"Kingdom of God"(Romans 8:38-39)

Romans 8:38-39

 There are many things to be anxious about and we all need hope. Religions can give us that hope and many people rely on religion to relieve their anxiety. The anxiety of death is a major concern since death will come to each one of us. The bible tells us that not only will we die, but we will be judged.

 

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Hebrews 9:27

 

Christianity is a religion that offers life after death. As Christians we believe that we will go to heaven when we die. We will go to Heaven because Jesus sacrifice on the cross covers our sins and allows us to escape the punishment that we deserve. We have the hope that we can enter the kingdom of heaven because we are born of water and spirit.

 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

John 3:5 ESV

 

The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are considered the same by some and different by others. For our purpose, we consider the kingdom of God that same place as heaven. To enter the kingdom of God, we need to be born again. Finding the kingdom of God is finding Jesus.

 

nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Luke 17:21 ESV

 

Jesus preached often about heaven and hell, but He put more emphasis on how we live. If we are in any kingdom, we need to follow that kingdom’s rules. Jesus preached that if we are under the authority of the kingdom is that we need to follow the rules and edicts of the king. Daniel feared God more than he did King Darius. God was always with them, and Daniel and his compatriots followed God's commands.

 

Our choices are our freedom. We choose who or what to follow and therefore you are a slave to whatever you follow.

 

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Romans 6:16 ESV

 

The kingdom of God has rules, but Jesus was able to simplify them into one basic command; love your God and your neighbor. The one commandment we must follow is to love. Citizens from the Kingdom of God are known because they love God and they love others. All the other rules and commands are subsections from the main command to love.

 

Kingdoms are owned by kings. God created His kingdom, and He owns it. Those citizens who are grateful and full of admiration of their God acknowledge God and Jesus as their King and creator. For God, humans are the most important things created by God. God prepared the world for us, and we need to acknowledge this fact. When we acknowledge God as our creator, sustainer, and lord, not only will we be grateful, but we will experience more joy and peace. This is joy and peace come from the knowledge that everything happens in our life is under God's command.

 

To walk with God, we should have a good relationship with God. We need to have to have good communication in order to have a relationship. We need to be good at communication and this involves a lot of listening and talking. We need to listen to God's word and respond to God's word through prayer, mediation, and quiet time.

 

The Kingdom of God is any place where you allow God to rule in your life.  Being with God is being in Heaven, yet we then must ask ourselves, “Will we be in Heaven with God when we die?” Paul gives us a very reassuring answer.

 

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39 ESV

"The Response of Genuine Faith"(Hebrews 11:7)

Hebrews 11:7

 

By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

Hebrews 11:7 ESV

 

Are you really saved? How can we prove that we are saved? It is one thing to accept Jesus as your savior but what happens after that. If are lives are not changed through sanctification, it is impossible to prove we are saved. We should be living a different life if we have been saved.

 

To understand better, we can go to Nathan the Wise who told the story called the three-parable ring. A father had one magical ring but had three sons. The father made two rings that looked like the magical ring, so he could give a ring to each son. All three sons received the rings and thought they had received a magical ring but only one had the magical ring. When the father died, the three sons wanted to know who had the magical ring, so they went to a judge who determined that the son who had the magical ring had led a righteous life. The judge did not have to look at the rings that looked alike, instead he had to look at the sons’ lives to see who had the magic ring. This should be the same for Christians who have been saved and have the Holy Spirit in them. Our lives should reflect a life of grace and be responsive to God.

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV

 

And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.

Genesis 7:7-9 ESV

 

The first response is answering God's calling. But what is God's calling for us? Some may say it is the job that has been given to you. It is the ordinary life that we are living right now. God's calling does not mean we are told through a supernatural event or miraculous oration. God’s calling to us is usually the work we have and people that we are surrounded by.

 

Not everyone likes their jobs completely all the time. There are some people that need to leave their jobs because it is not their calling, and therefore they are not happy. Most people are exactly where they should be and doing the jobs they need to in God’s kingdom.

 

Your job is not the most important thing in your life; however, it is important to do your job as God's calling for you.

 

Noah spread the word of God because he knew the importance of God's word.  Although others may not have heeded his words, Noah still felt compelled to speak the truth and glorify God.

 

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

1 Corinthians 9:16 ESV

 

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Acts 20:24 ESV

 

Those who have true faith in Jesus Christ will tell others to save them and introduce them to God's love. Those who are saved want to share their joy with others and have that burden to share God’s grace with as many people as they can.

 

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Luke 15:7 ESV

 

These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:9 ESV

 

The Bible does not say that Noah just had faith. Noah built an ark, spread God's word, and did things righteously.

 

Whatever we are doing, we can glorify God by doing the work that is put before us in God's honor.

"Prayer of David Today"(Psalm 7:3-13)

Psalm 7:3-13

 Unless we know the whole story, we run the risk of making misinterpretations. It is easy to focus on one part of the story, and if it is out of context, we can have a quite different idea just looking at that one scene. The same is with the Bible. Reading the Bible, we might think that King David is arrogant and violent if we look at certain verses of the Bible.

 O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

Psalm 7:3‭-‬5 ESV

If we look at the standard the Law of the Bible back in King David's time, he was righteous. Jesus had not come at this time, and it was enough to fulfil the law by practicing it. Your mind and intentions were not considered. Jesus looks more closely.

 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

Romans 3:22 ESV

 If we understand just how truly evil, and how sinful we are, we probably could not accept the gift of grace considering what Jesus went through. Jesus went through tremendous pain and humiliation so that we might enjoy the gift of grace. In order to serve Jesus and serve in righteousness, we need to love Jesus and be thankful for our gift of salvation.

God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.

Psalm 7:11‭-‬13 ESV

 The above passage makes it like God is violent and ready for war. In many ways this is true. Our God is a God of Wrath. His wrath is against sin. God hates sin. In fact, he cannot tolerate sin at all and will remove those people who are wicked and sinful. Yet, when Jesus came, He came for the wicked and sinful people. Just as the wrathful God came to remove sin to save His people, Jesus came to save people. Both came to remove the unrighteous things. 

 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

Genesis 6:6 ESV

 God did regret making man, but instead of creating something new, He found a way to save us through His son. We often forget that as powerful, majestic, and unfathomable our God is, He is also a very personal God, who is jealous for our love. This is our God, who fights for the righteous. 

Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment. Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high. The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me. Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!

Psalm 7:6‭-‬9 ESV

 At the time this psalm was written in this part of the world, judgements were done quickly, and it was expected that they were done fairly. The cultural matrix at that time was still the time of an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth. David was fearful for his life, but he was more fearful that righteousness would not be achieved. People would see God as weak and unjust if He or his servants did not judge quickly. 

 Fortunately, we are in a time that we can love and forgive our enemies. Jesus' sacrifice has allowed for us to do this. We do not need to judge or punish them. In the same, we are not judged or punished because Christ’s blood has washed us of our sins. Knowing this we should try to bring more people into the kingdom of God, so they, too, can enjoy the full grace of God.

David's prayer in psalm seven reminds us three important things we need to do in our world today..

1. We need to find righteousness through Jesus.
2. We need to bring new people into the kingdom of God.
3. We need to live lives that are righteous and abhor sin to please God.

My Savior My God

 My Savior My God

CCLI Song # 4592255 Aaron Shust | Dorothy Greenwell

"Prayer in Times of Suffering"(Psalm 3: 1-8)

 Psalm 3: 1-8

 King David went through many ups and downs in his life, and the Book of Psalms reflects these high and low points. Psalm 3 was a psalm written during one of King David’s lowest and, perhaps, most trying time. That time was when his third son Absalom had taken over the kingdom was chasing down King David.

 In all of these difficult times, King David prays to God and there are three main points we can learn through this psalm.

1. God Never Leaves Us

I cried aloud to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

Psalm 3:4 ESV

King David confesses that God had, has and will always answer his prayers. The verb tense that is used in verse 4 can be used for the past, present and future. King David knows that God is always with us. Even when no one else would admit this to David and most people had abandoned King David.

many are saying of my soul, “There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah

Psalm 3:2 ESV

The herd effect is real, and people will follow what the majority of people are doing. In King David's court, most people did not support him. The majority even said that was no chance to take the kingdom and all was lost. God never left King David after this hard trial and others which had come before and after. King David persevered and succeeded with God's help.

King David realized that God never left him, and therefore he could put everything on God's feet.

 2. God is Our Salvation

Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people! Selah

Psalm 3:8 ESV

King David knew that the only one who could give him salvation was God. He always went to God to rescue him. This salvation is not just personal salvation from sin but also the suffering and difficulties we face in life. God might not remove all the problems in our life, but in the end the final victory will remove all these sorrows.

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.

Psalm 3:3 ESV

 

The shield that is talked about in verse 3 is a large tower shield that covers and protects the whole body. This shield will always be there and protect us completely. The Love of God will always remain even though everything else may change.

 3. God fights for us

Arise, O Lord! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked.

Psalm 3:7

King David asked God to defeat the problems. King David still fought and worked at solving the problems, but God was his side. He allowed God to carry on the fight when he could not. Therefore, King David was able to rest because of his faith in God.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Psalm 3:5-6 ESV 

King David knew that the victory would be God's and would come about because of God's works and interventions. King David was in the battle, but it was God who achieved the victory.

God is always there to listen to our prayers, and He will fight for us. God fought for us unto death and through death. This was Jesus who suffered and died on the cross to save us from our sins and death. We need to pray and be in the battle, but the battle belongs to Him.

Worship Songs;

Your Grace Is Enough

My Savior My God

10,000 reasons