God's Word For Every Day

When Jesus began his preaching ministry, he proclaimed this message: "The kingdom has come." In the coming of Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God has come.  This is a message of great practical relevance to our lives here and now. Since Jesus Christ has come, we are called to repent and believe the gospel - repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In his letters to the church at Thessalonica, Paul emphasizes the future of the kingdom - the kingdom will come. In speaking of the coming kingdom, Paul is speaking of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, Paul emphasizes the practical relevance of the preaching of God's kingdom. To receive Jesus Christ, we must come to him in repentance and faith. This is the point at which Jesus Christ comes into your life, changing your life, enabling you "to live the kind of life that pleases God" (1 Thessalonians 2:12). To be ready for Christ's second coming, we must continue in the way...

We begin with some great verses from Titus - "Jesus Christ ... gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:13-14); "He saved us, not because of deeds dine by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). There are kings who need to be prayed for (1 Timothy 2:1-2), and there is the King to whom we offer prayer (1 Timothy 1:17). To understand the nature of God's kingdom, we must understand the character of the king. God's kingdom contrasts with the kingdoms of men. (a) Kings are "in high position" (1 Timothy 2:2), but "the king of ages" is in the highest position of all. (b) The kingdoms of men last for a time, but "the king of ages" is immortal. (c) The kingdoms of men display great outward show, but "the king of ages" and his kingdom works in...

The kingdom of God is a power. Paul tells us, "The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power" (1 Corinthians 4:20). It is the power of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, breaking into our lives and transforming them. "The race of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 13:14). This is the blessing of God's kingdom. It's a blessing which is more than mere words. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit - these are not just religious words. They are spiritual realities, the power of God at work in our live, the power of God which brings the forgiveness of sins, the power of God which brings new life, the power of God which gives us a foretaste of heavenly glory. A foretaste of heavenly glory - This is what the kingdom of God is in our present experience. God's future breaks into our present experience. Here and now, we have begun to ex...

God is calling us to walk in the light with Him. * He’s calling us to walk with Him in the light of His love . Go back to Genesis 1:3 – “Let there be light, and there was light.” Go back beyond the created light. Go back to the eternal God – “In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1). What do we find when we go back to the eternal God. We find love, eternal love:  “He has loved us with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). This is light of God’s love. * He’s calling us to walk with Him in the light of His Word . What is it that brings us out of darkness and into light? It’s the light of God’s Word – “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). * He’s calling us to walk with Him in the light of His Son . What a great Saviour we have! Jesus is His Name. He is “the Light of the world” (John 8:12). Let us walk with Jesus – in the light of God’s love, in the light of God’s Word. * He’s calling us to walk with God in the light of His Kin...

Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon - These letters are known, collectively, as the prison letters. They were written by Paul during his time of imprisonment in Rome. In Philippians, we see God's kingdom as a kingdom joy: "Rejoice in the Lord always, and, again, I say, rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). When the Lord reigns as king in our  lives, he gives us his joy. This joy doesn't depend on our circumstances. It comes to us from the Lord. In Philemon, we see the kingdom of God as the kingdom of fellowship: "that you might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother" (15-16). In Colossians 1:13-14, we have a marvellous statement of what God has done for us in Christ: "He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Through Christ's redemption, we are     now in the  kingdom of God...

It has been said that, in the Gospel of Luke, we see Jesus as "the Friend of the friendless" (William Barclay, The Men, The Meaning, The Message Of The Books , p. 17). This is wonderful. Jesus is our Friend. We rejoice in this great when we sing, "What a Friend we have in Jesus." Jesus is our Friend, but there is more to the gospel than friendship. Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus is not only our Friend. He's also our king.  - He is the king of our salvation. This is what we say, when we say, "Jesus is our Saviour." He is the king of my salvation. Only Jesus can save me. Without Jesus, I cannot be saved. He is our Saviour, the king of our salvation.  - He is to be king in our life of discipleship. This is what we are saying when we say, "Jesus is my Lord." He is the king in my life of discipleship. Jesus must take first place in my life. If Jesus is not set on the throne of our lives, you and I are not living as true...

Revelation is a complex book, yet is is for ordinary people. Its theme is simple and straightforward: Jesus is Victor! There are many things we don't understand, but there's one thing we do know: God will have the last word.  * Satan has a great deal to say about our lives. He is "the accuser of our brothers and sisters" (Revelation 12:10). He " accuses them before our God day and night" (Revelation 12:10), but God will have the last word: " Now have come the salvation and the power  and the kingdom of our God,      and the authority of his Messiah" (Revelation 12:10).  * Satan is not only the accuser of God's people. He is also "the deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9). What do we see as we look around us? - "The whole world is under the control of the evil one" (1 John 5:19). That's what we see now. There will, however, come a day when the righteous owner will take over: " The kingdom of the world...

 * The Kingdom of God does not belong to this world (John 18:36). The Kingdom of God has come into this world (Mark 1:15). God's Kingdom cannot be identified with anything that belongs to this world. The church is not the Kingdom. The church is a signpost. It points us to the Kingdom. It is a sign that the Kingdom has broken into earthly existence.     * Jesus has come. The Kingdom has come. When Jesus says that the Kingdom is in the midst of us, He is speaking of His presence in our midst. Where Jesus is, there is the Kingdom. Jesus is the Kingdom.  * In Christ's first coming, the Kingdom has come. In His Second Coming, the Kingdom will come. Jesus teaches us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come." He is directing our attention to the coming Kingdom. In Jesus' first coming, there is a real coming of the Kingdom. There is also this message, "There is more to come." When we pray, "Thy Kingdom come", we are praying, "Lord, lead us on, from the pro...

"Come to him ... be yourselves built into a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:4-5). This speaks to us of personal conversion and life in fellowship with God's people. The life of holiness, to which we are called, is to be lived in fellowship with God's people. We are to encourage one another to live a godly life. Our growth in grace is strengthened as we worship the Lord together.  At the heart of our life together, there is worship - and there must also be witness.    (1) "Come to him" - This is the way of entering God's kingdom. Have you come to Christ and entered  God's kingdom? Let this question really reach your heart today. Be sure to answer it with  faith - not an empty profession of faith, but a real, living faith.   (2) Once you have come to him, you are to be built into a spiritual house.  * God has given us so much - "His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his o...

From the beginning of his ministry, "Jesus went about ... preaching the gospel of the kingdom" (Matthew 4:23). The message of Jesus could be summed up in this way: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Jesus' message was good news. This is what the word, 'gospel' means - good news. Jesus preached a message of good news - the good news that the Saviour had come. His message was the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus Christ, the Saviour, is also Jesus Christ, the King. Those who receive Christ as their Saviour must also crown him as their King. When Jesus preached, his hearers were faced with a decision. They had to make a choice. Would they become "sons (and daughters) of the kingdom"? or Would they remain "sons (and daughters) of the evil one" (Matthew 13:38). Would they make the kingdom of God their first priority? or Would they live for self, and not for Christ? Would they "lay up treasures in heaven"...

"See that you do not refuse him who is speaking" (Hebrews 11:25). Have you heard what Jesus has to say about the Kingdom of God and the one way in which it can be entered? What have you done about it? The message of God's Kingdom calls for our response. Have you received this message with faith?  This is the only way in which you can enter the Kingdom. This is the matter of the greatest urgency. It is more important than anything else. 'So long as you've got your health' - What about the salvation of your soul? 'He's really getting on in the world.' - What about the salvation of your soul? Jesus says, "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33). Have we done this? The truth of God's Kingdom has been laid before us. Every one of us make our response. You cannot remain neutral. You can enter the Kingdom of God through faith in Christ or you can reject Christ and remain outside of the Kingdom. Let it...

The gospel is to be believed - and it is to be lived. We are to hear the word of God - and we are to do the word of God. This is the message of the letter of James. We are to be practical Christians, men and women who live for Christ in our daily lives. The letter of James reverses the standards of this world. The world says that happiness is the big thing. James tells us that holiness must be the great priority of our lives. Those who seek happiness discover that it has an infuriating habit of disappearing just when it seems to be within grasp. Those who  seek holiness discover that happiness comes with it - not the superficial kind of happiness which the world seeks, but the true and lasting joy of which the world knows nothing. The reversal of the world's values takes us to the very heart of what it means to be a Christian - to "hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory" (James 2:1). When Jesus Christ comes into your life, you see things from a di...

Jesus preached the kingdom of God. His apostles preached the kingdom of God. In moving from Jesus' preaching in the Gospels to the apostles' preaching in Acts, we're not really moving away from Jesus at all. Luke, the author of Acts, describes his Gospel as an account of "all that Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts 1:1). Acts is the continuation of the work of Jesus. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the risen Christ is working through his apostles. The ministry of the apostles did not begin in a very promising way. For a period of forty days, following his resurrection, Jesus spoke to his disciples concerning the kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). The apostles had been slow to understand Jesus' message concerning God's kingdom. They were still missing the point. They asked Jesus an irrelevant question: "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). Jesus had been speaking about the kingdom of God, but his apostles though...

 * The beginning of Jesus' ministry "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15).    - The kingdom has come. We need not create it in the present, and it is not merely in the future.    - It is good news  - "the gospel of the kingdom" (Matthew 4:17).    - The gospel calls for a response - repentance and faith. This is no empty 'faith', which makes no difference to our way of living. There is to be a real change of mind and heart. Christ is King as well as Saviour.  * The development of Jesus' ministry "I came not to to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17). If there is to be a true response of faith, involving real repentance, there must be a real conviction of sin. There needs to be both conviction and conversion. Without conviction of sin, there is no real conversion to Christ.  * Two incidents from Jesus' ministry    (a) "the rich young rule...