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Isn't it strange that Christians seldom talk about what Jesus talked most about: The Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven (Same thing)? How desperately this message of the kingdom is needed today!
Kingdom living to me is living in God or like the Bible says, "In Christ." It is the building of Christ's character within us. Some emphasize manifestation while some emphasize teaching. I say that neither are right. The only thing that transforms us spiritually is the action of "following Christ."
However, in order to engage in the "following" of Christ, we need a clear understanding of the Kingdom of God/heaven; that you are accepted by the grace of God "In Christ." That lays the foundation for as much doctrine as you can manage and as much manifestation of the Spirit as you can stand.
The Kingdom of God/heaven is the main message of the New Testament, Christ, and the Apostles. Below are some (underline some), Scriptures that can help you in your study or confirm your own thoughts. There are a ton more.
Scripture
•John the Baptist announced the Kingdom in Matthew 3:1,2
•Jesus later came into Galilee proclaiming it in Mark 1:15
•Much of Christ's teaching dealt with the Kingdom of God in Matt 6:33; Matt 12:28; Matt 19:24; Luke 6:20; John 3:15; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; Gal 5:21; Col 4:11 -- the list goes on and on and on and on. Luke is loaded as is Matt and Mark.
•Most all of Jesus' parables pictured it in Mark 4:30-33;
•The message of the Kingdom of God was still the message after Christ's resurrection Acts 1:3
•It was the message of the early Apostles in Acts 8:12; 19:8
•In Matthew 24:14 Jesus makes plain that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached to the whole world at the end of the age.
We live in a time when millions of people are overcome and ruled by wicked spirits and by the earthly things around them. Unfortunately, it seems that many of these are Christians.
God’s plan is that man through Christ should exercise rule and authority over the earth and everything in it (Gen. 1:26, 28). Proverbs 25:28 tells us: "Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls" (NKJV).
How do you define Kingdom Living?
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Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
BACK TO BASICS
This one is special for my brother Jeff who is a Sherlock Holmes buff.
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There are probably only a few people on the planet who have not heard this exchange:
“I say Holmes, you’ve done it again.”
“Elementary my dear Watson, elementary.”
The greatest detective that ever graced the pages of a mystery novel, Sherlock Holmes, was telling his sidekick, Dr. John H. Watson, that the solution to the problem was very simple, easy, and basic my good man.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s a basic mistake that foils the criminal. However, ninety-nine percent of the time it is a basic solution that thwarts the wiles of the enemy.
“Elementary my dear Christian, elementary.”
Myself, I find it helpful to visit the basics from time to time because they are foundational to the policing of our faith. The deep things of God are rooted in the basics.
An infant needs the nourishment of milk because it is all that their body can handle until they grow and graduate to solid food. The body has a learning curve in which to learn how to eat and digest solid foods. Peter talks about this in 1 Peter 2:2: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow. . .
Later on in her life, my mom developed Osteoporosis because she hated milk and wouldn’t drink it. She did not get enough calcium to maintain her bone strength and she ended up bed-ridden with a fragile spine. If she fell or even turned over the wrong way in bed, it could have broken her back.
Basics are the calcium to the health and strength of our bodies or should I say, “the body.” The body of Christ will end up bed-ridden with fragile bones if we do not get our calcium of basics. It is the bones that give the body support, without which we would crumble to the floor.
A case could be made that all of God’s Word is basics and not just a few. The reasoning is simple, the complete Bible is foundational to our lives and how could we live without its entirety? However, what most believers consider basics are:
* Prayer [1]
* The Cross [2]
* Not forsaking the assembling of one another [3]
* Reading God’s Word [4]
* Loving the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves [5]
* Submit to God [6] and obey Him [7]
* Forgiveness [8]
* Spread the Gospel [9]
Given the case we made earlier, you may have different ones than I do and you’d be right as well. Maybe your basics list is less or more than mine by which you live. That’s okay. The foregoing are my nine. Maybe you can share yours.
God bless you all and thanks for stopping by.
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[1] 1 Thessalonians 5:17
[2] Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 12:2
[3] Hebrews 10:25
[4] 2 Timothy 3:16
[5] Mark 12:30, 31
[6] James 4:7
[7] Acts 5:29
[8] Mark 11:25
[9] Mark 16:15
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.
There are probably only a few people on the planet who have not heard this exchange:
“I say Holmes, you’ve done it again.”
“Elementary my dear Watson, elementary.”
The greatest detective that ever graced the pages of a mystery novel, Sherlock Holmes, was telling his sidekick, Dr. John H. Watson, that the solution to the problem was very simple, easy, and basic my good man.
Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s a basic mistake that foils the criminal. However, ninety-nine percent of the time it is a basic solution that thwarts the wiles of the enemy.
“Elementary my dear Christian, elementary.”
Myself, I find it helpful to visit the basics from time to time because they are foundational to the policing of our faith. The deep things of God are rooted in the basics.
An infant needs the nourishment of milk because it is all that their body can handle until they grow and graduate to solid food. The body has a learning curve in which to learn how to eat and digest solid foods. Peter talks about this in 1 Peter 2:2: As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow. . .
Later on in her life, my mom developed Osteoporosis because she hated milk and wouldn’t drink it. She did not get enough calcium to maintain her bone strength and she ended up bed-ridden with a fragile spine. If she fell or even turned over the wrong way in bed, it could have broken her back.
Basics are the calcium to the health and strength of our bodies or should I say, “the body.” The body of Christ will end up bed-ridden with fragile bones if we do not get our calcium of basics. It is the bones that give the body support, without which we would crumble to the floor.
A case could be made that all of God’s Word is basics and not just a few. The reasoning is simple, the complete Bible is foundational to our lives and how could we live without its entirety? However, what most believers consider basics are:
* Prayer [1]
* The Cross [2]
* Not forsaking the assembling of one another [3]
* Reading God’s Word [4]
* Loving the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and our neighbors as ourselves [5]
* Submit to God [6] and obey Him [7]
* Forgiveness [8]
* Spread the Gospel [9]
Given the case we made earlier, you may have different ones than I do and you’d be right as well. Maybe your basics list is less or more than mine by which you live. That’s okay. The foregoing are my nine. Maybe you can share yours.
God bless you all and thanks for stopping by.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[1] 1 Thessalonians 5:17
[2] Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 12:2
[3] Hebrews 10:25
[4] 2 Timothy 3:16
[5] Mark 12:30, 31
[6] James 4:7
[7] Acts 5:29
[8] Mark 11:25
[9] Mark 16:15
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