His Kingdom Crashing Our Ordinary Lives
I used to believe that the things I did on earth were simply to get me to Heaven, to His Kingdom. As a child I feared hell so I desperately wanted God to live in my heart and did what was right because of my childish thoughts.
The joy I have now is because I know we are living in His Kingdom now. We have the ability to talk with God, hear His voice, be His hands and feet. We not only hear stories from the past but are living them every day of our lives. How amazing is that?
I know our daily lives can seem very ordinary. We go to work to pay our bills. We get groceries to feed our family. We do laundry, clean our homes, wash our cars, mow our lawn. It all can at times take the wind out of our sails. But what if our outlook changed? We go to work to invest in those we work beside, we pray for them, love on them, invest in them. We get groceries at a store where we care for those that check us out. We do the daily chores as unto the Lord and train our children in the way they should go. We spend time with our neighbors so they will understand the love of God. We bake for those in nursing homes reminding them that God sees them, that we see them and they are important. We care for our families. My mother lives with us full time now. She has alzheimers and her days are long with not much to look forward to. If I am to travel around the world, to visit local refugees, to love on the least of these my mother has to be the first one I practice this on. It is important for her to feel needed and loved. Her story is my story and will grow me into a better person.
It all matters. It all changes people. How sad would it be if we lived by someone that was lonely, lost, had no one and because we were busy we never notice. God loved on the least of these. His neighbors were those he came in contact with. He not only loved the lost He gave them hope. He took time to talk with them, pray over them, take up for them. Who in our lives needs hope, kindness or simply a batch of cookies?
Our church is in the midst of a new life group season. We are learning what it looks like to live in the Kingdom Culture here and now. One of the statements I heard this week reminds me to pay attention to all those around me: The idea of Jesus leads me to Love You! My life will look different with this small sentence ingrained in my conscious. If we are to represent Christ we are to do it every day, everywhere, with every person.
The joy I have now is because I know we are living in His Kingdom now. We have the ability to talk with God, hear His voice, be His hands and feet. We not only hear stories from the past but are living them every day of our lives. How amazing is that?
I know our daily lives can seem very ordinary. We go to work to pay our bills. We get groceries to feed our family. We do laundry, clean our homes, wash our cars, mow our lawn. It all can at times take the wind out of our sails. But what if our outlook changed? We go to work to invest in those we work beside, we pray for them, love on them, invest in them. We get groceries at a store where we care for those that check us out. We do the daily chores as unto the Lord and train our children in the way they should go. We spend time with our neighbors so they will understand the love of God. We bake for those in nursing homes reminding them that God sees them, that we see them and they are important. We care for our families. My mother lives with us full time now. She has alzheimers and her days are long with not much to look forward to. If I am to travel around the world, to visit local refugees, to love on the least of these my mother has to be the first one I practice this on. It is important for her to feel needed and loved. Her story is my story and will grow me into a better person.
It all matters. It all changes people. How sad would it be if we lived by someone that was lonely, lost, had no one and because we were busy we never notice. God loved on the least of these. His neighbors were those he came in contact with. He not only loved the lost He gave them hope. He took time to talk with them, pray over them, take up for them. Who in our lives needs hope, kindness or simply a batch of cookies?
Our church is in the midst of a new life group season. We are learning what it looks like to live in the Kingdom Culture here and now. One of the statements I heard this week reminds me to pay attention to all those around me: The idea of Jesus leads me to Love You! My life will look different with this small sentence ingrained in my conscious. If we are to represent Christ we are to do it every day, everywhere, with every person.
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