In us...

Once we are born again, the spirit of God lives in us and so is God's kingdom. We are made right with God through the blood of Jesus and we are to live a clean and righteous life with the help of the Holy Spirit.

As we see that,
Romans 14:17 (NIV)
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

When we allow the Holy Spirit of God to reign and rule in us then we cannot practice any form of unrighteousness consciously or live a life displeasing God. For the Holy spirit Himself will be our sanctifier and Counselor who will lead and guide us, convicts us and correct us. Thus we will see as God's children we demonstrate a powerful life of God's Kingdom living in us.

Luke 17:20, 21 (NIV)
(v.20)...Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, (v.21)nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."

Born Again?

Once a woman said to her believer friend "I am christian since a child as I was born and brought up in a christian family. I believe in Jesus, go to church, pray and read the Bible. I have been a christian all through...But in your case since you come from a different religious background, the Christian faith is new and I guess that is why you find this whole life new and interesting...."

How wrong the woman was about whole concept of Christian faith and perhaps many out there are of the same view?

The truth is very clear in the Bible (God's Word)
Romans 3:10 (NIV)
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one".

Whether one is born and brought up in a Christian family or has been a good Christian all through it doesn't matter. As the Bible says in Rom 3:9 (NIV), "...that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin." And again in Romans 3:23 (NIV) -"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

For all have sinned and we come short of God's standards (His holiness). Therefore we need to come to that point of realization and confess that to God. That is why Jesus said in Mark 1:15 (NIV)- "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"

We need to repent of our sins. When we sit down and look deeply in our hearts and honestly ask God to show our inner self, then we will know our true color. We all have so much sins hidden deep within us which only we and God knows. There are many sins in man which only he/ she can know such as greed, manipulation, jealously, self righteousness, pride, lust, selfishness, covetousness, idolatry, hypocrisy and the like.

So if we truly desire to have a personal relationship with Jesus and enter His kingdom then we need to be born again.

John 3:3 (NIV)
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
2 Tim 2:19 (NIV)
"...Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

We really need to repent of our sins, thank the Lord for He took our place on the Cross as a penalty for our sins, ask the Lord to give us a new heart and spirit so that we will be truly be born again...and live a new ongoing life in Him with an openness and cleanliness of the heart.

His Kingdom...

When we talk about Kingdom of God, it is a wide subject... and since we are of God's family we belong to God's Kingdom. Our life on earth demonstrates God's Kingdom ...how we live our life as God's people and how we are going to demonstrate the power of His kingdom on earth is what we are going to focus on from this series of devotions.

To begin with the kingdom of God is for everyone who believes in Lord Jesus and takes Him as the Lord and the Savior of their life. But how many really live that Kingdom life is the question? Jesus spoke in parables and gave many examples when He explained the Kingdom of God. But at the same time He pointed out a criteria to enter the Kingdom of God.

He said in Mark 10:15 (NIV)

"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

All He meant here was...we become open and innocent (pure) like a child with no crooked motives or mean desires to enter God's Kingdom. As far as our motives are pure and our heart is open to God, we will enter and live that Kingdom life that God promises.

Our primary focus

The cares of this life is an ongoing thing ...it keeps coming and going. Today we have some cares and worries which may not be there after some years. Yet there may be other things to care and worry about for that time. So there is continuously something which we are after, something to receive, attain or achieve and solve; something which we constantly after till the end of our lives.

The people of this world are busy making money, trying to achieve something, become something, build or posses something etc. But we as God's people do not keep that as our primary focus because these are just secondary stuff for us. Since we belong to the family of God, we belong to God's Kingdom and hence are different from the pagans.

And the Kingdom of God is not of acquiring pleasures of the world, it is of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit which we live and demonstrate in our lives.

Romans 14:17 (New International Version)
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Do ungodly prosper?

Many times we think, why should we suffer so much as God's children when people in this world who don't fear God or regard righteous living, go on happily with their lives and ways? This is true and it hurts when we see that sometimes we suffer unjustly than unrighteous people of the world.

This is the same dillemma the Psalmist had which he poured to God. The Psalm 73 shows the very picture of the psalmist who went through a heart ache seeing that the ungodly prospered while the godly suffered.

Ps 73:12-" This is what the wicked are like— always carefree, they increase in wealth."

But the Psalmist got a revelation when he went into the presence of God.

Ps 73:17,18 - "till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin."

And finally he concluded that is better to be close to God who is answer to all our problems, rather than considering and comparing our life with the ungodly.

Ps 73:23, 24- "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory."

For we all know that,

Psalm 34:16-18 (New International Version)
(v.16) the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
(v.17) The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

Joy Complete...

A lady once told a Pastor, "You say that we should be joyful in Jesus however the outer circumstances. But how can that be...when I have a tough time with my husband?"

The Pastor replied, "Sister, I know your situation at the home front. When Jesus is with you and in you, He will help you to see your problem with His eyes. He will give you hope that no one else can give. He will give you a positive approach to your life and problems. That is the reason why I said, that we can be joyful however bad our outer circumstances. Jesus is the reason for that joy." The Pastor's words were thought provoking to the lady. She started seeing life and her situations differently. She handled her problems in a different way for she found that joy of reciprocating to her circumstances through Jesus...

John 15:11 (New International Version)
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

However bad our circumstances may look, we can look positively at it with His eyes and find hope in it. And this the joy we have, He will help us through...

Amidst trials...

Having known that we have a reason to rejoice amidst our trials, what are we to do? The Word of God exhorts us in Romans with these words...

Romans 12:12 (New International Version)
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

We are to be joyful that we are soon going to see things happening in our life (that which we expect). We are to be patient believing that the present trial is going to pass away soon... And thirdly we are to be faithful in prayer because our God whom we put our hope is a faithful one.

So let us be strong in this word applying it in our daily life, for we may find strength and solace as we pass each day. Amen.