Can you see it?
Become skillful at discerning the patterns of opposing kingdoms.
All those side-by-side pictures on social media. How fast can you find what's different? For us who are "in the world but not of it", difference-seeing is an important skill.
What's of God's kingdom? And what's of the world?
Jesus shows us what God's kingdom is like (Parables, the Sermon on the Mount, the Great Commandment, the Great Commission, his own life). The Apostle Paul does too (1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5, for example). They draw the contrast so we will do the same in our own time and place. Can you see it?
Yoked
The freedom and joy of ‘life with God’ rather than ‘life for God’.
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
It's Jesus' invitation to religious people. A life 'for God' is burdensome and exhausting. Here Jesus invites us to live life 'with God'. Yoked to Jesus, we learn by observation and participation. And we never have to wonder if we've done enough. Our souls are refreshed by being with Jesus in the moment, every moment.
The world is refreshed, too, when we bring Jesus and our synced-up lives into every place we go. Or maybe it's best to say Jesus brings us along where he's already at work.
Stewardship
So many forms of God’s grace. How is our stewardship of those gifts?
Serve one another, each according to the gift he has received, as good stewards of the many forms of God’s grace. (1 Peter 4:10)
Here at the coast, we love the sunrises. They are breathtaking. We behold their beauty and grab a photo. A beautiful sunrise is God's gift to us. And since it's not earned or deserved, we see that it's his grace. In this example, good stewardship of the gift involves just noticing and appreciating it; maybe even sharing a photo with others.
Consider two other gifts of grace. God has given us the gift of his presence (Immanuel, "God with us") and he's given us the gift of his written word (the Scriptures). How can we steward well his near-ness and his revealed wisdom to us?
What are some other gifts of grace?
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- poverty & compassion
- imagination & creativity
- technology & ai
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship
The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.