Thy Kingdom Come
The words "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done" from the Lords prayer are some of the most powerful in scripture for a believer. We speak these words so easily, but do we realize what it takes to see that happen in our life? We want to see His will be done for the world, for the church, and our own life, but to do it God needs a yielded heart. He needs a life surrendered to Him. Are we willing to be that life? He will do His will and bring His kingdom in and through me if I let Him.
I personally feel a desperation to see men and women of God really begin to stand up and walk in kingdom power and authority. I'm talking about real, true, self denying, cross carrying, yielded, wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ. The world has yet to see the revolutionary change that will come from God working through that kind of person. I think the world did see it through Paul and the apostles and others in the early church, but I believe God wants to manifest Himself now in greater glory that those former things.
I've been a little frustrated of late with those in the Church who push these new methods like the emergent church or the purpose drive church to name a few. In my opinion they are irresponsible. They have correctly identified problems in the church, but their solutions seem to me to be humanistic and lack a Christ centered focus and they are wasting our time. The church today is far from Christ like and far from successful in our attempts to reach a dying world. I put myself at fault as well for that because I am the church. We spend too much time focusing on the by-product and not the prime product. We are not here to reach the lost or feed the poor and hungry. We are here to know Christ. He is all that matters. He is the prime product and focus of the church and of the life of every believer. Before you disagree with me, let me explain. Reaching a lost world and feeding the poor are at the heart of God, but if I pursue those things I am no different than the world. If I pursue Christ, His heart for the poor and needy will be manifest through my life in way that exhibits the power and authority of the kingdom. It is the love of Christ that people need and then the bread. I think its fair to say that most members in most churches do not go and share the love of Christ with those in their community. They don't feed the hungry or care for the poor or reach the lost. How do we rectify that problem? Do we tell them to get out there and do it, or do we teach them to know Christ more and yield their life to Him more, or do we do both? I'm sure most churches have tried all the above, but I think the only way to get the job done is with a Christ centered approach.
So if we really want to see His Kingdom come and His will be done, we must stop seeing ourselves and church people and start seeing ourselves as Kingdom people. It doesn't matter what the latest movement is or what the popular churches are doing, or what the polls say, or what the world thinks. Our focus is Christ, our purpose in Christ, we honor Christ because He is worthy, and we serve Him by doing the work of His Kingdom. Its that simple and its that hard.
I personally feel a desperation to see men and women of God really begin to stand up and walk in kingdom power and authority. I'm talking about real, true, self denying, cross carrying, yielded, wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ. The world has yet to see the revolutionary change that will come from God working through that kind of person. I think the world did see it through Paul and the apostles and others in the early church, but I believe God wants to manifest Himself now in greater glory that those former things.
I've been a little frustrated of late with those in the Church who push these new methods like the emergent church or the purpose drive church to name a few. In my opinion they are irresponsible. They have correctly identified problems in the church, but their solutions seem to me to be humanistic and lack a Christ centered focus and they are wasting our time. The church today is far from Christ like and far from successful in our attempts to reach a dying world. I put myself at fault as well for that because I am the church. We spend too much time focusing on the by-product and not the prime product. We are not here to reach the lost or feed the poor and hungry. We are here to know Christ. He is all that matters. He is the prime product and focus of the church and of the life of every believer. Before you disagree with me, let me explain. Reaching a lost world and feeding the poor are at the heart of God, but if I pursue those things I am no different than the world. If I pursue Christ, His heart for the poor and needy will be manifest through my life in way that exhibits the power and authority of the kingdom. It is the love of Christ that people need and then the bread. I think its fair to say that most members in most churches do not go and share the love of Christ with those in their community. They don't feed the hungry or care for the poor or reach the lost. How do we rectify that problem? Do we tell them to get out there and do it, or do we teach them to know Christ more and yield their life to Him more, or do we do both? I'm sure most churches have tried all the above, but I think the only way to get the job done is with a Christ centered approach.
So if we really want to see His Kingdom come and His will be done, we must stop seeing ourselves and church people and start seeing ourselves as Kingdom people. It doesn't matter what the latest movement is or what the popular churches are doing, or what the polls say, or what the world thinks. Our focus is Christ, our purpose in Christ, we honor Christ because He is worthy, and we serve Him by doing the work of His Kingdom. Its that simple and its that hard.