April 9, 2025

LIVING IN GOD’S KINGDOM

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Matthew 4:17 NLT

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

Matthew, in his gospel account of the life of Jesus, summarizes the ministry of Jesus with a one-line sermon, “Repent of your sins and Turin to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

In Matthew’s gospel you will find the term Kingdom of Heaven 32 times and Kingdom of God five times. I believe both terms refer to the rule, reign, and authority of God. The Kingdom Jesus preached about is not a geographical location but a culture in which God is in charge.

Jesus taught us to pray that His kingdom would come, and His will be done on earth as in heaven. In heaven the perfect will of God is accomplished because there is no sin. Jesus came to earth to bring heaven to earth. Inside the hearts and minds of everyone who chooses to make Jesus Lord the Kingdom of Heaven begins to reign. 

To have God’s kingdom reigning in our lives we must repent of our sins. The word repent means “to turn around.” 

Recently I was driving to a meeting and was talking on my phone when I realized I had just passed my exit for the place I was going. I had to drive to the next exit and turn around the go back to where I messed up. The process was simple—recognize I messed up, turn around, and get back on the right road.

That is repentance. We admit we messed up. We ask God to forgive us and then we willfully turn away from the behavior or attitude. 

There is no repentance without a turning away from sin. We can have remorse with tears. We can be sorry that we messed up. But the kingdom of God is not working in our lives until we turn around and change our behavior and attitude. 

When we begin to live in God’s kingdom, we think different, talk different, and act different. We also experience the wonder of God’s presence in our lives. There are new levels of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control in our lives because we are under the control of the Holy Spirit and filled with the fruit of the Spirit. 

Is there an area of your life where you have missed the road you are supposed to be on? Today would be a great day to turn around and get back on the right path into the Kingdom of Heaven. 

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TODAY’S PRAYER

Holy Spirit show me any area of my life where I have missed Your road for my life. Empower me today to turn around and get back into the fullness of Your Kingdom. 

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