The Clash of Kingdoms: Which are we fighting for?

This week's blog may be offensive to some - at least more offensive than other posts.  However, this is not my intent. I wish to challenge us to think about how we are thinking about the various scenes that are unfolding around us. Although this post may seem like a political piece, I think of it as apolitical. I am not concerned about politics. I really have no position. Though I recognize that there are valid positions in each platform of the two mainstream political parties, I would hope that readers would elevate their thinking beyond parties and consider current events in light of the eternal plan of God. As believers, viewing our lives through God's eternal lens allows us to have a more balanced perspective. I pray you read and enjoy the thought process. Be blessed - Michael.

Infusions of Faith

John 18:36 

36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” (NLT)

Colossians 1:12-14

12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom[a] and forgave our sins. (NLT)

I have been sitting back watching and listening over the last few months. While observing the world around me, I have seen families split, friends end relationships, church members leave and many people consolidate "their side of an argument" with like-minded people. Through all of this, I keep asking myself, "What are we really fighting about?  Why are we fighting?"

Yes, I understand that there are differences in philosophical and political positions. I see the silence of those who have stood on moral platforms in times past - effectively, undermining their ability to speak of a high moral ground now. I see political parties co-opting the truth for convenient lines and pithy sayings. I also see individuals refusing to address issues that would be considered their "personal or private rights" in order to secure social and political advances toward equity. Each individual, regardless of their postures and positions, adamantly says that they are in the right and that they are standing for the "kingdom" of God. I have to ask, what are we really fighting for? 

I suppose that as I have gotten older, I have become more jaded and less ready to jump on the bandwagon of any political party or ideology. As a young man (teens and twenties) I was a mix of Malcolm X and Rev. Dr. M. L. King Jr. fighting for the liberation and advancement of Africans in the USA and the diaspora. In my thirties and early forties, I labored to advance a multicultural/multi-ethnic worldview. Now as I approach 50 years of age, having labored in ministry for over 30 years, been tempered by the reality of my own shortcomings, and wooed into a trusting and loving relationship with GOD - I am coming to understand that maybe I have spent a large portion of my life standing for Christ, without submitting to his Kingdom Rule. The things that I supported or pursued in each phase of my life were good.  Advocating for others and seeking to bridge divides are worthy things. However, during those phases of my life, they were the ends and the means.  My focus was not the Kingdom of God.  

During those times I evangelized to "prove" to people that Jesus was the answer.  Now, I want to join God in His ongoing work as a laborer in the field He has prepared for the harvest. My focus is not on proving His existence but on living because of His existence. I am less concerned about the ills and evils in our political system because I realize that our "systems" (capitalism, socialism, oligarchy, republic, libertarian, democrat or republican) aren't God's Kingdom. Jesus is clear that His kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If Christ wanted to overthrow the existing world's systems He could do it with a word. He is not impotent nor is He cowering in a corner in heaven afraid of what is happening on earth.

It was not Jesus' intent to establish His Kingdom on top of the decay of a fallen world. No, He had another way. He did not come to save the world systems and remodel them using the remnants of decayed materials. He came to save individuals from their sins and to remove them from the kingdom of darkness into His Kingdom of light.  

In this season of heightened emotions, heightened advocacy, and heightened agitation, let's not forget, that as believers, this world is not our home. Let's also remember that everything that is happening today is occurring against the backdrop of God's eternal plan. Don't get tangled in the weeds and fail to step back to see this drama unfold in light of the eternal.

So where does that leave us? We each have to examine our lives. If you live or vote based on hate, anger, pride, resentment or arrogance, you are in the wrong. Or if your compassion allows you to excuse what God calls evil, you are in the wrong. As members of God's kingdom, we are not here to save the world's systems, we are here to offer a way out of a decaying system that will one day totally rebel against God's rule.

Yes, it's right to treat people equitably. But we must understand that God's definition of equity has at least two components: Justice and Holiness. Those who accept Christ as Savior speak truth to the system, not to overthrow it, but to provide a mirror of God's standard of how to treat the poor, the alien, the widow and the orphan. It is not "just" to allow systems to intentionally detract and subtract from others. Nor is it "equitable" to allow individuals to live in ways that undermine God's Holiness. As individuals, what we do to our selves (privately) has eternal implications for us and practical implications for our nation.  

Yes we will elect individuals to offices. Yes, we will continue to be grateful for the liberties we have. Yes, we will continue to advocate for lives that matter. Yes, we will continue to speak truth, God's truth, to the system. Yet, we must never forget that there are only two Kingdoms.  The Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness. My question to each of us is," Which are we really fighting for?"

Reflections

1. Stop and think about what is motivating you during these difficult times.  What seems to be the dominant emotion or motivation?  Is this honoring to God?  Why or why not?

2. Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or Independent, you must vote your conscience and that's ok.  What issues do you have difficulty with supporting in the platforms of your party of choice? Why?

3. What does it mean to you to be part of the Kingdom of Christ?  How might this impact your daily living and the decisions that you make?

Resources

Being Kingdom Independent by Jonathan Evans

Daniel: Reflections on Overcoming

Note from us:  This is the second week for our guest blogger.  As we stated last week, B. Alison Buckner is our sister/friend. She has graciously agreed to add her voice to our conversations about faith. Let's hear from her as she explores the ideas of becoming and overcoming.

 Reflections on Overcoming 

                                                                                        

Romans 8:29‭-‬30 MSG

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like (Gen 1:26), he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

Infusions of Faith

I know that a difficult life with many disappointments, betrayals, failures and shortcomings can make a person feel unworthy and worthless. In the middle of such pain and suffering, it is hard to believe that a man reported to be God came to earth to die for our sins and to set us free to live abundantly on earth and eternally with Him. It seems far-fetched and completely fairy-tale- like. But this is where faith, trust and prayer are useful - I would even say it is needful. Having these three (faith, trust and prayer) are essential to believing God and knowing Him.

Believing God (faith) +  Knowing Him (trust in His word & prayer) = Your Life Made New (physically & spiritually)

By faith we come to understand His plan and we come to know more intimately our Father God. Knowing God cultivates our trust in Him, so that we can fully rely on Him.To know our stories were written by Almighty Creator before we even drew our first breath is a mystery that we cannot fully comprehend. Because of His unending, unyielding love for us, we can give up trying so hard to be what we imagine ourselves to be, what we have become or what others desire us to be.

Imagine, from conception to the throne, our lives are known. Our lives are carefully planned from conception, to birth, infancy, and through the full revolutions of our developmental stages, until we see Him face-to-face. This includes everything about us, the good and the bad.This may be hard to take in but the marvelous thing about sin, guilt & death is that God handled this for us in the beginning, so that as we are becoming who He called us to be, we find that we are already what He planned. No stage of our lives is beyond His awareness and understanding. He has provided grace along the journey.

Can you see God's intention and purpose in Daniel's life? Although Daniel lived before the physical Christ walked the earth, God gave Daniel a name (God is my Judge), and though Babylonian captivity produced another name, Belteshazzar (Lord of the straitened's treasure), Daniel remained true to his God-given name and followed this identity because he knew God. And God unfolded his miserable captivity into ruler-ship, favor and renowned fame. Daniel's name & reputation are known even until this day. This is grace in action!

So Daniel becomes a prototype for our lives today. Pressures, problems & probabilities can became surety and certainties of God's plan for Daniel's life. Likewise pressures, problems and probabilities can be a surety for us, knowing God had these specific things in mind for our lives, knowing who we are and who we know. Daniel knew that God was real and that God would be his help and his judge. Likewise, we are God's elect and He fights for us - Do you know it? God will be our help and our judge! Using the same tools and resources Daniel used: faith, trust and prayer, we are able to see ourselves becoming to overcoming, all because of God's Love.

Isn't that heart-warming news? Our today, tomorrow, ups, downs, good, evil, imagined or real situations cannot remove us from Father God because He loves us. We are in Him!

Reflection Questions

1. How do you view your pressures, problems, and probabilities?

2. Do you see God working in your life? How?

3. It is not easy living, what can you do to strengthen your faith towards God, trust in God and prayer to God?

4. Just like Daniel had fellow believers in his journey, identify 1-3 individuals that you can connect with to join in each other's journey of faith.

Daniel: Reflections on Becoming

Note from us: The last few weeks have been pretty hectic with preparations for a medical procedure and the subsequent recovery. Needless to say, we needed some help getting faith-filled insights to focus on and we have a wonderful guest blogger to help us do just that.  B. Alison Buckner is our sister/friend. She has graciously agreed to add her voice to our conversations about faith. Let's hear from her as she explores the ideas of becoming and overcoming.

Infusions of Faith

Daniel 1:8 (ESV)

But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.

Daniel 1:16-17 (ESV)

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel 2:48-49 (ESV)
Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

"Becoming" in Christ requires something from us, but it also gives something to us. Life is not only about what we get, but what we give as well. It can be easy to focus on the happenings or events we've experienced, without thinking as deeply about our response to our life events. 

At times, we can tend to react quickly without pondering the implications of our thoughts, feelings or behaviors. We may even seek good vibes only, never expecting to suffer for our own choices, much less others'. Yet, we quickly find that this simply isn't how life goes. Good and bad happen to everyone. Sometimes we suffer - for what we do and don't do, as well as by others' choices.

In the book of Daniel, is the story of a King Nebuchadnezzar who has a dream and desires its interpretation. He promises death to every magician, sorcerer and wise man who cannot tell him the dream and interpretation. Daniel & his fellow countrymen are listed in that select group to interpret the dream or be executed. They did not know if God would answer them, but they did know that He could answer according to His great mercy. 

The spokesman, Daniel, requests time (a wise choice) to honor the king's request. Praying and receiving the answers from God, he produced life for himself and his countrymen. And in that life-giving moment, he was promoted. 

We could say the cost of becoming in Daniel's situation was faith, trust and prayer. 

• Faith that God had the answers. 

• Trust that God would answer. 

• Prayer to request that God would move in the situation. 

As with Daniel and his friends, God is the victor of our faith bringing us to the promised position in His Word. He brings us victory. What does God call victory? In their situation: life instead of death, both physically and spiritually.

"Becoming" requires us to face the potential of losing it all. It is during these times when all is on the line, like with Daniel, that God proves what we need Him to be, when we need Him to be it. 

Fortunately for believers, death and condemnation lose! Through God’s wisdom, Daniel and his friends avoided death in this instance which is proof that preserving their physical life was victory.

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego went from being exiles to governor and administrators of the province of Babylon. They did not plan their journey. They simply lived their life with a trust in God. God ordered their steps and used their circumstances to shape them as people and to shape their lives.

In these scriptures, we see that trusting God meant their life. Daniel learned he had to count the cost when choosing to obey God. He:

• Dared to be different 

• Stood out for his faith

• Believed in who he was

• Believed that he was called by God

• Believed that the enemies of his God had to bow

 Reflection Questions

1. What situations have you been in or are currently in that require you to put it all on the line?

2. Do you believe that God can and is willing to give you victory?

3. In what areas of your life do you need to "become" more trusting?  Into what area(s) may you need to invite God? 

4. Is God speaking to you about relinquishing your plans and trusting Him to shape you and your life?