Are you seeing the Kingdom of God around you?
Sometimes, my wife canāt believe how blind I can be ā especially when Iām searching for something in the refrigerator. There are many moments when I miss things that are right in front of me ā clothes that need to go upstairs, trash that needs to be taken out, dishes that need washing. ItāsĀ rarely intentional, I promise.
But thereās a different kind of blindness that Jesus talked about ā one that goes beyond missing something on a shelf. In Luke 17:20-21, He said, āThe coming of the Kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, āHere it is,ā or āThere it is,ā because the Kingdom of God is in your midst.ā
Jesus was pointing out that Godās Kingdom isnāt always obvious. Itās not something you can just see on the surface. Itās something that requires attention, discernment, and spiritual insight. It often works quietly beneath the surface, in ways that are easy to miss if weāre not paying attention.
Take, for example, the moment when Jesus was watching peopl...
Are You Dialing-In?
Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings ā they are bombarding and impacting us all day long. We have to filter out so much of what is coming our way, just to survive. When itās time to listen to people, however, we need to shift gears. We need to switch our emphasis from screening-out to dialing-in.
Active listening is one of the most important skills you will ever develop. It dials-in your attention toward the person speaking. Good listening is a life-long pursuit, andĀ we need to relentlessly giveĀ ourselves to it.
Jesus was the best listener that has walked the planet. You can tell by the way asked and answered questions. His questions often were laser-like, honing in on the heart of the matter.Ā Yet, sometimes His answers seemed almost unrelated to the questions that were asked of Him.
At first glance, He might haveĀ appeared to beĀ missing the point, or not really listening, or disvaluing the question. But, soon it became apparent that His answers moved people to a deeper consider...
Does Your House Need A Clean Up?
Sometimes the things that seem like they will make our lives easier and more efficient are the very things that can steal our purpose and passion right out from under us.
Godās desire has always been to draw people from all nations into His eternal household. But, ādoing churchā (or, in this case, "doing temple") got in the way of that purpose in the lives and practice of the people of God. Addressing the people in Jerusalem, Jesus quoted from the book of Isaiah and said, āIs it not written: āMy house will be called a house of prayer for all nationsā? But you have made it a den of robbers.āā (Mark 11:17) When the people came to make sacrifices at the temple they had to bring animals, or grain or whatever was needed. This proved to be quite an inconvenience for those who had a long way to travel, so they developed a system of exchange right at the temple. People could simply bring money and ābuyā what they needed for sacrifice āonsite.ā This made things much easier for many people, Ā bu...
