From: Paul Gage
LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD JUNE 23, 2022
Hello Dear Saints,
We have officially passed the first day of summer, June 21. I hope and pray that each of you is doing very well in you daily living in God’s Kingdom. Certainly, we all know and experience those daily “struggles,’ as we endeavor to “live in the Kingdom,..” Those those “little” things that seek to disrupt our daily walk with the Lord. They are nothing new, as each one from the Garden has had to deal with that daily struggle. Adam had to go out and work by the sweat of his brow. Noah preached 120 years and only eight were saved. Have you ever thought about how Noah and Mrs. Noah must have felt when God closed the door of the Ark? They had children that were on the outside.
There is a general overall concern among the Saints for our children and the youth of the church. Why? Because of the daily obstacles that seem to get in our path and try to detour us way from or even out of the Kingdom. This week at the Conference of Restoration Elders (CRE) and Pastors of Zion (POZ) reunion in Independence, Missouri the theme has been: “Take Upon You the Name of Christ and Run the Race.” This leads to logical questions: Have I, we, taken upon us the Name of Christ? If so, how is it, or is it, “showing itself” in our interaction with others, especially within our families and the household of faith? No activity whether it be a reunion, camp, retreat, Sunday services or Wednesday prayer services will accomplish much if we go home and stay in our own “world.”
A good elder in Turley, Oklahoma, just five north of Tulsa, Oklahoma never went to reunion. When someone asked him why, he said,.. “Those who go to reunion say they have a great time and had so many wonderful services, but come home and nothing changes.” We may all be guilty of that, to some extent, but it should cause each of us to stop and think about his answer. We should be able to have those experiences of spiritual growth and live the results.
No one enters a race to lose. Rather, they practice and go through all kinds of preparation in order to win. We are hoping to be in the reality of God’s Kingdom some day, but are we practicing (living) those things that will ensure the victory? What do people see in us as we go forth into our activities each day?
Philippians 1:2 Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 Always in every prayer of mine, for the steadfastness of you all, making request with joy,
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 Being confident of this very thing: that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,
7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel ye all are partakers of my grace.
8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment,
10 That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Remember that God goes before, behind, and all around us.
Paul Gage
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