 A Foreigner In a Foreign Land I'll never forget the summer I spent ministering in a little Polish city with four other American women. We were there to support the local Polish church of believers and pray over towns in Poland. Plain and simple. Three of us were learning from the other two women what it was like to be an American missionary in a foreign country such as Poland. We didn't know the language. We didn't know the culture or the customs. We just loved Jesus and wanted to learn. Learn we did. I'll never forget that summer. It was the first time I became acutely aware of the fact that I was an American and that I was a citizen of a different country. That might sound odd for a missionary survey trip, but one of the hardest things that I learned while in Poland is that I did not automatically fit in. I laughed louder than Polish people. I'm taller than most Polish people, which is saying something since I'm considered short in America. My features even give me away. I would be shopping for groceries with my teammates, and the cashier would ask if we were Hungarian, because we didn't look Polish, and the only logical conclusion was that we were from Hungary. I spent six weeks being an ambassador for the United States while engaging in ministry. It was the same summer that the plane crashed near Kiev, and people suspected that Russia was behind it. As an America, I was often asked what Americans thought of the tensions between Russia and Ukraine. High schoolers would ask my teammates and I if we ever saw celebrities walking down the street. We would be asked about American customs and how birthdays are traditionally celebrated. What are weddings like? I loved being asked these questions, but I particularly loved when the people we were meeting would ask us about our faith in Jesus. I learned that summer that being a follower of Christ is like being an ambassador in a foreign nation. We have been sent to go and to share. Christ's Ambassadors I've been reading the book of Luke in my devotional time with the Lord in the morning. This morning, I was struck while reading Luke 10, in which Jesus sends out seventy two men that he appointed. They are to go before him to every town and place where Jesus would soon go. He tells them: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 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.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ (Luke 10:2-11) Jesus sent them out as ambassadors for his coming kingdom. He had them go to people and to see who would receive them. They were told to heal the sick and to tell them about the kingdom of God. Jesus didn't just call the seventy two to this ministry. He later called the disciples to be his witnesses (Acts 1:8). Now he calls us to do likewise. If we believe in Christ, we have been reconciled to God and made a part of his kingdom. We are kingdom citizens that have been given a mission: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20) This is from the second of two letters that Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. Paul understood that God had sent him and Timothy as ambassadors to the Corinthian church, to implore them to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Just as Paul and Timothy went to Corinth and to other cities as ambassadors for Christ, we are called to go to others as citizens of the kingdom and ambassadors as well. An Ambassador In Our Own Country You don't need to go to a foreign country to be an ambassador for Christ though. We can live our lives as kingdom citizens and ambassadors in our home town. We carry the kingdom with us, in our hearts, if we are followers of Christ. Which means that every time I go to the grocery store, I am an ambassador for God's kingdom. Every time I go to Starbucks, or the coffee shop down main street, or the restaurant down the road, I am an ambassador for the kingdom. But what does it look like to be an ambassador for God's kingdom? We'll dive a little deeper tomorrow.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom. You can view the rest of the posts from the series here. 
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 They say that the sun never sets on the British Empire. It's the largest empire that the world has ever known, and it covered 13.71 million square miles of land at its height in 1920. There's a reason they said that the sun never set on the empire; there was so much land under the empire's dominion that the sun would set in one territory and rise in another. However, the British Empire's dominion in some areas did not last forever. The United States of America is an example. While the British Empire is still the largest Empire the world has ever known, it is not a kingdom that will last into eternity. However, it is an earthly shadow of a kingdom that will endure forever. We've been focusing on this kingdom for the past week, and I'm learning more about the kingdom while writing about it. One day, God's kingdom will have a far greater reach and dominion that the British Empire, but it started very small. Jesus spent time teaching the disciples about the kingdom of God with parables. In one such parable, he compares the kingdom to a grain of mustard seed: He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32 There is something so beautiful about the image of a tiny mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, being planted and eventually growing to be larger than all the garden plants. This little seed, that looks tiny and weak, actually grows into something far greater. Jesus uses this seed very intentionally to make a comparison to God's Kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed; it began small with Jesus and the disciples, and then it grew larger, and one day it will grow larger than all of the garden plants (kingdoms). Just like the birds in the tree, many people will come and find refuge in the kingdom. The kingdom starts off with humble beginnings and then will grow to a worldwide size, which many will find shelter in. At the same time, there's something that most people don't know about mustard trees. Pliny the Elder writes about it in his Natural History, which was published around 78 AD: "Mustard…is extremely beneficial for the health. It grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but on the other hand when it has once been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it, as the seed when it falls germinates at once." Mustard grows like a weed. When the seed falls, it germinates and grows at once. Once a mustard tree is fully grown, it is nearly impossible to get rid of it, and it continues releasing seeds that germinate. To the average gardener, the mustard tree is a pesky plant whose growth, once begun, is near impossible to stop. How true is that of the kingdom of God? When a gospel seed is sown in a person's heart, the seed begins to grow. Something so small, a little seed of faith, grows into a large rooted tree that spreads other seeds, which germinate and grow. It spreads and grows quickly. As well, It becomes a shelter to some and obnoxious to those that try to root it out. But there is no stopping the growth of the mustard seed, just like there is no way to stop the growth of the kingdom of God in the hearts of people. God's kingdom is like a mustard seed, and one day it will grow to be the largest kingdom that the world has ever known.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom. You can view the rest of the posts from the series here.  Note: The Amazon link to Natural History above is an affiliate link. If you click on the link and purchase this book, this blog is supported at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting She Laughs Without Fear!
 I'm taking today as a day of rest, and God's kingship and his kingdom still pop up everywhere. The passage below was the topic for the sermon at church this morning, and I found myself thinking about the kingship of God throughout the entire service. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “In him we live and move and have our being"; as even some of your own poets have said, “For we are indeed his offspring." Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:24-31 In the above passage, Paul addressed the Athenian men in regards to their worship of idols and false gods. In Athens, men and women worshipped idols (statues) that were placed in temples. Many people offered food to the false gods. This idol worship prompted Paul to share about the Only God with the Athenians. Here are some observations from this passage:
Hearing a sermon on this passage of Scripture this morning reminded me that I am created by God. As such, I am his creature, and I was made to seek and find him, which means that he is not too far for me to find. That is a beautiful promise, especially as we adventure on this series together in seeking God and his kingdom. I hope you take time to rest and enjoy God's day, and I'm praying that we would live our lives in light of God's lordship and his kingdom.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom. You can view the rest of the posts from the series here.   If God is King of everything, and his kingdom will endure forever, then that changes the way that we live our lives. If God is King, then we are not king. If we need to make God's kingdom the priority, then our earthly kingdoms are not the priority. God's kingship changes everything. For the rest of the series, we'll be focusing on how God's kingdom changes the way we live and view our lives. Jesus shared parables throughout his ministry that challenged the way that the crowds and disciples viewed their lives and God's kingdom. We'll be looking at Jesus' parables and his teachings. I'll be sharing ways that I'm learning to make God the King of my life and to live under his Lordship. I'll also be sharing what it has looked like to make God's kingdom the priority and ways that God has called me to give up my own crumbling kingdom for the sake of his kingdom. I hope that you continue joining me on this journey, and feel free to comment and share the ways that this series is impacting you or even the things you've learned as you've sought God's kingdom and placed him as the King in your life. For those of you that have never viewed God as your King before, how is this series impacting you? Feel free to comment below, and I'm looking forward to digging deeper over these next twenty three days. This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom.
You can view the rest of the posts from the series here.  I've been writing about seeking God's kingdom for a week now, and I'm sure a question you might have is, "What and where is God's kingdom?' If it's mentioned a number of times in the Bible, what exactly is the kingdom? Does it refer to heaven? Is it a place on earth? Or is it something else entirely? As I shared in yesterday's post, Seek First God's Kingdom, Jesus never explicitly defined the concept of God's kingdom in any of the gospels. However, he focused on it in the majority of his teachings. The first thing he preached when he began his earthly ministry was "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." So why didn't Jesus define the concept of God's kingdom? We can't be sure, because Jesus didn't tell us that either. But what Jesus did want people to know is that the importance of God's kingdom is linked to the kingship of God. If God is King of the earth, the world and the universe, and his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom will endure forever, then everywhere and everything is a part of his kingdom. Eternity is a part of his kingdom, heaven is a part of his kingdom, and the world is a part of his kingdom. What Jesus wanted the disciples and crowds to focus on (and wants us to focus on as well) is that if there is a kingdom, and it's important, then there is a King that is even more important. If the kingdom of God is at hand, then the King is near. There's a song that I was listening to recently by Tim Timmons called "Awake Our Souls." Tim sings a line in that song and says, "Everywhere the King is, there is the kingdom." Jesus talked about God's kingdom to point people towards the King. He shared about God's kingdom so that others would know that God's reign and his kingdom are very different from the crumbling kingdoms and kings of the world. God is the ultimate king of everything. Every kingdom belongs to him. Every earthly dominion ultimately belongs to him as well. Jesus came to proclaim these things, and he lived the perfect life in submission to his Heavenly Father and to his King. Jesus perfectly served the sovereign God, and we rebel from God's dominion over our lives. Jesus died so that we, the rebels of the kingdom, could be made right with the King. We deserved death for our treason, but Jesus went willingly to the cross. He died so that the King would forgive our rebellion, so that we could be made clean, forgiven, and enter into the joy of our King, being welcomed into his enduring kingdom and becoming a part of the royal family. That is the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. The reality then is that the Son of the King, the Most High, went willing to the cross to die for rebels of the kingdom. Not just the Son, but Jesus was also the very King himself. The King of Glory took the form of flesh as Jesus, the Son of God, and went to the cross willingly. The King gave up his life for his rebel subjects to welcome them into his kingdom with open arms. Knowing the King is more important than knowing the precise details about the kingdom. Everywhere the King is, there is the kingdom. God owns everything, and is everywhere, therefore there is not an atom that escapes the sovereignty and dominion of God. If God is everywhere, and the kingdom is everywhere, how does that impact the way that we live our lives? Join me tomorrow as we focus on how the reality of God's kingship and his kingdom affect our lives.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom. You can view the rest of the posts from the series here.   "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33 When a friend first shared this verse with me, I wasn't sure what it meant to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. I was struggling to trust God to provide and take care of me in the midst of uncertain circumstances, so seeking first his kingdom felt like new territory. The above verse is a promise. As people seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, God will provide and meet our needs. You can read more about this promise in yesterday's post, Do Not Be Anxious About Your Life. Today, we're discussing what it means to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Every word that Jesus spoke was important, and Jesus told the crowd to seek God's kingdom. To seek something is to pursue, desire, and chase after. It is active. Seeking goes above and beyond to find and acquire something. We seek lost keys, phones, and jewelry, or we might seek the perfect birthday gift for a friend. Jesus told the crowd and thereby tells us to seek after God's kingdom, to pursue it and acquire it. But he also said to do this first. When Jesus told the crowd to seek the kingdom of God, there's a reason he used the word "first". He called the crowds to make God's kingdom their priority, to make it the first thing in their lives. When we make God's kingdom first, all other things fall into their rightful place. As we read two days ago, when King Nebuchadnezzar sought his own kingdom first, God humbled him and took away his kingdom. When King Nebuchadnezzar was brought back to his senses, he glorified God and honored God's kingdom as first. After doing so all of the good things God gave him, such as Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, were returned to him. God calls us to put his kingdom and his kingship in our lives as first too. He calls us to put his kingdom before our own crumbling kingdoms. What might this look like? It might look like choosing to love a neighbor and sacrifice your "me" time to help that neighbor rake some leaves. It might look like turning down a job opportunity that would prevent you from being a part of a local church. It might even look like giving God the glory in the gifts and talents he has given you. For me, it looks like giving up my time to love and serve others instead of using my time to build myself up or accomplish things that are geared towards making me look good. Ultimately, God's dominion is the only dominion that will last into eternity. Therefore, it is imperative to put God's kingdom first in our lives. It's the only kingdom that matters anyway. But what exactly is God's kingdom? I'm sure some of you might be wondering that while reading this series. In all of the gospels, Jesus never defined what he means when he refers to the concept of "the kingdom of God". Does he mean heaven or an earthly kingdom or something different entirely? Join me tomorrow as we look at this question.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom. You can view the rest of the posts from the series here.   "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33 This verse is one that is quoted often. I wouldn't be surprised if you've heard, read, or had someone share it with you before. It's a verse that tends to come up in seasons when you are struggling to trust God with a life circumstance. I remember the first time a friend shared this verse with me. I was knee deep raising financial support to go to Poland for a ministry opportunity, and getting fully funded felt near impossible. My feelings actually revealed that I did not trust God to provide. In fact, I wrote a post about the struggle to trust God to provide in Promises of Provision. In the midst of the struggle, a friend shared the verse from Matthew with me, and we looked at the passage of the Bible where this verse originates. Let's look at it together: Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34 This passage is part of Jesus' sermon on the mount - when he spoke to a crowd on a mountain about God's kingdom. Do you notice what Jesus tells them? He tells them and tells us not to be anxious about our life and the daily provision of food and clothing. He used the birds, lilies, and grass as examples to show how God cares for his creation, and he values mankind even more than the birds. Jesus wanted the crowd to put off anxiety, and he gave them the means to do so. Jesus told them to seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness, and that all the things they were anxious about would be provided. Jesus gave them and gives us this promise. When people seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all the things that we're tempted to be anxious about will be added to us. But what does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? We'll take a deeper look at what this means tomorrow.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom.
You can view the rest of the posts from the series here.  My husband loves playing strategic board games, and I love playing them with him, particularly games that I have a fair chance of winning. One such game is Ticket To Ride. We played this game with my family a few weeks ago, and I was in it to win it. For an hour of game play, my brain was focused on thinking through ways to strategically earn more points to win. At the end of the game, we tallied up the points, and I was delighted to find that I earned the most points. As I surveyed the game board and the visible evidence of my victory, I couldn't help but find happiness in my own glory. My happiness didn't last for long; my husband defeated me in another game later that night. Yesterday we looked at Daniel 4 and what happened when King Nebuchadnezzar took all of the glory for becoming king of Babylon. God humbled him by driving him mad and making him like a wild beast. It wasn't until King Nebuchadnezzar was sufficiently humbled that God reinstated him as king of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar then praised and honored God for "his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation (Dan 4:34)." I'm just like King Nebuchadnezzar. I often look at my life, like Nebuchadnezzar, and declare, "Is not this great _________, which I have built by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" I could fill that blank with a number of things: game win, blog, marriage, relationship, life, reputation, or accomplishment. When I do this, I pridefully elevate my own crumbling kingdom above God's kingdom, and I view myself as king. Ultimately, I refuse to give God the glory He is due. The Lord humbles me when I elevate my own crumbling kingdom, whether it's losing a game to my husband, seeing an area of sin in my heart, having conflict in a relationship, or when my reputation fails me. In those circumstances, God reminds me that my crumbling kingdom will not last, but His kingdom and His glory endure forever. God's kingdom is far greater than my crumbling kingdom. God's dominion is far better than my prideful dominion. Humility is valued in God's kingdom, and pride destroys my mine. The more I learn about God, the more I desire to put aside my crumbling kingdom to serve God and help grow His kingdom. What about you? Here are some questions to ponder:
Take some time to think about these questions, and join me tomorrow as we take a look at what Jesus reveals to the disciples about the kingdom of God.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom. You can view the rest of the posts from the series here. Note: The Amazon link to Ticket to Ride above is an affiliate link. If you click on the link and purchase the game, this blog is supported at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting She Laughs Without Fear!
 I'm lingering over the book None Like Him by Jen Wilkin. I tend to linger over books that I really like, particularly books that teach me so much about the Lord and life. Simply Tuesday was the last book that I lingered over, and None Like Him has taken its place. Both of these books have taught me a lot about the kingdom of God. What I appreciate about None Like Him is that Jen Wilkin takes things that I know about the Lord in an abstract way and clarifies them with words. In one particular chapter, she focuses on God's self-existence, basically how God has always existed by himself. In this particular chapter, she focuses on the story of King Nebuchadnezzar found in Daniel 4: By the hand of the Lord, Nebuchadnezzar rises to great power as King of Babylon. One day as he walks on his palace rooftop looking out over his kingdom, his creator complex is exposed: "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? (Dan. 4:30)." p. 48-49 Nebuchadnezzar is made King of Babylon by God, but he takes the glory for himself. How does God respond? While the words were still in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you,until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like birds' claws. Daniel 4: 31-33 Nebuchadnezzar is humbled, driven to madness and forced to live like an animal with wild hair and long nails. All of this because Nebuchadnezzar glorified himself instead of glorifying "the Most High that rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will." Ouch. There is good news for Nebuchadnezzar though: At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom, and still more greatness was added to me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble. Daniel 4:34-37 In order to seek the kingdom, we need to know and understand the king of the kingdom that we seek. In seeking God's kingdom, we're seeking a king that is the Most High and rules the kingdom of men. We learn that "his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation (Dan 4:34)." We see what happens when someone thinks he can take the place of this king - humiliation and ruin. What are things that we can take away from Daniel 4:
Knowing and understanding these facts will impact the rest of our time in this series. But as we continue on this journey, we will see that God's kingdom is also being established in the hearts of those that put their faith in His Son, who is "given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him (Dan 5:14)." Join me tomorrow as we look at how God's kingdom being the only kingdom that will endure and last forever impacts us.  This post is part of a 31 day series called Seeking the Kingdom. You can view the rest of the posts from the series here.  Note: The Amazon link to None Like Him above is an affiliate link. If you click on the link and purchase the book, this blog is supported at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting She Laughs Without Fear!
 The word "kingdom" is used 51 times in the book of Matthew. It's a major theme in Matthew's gospel. In fact, Matthew wrote that Jesus began his earthly ministry by preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17 Throughout each of the gospels, Jesus preaches a gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sins and that the kingdom of heaven is closer than the people realize. He even tells the disciples as he sends them out to "proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal" (Luke 9:2). Jesus came to call sinners to repentance and to forgive sins, but he also came to make Jews and Gentiles aware of the coming of God's kingdom through Jesus Christ. Entrance into this coming kingdom is based solely on repentance from sins. Now you might be asking, "What is repentance?" Theologian and pastor Charles Spurgeon once shared the lyrics of this children's hymn in a sermon to define the term, "Repentance is to leave The sins we loved before, And show that we in earnest grieve By doing so no more." Repentance is the key to God's kingdom, and repentance only comes from understanding the gravity of our sins, turning away from them, and seeking forgiveness from God. The Bible says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 Repentance is the beginning to seeking and being a part of God's kingdom. Therefore, that is where we will start in this series. The first time I repented from my sins was the night I watched The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader in an encounter that I shared about in yesterday's post. Before watching this film, I knew about heaven and I wanted to go to heaven when I died, but I didn't realize that heaven is part of God's Kingdom and those that go there want to be with God and want Him to be their king. I heard about heaven my entire life, but I had never thought about how heaven is part of God's kingdom. For the first time in my life, I desperately wanted to be with God in eternity and I wanted to be a part of His kingdom. At the same time, God showed me the gravity of my sins and how my sins divided me from a holy God. I knew that I couldn't save myself. The only thing that I could do was confess my sins, believe in Christ as my Savior, and repent. Just as the book of Matthew focuses on God's Kingdom being made manifest through Jesus Christ, the book of John focuses on eternal life promised through Christ. Jesus says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 What more can we say? Repentance of sins leads to becoming a part of God's Kingdom, which leads to eternal life. As we embark on this journey of seeking glimpses of God's Kingdom over the next 29 days and growing in our understanding of the kingdom, this is where we begin. We begin where Jesus began, with repentance. Here are some questions to consider as we begin this series.
Take some time to think about these questions, and if you're feeling particularly brave, feel free to share your answers or thoughts in the comments section below. Community makes this series more fun, and I love hearing from those that are reading!  This post is part of a 31 day series.
You can read more posts from the series Seeking The Kingdom here. |
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