Listening Again To Our Lord: THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS WITHIN
They all went out with their lamps to wait for the groom. But He tells us that five of the bridesmaids were foolish and five of them were sensible. The five that were sensible were well prepared, they brought extra oil so that they would not run out. When the groom was delayed, the foolish bridesmaids had to go out and buy some more oil because their lamps were going out and it was the middle of the night. But the sensible bridesmaids were ready and when the groom showed up, only the ones that were prepared for him, went with him. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is like this.
We need to be telling others about the kingdom of God, and that requires commitment, obedience and preparation. The kingdom is reserved for those who hear and prepare and commit.
The greatness of the gift calls for a life of the most strenuous vigilance, effort, and radical obedience. Are you all out committed to the kingdom of God? Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field. And there was this man, that found this treasure and then reburied it. Then with all joy and excitement, he went and sold everything that he had to buy that field.
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- Be That Bitch-Being In Total Control of Herself;
What an investment he made. He was willing to sell everything that he had in order to get a treasure worth more than anything else. When you entered the kingdom of God, did you view it that way? When you received Jesus into your heart and made Him Lord of your life, did you give up everything to serve Him? You only need to do that if God is telling you to do that. Do you spend all of your time at work so that you come home totally exhausted and put all kingdom ministry work on the back burner?
What do I spend most of my money on and most of my time on? Is Jesus truly the Lord of your life and are you really a kingdom person?
One of the things that the main speaker said was when her daughter came back from her first year in college, the mother asked her what she had learned. Her daughter replied that she wanted to do something to help save our world. Then the speaker went on to challenge the IV staff workers to make a decision about joining IV staff after their graduation because of the importance of what they would be doing in spreading the Gospel Message to those coming to college.
The person sitting next to me, who was already an IV staff person, said that she had never heard anything like that from an Asian parent before, even from her own parents. All of her friends, when they went home and told their parents something like that were only met with discouragement.
Their parents would tell them that they were going to college so that they could get a good job, make money and live comfortably.
Sermon 1 - What is the Kingdom of God and What Does It Mean to Be a Kingdom Person
Saving the world was nice, but you needed a job first. This man that found the hidden treasure, he had to make a decision like that. Are you ready to pay the cost of what it means to be a kingdom person, because if you are, God will bless you so much, and give you more than you ever dreamed. Everything that God has done — all the things that you learned in the Bible, all the blessings that God has bestowed on his people, everything that God has blessed you with — is intended to have a global and eternal impact.
But it does mean that you have to change the way you think about what is truly important.
Hillsong Worship
When the temple of God was built in the Old Testament, and it was offered up to God, Solomon prayed this prayer: Then all the people on earth will know Your name, to fear You as Your people Israel do and know that this temple I have built is called by Your name. This charge made by Solomon is true for us today. When we purchased this building and moved into it as our place of worship, did we have the foreigner in mind?
I think that we did. Let me read you something from the Vision Statement in our By-Laws: Reaching - We envision a church body where all non-believers can be reached in an atmosphere without coercion and guilt, but with sharing of the practical truths in Scripture… That is one of the goals that our church started out with. Do we still have that goal in the things that we do? This image of nations running to the people of God is almost too wonderful to imagine. God has simply designed it for this purpose.
Now listen to this next paragraph…. God has placed in us his name, his nature, and his character. I end with this challenge question: If all that your friends knew of God was what they had learned from you, if you are a Christian, what would they know of God and his name?
Does your life reflect Jesus Christ?
Hillsong Worship - Touch of Heaven Official Lyrics | Lyrics
Are you a kingdom person? If you want to become a kingdom person and find out all the exciting adventures that God had in store for you, I invite you to pray this prayer with me. I get so involved in life what what is happening to me, that they become what is most important to me. And because of that, I place these things on a higher priority than You and Your kingdom.
Life is full of distractions that pull me away from You, and I let them do that.
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But now, Lord, I want to learn what it means to be a kingdom person. Berean Study Bible While the people were listening to this, Jesus proceeded to tell them a parable, because He was near Jerusalem and they thought the kingdom of God would appear imminently. Berean Literal Bible While they were hearing these things, having proceeded, He spoke a parable because of His being near Jerusalem and of their thinking that the kingdom of God is about to appear immediately. New American Standard Bible While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
King James Bible And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. Christian Standard Bible As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away. Contemporary English Version The crowd was still listening to Jesus as he was getting close to Jerusalem.
Many of them thought that God's kingdom would soon appear, Good News Translation While the people were listening to this, Jesus continued and told them a parable. He was now almost at Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God was just about to appear. Holman Christian Standard Bible As they were listening to this, He went on to tell a parable because He was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.
International Standard Version As they were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and because the people thought that the kingdom of God would appear immediately. NET Bible While the people were listening to these things, Jesus proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. New Heart English Bible As they heard these things, he went on and told a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God would be revealed immediately.
Eckhart Tolle and the Kingdom of Heaven Within
Aramaic Bible in Plain English And as they heard these things, he added to speak a parable because he was nearing Jerusalem, and they were expecting in that same hour that the Kingdom of God was going to be revealed. While Jesus had the people's attention, he used this illustration. New American Standard And while they were listening to these things, He went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
Jubilee Bible And as they heard these things, he added and spoke a parable because he was near to Jerusalem and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately be manifested.