When Jesus taught prayer by saying, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done” – He was talking to people who “did” all the right things but still missed the kingdom of God completely. The reason for this is that the kingdom of God is within you the moment you realize what Jesus accomplished while on earth that kingdom will open to you!
“Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” – Matthew 17:21
The kingdom of God is Not something that can be observed because the kingdom of God is All about Faith. The problem is today we have taken the word Faith and attributed it to people who do good works like church attendance, paying their tithe and following the rules – something Jesus was Not real big on!
It’s not that Jesus went out of His way to break the rules, He didn’t – it’s just that Jesus knew The Rule that matter is Love! Love fulfills law! Love fulfills the prophets and God Is Love!
For the kingdom of God to be in our midst or be with someone – Love has to be the Only concern, rule or motive! What that looks like varies from a whip clearing the temple to breaking Sabbath to heal a man or because you are hungry – but one thing it doesn’t look like is a mindless legalistic robot living in the false comfort and security of some religious checklist!
The kingdom of God grows in a person as Faith grows in the person. This is why without Faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is Trusting in what cannot be seen! This is why those saying “here it is” or “there it is” have no idea what they are talking about. As Faith opens up eyes once closed and heals deep pain in a soul with understandings like, “you are no longer under the law” and “come to me and I will give you rest” and “God Is Love” and “reconciled to God” and “justified before God” – Love also grows.
Faith is resting in the unseen while being unsure about the unknown!
Law when used properly gets you to the point where you extend Faith and accept Christ – HOWEVER law when used improperly takes you away from Faith in Christ by creating a false sense of comfort and security based on your obedience to law instead of your obedience to Christ – something that has happened ever since the law was given by Moses as satan is really good at what he does. It still happens today and that is why I write – to teach the True Good News called Grace through Jesus Christ! This is why we are saved “by Grace through Faith” and Not by works which includes works of the law!
