LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD MAY 15, 2025

 

LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD MAY 15, 2025

 

May the Spirit of the Lord be upon you as you live in the Kingdom of God,

 

Probably one of the most quoted scriptures is John3:16. Inspired Version

“For God so loved the world,

that he gave his Only Begotten Son,

that whosoever believeth on him should not perish,

but have everlasting life.”

 

As you know any scripture may read differently according to the translation you are reading from. Some say, “Believeth in,” while others read “Believeth on.” The general consensus is that in and on mean basically the same thing, but how many times do we get bogged down on a single word. How many times does one word lead to war between family members, neighbors, in the church, in a country, and in the world? It may not be just one word, but might be one thought, one idea, one action one belief that we might misunderstand or misinterpret and something we don’t follow up on to get the truth of the matter.

 

Jesus tells us that He is the Way, the truth, and the Life. There is no other way, truth and life! If and when we look for and cling to some other way, truth, and life, we are obviously looking and going in the wrong way. In John 6 Jesus was teaching about his body being the bread of life and his blood the drink and that unless we eat his body and drink his blood we have no life in us. Some of his own disciples could not accept this teaching because they did not grasp the spiritual meaning and they went away. Note that Jesus did not go running after them offering to change his plan. He simply turned to the Twelve and asked them a point-blank question, “Will ye also go away?”

 

Peter, in one of his better responses said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” What a dynamic answer from Peter and this was before the Resurrection! We know what he and the other apostles did after the Resurrection. We find an interesting account in Acts 17:1-6. You can read the whole account for yourself, but verse six ends with this statement, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.” This was a reference to Paul and Silas and the power of God by which they were teaching and preaching.

 

Do you know of anyone who has or is “Turning the world upside down?” How about the part of the world that is your part of the kingdom of God? It wasn’t the time Paul and Silas spent in prison, but what they did that got them there and then what they did while they were in prison and of course while they were “free.” We know of Paul’s conversion experience and life of ministry, but what about Silas? Silas is mentioned only 13 times in the Bible, the first mention being in Acts 15:22. Some of the apostles we hear a lot about are Peter, James, John, Paul and a few others, but what about the others? I am sure they were out there on the front lines doing God’s work just like the ones mentioned.

 

So is our calling as we are living in the kingdom of God in 2025. We don’t have to be a Big Name.” We just have to be the best disciple we can be, 24/7, and that all with God’s help. Go back to the scripture above and replace the word world with your name and truly believe it.

 

God bless

Paul Gage