LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD JULY 24, 2025

 

LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD JULY 24, 2025

 

Dear Saints, Today I can truly send my warmest regards as we have had a great deal of hot weather here in Missouri. However, as with everyone wherever you live, the seasons come and go, just like God designed them.

 

We humans also come and go, but not always in the ways God has designed us and asked us to go. We have proven that from the very beginning. One would think that mankind would have learned our lesson by now, but it seems the world is on a collision course with God’s plan. Any guesses as to which will be victorious?

 

God has not placed us here, with access to His gospel, Church, and plan for His kingdom to be on earth, as it is in heaven so we can be like the rest of the world. Remember why Jesus “Gave us to be the salt and light of the world?” Matthew 5:15-18. We can’t be that salt, light and all the other characteristics of a “Kingdom Builder” without sacrificing ourselves even as Jesus did so that the world might see and glorify God. If people don’t see some glimpse of the kingdom in us, where will they see it?

 

Perhaps you have heard the story of the house builder who was called in by his boss and given unlimited funds to build a house for him. The builder decided he would cut corners and have some money for himself. When the house was completed, the builder invited his boss to come and look it over. When the builder gave the keys to his boss, his boss returned them and said, this house is yours in return for your service to me. Imagine the extreme let down the builder must have felt when he realized he was the recipient of his own shoddy work. There are so many scriptures that can be connected to that story: The unwise servant who had one talent; those who build on the sand, the five foolish virgins and so on.

 

As you live in the kingdom, what is your vision of what it may be like in the fullness of the kingdom when Jesus reigns as King of Kings. Do you have a vision of the Kingdom/Zion? We have a number of hymns that mention Zion, but do we truly grasp, what we sing about or are they just words that we sing and then they are gone. Come Unto Zion, Come All Ye Sons of Zion, Prayer for Zion, Zion’s Victory Song, Beautiful Zion, O Zion, Onward to Zion, O Zion, Haste, A Call to Zion, The Glory of Zion, Glorious Things Are Sung of Zion, We’re Marching to Zion, We Talk of Zion, Onward, Forward, Saints to Zion, Triumphant Zion Lift Thy Head, Shall We gather Home to Zion, Hail to the Brightness of Zion’s Glad Morning, Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken, Send Forth Thy Light, O Zion, Now Is the Hour of Zion’s Fulfillment, Zion Prepare.

 

Proverbs 29:18 reminds us “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Do you have a vision of Zion? Did/do you ever reflect on what it took for Enoch to build the city of Zion? Read Genesis 7:23-25. The Lord once granted to Patriarch Henry Schaffer the privilege of talking to Enoch Question 1: How did you do it? Answer: I did what God told me to. Question 2. How did you do it? Answer: I did what God told me to when He told me to do it.

 

Are we as committed as Enoch? What do we see around us? A shattered, scattered, fractured, factionalized can’t or won’t even engage with others for any reason. It seems like we are a long way from being of “One heart and one mind.” There is, of course, two kinds of vision. Physical and spiritual. The spirit and the body make up the soul of man. Many of us wear glasses to help with our physical vision. What can we do to help with our spiritual vision? Go over, at least three of the hymns listed above and “see” if you can find the answers.

 

The fourth verse of the hymn, “Zion, (We talk of Zion) states, To have this standard, we must be one; Be no confusing of how it’s done. He gave His law so long ago; He waits for US, NOW, our works to show.”

 

How soon, what is your vision, of when Zion will be a reality? What if it was today, next week, two months, a year, etc? Are we ready, individually, as families, branches, groups, etc? We all know that if we are not ready when it happens, it will be to late and we will hear Jesus say, “Ye never knew me.”  Matthew 7:30-33.

 

God bless

Paul Gage