Thy kingdom come

P 3439 “To be or not to be…”

/ DVH

“[It is that purpose and grace] which He now has made known and has fully disclosed and made real [to us] through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, Who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life and immortality (immunity from eternal death) to light through the Gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:10.

When you get older, death pops up in your thinking wa-ay more than you’d like it to! Seriously. Hey, I read the bible lots of times, I know what comes next … Yet sometimes I am like Elsa in Frozen 2 – digging in my heels because what I see and know here, can be realer than what I know about that other place! When I see Elsa struggling against her destiny, I think that her struggle resembles the calling of the Holy Spirit, in the song  … ”Into the unknown...” Moo-ving on …

Paul tells us in this verse from 2 Timothy, that Jesus has annulled death. Here’s the meaning of the word annulled, I put it in because it offers great insight, plus, I am a big fan of the dictionary. Here’s the meaning of — “Annulled” …it is the past tense and past participle of the verb annul which means to officially declare something legally void, invalid, or as though it never existed.”

Did you get that? Death doesn’t exist anymore, it is officially invalid. Jesus wiped it out forever with what He did for mankind at Calvary. He told the man dying beside Him on the cross that he would be with the Lord in PARADISE that day. Human beings were created to be eternal, as well as being created in His image, that’s in Genesis. You or I might have some weird family trait that means we can roll your tongue over so it is upside down … I can by the way, its my one claim to fame 🤪 …

But that weird trait that found its way genetically through all the previous generations, to me – was a gift from my forebears. Money would have been better, thank you! However, despite our personal inherited genetics, we are made in His image. The point is – we need to practice looking for Jesus in each other – instead of looking for faults.

Here is a quick recap … spiritually speaking …we both look like the Lord, and we can’t die, forever. About now, you may be wondering if I have lost my mind? Probably. But both things are true, and… they are in the book. The bible is our plumb line when it comes to spiritual things. FYI, a plumb line is used for making buildings straight, vertically. They’ve found those doohickeys in Egyptian tombs in 1250 BC. And they still work today. The guys who built the pyramids weren’t stupid, they simply were no match for God’s incredible wisdom. Remember … their chariot wheels fell off and got bogged??? Revenge is never a good plan.

Yet even the Egyptians who chased the Israelites are not dead! They are just not here anymore … unless some museum preserved their dusty bones. However, the inner person is not gone. Your great great great Grandpa is not dead, he is either asleep until the judgment, or with Jesus already. Which is why Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life].” 

We can’t NOT ‘be.’  We are forever people, and I ain’t talking about the undead! Jesus didn’t just remove death, He introduced into this life, a brand new eternal way to live – right here, right now. That new indestructible life in Him burst out into this world when Jesus left that grave behind Him. 

When we pray “thy kingdom come” we are not just speaking about the truth of a new rule and reign in heaven one day. We are also talking about US – TODAY. We bring His new Kingdom with us wherever we go. Look in the mirror. The kingdom of God is within you. Are you planning on letting that kingdom OUT any time soon? We all know what it looks like, the book tells us – it is empowered by LOVE. 

Eons ago, when I taught Sunday School about this subject I made sure I wore a cardigan. I said this to the kids: “I am alive here and now, right? Pretend this cardigan is part of my body … whoops! There it goes” – then I let the cardigan fall to the floor behind me. “When I die, I will leave my earthly body behind, it will die, but the real me is still alive. My body/cardigan will get old and start to fall apart, but the inside me lives forever.” We can start living forever, now … it is our choice where we spend it afterwards.

When Jesus took the keys of death and hell away from satan, He said this: “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelation 1:18. Jesus Christ NOW has those keys. He bought them with His own blood – to let us OUT, not keep us IN. We have a choice, TO BE all we can be! Bye. 👋

P 3341 There is a bigger reality.

/ DVH

And it is not pie in the sky when we die … it’s right here, right now. Jesus died so we can live like He taught His disciples to live… in our own daily reality with all its ups and downs. When the Lord Jesus says: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”  He’s talking about you and I – here and now. We are the vessels He has chosen. Personally my vessel often feels like it can’t hold water, but when He steps in I find it can hold water and His love after all!

We’ve been chosen to usher in His will, His way. To bring His kingdom into this war-driven world, grasping for fuel, and clean air, and rapidly polluting oceans. And let’s not forget those people who live their whole lives struggling for clean water and food! Man’s greed has reaped it’s reward – for many people it seems like hell is already here. Which is what you get when you put satan in charge, and not Jesus!

As Christians – His Body – we are here to show the world, first-hand, that there is more to this life than the state of the oceans, or the lack of trees, or global warming etc. We are here to show them what God’s love looks like, live and in person, through US. We carry Him with us, everywhere we go. Our power is in our ordinariness. We choose to give others, who don’t deserve it anymore than we did, the kind of love that is patient and kind, full of faith, and does no wrong to anyone. Because each one of us is here to contribute something; then doing nothing, is simply adding to the problem.

None of us are here by accident. The greater the trials and tribulations we have had to overcome, … the greater God will be glorified. Sadly, we seem to think we can just float along going to church, paying our tithes – as well as praying and asking for what we think we need, and that’s that. The unspoken subtext is this: “of course, God knows we are way too busy with our daily lives to live for Jesus!” He’ll understand, He’s God, He’s supposed to be loving, nice and kind etc.

Jesus Christ is our LORD. Jesus says in Luke 6:46: “Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and you don’t do the things I say?” What we say is not enough, what we DO counts. And there’s you and me with egg all over our faces. We were never meant to be alone, struggling along, trying to be nicer than we really are. He has given us new clothes, inside and out! (Colossians 3:12.) Our inheritance is God’s kingdom, and we, you and I, take it with us wherever we go. But there are times when we look a lot more like the Prodigal Son — who wanted everything, here and now to make his life better.

Our enemy wants us so busy watching our own backs, we stop caring about the poor sod next door who is going under for the third time. I’ve noticed that sometimes the greatest villains in our lives, turn out to be the best soldiers for Christ. Many times I have prayed for someone in my own family who was persecuting me. Did they all get saved? I dunno, there were really stubborn people in my forebears! Don’t give up on people because of their unredeemed behaviour —  our God can bring beauty out of ashes.

Let’s get this clear. He does not have to rely upon us to bring Him glory – HE simply IS GLORIOUS! And transformation in a lost life brings Him glory because only He can do it. Only God Himself can take someone who has lived their lives the wrong way, and transform them in a heartbeat on their death bed. I’ve seen Him do it. We think salvation means God will raise up great marvellous mighty men and women of God to lead us to victory —- yet we still see ourselves as passengers instead of participators. We lovingly sing “it’s all about You, Jesus” and then go away and live our lives like it’s all about US!

Job knew some stuff even in the middle of his personal, heartbreaking disasters. “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” Job 13:15 or “I know that my Redeemer lives” 19:25. And Job 1:21:“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away: blessed be the Name of the Lord.” We seem to think our God is like Father Christmas, and He will bring me what I want when I want it. Let’s take the time to look at this man’s responses. The real blessing is in the way in which Job accepted what happened to him, with such enormous Grace. Yes, Job ended up better off – but that was a byproduct, not the aim!

There are days when I do not like laying down my life for others. I want to bam my renewed mind into a small space, and throw it into a safe place and lock the door! BUT! I have the Holy Spirit inside me and He never leaves me… The Lord Jesus died to give me the power to live a different kind of life – not just to get what I want. By all means let’s pray for bad stuff to go away … and sometimes it will … and sometimes it won’t. That’s because He’s God, and He’s good, and He knows stuff I don’t.

Inside me, where I really live, I know full well my excuses and actions are just emotional pity parties. I can’t afford to choose sympathy over real love. REAL LOVE IS ALWAYS COSTLY. Jesus offered mankind His precious life and death lived in love, and what He did will last forever. There is a bigger reality —you and I are now ‘kingdom people’ – and that will cost us too. Let’s make a quality decision, count the cost and jump in the river … Bye. 👋