God spoke to me this morning.
I was just minding my own business, worshipping the Lord with my friends, and he spoke to me.
GOD. spoke. to. ME.
…I’m tempted to brush that off, to move on quickly to what He said. But I need to stop for a hot sec. Because the CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE spoke to me this morning. He SAW me. He looked at me, and saw me, and then decided to SPEAK to me.
Guys, that’s cool. Like, that’s really incredibly awesome. God’s word isn’t void. His voice isn’t silent. It’s now. It’s loud. It’s for you. Can you hear it?
So the Savior of the World spoke to me this morning (!!!). And he said,
“You are the Kingdom on earth.”
You. Are. The. Kingdom. On. Earth.
Those are some big words, y’all.
All this week I’ve been in Georgia, hanging out with my friends at a thing the World Race likes to call Project Searchlight. It’s a chance for all the squads who launched last September to get together, have reunions, worship, and figure out what life looks like now, #after11n11. There’s a lot of the Holy Spirit and wisdom and love and joy in this place, and I’ve been blessed tremendously by it. It’s the best.
So I’m in Georgia, and a few nights ago, we had an optional acoustic worship night that I (super last minute) decided to attend. And before I knew it, I was up with the worship team playing the cajon (a drum shaped like a box).
Y’all, I don’t do that.
I’m not the one to just grab an instrument and start playing with the worship team. Let’s get this straight: I have never done that before.
It was awesome.
Because right there, banging away on that drum, I experienced freedom. Freedom in worship. No one cared what I was doing. They didn’t love me any more if I played well, or any less if I messed up. And what’s even better? I didn’t care either. I was just doin’ my thing, playing drums with my Dad.
There’s no time to waste being afraid of what people will think. Freedom is now.
You are the kingdom on earth.
I’m pretty sure my eyes got really big when Jesus told me that. I sank to my knees and pulled out my journal as He told me what that means:
“You are the kingdom on earth. The Kingdom of the Lord is not bitter. It is not mad. It is not fearful, or worn down, or weak. It does not let ANYTHING get in the way of the Good News being shared and the King being worshipped. The Kingdom of the Lord is joy. It is peace. It is bold, and empowered, and strong. THAT is the Kingdom. I AM GOD’S KINGDOM. I am joyful. I am peaceful. I am bold, and empowered, and strong. So I throw away anxiety and fear. No time for that. No time.”
Guys, WE are the Kingdom. On earth. Right now. The Kingdom is here, and the Kingdom is now. And it’s only going to get bigger and better.
So what does that mean? It means we have power. It means we have boldness. It means we have joy undescribable, because GOD RESIDES IN US.
And it means we have a job. A rather large one, actually. See, God wants His Kingdom to be BIG. As big as you can imagine…then bigger times a bajillion. And us? We are His Kingdom builders.
If we’re being honest, we’re wasting time. We’re sitting around being comfortable, while people all over the world are living in lies. We’re complaining about our boring jobs and unfulfilling social life, while there are people who have NEVER EVER HEARD THE NAME OF JESUS. THEY DON’T KNOW WHO HE IS. They’re living lies because they don’t know the truth. They’re sitting in darkness because they’ve never seen anyone standing in the light.
We need to get out there and build some Kingdom.
Spend your life being joyful. Being free. Being strong and bold and risky – risking it all for the King.
Don’t spend your days in bitterness, anger, or self-pity. Don’t live in fear or weakness. Those things are not from the God of good gifts – that is not the Kingdom.
There’s a world out there full of hearts the Lord created; full of souls He longs to be close to again. It’s full of people who don’t know the Good News we know – the Good News that we claim has changed our lives. Has it really?
YOU are the Kingdom.
What are you going to do about it?
