Thy Kingdom Come
Read: Matthew 6:5-10
Key Verse: Matthew 6:10 – …Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he said pray in this manner: Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. The essence of the kingdom is not me leaving earth to go to heaven but me being a vessel to bring heaven to earth. When we live our lives according to the word of God and we follow His way of doing things (the kingdom way), we can manifest the operations of heaven in the visible earth.
We have substituted religion for the kingdom and they are not the same thing. The kingdom of God is not a religion, it’s a government. It is the government of God; it is the reign of God; the rule of God; it is the system of God; It is God’s way of doing things. We enter the kingdom of God through the process that Jesus calls being “born-again”, “John 3:3 – Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”.
Being born-again makes us citizens of heaven and our citizenship begins immediately. We are kingdom citizens right now. Traditional religious teaching postpones the citizenship in the Kingdom of God to the future but you cannot appropriate what you postpone. As long as you see the kingdom in the future (after wile, by and by), you cannot experience or operate in it now. This excerpt below from Dr. Myles Munroe book “Understanding Your Place in God’s Kingdom” illustrates the focus of the religion vs. kingdom:
Religion is reaching up to God; the Kingdom is God coming down to earth.
Religion want to escape earth; the Kingdom impacts, influences and changes the earth.
Religion seeks to take earth to Heaven; the Kingdom seeks to bring Heaven to earth.
Thought for the day:
How can I be a willing vessel to allow God to manifest His will in the earth through me?