From: Paul Gage
LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD AUGUST 11, 2022
Greetings to God’s People All Around the World,
How are things going in your part of the vineyard? Jesus says in John15:1-5 that God is the Husbandman, He, Jesus is the True Vine, and we are the branches. We are to understand that God is the Owner, after all, He created everything. God is the Owner of the Vineyard. Jesus being the Only Begotten Son, is the True Vine. Remember there are many false vines in the world that seek to entangle us in worldly ways. We are the branches.
It is always God first, Jesus next and then us. It does not work any other way, because that is God’s way. When we give in to our own desires and passions and then try to justify things or then call out to God from the “belly of a whale,” we know we have
things out of order. If we, human kind, think that the husbandman and/or True Vine depend on us, ask Adam, Moses, Abraham, Peter, Alma and the sons of Mosiah, Joseph Smith Jr. the Israelites, Nephites, Jaredites, early Latter Day Saints, etc.
It is a minute by minute situation for each of us. In what we call “a split second” we can be unduly affected and thus react in a manner that is less than kingdom quality and may prove very costly physically and spiritually. Just this past weekend a highprofile assistant football coach at a major university read something from a players computer to the group and realizing what he did, resigned his position of almost 25 years. Moses, instead of speaking to the rock, as God said, lost his temper and struck the rock and was not permitted to go into the Promised Land.
We are therefore challenged, by God, to pray for the kingdom to be on earth as it is in heaven. That calls for us to live such a life that others may see Christ in us. Also, this week, a little league baseball player was hit in the head by a pitch. It knocked him to the ground. The pitcher who threw the ball was very shook up to think he had injured another person. After being pronounced “ok” the batter went to first base and then went to the pitcher on the mound and hugged him and told him he was a good pitcher. This was on national TV as it happened and has been replayed thousands of times. What a positive impression that young player made on the world. We may not ever be on TV, but we are always before the eyes of God. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, here and now.
God be with you,
Paul Gage
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