Jesus said many times that,

“The Kingdom of God is at hand”.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines the phrase …”at hand”…as happening or present at the current time.

I have understood that,
in the past few years,
to mean He was telling those who were listening to Him that because He was present with them… The Kingdom of God was present with them.

IT was where HE was.

Wherever He was, IT was there.

The Kingdom was not merely high
up in the Heavens…
it was on the horizontal plane of Earth….
as He was on that horizontal plane of Earth.

When He instructed His Disciples to go and wait in the Upper Room… He was temporarily separating them from the horizontal world ….while awaiting a vertical intervention.

During those few days the Spirit had not come and He was not physically present with them.

The Spirit came to
and into them
and empowered them
to accomplish the work
intended for them to do.

It changed them.

Forever.

It changed the world.

Forever.

The Scripture tells the reader that
The Spirit is God and equal to God.
The Spirit is an equal entity of
The Trinity.

Since The Spirit of God came into the Disciples …..
He has never exited the Earth.

He is still here today.

Because He is here,
The Kingdom of God is here.

Christ’s words are still relevant…
“The Kingdom of God is AT HAND”.

Its not being prepared.

It is not waiting on us in Heaven.

It is present on the horizontal plane of Earth.

Therefore,
may we realize,
acknowledge and
going forward, live accordingly.

Let’s us live as though Christ is among us.

Because He is among us.

Happening and
present at the current time.

If you believe Scripture is true….
then you believe His Spirit is here.
And, consequently that He is here.

If you visually saw Christ
sitting at your table,
walking with you,
heard Him preaching to you from the podium…
would you live differently than you do ???

Would you serve any differently than you do???

He IS sitting at your table.
He IS walking with you.
He IS preaching to you from the podium,
through the person of your Pastor.

His Spirit is here.

He is here.

The Kingdom of God is at hand.

Look up and read PROVERBS 18:16.

It might positively impact your life.

What is your “gift”…???

I would encourage you to think on this and seek the answer in prayer… if you cannot name your gift currently.

To know ones GIFT …
is to operate in a
Strength and a Capability
not present in everyone else.

Knowing it,
Exercising it,
Building on it…..

will give you access and potential not present before.

To me, it’s the secret to success.

It puts you at the intersection of
Ability and Opportunity.

Ask the few people closest to you what they see your gift as.

If married….ask your Spouse.

If you do not know it….
Ask, Seek and Knock regarding it …
in prayer to The Father.

You WILL get an answer…..soon.

Knowing your gift ….

IS a gift.

It will set you in places
you have not occupied before.

Take the writer of Proverbs at face value and believe it.

“A man’s gift maketh room for him,
and bringeth Him before great men”.

Know it
Walk it it
Touch the world with your gift.

This thought arose in me this morning.
You might hear it from me again.

The same God Who has touched so many is the same God Who we pray to and hears our prayers.

The same God Who spoke to
and made eternal promises to
Abraham…
speaks to you and me.

Read that again and consider it.

The same God Who anointed David
has anointed your Pastor as Shepherd of your Church.

The same God Who came to earth as Jesus…lives in all hearts who seek and pursue Him.

The same God Who prompted and led Martin Luther …
prompts and leads us.

The same God Who has led and directed preachers like
Charles Spurgeon and Billy Graham leads and directs the preacher who preaches to you.

The same God Who moved in Mother Teresa to give a life to minister to multitudes who could never return the favor…. can move in you and me.

The same God Who changed the life and work of Peter,
Who used the zeal
but changed the intentions of Paul…
can change and use us today.

The same God Who has grown great churches…
and deepened the walk of His Followers…
is the same God Who spoke
to me this morning,
and might be speaking to you
right now.

Therefore……

If it’s the same God …

the only different variable is you…
and me.

I pray that I take what
God gave to,
and did in,
all the above people…
as much as He allows me ….
and walk,
in Him,
towards similar results.

I pray that for you this morning.

 

I have fallen five times in my life as an adult.

I can recite the place and year.

Actual hard physical falls.

Once I slipped and hit pavement really hard….
it requires several stitches over my left eye.

Stitches are something my body has had great experience with.

 

Another time I was pulling a vine out of the ground, it was not cooperative, so I used my legs and hips.

When the vine broke, I fell backwards off of the four foot waterfall in my backyard and fell onto the rocks and boulders in the creek below.

When I landed on my back I rested between two jagged and protruding boulders which could have broken or cracked important places in my spine.

I was between those jagged edges.

I lay there looking at each boulder,
realizing I felt no pain but was in awe that I landed where I did, having fallen blindly.

These falls were not laying down in green pastures.

They were full body hard falls.

But I was not injured with any long-lasting severity from any of them.

 

I have fallen spiritually more times than are described above …. and have been protected in seemingly greater ways than I was when I fell physically.

Gravity has pulled me to the Earth when I have physically lost my balance.

Bad decisions,
and the gravity of the weight which accompanies them,
have thrown me off of the proper path already laid out for me and dropped me to my knees and my face more times than I can count.

The shame of these falls and failings,
like the time I lay on my back in the creek between the boulders…                                  were terrifying and frightful…
but because of The Light that is a “lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”…….

I have been kept from long-lasting and severe harm.

Just as the stitches,
of which I have had many,
heal my skin and leave only a small mark, if any trace at all…..
The Word which was spoken and written long ago constantly heals my heart and has redeemed the life I am blest to live.

What kind of messages are you giving out at this time???

Or over the past few weeks?

Not merely the verbal communication you engage in…
but the looks and unspoken messages you convey.

You probably set the tone for your house and family.

Are you sending out vibes that are
peaceful, pleasant, positive??

Or are the messages
going out from you
and being received by those
closest to you …
Irritating, negative, burdensome??

If you do not know…
ask your wife.

Ask your closest friend.

In the middle of struggle and strife you can still give off messages of peace and positivity.

Pilots call it an “even keel”.

Scripture calls it a
“Christ-like nature”.

Momentary messages can be across the board …..
but the constant and consistent
vibe coming from us should be that of what Christ exhibited on the boat with His Disciples…

in the middle of the storm.