingdom perspective stands at odds with this thinking. Rather than assume all things are falling neatly into God's will, the battle between the two kingdoms means the world is messy at times. As in any war, there are victories and setbacks, heroism and casualties." - Putty Putman

[theinwardlight]

We would like a church that again asserts that God, not nations, rules the world, that the boundaries of God's kingdom transcend those of Caesar, and that the main political task of the church is the formation of people who see clearly the cost of discipleship and are willing to pay the price.

Stanley Hauerwas, Resident Aliens

[errantabbot]

On Sobered Religion and Moving Beyond Anthropocentric Theology:

When we bear unaware witness to the unraveling of our assumptions of solidity, peace, and predictability, anthropocentric theologies lead us to cry out “Where’s God?” and to invoke the ever shallow prayer “How long, O Lord?!”

Of course God is always right here, answering us, “right now, right now!”

Christ’s entire ministry was a pointing to the Kingdom of Heaven within. And there it still waits for us, just deep enough to bypass our errant self-images and ego-centrism, so that in finding it we may consciously rejoin the rest of creation in reality’s fullness, ever unfurling.

The call of good religion is a call to sobriety, to awakening, to doffing the construct of individuality insomuch as it parades around as something fundamentally real- plainly, it’s not!

Anthropocentric theologies keep us stuck on what God can or even should do to enact a reality fitting to our imaginations.

When we step beyond the mere confines of human individuality and situate ourselves within the whole of creation, we can find ourselves at home not only with the myriad worms munching on leaves, but too with the hawks swooping up squirrels, with the serpents entangling gazelles, with the volcanos enveloping civilizations, with the all consuming explosions of supernovas, and with the jagged fluctuations at the very edge of the universe.

The Kingdom of God is ever here, and ever now. And in it everything fits, just as it is…if not beyond our demanding visions for how, exactly.

Perhaps it’s with that sobered vision that we can finally realize the pointing of St. Teresa who reminds us that “Christ has no body now but ours,” all of ours. It’s perfect as it is, and, we can do something with it, knowing that whatever that something is, it’s sufficient and enough.

In short, we can cry out for intercession for our entire lives and receive nothing but sore throats and achy heads in return. Alas, such cries can bear fruit, but only on those rare occasions where they come to act as the substrate upon which our hearts can finally break, and in our seeming destitution, allow us a glimpse of the world beyond the confines of how we think we need it to be.

~Sunyananda

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

We Must Pass Through Many Hardships

strengthening the disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith and by telling them, “It is necessary to pass through many troubles on our way into the kingdom of God.” — Acts 14:22 | Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. All rights reserved. Cross References: Mark 10:30; John 15:18; John 15:20; John 16:33; Acts 6:7; Acts 9:16; Acts 11:26

Read full chapter

Grace Denied and Supplied

[apenitentialprayer]

But let us return to the third temptation. Its true content becomes apparent when we realize that throughout history it is constantly taking on new forms. The Christian empire attempted at an early stage to use the faith in order to cement political unity. The Kingdom of Christ was now expected to take the form of a political kingdom and its splendor. The powerlessness of faith, the earthly powerlessness of Jesus Christ, was to be given the helping hand of political military might. This temptation to use power to secure the faith has arisen again and again in varied forms throughout the centuries, and again and again faith has risked being suffocated in the embrace of power. This struggle for the freedom of the Church, the struggle to avoid identifying Jesus' Kingdom with any political structure, is one that had to be fought century after century. For the fusion of faith and political power always comes at a price: faith becomes the servant of power and must bend to its criteria.

- Pope Benedict XVI (Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration, pages 39-40)

[avengers-21]

today’s verse ✨

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom of heaven.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬ ‭KJV‬‬

[albertfinch]

SUNDAY SCHOOL - June 23, 2024

Ephesians 1:5,6 - "Having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved."

Since we are adopted in Christ Jesus a low opinion of ourself or self-hatred is not from God, but from the enemy.

Prayer is not trying to get God to do something for you by making Him feel sorry for you. It is coming to Him knowing that you not only deserve what you ask because of the righteousness of Christ, but you also have a right to it because it is based on His word.

Hebrews 4:16 - "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Get ready for God to move you out of the confines and limitations of what you have experienced in the past as you consecrate yourself to and embrace and ACTIVATE your Christ calling.

Once we are in harmony with our Christ calling the Holy Spirit begins to reshape our values and desires -- stripping away those that are worthless to advancing His Kingdom. 

INTO ACTION: What are you doing to affirm who you are in Christ?

List 3 advantages to knowing that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

ALBERT FINCH MINISTRY

[christianotome]

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)