Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 40

“Only conduct your lives in a way worthy of the Good News of the Messiah; so that whether I come and see you or I hear about you from a distance, you stand firm, united in spirit, fighting with one accord for the faith of the Good News, not frightened by anything the opposition does. This will be for them an indication that they are headed for destruction and you for deliverance. And this is from God; because for the Messiah’s sake it has been granted to you not only to trust in him but also to suffer on his behalf, to fight the same battles you once saw me fight and now hear that I am still fighting” (Philippians (Php) 1:27-30). The Good News is what I need to share. The Good News that Jesus came to earth, lived, died, and rose to be enthroned with God the Father. He conquered sin and death. He restored the world. And His Kingdom is now and forever.

At least, that is what I get out of reading The Bible. I get Good News. Some folks don’t get the same news and often that news does not sound really good at all. There is a lot of condemnation and judgment and fear and defeat. I hear folks that sound like they think the Adversary is winning and that God is losing. God already won. He has the victory already. So, why are folks walking around defeated when there is Good News?

I don’t know. I have been struggling with that for a few decades now. I grew up in a Pentecostal church and heard a lot of sermons and sat through a lot of Sunday school that talked about bad news and looked to scare and frighten people. God did not send Jesus to scare us BUT to save us. And a lot of the message I have struggled against is this bad news. Maybe some folks like to embrace the negativity and darkness of the world. There is a lot of that this month and a lot of churches that preach bad news being frightened of the spooky celebrations too. Maybe they see too much competition in their scare tactics? I don’t know.

BUT I do know that I don’t need to be afraid. And, as a Christian, it is my job to love and fear not. I need to live like I believe that God won. I can’t live my life like I am defeated. I can’t live my life like sin and death are still in control. Jesus died and rose to become King. He is enthroned. He is in power. And I can’t live like He isn’t if I am an Ambassador of His Kingdom. Living in fear is revealing a kingdom of earth. Living in love is the witness of His Kingdom.

I am not in the quest for depression, anger, and fear. That is not a compelling narrative for me. That is not the narrative The Bible reveals. That is not the message Jesus brought. That is not the Good News. The Good News is victory and triumph and eternal glory. The Good News makes me glad.

“I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart

I will enter His courts with praise

I will say this is the day that the Lord has made

I will rejoice, for He has made me glad” (He Has Made Me Glad).

We used to sing that in church and then go on and preach and teach bad news and fear. That sends a mixed message. I am not looking for mixed messages. I want the message I present about Him to be clear about His Good News. I want to live a life that is based and solid on the foundation of His Good News. I need to proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven is here and now because He already won is already enthroned. And I proclaim that Good News by living a life that believes those things. I live those things by the Spirit indwelling me with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things” (Galatians (Gal) 5:22-23). Are you living the Good News?

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH

Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 39

“No one should wrong his brother in this matter or take advantage of him, because the Lord punishes all who do such things — as we have explained to you before at length. For God did not call us to live an unclean life but a holy one. Therefore, whoever rejects this teaching is rejecting not a man but God, indeed, the One who gives you the Ruach HaKodesh , which is his” (1 Thessalonians (1 Th) 4:6-8). You don’t see a lot of folks quoting the letters to Thessalonica, so I figured to give it a shot today as I just finished that letter yesterday in the latest translation I am reading. And this selection from the letter is a good reason to pick up the first letter because it gives some prudent advice about how Christians should act. It seems that the folks in Thessalonica needed some reminding about not wronging their brothers and sisters and that doing wrong makes us unclean. I mean, He did say to love God and to love your neighbor. And He does have a lot to say about the importance of doing good for one another and not doing wrong. So, rejecting the call to love our brothers, our neighbors, our enemies, is rejecting the love of God. That’s rejecting the Spirit of God.

That is something so heavy in its simplicity that I often fail to consider it. Loving others is how I show the world that I love God. And there can never be enough love. I am totally fixed on love right now. I have been fixed on this idea of love for a while now. I once told my pastor, “I don’t know how folks can be so worried about prophecy. I am still working on loving God and loving my neighbor. When I get that worked out, then I can worry about end times prophecy.” And I am still working on loving God through loving my neighbor.

Honestly, I think a lot of us need to spend a lot more time worrying about loving than we do about what happens when Jesus returns. I think we should worry about the love part because it is vitally important to what happens when Jesus returns. And rather than sitting around trying to map prophecy onto media reports, maybe we should be living out His command to love God and neighbor? I don’t know, BUT it sounds like something He would want. I don’t recall Jesus worrying about the prophecy. He was busy loving people and the prophecy was fulfilled according to His Plan. And I think the same can be true for us. Rather than worrying about His Plan, we should focus more on doing His Work of loving people. God’s Plan has a way of working itself out regardless. So, let’s focus on love. There is always much more love needed in this world. Let’s work on creating a Kingdom where, “They will never again be hungry, they will never again be thirsty, the sun will not beat down on them, nor will any burning heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will shepherd them, will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation of Yeshua to Yochanan (Rev) 7:16-17). Let’s love our way to His Kingdom.

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH