How do I enter the Kingdom...??

Tim and I have been doing a lot of talk about the Kingdom of God (KOG) what it looks like and what the implications of the KOG are on our daily lives. It has captivated us really. It's like we're starting to realize that our work with Mustard along with our everyday lives revolve around the Fathers business - the KOG - of which He is at the centre...

Work, marriage, life - everything is peripheral to the KOG and the King of the KOG. I am only just starting to get the reality of this and yet at the same time I am so far from grasping it's massiveness...that's why I think God is revealing it to me slowly with "small" stuff.

Recently I read the story of how Jesus rocked up at Mary and Martha's house for dinner and a catchup and from that I preached on the thought, and truth, that the KOG is present and visible in the small, ordinary, everyday moments of life. The KOG can be seen and experienced in conversation with good friends, in the silent alone times reading a good book, walking down the street or checking out some good art or listening to good music on your ipod. The KOG can be seen everywhere in the small and ordinary moments as well as the big, miraculous ones.

This revelation, regardless of how simple, was massive for me. Since becoming a Christian I have always looked for God's Kingdom in the obvious and typically "Christian" moments - in times of praise and worship at church, in times of prayer, in the miracles and in big events. Since I had this crazy "mustard seed" sized revelation that God is at work everywhere and all the time, I have been able to recognize that the expanse of the KOG is ridiculously HUGE, it's LUDICROUSLY BIG...

I have, for the most part, stopped limiting God's presence along with His rule and reign to a Church building or a typically "Christian experience" and I have seen it spill out of that into the streets, homes, schools, bars, cafes and pretty much everywhere I go!!! I think it has always been there, it's just that I am only just starting to recognize it.

It's like I'm a child again who has just woken up and who looks at the most simplistic of things with complete wonder and awe. I am becoming more aware of Jesus in my everyday reality and it is cool... I read this tonight -

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
-Mark 10:15

How true is this? I am getting it I think.

That's just the start, the thing I am starting to discover at the same time takes this revelation to a whole new level. I am a part of the KOG, the KOG is present in me and although we need to see it and receive it like a child, it isn't childs play.

I am beginning to understand that it's not just about getting into the KOG but that I have a part to play in it's expansion. It's like I have been offered a share in the Father's Business - just like Jesus. He's the older brother that show's me what the implications of this revelation has on my life...here's how I am starting to see it:

If Jesus was always about the Father's business and the Father's business was and is all about advancing His Kingdom, then the implication for us - who have received Jesus as Lord and Saviour and who follow Him - is overwhelming, it's serious, it's Kingdom work... We work for the KING of the Kingdom!!! In the words of Ali G - "It's massive!"

Let me try and explain why I think it's serious: Jesus isn't here in the flesh anymore but we are and we have His Holy Spirit in us and He commands us to continue the work that he started... (Luke 9:60, Luke 9:62, Luke 22: 28-30). WE now carry on with the father's business. We are called, no, commanded to bring the KOG and to expand it in this world and in the hearts and minds of people.

The more I read about the KOG and realise my role in it, the more I get excited and overwhelmed by the awesome responsiblity I have... this then leads me to the question - how do I do this?

Here's the most important requirement, I think, for being a successful in the expantion of the KOG - Hardcore Fidelity...

Hardcore = unswervingly committed; uncompromising; dedicated
Fidelity = strict observance of promises; duties

So it requires, in my opinion, hardcore fidelity to Jesus first and foremost because there is no way I could possibly be of any use to the KOG without Him - He is the King of the KOG so I need His Authority and Power (Matthew 10:1). Our fidelity to the KOG can be seen and demonstrated in and through our fidelity to His People (Church), His, Cause, His creation, the sick, the poor and the lost...

The KOG begins with us and in us first, it's not an "out there" reality but it's close, it's near. God's rule and reign is expanding in my heart, my mind and in my everyday life as I offer my devotion, my fidelity to Jesus and all that HE hold's precious and the more of me He reign's the more I will be able to recognize Him at work in and through my life and the more effective I will be in seeing His Kingdom expanded in the world.

At least, that's where I'm at right now.... these are ramblings straight from brain to page!!

How does the KOG impact on your life?

No Ordinary Moment...

Currently I am thinking about ordinary moments - have been reading the story about how Jesus rocks up at Mary and Martha's place for dinner - it's an ordinary moment in Jesus life and ministry. He's not healing people, he's not hanging out with sinners, he's not feeding five thousand people, he's not being controversial or subversive - he's just being a guy catching up with a couple of friends looking forward to sharing a meal... and yet this ordinary moment turns out to be no ordinary, ordinary moment and Mary knows it!

Jesus has rocked up and she doesn't want to miss a single moment, she is absorbed, captured by every word that comes out of Jesus' mouth... she has recognizes that there really is no such thing as an ordinary moment when Jesus is in your midst, whether he is working a miracle or chilling in your lounge room.

Martha on the other hand is letting this 'ordinary' moment slip by, she's been distracted by the doing of life and in doing so she misses the fact that 'the life' was sitting in her lounge room having a conversation with her sister...

I know God is big, I know Jesus is extraordinary but sometimes I am so busy doing life, or looking for him in BIG experiences and events that maybe I miss him in the midst of the everyday ordinary moments. Maybe if I looked for him in the mundane, in the everyday activities my perspective would change? Ordinary moments would become extra ordinary because Jesus isn't normal, he ain't ordinary, he's God?!

A beer or a coffee with a mate, a conversation with my wife, a walk through the city, catching up with friends, watching a game of basketball, going to an art exhibition, working, playing and relaxing could become less ordinary if I look for Jesus in the centre of it all?!

I reckon this will transform our 'doing' of life.

I Imagine what it would be like if we started recognizing Jesus in our everyday, ordinary moments!? I wonder if our relationships would change, I wonder if our outlook on work would change, I wonder if we would start to treat others better because we see Jesus in all of it and in everyone?!

I don't want to miss Jesus in my lounge room!