Between Two Kingdoms
Did you know we are living between two kingdoms?
The kingdom of God is anywhere God has rule and reign over His people. Prior to having a relationship with Jesus, all of us lived within the darkness, or as Colossians 1:13 says, “the dominion of darkness.” We all were captive to our previous way of life—a life marked by wrongdoing.
When Jesus came to earth, He brought a new kingdom which included a new way of life. This means that rather than being held captive to darkness, we can walk in the light. We are made new by the power of Jesus within our lives. Paul says that this new reality comes through believing in Jesus and the forgiveness of sins.
Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He has opened up a way for us to have a relationship with Him, and experience this new life. Having been forgiven, we are now part of the kingdom of God—and this is something Colossians 1:13 confirms. But even though we are part of Jesus’ kingdom, we are still awaiting Jesus’ return when He will make all things new. This means we are living between two kingdoms: We are made new in the kingdom of God, and yet we are still living in an imperfect world.
In the meantime, our job is to expand the kingdom of God by telling others about Jesus. This is the mission that Jesus gave to His disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. As we tell others about the love of Jesus and point others toward a relationship with Jesus, we bring more people into the kingdom of Jesus and away from the kingdom of this world.
As members of God’s kingdom, we should always be thinking about the ways God wants to work within us. Have you considered your own role within God’s plan to bring the message of hope to those around you? You play an important role in God’s Kingdom. Think about how you can be bold in sharing that message with others.
Psalm 55
English Standard Version
Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil[a] of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
oppression and ...