LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD JULY 10, 2025

 LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD JULY 10, 2025

Hello Dearly Beloved Saints of God,

As I consider this article each week, I ask God for direction as to what might be needed by those who receive it. It seems to always be something that I need as well as anyone else. Maybe that is because though we have many differences of various kinds, there is still that inborn need for mostly the same things in our lives. We all have the same basic physical needs, but we also all have the same spiritual needs.

Any and all needs that we have are basically the same that our first parents had before and after being cast out of the Garden of Eden. Once they were out of the Garden, they were out of the Presence of God It wasn’t nearly so much that they needed food, clothing and shelter, as much as they needed to regain their relationship with God. That is where we each find ourselves in today’s world as we desire to assist God in the building up of His Kingdom and establishing His righteousness.

Many are still looking and waiting for God to tell them what to do, when, in fact, He has told us many times and in many ways. It all boils down to the Two Great Commandments. We KNOW what the commandments are, but does it translate into our individual lives as much as possible every day? If you haven’t done so in a while find in Matthew, Mark and Luke where Jesus is asked about the Great Commandment. Notice especially how Jesus responds in each situation.

The scriptures tell us we shall know them by their fruit. Galatians 5:16-26 tells what the fruit of the flesh is as compared to the fruit of the Spirit The following is a ten point checklist for spiritual health.

1. Love This word for love doesn’t refer to warm feelings but to a deliberate attitude of goodwill and devotion to others. Love gives freely without looking at whether the other person deserves it, and it gives without expecting anything back.

2. Joy Unlike happiness, joy is gladness that is completely independent of the good or bad things that happen in the course of the day. In fact, joy denotes a supernatural gladness given by God’s Spirit that actually seems to show up best during hard times. This is a product of fixing your focus on God’s purposes for the events in your life rather than on the circumstances.

3. Peace It’s not the absence of turmoil, but the presence of tranquility even while in a place of chaos. It is a sense of wholeness and completeness that is content knowing that God controls the events of the day.

4. Patience Other words that describe this fruit are lenience, long-suffering, forbearance, perseverance, and steadfastness. It is the ability to endure ill treatment from life or at the hands of others without lashing out or paying back.

5. Kindness When kindness is at work in a man’s life, he looks for ways to adapt to meet the needs of others. It is moral goodness that overflows. It’s also the absence of malice.

6. Goodness While kindness is the soft side of good, goodness reflects the character of God. Goodness in you desires to see goodness in others and is not beyond confronting or even rebuking (as Jesus did with the money changers in the temple) for that to happen.

7. Faithfulness A faithful man is one with real integrity. He’s someone others can look to as an example, and someone who is truly devoted to others and to Christ. Our natural self always wants to be in charge, but Spirit-controlled faithfulness is evident in the life of a man who seeks good for others and glory for God.

8. Gentleness Meekness is not weakness. Gentleness is not without power, it just chooses to defer to others. It forgives others, corrects with kindness, and lives in tranquility.

9. Self-control Our fleshly desires, Scripture tells us, are continually at odds with God’s Spirit and always want to be in charge. Self-control is literally releasing our grip on the fleshly desires, choosing instead to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is power focused in the right place.

10. Walk by the Spirit While not a fruit of the Spirit, the final item on the checkup produces all nine qualities listed above. When we follow the Spirit’s lead instead of being led by our self-focused desires, He produces the fruit. But even when we don’t walk by the Spirit, He is the very one who convicts us that things are not in proper order in our lives and bids us come back into His Presence.

We might also remember the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. These are in Matthew 5-7.

God Bless

Paul Gage