LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD APRIL 18, 2024

 LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD APRIL 18, 2024

Dear Saints around the world,

We greet each of you with these words from I Thessalonians 5:15-24,

15- “See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all men. 16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19 Quench not the Spirit. 20 Despise not prophesyings. 21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

Notice how verse 18 makes this scripture so personal? “This is the will of God, concerning YOU.

Sometimes we may think of the scriptures as being “old and not personally applicable to us today, BUT verse 18 clears that up very quickly. God has such love and concern for each of his creation, every word He speaks is a personal note from the Heavenly Father to each of His children. Therefore, we , individually should accept every word that proceeds from the mouth of God as an intimate, personal word to each of us. This is of utmost importance to us in our “Living in the Kingdom of God,” every minute of every day.

This is to be our guide as we go forth each day into the world. As we consider living in the Kingdom of God, it must be reflected in our lives and in all our dealings with others. As we all know the second greatest commandment is to “Love our neighbor as ourselves.” Our “neighbor” is anyone we come in to contact with, especially in our families, homes, and church as well as all others in our daily walk.

We find the following counsel in Galatians 6:10 “As we have, therefore, opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” We could probably all recite times of friction, disagreement, separation and division within the “Body of Christ.” We then wonder why we do not have Zion.

We realize the world we are living in is not the Kingdom that will exist when Jesus returns, but we are to be living to the best of our abilities, with God’s help, as we will in that Kingdom, if we are to make it there. This means correcting any and all situations we may have been a part of where there has been or is separation or division. Reconciliation is not always easy, but we must be reconciled to one another if we truly love our neighbor as ourselves. God has given us specific instructions as to how to settle and resolve our differences, Doctrine and Covenants 42 and Matthew 5:24-26 for two examples.

Take a look at yourself and see if there be any situations in your life, now or in days gone by, where in you need to reconcile with someone else and thus be reconciled to God. An act, a word, or a thought... make it right.

God bless

Paul Gage