A Kingdom At Hand
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
— Matthew 4:17 ESV
God’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom that manifests in the earth through the Holy Spirit and his Church—and it is near.
The kingdom's nearness is an ever-present reality that can be easily forgotten. The most powerful realities of the Kingdom of God are always present, but it is our choice to abide in this truth or live ignorant of it.
There is no shame in forgetting the power of God’s kingdom. Life is busy, stressful situations creep up on us, and work and family can be challenging to manage. An endless list of distractions can pull our attention from remembering God’s presence with us. Not to mention, there is no indication that all Jesus wanted us to do was spend time in prayer and worship.
We will be preoccupied with many things in our lives, and understandably so. The world would scarcely function if everyone lived the lifestyle of reclusive prayer. So how do we remember the Kingdom of God and stay awake as Jesus would teach us amid a busy life?
One way is to recognize when God’s kingdom interrupts our lives and learn to be available and responsive to his promptings.
Has his presence become suddenly close in a mundane morning devotional with the Lord? Learn to lean in and seek God more.
Do you sense God’s presence in a life crisis? Respond by leaning into his comforting grace.
Have you entered into a service or ministry gathering and experienced fresh faith and power that you were formerly unaware of? Humbly submit to what the Holy Spirit is doing.
Has God placed you in a divine moment to help someone in need? Obediently respond in generosity.
God consistently uses surrendered hearts for unexpected assignments of grace. It is a joy to recognize that God has supernaturally invited you to see his hidden work manifesting in the world. However, these radical instances are inflection points in the life of abiding. Living in the kingdom has to be more than extreme encounters to sustain a life of holiness and missional living.
There’s a reason Jesus preaches that repentance is the doorway to his kingdom.
God doesn’t keep us out of his kingdom because of spite or playing favorites. There’s no earning our way into the kingdom. Instead, God freely invites us daily to enter his freedom, rest, and power because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus.
We are the ones who shut ourselves out! We lock ourselves out of the Kingdom of Heaven when we live in sin, unforgiveness, or bitterness. Recognize that you can receive Christ and drift toward the things of the world. You can go to church and live asleep to God’s Kingdom. May it not be so of us today!
Therefore, if you are unaware of God’s work around you, the invitation is to humble yourself and repent. Repentance doesn’t mean groveling or begging. It means turning and being found by a gracious and merciful God.
For some today, this post is a reminder to set your heart on the kingdom. For others, it is an invitation to repent, turn, and live in the kingdom once more.
Hear Jesus’s words, and live today in the nearness of God’s Kingdom.
