Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Phillips Brooks
Devotional: 5 Ways You Can Bring God’s Kingdom to Earth
This meditation is relevant with respect to God’s command to humanity when He sent us His only begotten Son. At the time, there were 2 commandments that Jesus signified to all humanity, namely, “Love the Lord with all your mind, with all your heart, with all your strength, and with all your soul,” and “Love each other, just as I loved you.” Everything, including The Ten Commandments, the laws in the Bible, the scriptures—all of them—flow, as in a current or stream, to these 2 commandments I just mentioned. The same thing happens when all the things in each of our lives flow into them.
The following are five ways how you can personally bring God’s kingdom to earth:
Love Others Like Jesus Loved You
It is very easy to love people who are able to love us in return. Or people whom we like. But, with respect to these, Jesus deliberately made the level of His standards high. He did not want to use the level of standard set or desired by us humans, otherwise if we hated ourselves, it would give us a good excuse not to love other people. Like, for example, when you are granted to establish your own set of standards. Jesus made a high level of standard when He said, “Love each other, just as I loved you.” Jesus loved us so much that he laid His life down for us. This is the kind of standard we ought to have. If we aim for this standard, then there would be no problem for God’s kingdom here on earth to materialize or transpire because, after all, the world will be a very peaceful, loving, and compassionate place.
Seek To Understand First Before Speaking
Many misunderstandings happen because people take initial action usually by opening their mouths before they could get a clear understanding of what is going on. This can lead to all sorts of problems because it will create a significant impact on our ego. Surely, no one likes to be wrong. However, the moment we open our mouths and assume a position without first getting a clear picture of the situation, we set the ball rolling. And it will be hard for us to hold the ball back. One way for us to bring God’s kingdom here on earth is to be silent and to concentrate first on the sequence of events that transpire. By trying to get a clear picture of what’s happening and if necessary, by asking questions, we can get ourselves into a good stance.
Be Quick To Forgive
Holding a grudge doesn’t really bring punishment to anybody except to the person who has that grudge. The person whom you have that grudge on will continue to live a life of his or her own. Life will just normally move on for that person. If it is you holding a grudge, it will also be you who gets stressed out. If you want to experience the peace of God’s kingdom in your life, then be ready to forgive. When you forgive, you are actually forgiving yourself. It is you who gets the benefit and not the other way around.
Be Slow To Anger
Anger is the most intense of all emotions because it impacts our ego. The book of James teaches us on how to take it easy with anger. This means that we should look at situations with an open mind. Once we take things to a personal level, it’s quite easy for us to become angry. But if we step back and look first at what’s happening, it will then be much easier for us to assess and solve the situation. On the contrary, making things personal will only cause things to get spinning uncontrollably in so little time. Things will heat up rapidly, and it will be your own anger that will devour you from the inside.
Do Good Without Asking Anything In Return
The most effective way to bring God’s kingdom to earth is actively seek to do well in the lives of other people without asking for anything in return. This, of course, doesn’t mean asking for payment, because payment takes many different forms. It also doesn’t mean asking for publicity, or even a “Thank you.” The true symbol of a heart truly sold out to Jesus is when you are able to give, give, and nothing else but give to people who would not bother or don’t how to say “thank you.” Or worse, there might even be those who will spit at you. That would still be okay because the reason why you are giving is to reflect the love of Jesus. Having the ability to love like this is a powerful way of bringing God’s kingdom to earth.
