I’m writing this blog from my hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia during my last couple hours in America. I cannot believe that the time has come to finally leave and begin the journey. Over the past couple of days my squad and I have been doing our last bits of training and sessions here in ATL preparing for our launch to Costa Rica. During this time God has began to show me what the true meaning behind His Kingdom is.
All throughout the New Testament Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven, but what in the world is it? To understand the Kingdom, we must first know the King. Our King is sovereign: His plan for the world and every individual in it is in His control (Proverbs 16:9). Our King is good: He has provided us with an undeserved grace that is free through the sacrifice of hIs Son (John 3:16). Our King is relational: He desires to know us and spend time with us (Revelation 21:3). To just talk about a few characteristics of God, these three help to highlight what the King’s Kingdom is and the purpose behind it.
So, the Kingdom of Heaven is where God is sovereign over our lives, where grace is being extended to everyone, and where his people are in fellowship with Him. This picture describes a reality that is totally contrary to the world we live in today. While our culture promotes an egocentric lifestyle, Jesus shows us that the Kingdom of Heaven is where you die to self, serve others, and seek to be last. It is a culture of people whose focus is not to benefit or satisfy themselves, but to love God and others above all else. And not just the people that are easy to love, but the ones who are outcasts, the orphans, the sick, the homeless beggar, the jerk at the office, the one who spit in your face and stole all that you have. This may sound crazy and completely irrational; it goes against all that we have been taught from the world. However, The Kingdom is about living in the world but not being of the world. When Jesus prays for the Kingdom to come to earth, He is desiring a culture that lives in God’s truth while loving people well.
Hers’s the best part, God uses us to bring the Kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:20). The very Spirit of the King indwells us as believers, and it is through that empowerment that we are able to go out and live our lives in a Kingdom culture. God wants us to tell the WORLD about his grace and glory. He wants us to be the hands and feet of Jesus that are loving the people we encounter while growing in our intimacy with him. God wants his Kingdom to come on earth and in our own lives.
As my Squad and I are leave for San Jose, Costa Rica in the morning we are praying that God will use us to bring His kingdom to the people we encounter. Please pray for us as we begin the journey, but more importantly pray for the people we will interact with. Also, I leave you with a challenge: ask God where He wants to bring the Kingdom in your life and the environment around you.
“Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,” Hebrews 12:28
