Saturday, December 30, 2006

What Is The Kingdom Of God?

The Kingdom of God, also referred to as The Kingdom of Heaven, is an everlasting kingdom, invisible to the human eye. The Kingdom of God is more real and lasting than all the earthly kingdoms of this world. It's a spiritual kingdom and only those born of the Spirit of God can enter. Entry is by faith in Jesus Christ, God's Son.

The Kingdom of God isn't some far off place. Jesus told us,

"The Kingdom of God is within you".

The Kingdom of God is a spiritual state in which the life of God and heaven is accessible to us. We can enjoy the Kingdom of God while here on earth.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit brought the Kingdom of God into the heart's of His disciples.

The mark of a kingdom is the presence of the king. When the Holy Spirit came down, Jesus came to be with His disciples. He is more near now than He could be while in the flesh.

The abiding nearness and fellowship of Jesus is the great blessing of the Kingdom.The Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to have Jesus with us all the time. His presence makes heaven around and within us.

Stop and think about that for a few minutes. We are never alone - Jesus is always with us.

What are you doing to remind yourself of this great truth?

We pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." This is possible because Jesus is with us through His Holy Spirit.

If we know God and have the Holy Spirit we are living in the Kingdom now - some of us are simply more aware of that than others.

Being in the Kingdom means living a life in which God rules over everything. The Kingdom of God is a place where His will is truly and gladly done. The blessedness that reigns in Heaven can be found on earth where His rule and reign are evident.

"The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."

Life in the presence and the will and the power of God is possible. We can live in the Kingdom now.

We don't have to live mediocre lives. The Kingdom of God is here and we can have newness of life now.

It's time to trust His mighty power at work in us and recognise His presence with us.

For more on God's Presence see:

Walking in Eternal Life

How Real Is God To You?

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Hearing God - Through Nature

God speaks through His creation.

We can understand a lot about the spiritual realm by noticing things in the natural world. Colossians tells us that the natural world is a shadow of the spiritual.

We can connect with God through His creation and learn a lot about His ways.

When unnatural things occur, such as the fog that has been over the UK for the last few days, we need to ask,

"Lord what are you showing us through this?"

God speaks through His physical creation and through symbolic elements.

We need to be more sensitive to sudden changes in the weather and ask God to reveal any deeper meaning to us.

Ask for understanding of the times and seasons that we live in.

1 Chronicles 2:32

Monday, December 18, 2006

Rick Warren - TEDTalk

In this 15 minute talk, Rick Warren talks about 'world view' and the spiritual emptiness that has drawn people to buy his book, 'The Purpose Driven Life'.

He asks:

'What's in your hand?'

'What are you doing with what you've been given?'

And tells us, 'God smiles when you be you.'

Rick Warren - TEDTalks

It really is worth listening to.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Hearing God - Through Perception and Impressions

Sometimes we get a slight impression of something or a gut feeling. Some people call it intuition.

Intuition is knowing something spontaneously, without reasoning it out or discovering it.

Perception is understanding something by the senses or the mind, it involves intuitive awareness.

An impression is similar - we tend to use it to mean a nudge of the Holy Spirit.

We all have intuitive feelings at some level - it's like a gut feeling or just knowing something.

The New Testament speaks of the disciples as perceiving things, God gives us that ability too.

Whatever you call it, it is, in effect, knowing something without using your natural senses.

If we give Him the opportunity, the Holy Spirit will magnify these inner nudges. With the Holy Spirit's help we can develop our spiritual senses so that we can be aware of danger, of hidden things, even the thoughts and intentions of other people's hearts.

The more we take notice of these impressions, act on them and trust the Holy Spirit's nudges, the more sensitive we will become to God's promptings.

Our Father is speaking to us through subtle impressions. It's time to take notice of them, step out in faith and act on them.

We get better at something by practising. When you start out you will sometimes get it wrong. If you persist and learn from your mistakes you will eventually get it right more of the time.

Keep stepping out in faith and your level of spiritual awareness will increase.

Monday, December 11, 2006

How To Hear God - Through Our Conscience

God speaks to everyone through their conscience.

Many of us hear through an inner voice or 'sense' that tells us which way to go.

God normally speaks in a voice that is best described as a 'still, small voice.' It's a voice that we can all hear. Our biggest problem is learning to distinguish the voice of God from all the other voices that speak to us.

How do we know whether the voice we associate with conscience is truly God’s and not merely the voice of our imperfect fathers, or mothers, or families, or friends, or teachers?

The voice of our conscience is the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to our human spirit - or the Holy Spirit agreeing with our conscience.

Jesus said that He would send His Holy Spirit to live in us and convict us of sin - that's the job of our conscience.

God gave us our conscience as a way of knowing right from wrong. It's an inner awareness of what is of God and what isn't.

It often goes with a sense of peace, a feeling of confirmation or a feeling of being troubled.

Some people have difficulty hearing because they have ignored their conscience for so long.

But, as we put ourselves in a position to listen and respond, our hearts will open and the whispering of God’s still small voice will begin to ring loud and clear in our ears.

Here's something to ponder:

"A well-beaten path does not always make the right road."

"Cowardice asks the question,
"Is it safe?"
Expedience asks the question,
"Is it political?"
Vanity asks,
"Is it popular?"
But conscience asks the question,
"Is it right?"
There comes a time when one must take a position that's neither safe, nor political, nor popular, but he must make it because his conscience tells him that it's right." - Martin Luther King Jr.

"Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels good."

"The voice of conscience is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it; but it is also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it." - Germaine de Stael

Are you listening to your conscience?

Is there something you need to do, or stop doing?

Talk to your Father about it. He's waiting for you to respond.

Friday, December 08, 2006

How To Hear God - Silent Listening

What can we do to develop our spiritual hearing?

One of the things we can do is learn to still our minds and listen.

Listening prayer is a lost art.

Sometimes we simply need to sit down, not ask anything and just listen.

Have you ever tried just listening?

It's in those still, quiet times that we begin to sense God's heartbeat.

It's a bit like tuning to a radio station but you are tuning to God’s thoughts. Once you know what God's voice is like, it's easier to find it again.

Find a quiet place - little noises may be distracting, particularly at first.
Get into a comfortable position and relax.
Close your eyes to shut out distractions.
Wait and listen.
Wait some more.

God promised to lead us by His Spirit and he told us that his sheep will know His voice.

Decide to believe what God says and agree with His Word.

Say to yourself, 'Because I follow Jesus, I will know the voice of God. Thank you Father that I do know your voice and hear you speaking to me.'

Put your faith into action.
Open the ears of your heart and start listening for the voice of the Spirit.

The more you trust His voice and follow His leadings, the more clearly you'll hear Him.

Before long, hearing from God won't be something that happens every now and then, it will be part of you daily life, almost as natural as breathing.

What is the Spirit of God telling you today?

He's waiting for you to stop and tune in.


If you're ready for some more encouragement I recommend that you read 'Ever Increasing Faith' by Smith Wigglesworth. Wigglesworth was a very ordinary man who exercised extraordinary faith in God. God used him to work many miracles. If you e-mail me and put Wigglesworth in the subject line I'll send you a PDF file of 'Ever Increasing Faith'.