The Kingdom?

5/17/08

In his book Faster Than The Speed of Light, Joao Magueijo stated: But as it happens you end up conquering Mount Everest while fighting for the Moon.
Okay, I have no desire to conqueror Everest or the Moon but I am aiming for the heavenly Kingdom and the promise that it is on Earth now. Yeshua said: The Kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21 He also stated that the Kingdom does not come by observation (ocular activity), drat. Science depends on observation; but thankfully its scientific theories and laws which may depend on observations don’t stop life from happening observed or not. Life goes on quite well whether we observe or can come up with the right formula to define it. Observation can often lead to an erroneous premise for life, for example if you’ve got money your blessed of God or if you are sick He must be against you. These don’t equate to truth; at least not according to Scriptural example. Shaul (Paul) boasted in his weaknesses saying when we are weak, He is strong. There are many other examples but I am not out to prove the obvious. Though the Kingdom does not come by observation I do think sometimes observation can give us some clues to understanding the Kingdom according to Scriptural descriptions.

Yeshua said: If I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, the Kingdom of God has come to you. Matt. 12:28
Hmm, I know I just lost a lot of you, demons don’t seem to be a subject for polite society, aren’t they just a bit archaic, entities of our superstitious past? Not in The Book and not in my experience, I don’t expect you to go off my experiences but I remind you the above quote is Yeshua (Jesus) speaking. The Kingdom comes when demonic activity is displaced. He also told the disciples to go into the harvest fields as lambs among wolves, to heal the sick and tell them the Kingdom has come near them (Luke 10:9).

Next Yeshua says we must receive the Kingdom as a little child. Luke 18:17 Children accept the word of one who they trust, they are eager to learn and experience new things, they have the ability to learn new skills and accept them as part of everyday life. They lack a memory that would hold them bound to a ‘past’. They tend to embrace the future, eager to find out all they can about life. For me to accept the Kingdom as a little child means to agree with everything Yeshua had to say about His Father, to listen to Ruach (the Spirit) and what He has to say about Yeshua and life in general, to believe that there is a love which surpasses my understanding and does indeed cover a multitude of sins, a peace which comes with this great Lover of our soul; it means being eager to accept change and refusing to be bound by past experiences but to build on them and be open to new interpretations of those experiences, and a whole lot more.

Yeshua also told His followers that they were to be able to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God (Mark 4:11) to those on the outside it would be heard in parables. Oy Vey, it seems to me as if the premise has been inverted and it’s the kingdom dwellers that hear only parables, sorry, that’s a bit of a harsh judgment. I suppose I just like mysteries and solving them or at least delving into them as far as I can go, it seems many are content to take the Words of the Kingdom at surface value hence missing the greater revelation of Spiritual truth behind the natural truth.

Shaul says the Kingdom is entered to through much tribulation (Acts 14:22). Now that seems in opposition to the childlike stance, however for me it means as we mature there will be trials and troubles but it’s worth it. Apparently Shaul thought so since he gave his life for the Kingdom to be established here. He also says to the church in Rome (14:17) that the Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in Ruach (the Spirit). Which of course makes it easier to go through the afore mentioned trials.
Shaul said in the first book to the Corinthians (4:20) For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. You can tell it, talk about it all you want but it’s a Kingdom of power received and freely given.
To sum up a huge subject Yeshua tells three parables in Matt 13 the Word of the Kingdom of God is like seeds planted in a field and for various reasons the enemy comes and steals away the seeds unless the seeds (Words of the Kingdom) falls on good ground. Next the Kingdom is like a man that plants good seed in a field and the enemy comes and sows in false grain (tares) and when the owner of the field is asked if the servants should pull out the false grain, he tells them no lest they damage the roots of the true grain, it is enough to wait till the end when the harvest is come and the bad grain will be gathered and burned, the good harvested, thirdly the Kingdom is like a grain of mustard seed which is planted in a field, though it is a small seed it grows great and strong and birds are able to nest and lodge there. Fourthly the Kingdom is like leaven put in dough where it leavens the entire batch. Fifthly, the Kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field, a costly pearl, a net which scoops up good and bad vessels. In Matt. 20 He uses the example of the Kingdom like a man who hires servants at varying hours of the day but at the end of the day pays them all the same wages.

Okay there are plenty of more examples of the Kingdom and I am not trying to come up with the Ultimate Theory of Everything concerning the Kingdom so let me say what’s on my heart after hopefully having given you enough material to provoke your thoughts and prick your hearts.
The Kingdom is within reach, sort of. I admit you can’t physically touch the Kingdom within you but it can and should ‘touch’ impact the world. The Kingdom within you is a lifestyle which with a childlike stance accepts the premise that the world has fallen prey to enemy forces. We have a great Commander/Saviour who left perfection, the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom, to come and forcibly take back the Kingdom in the hearts of men. I say forcibly because it seems to be a violent overthrown of the dark side of man’s nature though the weapons to accomplish this seem not so violent-love being the preeminent one; to love Abba/Yeshua/Ruach, ourselves and our neighbors as our selves firmly establishes the Kingdom in our hearts and in doing so in the physical world at large. satan and his minions have no weapon that can destroy this Abba birthed love; they do however try to take mankind’s hearts leaving them bereft, without the capacity to love, though love itself can’t fail, we can fail to love. I know for some theologians I should say faith is the next weapon but why state what is obvious, if you love Him with all your heart you will believe and trust in Him, it’s a no brainer, really-really, it’s a heart thing. Loving Him with all our heart will accomplish what the parables of the treasure, pearl…were told to us for. We will never ever be satisfied with anything less than Him, His will, His ways, His desires for us and all mankind if we love Him as we are capable of doing. This accomplishes the living rightly, having peace with Abba, ourselves and all mankind, and that leads to pure joy, all this is through the inward establishment of Kingdom that Ruach helps us to attain; a Spiritual state played out in flesh.

Shaul did mention power; I know some of you are saying, ‘Alright, now we’re getting somewhere, it takes power to create the Kingdom’. Ah, it’s not so much that it takes us wielding power to receive the Kingdom as it is that when we have the Kingdom in our hearts, power flows from that Kingdom into the world. We don’t just talk it, we live it and that really is powerful. Hint, in my opinion a lot of the power in the beginning is needed for self-control, get self in line and lots of other stuff seems to be easier to deal with.

Subduing the self give us a chance to fulfill the original command given to man in the garden to subdue and have dominion over the earth. I have chaffed a lot lately with the deepening conviction that we have not scratched the surface of that original command. We hold sway in the physical way over the earth, manipulating it, we cull or save animals at our will, invent ways of making our lives easier but somehow I don’t think that was Abba’s original nor final intent for His creation. Let me put it this way, ‘His heart is missing’ from most of our deeds. He said the Kingdom was available and I ascertain from Scripture that what happens in the Spirit is suppose to impact the physical. Those who hang around me for very long will hear me say, ‘there’s more to this being here on earth than just making it to heaven someday. He has a purpose for us being in flesh or He would have put an end to it all before now.’

Oy, Abba, I long to fulfill Your heart’s desire on Earth as it is in Your Heavenly Abode. I want to understand the mystery and have the heart and power to do something to help Your Kingdom expand now, here on Earth, for Yeshua’s sake by Ruach’s powerful presence, for Your joy.

k