We’ve heard the stories about the Kingdom of God and the separation that will eventually occur.  It’s always at some time in the future, but never now.  And we’ve also heard about how the Kingdom of God currently exists.  Within it, there are some people deemed to be good and some people deemed to be bad.  This shouldn’t surprise us.  Jesus told stories about, wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15).  Perhaps the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” provides an image of the same.  What must be understood by those who walk by faith is that within the worldly kingdom of God, there are perpetrators and frauds pretending to be on the Lord’s side, but who are out to destroy those trying to live trusting in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and living according to their faith in him.  Yet, because the kingdom of heaven is hidden, it’s inappropriate for us to judge who has the kingdom living within them, and who doesn’t.  For human eyes, it’s difficult — if not impossible — for us to determine who is masquerading as a real wheat and those who are simply a resemblance of the real wheat that go into God’s barn.

         The coming judgment is going to be a painful reality for those who have not inherited the kingdom of heaven.  What is clear is that though the kingdom has already been ushered in, it has neither eliminated nor prevented the survival of those who are evil.  Nor has it removed from the landscape those who are merely pretending, keeping up a false front until their real nature is revealed.  All we can do is be true to who we are as children of God, doing everything in our power to ensure that our faith is authentic, and that the kingdom of heaven — though hidden — is alive and growing within us.

• Are there times in your life when you question the reality and integrity of your faith?
• What in your life gives you the assurance that you’re “doing the best you can” and you’re still growing in your faith?
• How would holding one another accountable ensure that we are remaining true to our faith?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Merciful God, empower me to live my life with integrity and faithfulness to the life and Spirit of Your kingdom alive within me. Help me to grow in Spirit and in truth that others may see the power of Your kingdom of heaven working in and through me.

         At Fast Company — a leading business media brand, Richard Bolles, the author of a book titled, “What Color Is Your Parachute?” was asked “What stands in the way of people finding their mission?”  Bolles replied:

         Prior agendas.  For example, my wife, Carol, is a well-known career counselor in her own right.  She was meeting with a counselor who worked in the rubber industry — let’s call him George.  George told her in the first session, “I’ve got to get out of the rubber industry.”  So, she gave him some homework to do before their next session.  He came back the next week, and he hadn’t done a lick of the homework.  My wife, rich with intuition, asked him, “What will happen if you don’t get out of the rubber industry?”  George said, “My wife will divorce me.”  Carol said, “Do you want your wife to divorce you?”

         He couldn’t keep the smile off of his face.  She knew then that he would never change his job until it had given him what he wanted: a divorce, with his wife taking the initiative — and the guilt.  Based on his behavior, my wife named this “the doctrine of the prior agenda.”  You can’t help people change or find their mission when they have a conflicting prior agenda.

         People will never change until they truly want to.

         When we consider the benefits of realizing the benefits of embracing the notion that the kingdom of God is within us, we would think that people would desire to change, all in an effort to make it happen.  But no matter how many times we pray “ … thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven … “ the kingdom will not come until people are willing to truly accept God’s agenda and invitation to enter the kingdom through a relationship of faith.  As long as people have as their prior agendas honoring their race, wealth, privilege, status, class, gender, ethnicity, or religious loyalty above God’s invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of heaven will always be an unrealized spiritual reality.  When people sincerely commit to making the kingdom of heaven a reality within themselves and stop pushing their own “prior agendas”, the kingdom — which could be realized on a large scale — will only be visible within those who have chosen to attend the party at the invitation of the gracious host.  That means that some will be left out by their own choice of honoring their prior agendas.

• What are some of the “prior agendas” in your life that you’ve let go of to experience the kingdom of heaven from coming alive within you?
• In what ways has realizing the kingdom of heaven within you transformed your life?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Gracious and loving God, empower me to search my life for any “prior agendas” that prevent me from fully realizing the kingdom of heaven present within me.

         We all have things that we value.  Family, friendships, political loyalties, religious loyalties, gold, jewelry, record and CD collections, books, and baseball card collections, stamps, clothes, cars, and other things — we’ve all lived with these collections and connections to our lives at one time or another, placing a value on them that makes them difficult for us to release.  In some ways we’ve grown attached to those things, making them precious to us — priceless even — priceless to the point of believing that we could never and would never set an amount we’d be willing to accept in lieu of letting those things go.  But for Paul, it was different.  Whatever privileges he had because of his heritage, whatever benefits he received from living in a community that was set apart, whatever he had and considered priceless, he was willing to let go of to embrace this kingdom of heaven hiding within him.  Everything — even his racial and ethnic heritage and background as a Jew, he let go of in order to embrace this kingdom of heaven he’d found in his relationship with Jesus Christ.

         When we think or talk about things of priceless value to us, we don’t often think of anything so valuable or important that we’d get rid of.  Our mind often considers first the things we won’t get rid of.  But I’m not certain we’d be willing to let go of everything we have — everything that’s important to us so that we could have it — this kingdom of heaven; to possess it; to keep it forever without fear of ever losing it.  And yet, Jesus, Paul, and others of the faith have said that this “Kingdom of heaven” — this invisible place that’s as close as your hand that offers shelter and a shade from the heat of the day — this kingdom of God is so valuable — so crucial for life itself, that it’s worth getting rid of everything.  And yet, that is the immeasurable value of the kingdom of heaven once realized.  It’s important and valuable enough that a person would and should be willing to give up everything they have to possess it.

• What would it mean for you to give up whatever value your race, gender, privilege, religion, or politics have just to fully live in the kingdom of God?
• What do you currently have that you’re willing to call garbage in order to share in this Kingdom of God as Paul describes it?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer —
Loving God, help me to let go of everything I believe to valuable in my life that I may take hold of that which is invisible and priceless — realizing the kingdom of heaven within me that only Christ can reveal.