Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven

This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Running with Horses, a podcast devoted to inspire you, concerning a relationship with Almighty God that empowers you to accomplish things you never thought possible. Surely Weaver wants to take you there.

And now, here's today's episode. Always is the power of God. The way that God shows His love to His people one way is that His power is released into our lives. We look at that as miracles, signs, wonders, extraordinary or unusual things happening, but at the very basic whole idea that God has for those of us who belong to Him, who are born again, have made His Son both Lord and Savior, is this dimension of His power that is available to us. And you know that means there's a stewardship involved, so as we steward His power or rather as stewards of the power of the Kingdom, we do choose to live certain ways and choices that we make become the example that we are to others, especially our families.

And of course, choosing is always consequential. Sometimes we need a course correction, I mean like a reset button that we can push to make sure that we are staying on track, aligned with the Kingdom. You know we speak of the Kingdom of God often because the Word refers to the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, so looking there both Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven appear in the Scripture. So what is the difference? You know recently I heard this description and it's really a good one, the Kingdom of Heaven is a destination.

It is the destination, the ultimate destination for every born again believer, basically Heaven, but the Kingdom of God is now. It's about a designation, a description, how we live, what we look like. So here's a great example, very timely, I'm recording the week of Thanksgiving, this podcast, so depending when you hear what we're saying here today, I want to say that the holiday and the tradition of the holiday Thanksgiving, other holidays like it, my greatest memory is that my parents' home was always welcoming because there was always great preparation, levels of preparation. My parents were intentional in the way that they went about getting the house ready, all of you would even say just the the surrounding like our the the yard surrounding our house, everything that went with that. They were intentional of this way and all those years especially mother, but my father too, really invested their time.

It was a sacrifice really, getting the farmhouse that I grew up in ready, nothing elaborate but festive and most of all welcoming and then besides the preparation that way there was the cooking. My parents always preferred everyone else, they put every member of our family ahead of them in terms of comfort and accommodation, so they would prefer their guest, whether it be family, we often had friends who had nowhere else to go for Thanksgiving who would join with our family. Putting themselves least in the priority list, so the result was that by the time everyone gathered, mother, maybe daddy too, they might be so tuckered out that they could hardly, you know, really keep that momentum going through the day.

They might need a little nap halfway through the day and then the time came because as my parents aged, my sister and I stepped up and took over that role of preparation for the rest of the family and like mother, by the time Thanksgiving day actually came, my sister and I sort of looked rough around the edges. We we had given everything that we had in terms of energy, effort, creativity to make it all happen, to make the day happen. So the point would be that my parents chose.

Theirs is the example that they gave. It's become my example and as an adult you might say, I don't know any other way to do it. I don't know how to do it differently other than to engage, to prepare so that others can celebrate. Our celebration has changed somewhat, but basically this principle holds. And you know choosing is optional, but it is consequential in anything, in everything.

Choosing activates a reward. Some people don't know that. They don't know or realize all that the Word has to say about the heavenly rewards that are awaiting those of us who have spent our time here on planet earth. And for sure there is a reward up or down because Jesus said something interesting that I think applies right here. He said, everything hidden or concealed will be exposed, revealed. Everything hidden or concealed will be exposed, it will be revealed.

And it's recorded more than once. It's in Luke 8, Luke 12, Matthew 10, Mark 4. So this for sure is a principle of the way that Jesus intends for our lives to be. The choices we make will stay with us. They follow us. Our choices are consequential.

They determined the rewards in a future sense. And they also determine the status of the kingdom that is within us. And so that is with us, within us, within us.

All of this is determining something, it's building the kingdom within us. You know some people, they want all of the result. They want family. They want the traditions. They want people around. They want the celebration, but they're just not able to make the investment because they don't give of their time.

They don't understand the principle of sacrifice. And usually it comes down to a question of self-discipline because all of that goes into, all of these things make up the way that the kingdom of God manifests on the inside of us. I believe that our family holiday tradition, including my parents' example that was set for anyone who cared to imitate it, also including the fact that they gave themselves, fully invested themselves for the purpose of family, including the reward that God has for them, waiting, including the fact that we can extend the tradition by imitating the example. I believe all of this is important because I believe that in this way they built the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. So back to the definition, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, and the difference, the kingdom of heaven again is about a destination where we eventually go. It's our reward, our eternal home for those who serve Jesus. We get to be a part of the kingdom of heaven where God is seated on the throne. He is the sovereign over this kingdom. And we will eventually get to that destination.

That is our heaven destination. And then the kingdom of God is about a designation. It describes a kingdom where God is supreme, and He is King, and His will and authority rules. And we as followers of Jesus are subject to the King. We surrender our lives to His reign. Jesus Himself said in Luke 17, verses 20-21, the kingdom of God is within you.

He's referring to the life that is surrendered to Jesus and His lordship, which see is why I'm giving you this example of my parents' sacrifice and surrender at times like holidays and the celebrations that ensued and what it would take to bring family together in a celebration in a profitable way. So a prayer that I frequently pray goes like this. Thy kingdom come into this situation. Thy will be done on earth exactly as it is in heaven.

I add on to that prayer like that blueprint, like the one that is in heaven and what this means according to the way that it will ultimately be. I see the situation now, but kingdom of God come, will of God be done just like it will ultimately be in heaven, in the kingdom of heaven. So kingdom of God come, manifest be, that includes His will and authority as it is in heaven. The kingdom there, what it looks like there, transform this earthly situation to the heavenly one.

And I think we can and should pray that way. Based on Jesus' words in Luke 17 that the kingdom of God is within you, we are simply praying that the kingdom of God that is on the inside of each one of us will come into full manifestation because of choices that we make, the consequences that we choose to set up so that they imitate the kingdom of God now and the kingdom of heaven ultimately. It is because the kingdom is within on the inside of us that we know the inside, in the heart, in the spirit of man is where everything happens. There's the beginning that from within you, everything God intends to manifest His kingdom proceeds. And you could also add that any area within you, any area within me that resists His rule, again His rule connects to our expression the kingdom of God, any area that resists His rule affects every other area.

So you could say any resistance even in one area is a drag on the whole. So Thanksgiving, the season we're in now, the feasting and celebration, the coming together of families that we think of at this time at a holiday like Thanksgiving, there are others, but this is the perfect segue into another kingdom feast, a feast in heaven, the feast that God prepares for His church. We know it as the marriage supper of the Lamb. And the choices that we make between now and that marriage supper will stay with us. They will follow us from where we are now all the way to the point of that great banquet, that great feast, where as you know, our Father, the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit have sacrificed everything to create that feast and make a way for us to be there, to be present at the table, to join in that celebration. So the rewards that we bring with us at that time come from determining the kingdom of God within us right now. What is the example of that kingdom within that we are displaying before others right now? What is the example that lives on beyond our lives, extending the tradition that builds the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven, on earth as it is in heaven?

This is the idea. This is the celebration that we have This is the celebration that we have an opportunity to participate in, an invitation from the Lord of the feast, from the one who has sacrificed everything. Amen.

Amen. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365 Day Devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again and we'll see you next time. Thank you.