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"MondayReflection"
26th February 2024
"Amanda Idleman offers"
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A Closer Look at How the Kingdom of God Is within You
Nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is in your midst. - Luke 17:21
Often we feel like finding God, seeing Him at work, and experiencing His presence takes hard work.
Many believers spend our time searching for the next book, service, story, or special prayer that will bring us closer to Him.
It can be a frustrating, frantic, and draining quest for that special something that lets us know we are not alone and that we are truly a part of something greater than ourselves.
What if the quest is a distraction?
What if God's presence is closer that we think?
What if He is working and moving even when we feel like we can't see or feel Him?
Jesus tells us that when we repent and believe we have access to his kingdom.
One that lives in us and is consequently always available to us!
When we accept Jesus, we become a part of his kingdom or, even more sweetly put, we are of his family.
His presence, power, and peace live inside of us!
The "kingdom of God" is referenced all throughout Scripture.
Luke tells us the kingdom is in our midst, Matthew tells us the kingdom of heaven is near and he tells of a "weeding out" of those who cannot enter the kingdom, and Mark encourages us to repent as God's kingdom is near.
The kingdom of God can be described as God's reign and his rule over all things.
God is in charge of our universe.
He is on his throne and governing all things.
God's purpose for our world was that we would be a part of his kingdom.
Thankfully God sent Jesus to establish his saving rule here on Earth.
When we are in relationship with him, he reigns in our hearts.
God calls us to gather together as people who are citizens of God's kingdom.
Jesus also promises to come a second time to complete his reign by creating a new heaven and new earth.
The great mystery about the kingdom of God is that it is both talked about as something we should anticipate and also something that we have current access to in the here and now.
For example, Matthew invites us to pray that God's kingdom will come and His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
This text reminds us that things are not the way they ought to be here on Earth.
Yet, in Luke we learn that God's kingdom is here in our midst!
How can we both anticipate God's Kingdom coming but also know that the kingdom is in our midst?
This is possible because God's kingdom is God's reign.
He is sovereign and at work in our world to redeem humanity now.
What's also true is that at a future time his work will be finished with Christ's return and subsequent renewal of all creation.
And what did he mean when he says "within you" to the Pharisees?
Jesus was approached by the Pharisees who asked when the kingdom of God would come here on earth.
These words were meant to provoke Jesus, prompting him to either prove that he was the Messiah by producing God's kingdom and if not, then they wanted him to stop claiming that He was the Messiah.
They were hungry to see God's kingdom on earth now!
This would have been a conversation that would provoke a reaction from bystanders.
They yearned for a Messiah to establish rule on earth.
Jesus replies to these hostile Pharisees letting them know that the kingdom of God would not be found by those with doubting and hard hearts.
Jesus says that the kingdom of God is within you but this is better translated as "among you" or "in your midst."
Jesus was saying the kingdom of God is here now because the King was among them!
This statement was Jesus pointing the Pharisees to his divine identity.
Jesus was making clear that his presence was what was bringing his kingdom to humanity.
They were unable to recognize God's Messiah was right in front of their faces.
Even though these Pharisees said they desired the kingdom of God to come they were not able to accept the King.
They had other preconceived notions about what God's kingdom would and should look like.
Their unwillingness to rethink what they thought God should or would do to save his people blinded them from being able to recognize Jesus as their Messiah.
Jesus says to them I am right here in front of you but you still can't see me, making the point that God's kingdom is received by those with open hearts.
><(((°>
This is an edited version.
The full article and Bible references are avaiable on request
Amanda Idleman
is a writer whose passion is to encourage others to live joyfully.
She writes devotions for My Daily Bible Verse Devotional and Podcast, Crosswalk Couples Devotional, the Daily Devotional App, she has work published with Her View from Home, on the MOPS Blog, and is a regular contributor for Crosswalk.com.
She has most recently published a devotional, Comfort: A 30 Day Devotional Exploring God's Heart of Love for Mommas.
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