Word for the day “Making sense of the Kingdom of God”
Matthew 12:38 (NKJV) Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed, a greater than Jonah is here.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS SHARING THE GOSPEL MESSAGE OF JESUS, TO ALL THE WORLD.
The heart of Jesus' teachings centers around the theme of the kingdom of God. This expression is found in sixty-one separate sayings in the Synoptic Gospels. Counting parallels to these passages, the expression occurs over eighty-five times. It also occurs twice in John (3:3, 5). It is found in such key places as the preaching of John the Baptist, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2); Jesus' earliest announcement, "The time has come… The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
Leaders, today in the Gospel we can see some of the messaging and what Jesus meant by the Kingdom of God. In today’s reading, we read some Pharisees ask Jesus for a sign. And Jesus replies, “An evil and unfaithful generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Jonah the prophet,” who was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights.
INFLUENCE IS LEADERSHIP AND WE ARE CALLED TO ADVANCE THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
Jonah was called by God to preach conversion to Nineveh, which is described as an incredibly large city. It took, it is recorded, three days to walk through it. I can’t help but think of Nineveh as one of our large, modern cities, a center of all sorts of worldly activity and distractions all around.
What does a glimpse of kingdom influence look like? A turning back to God as the only enduring good. After hearing the word of Jonah, the Ninevites “proclaimed a fast and all of them, great and small, put-on sackcloth.” What is the purpose of these spiritual disciplines? To wean people away from an attachment to worldly influences.
Believers are thus encouraged both by the victories of the already now and the defeats of the not yet. The former having provided a taste of the glory which is to be revealed (Romans 8:18) causes us to long all the more for the not yet.
Similarly, because of the experience of defeat, sorrow, and in seeing the corruption of the world around us, we also long all the more for the not yet that awaits. Therefore, the family of God must continue to look longingly toward the blessed hope (Titus 2:13), when the Son of Man will return and bring the kingdom to its consummation.
We will all need to get to the place where we need to repent to God and live out His divine purpose for our lives.
POINT TO PONDER
Hey, great people make up your mind and repent. Live as though nothing in this world has you consumed. We are purposed to lead, live, and love, for the kingdom of God is in our families, workplaces, ministries, communities, and world.
I know I need to repent and improve the quality of my life and leadership assignment, let’s do this together.
Special thanks!
James Baker, Jr. and our leadership team are especially thankful for those of you who provided financial donations and support in the month of July 2022, by partnering with us in efforts to advance the kingdom of God in this 21st century season: Special thanks to Ms. Annette Straker, Mr. Kenneth Washington, Ms. Itholear Abbott, Mrs. Barbara Mason, Ms. Jeanette Grant, Ms. Angela Battle, Ms. Cynthia Artis-Waiters, Ms. Michelle Winder Branch, Ms. Angie Scraders-Murphy, Mr. Calvin Jackson, Mrs. Shakeema Lowe, Mr. William Jones, Mr. Calvin Griffith, Mrs. Angela Harrison, Ms. Crystal Grant, Ms. Shawna Chester, Ms. Jennifer Sanchez, Ms. Evelyn Rosado, Mr. William Wilson, and Ms. Gertrude Scott.
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Kingdom Blessings,