Two Kingdoms

Posted by Dion Todd June 2nd, 2024 1,247 Views 20 Comments

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God didn't send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn't believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. John 3:16–18 WEB.

God sent His Son Jesus to redeem the lost and give us eternal life. What a fantastic piece of Scripture. It presents a choice that each of us will have to make at some point in our life. Who will you live for, yourself or God Almighty? There are two kingdoms, and each side has its arguments.

Living for yourself means you can focus on only what you want to do. You can spend all your money gathering more stuff to impress people that you don't like. You can dismiss morality as an outdated concept and act as if promiscuity is something modern. You can do what is right when it aligns with what you want to do anyway. Basically: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law." Guess whose golden rule that is? Yep, satan.

The downside of living for yourself is that this life and everything you see with your eyes is temporary. It will all pass away one day. It is the unseen things that are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). All the stuff that we have gathered on the earth will be left behind, and only the treasures that we have stored up in heaven will be safe (Matthew 6:20).

You store up treasure in heaven by being obedient to God, by putting Him center in your life. As you do this, He will begin to guide you. It may cost you some temporary "fun." He may tug on some things you want to keep. As Jesus went on to say in Matthew 6:24: "No one can serve two masters." Materialism is a direct conflict with serving God. It is ok to have money, but not for it to have control of you. He will force you to choose.

Serving God will sometimes be painful because He is in control instead of you. If you take a knife away from a small child, they may cry because they want to play with it, even though it is dangerous. So it is with us. Sometimes we want what is wrong, and He says, "No," so we whine about it.

Sometimes, doing what is right is not convenient or pleasant. It may cost you dearly. He may tell you to give something away that you would rather keep. You must tell the truth when it hurts rather than telling an easy lie. Let no one tell you that living a life dedicated to God will be easy, for it directly conflicts with our flesh.

When our life winds down and death approaches, the choice becomes a little more clear. What if there is an eternity and the Bible is correct? Then the one who accepted Jesus will spend eternity in paradise, while those that rejected Him will be cast out and live in torment. We can choose to live for Jesus today.

While you are still breathing, there is hope. Paul wrote: "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed." (Romans 10:9–11 WEB).

We have nothing in the past that matters anymore. Today is a new day, and there is nothing there that can hold us back. The only thing standing between the Lord Jesus and us is us. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Make your choice. Live for Jesus.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please forgive me for my sins and the things I have done wrong. I am sorry. Jesus, come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and guide me from this day forth. My life is now Yours. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: Happy Sunday :)! For those who would like to join us, today we will be hosting our RHM Live Online church service. This is a special time of worship, prayer, fellowship and an inspiring message. All are welcome! The service starts at 10am EDT. Here is the link to join: RHM Live