Kingdom
What God with Skin & Kingdom Children Have to Do with Each Other
“I wish I could see God.” Have you ever said those words or wished you could ask God for His opinion on a particular subject? If so, look to Jesus. Study His walk on earth. Pay attention to His teachings. Why? Because Colossians 1:15 says Jesus is the image of the invisible God which means “an exact replica, representation, or ‘picture’ of an original.”* In other words, God with skin, hair, nails, eyes, teeth…a beating heart, a warm touch, wisdom beyond our imagination. When we look at Jesus, we’re looking at God. When we listen to Jesus, we’re listening to God. If it has been a while since you read Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, go back and read it very slowly and carefully. Listen as if you were sitting in Jesus’s presence. Listen for why Jesus might be speaking those words to you. Then think carefully about if you are heeding them. In other words, take them into your heart. Have you made His words your way of thinking? This might be a good place for us to start if we want to live like kingdom children.
Okay, so I’m not going to suggest that you do something that I’m not doing. I just re-read The Sermon on the Mount, and yes, Jesus convicted me of sin and reminded me of many truths. Now, it’s your turn. I’m pausing typing to pray for you that you will read and take to heart the words of Jesus – God with skin. The Sermon on the Mount.
LORD Jesus Christ, IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, as we gaze on You in the Bible and as we listen to Your words and teachings, quicken our minds to take in your words not just give them a nod of approval. Lord, magnify your words in our brains. Create new pathways of kingdom thinking so we live and walk as kingdom children in our world. We love You.
Heavenly Father
“Please be good. It’s Father’s Day.”
The words rolled off Keith’s tongue years ago to our two young children as we hung suspended in a bucket high above the Magic Kingdom. Days earlier we had boarded a flight to Orlando, Florida. Everything from our happy face tee shirts to our hotel had been well thought out. Keith and I were giving Taylor and Lauren the vacation of their dreams. Had it not been for the heat and forty-five minute long lines for what seemed to be forty-five second rides, I think everyone would have been happy. However, human nature’s fussy side showed up even in the midst of Disney waffles and pictures taken with Mickey Mouse.
Somehow Keith’s plea seemed reasonable. “It’s Father’s Day.” In other words, the cards and presents our children had given Keith earlier that morning had been nice. However, the gift for which he yearned was behavior that showed they appreciated being in the Magic Kingdom.
Yesterday, Keith taught our adult class at church. Since it was Father’s Day, he emphasized our relationship with our Heavenly Father. Unlike children’s classes that often make Father’s Day cards for their earthly fathers, we closed the lesson by writing words of thanksgiving and praise to our Heavenly Father. It was a meaningful lesson. However, this morning as I woke, God reminded me that today is Father’s Day, too.
Lying in bed I pondered that reality. Keith had a right to expect love and behavior appropriate to the Magic Kingdom. Our Heavenly Father has a right to expect love and behavior appropriate to the Heavenly Kingdom. Unfortunately, I often forget the wonderful place to which my Heavenly Father has taken me. Colossians 1:13 reminds me, however. “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son.”
This morning, my Heavenly Father pierced my heart with several truths.
1. Every day is Father’s Day.
2. Matthew 22:37, “to love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind,” isn’t just a verse to memorize. I’m to live it from the time I rise until I go to sleep. The morning devotionals I give Him pale if I think and behave as an ungrateful child later in the day.
3. The war between my Father’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom is real. My Heavenly Father calls me to walk wisely; not according to the world, but rather according to His Kingdom. I must be more mindful of this and quick to stand against the enemy or I unwittingly revert to unredeemed patterns of thinking and acting.
4. My behavior is an expression of either my appreciation and love for my Heavenly Father or my callousness to the gift of His Kingdom.
“Please be good. It’s Father’s Day.”
I don’t know in what bucket you find yourself suspended today. However, if you’re a Christian, your Heavenly Father is in your bucket with you. May each of us show by our good behavior and the way we speak to one another that we love and appreciate Him for taking us to His Kingdom.
Love,
Debbie