After Lazarus’ sister, Mary, anoints Jesus’ feet with costly perfume and He enters triumphantly into Jerusalem, Jesus again speaks of His coming death. Only if a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies will it produce a great harvest, Jesus tells his disciples in John 12:24. This was surely not what the disciples wanted to hear. Hadn’t Jesus just announced Himself as King? “Do not fear, O, Daughter of Zion, Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” And didn’t He tell them not to fear? What was this talk of death? No, that’s not what anyone wanted to hear. It was the Kingdom He should be talking about. A Kingdom where they no longer had to fear the Romans, poverty, hunger, sickness, disease. So why was Jesus talking about death? And telling them “Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” (John 12:24 Amplified)

Many of the bystanders heard it too. No, no, no! This is not what was promised. “We have learned from the Law that the Christ (Messiah) is to remain forever; how then can You say the Son of Man must be lifted up (on the cross)? Who is this Son of Man?” they say, feeing, I’m sure, taken back and angry and cheated. Thrones, crowns, riches, that’s what they had signed up for. A life of peace and safety. A life of prosperity. Although the disciples didn’t voice their own objections, I’m sure they had negative feelings of their own: disappointment, fear, confusion. After all, Jesus was telling them that He—the Light—would soon be taken away from them and that they had to be prepared to lose their own lives if they wanted to follow Him.

In some ways this is how we Christians often function today. We want the salvation Jesus offers and all that it implies. We want the “life and life more abundantly,” but sometimes we want the kingdom without a king, life without death, triumph without trials. And it’s not to be had. I truly want to be an over-comer, but in my heart I really don’t want anything to over-come; no trials, no sorrows, nothing unpleasant. But Jesus never promised us that if we follow Him, life would be easy. Or full of earthly riches. Or health. Or always happy. Indeed, many times life is hard. And sometimes this makes us question our King. Why isn’t He coming through for us? Where is His kingdom?

In all fairness, if one looks around the world today and sees the staggering number of Christians, especially in Muslim countries, being slaughtered, crucified, beheaded; their churches, homes and businesses destroyed, it’s easy to ask, “Where is the kingdom?” An insidious rise of anti-Christian sentiment is beginning to blanket the globe, and yes, even here in America. And it will only increase. I don’t believe life is going to be easy for a Christian in the coming years, and it’s best we understand that. But there really is a Kingdom. Jesus said it was “within us.” And even in the hard times we can experience that Kingdom for the King Himself resides there. We can experience His peace, joy and love in the measure that we allow Him to control and influence our lives. And we can do this while we await that larger Kingdom that is to come, when our King returns and sets it up on earth and brings everything under His just rule.

But in the meantime we need to remember that we are children of God and joint heirs of the King, a real King who rules a real Kingdom. And that’s no small thing.

Until next week,

Sylvia

“He drives out demons through the prince of demons,” the Pharisees said regarding Jesus in Matthew 9:34 after Jesus healed a dumb man and the man spoke. It’s hard to imagine saying such a thing after seeing the wonder of Jesus’ miracles. But scoffers in Jesus’ day came in all forms, but none more odious than the “church” people, the so-called “religious” crowd. The ones who should know better.

And nothing has changed. Today, people still scoff at the miracles and ministry of Jesus, and that includes “church” people. How many times have you heard a “believer” say, miracles aren’t for today? That was only for the times of the apostles in order to build up the church. Really? Where in scripture does it say that? My Bible says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

So what’s the problem? Why do people scoff? Especially church people? Why must the body of Christ disagree so? And find so much to criticize? It’s because of the enemy within. The enemy that is within all of us. The enemy of Self. Just like in Jesus’ day, today many in the church allow Self to reign in their lives instead of Jesus.

When you boil everything away, there are only three kingdoms: the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Satan, and the Kingdom of Self. And we all serve one of them. Note they are listed in order of power, Self being on the bottom. Satan will never be able to defeat the Kingdom of God. In fact the only kingdom he can conquer is the Kingdom of Self that’s why it pleases him when we walk in self will. He knows it’s only a matter of time before he will conquer us and we will be serving him.

Self wants to be as God. It wants to call the shots and be elevated. It is the true enemy within. The enemy that will close itself to the Word of God thinking it knows best. The enemy that will divide a church because of pride. The enemy that will seek to exalt itself even at the expense of others. The enemy that can look at the proof of Jesus’ miracles and say it is the act of Satan or look at the very Word of God and then twist it to suit its own purpose or motive.

The enemy within is one we must all guard against. Even after coming into the saving knowledge of Jesus we are still flesh and blood and wrestle against the power of darkness as well as possess a mind that is in desperate need of being transformed by the Word of God. It is a struggle that can only be won through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

Oh, that we may all be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ and love one another! Only then will we experience, in the measure that God desires for us, that other kingdom, the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Until next time,

Sylvia