By Bishop Vincent Javier
Mark 1:14-15 says, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” The things taught by Jesus Christ in the beginning of His ministry are those that are in His heart from the very start. And this has been the main goal of His work for His people. It encompasses everything in this world. Although the church is the most practical expression and representation of God’s kingdom on earth, it is not the totality of His kingdom. It is simply a part of it.
God’s kingdom is not within arm’s reach. It is actually on hand. The King is here! There could be no kingdom without a King. The key to experiencing the kingdom is to repent and believe in the gospel. The true definition of success as far as the kingdom of God is concerned are eternal life and spiritual abundance. The kingdom of God did not come by observation. Many asked if Jesus was really the Messiah that they have all been waiting for. God said it will not come by observation because the kingdom of God is within you.
The pillars of your faith are very important.
With God, all things are possible.
Our God is a good, good Father.
Everything has already been accomplished when Jesus died on the cross.
We owe Jesus our absolute trust. The main object of all these is you and me.
The highest title and position you can ever have is to be a child of God. The highest achievement you could ever have is to be a servant of God. 1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” On earth, people compete for talents, look and intelligence. But not with God. All of His ways are different from those of the world. The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel. These words were already fulfilled and accomplished in a sense when He died on the cross. Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and God’s spirit lives within you. And where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. For the kingdom of God is within you. Colossians 1:12-14 says, “and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” It is not of this world. Although the God you serve is not killjoy, he is the source of all joy and gladness. When His sons and daughters are successful, He is happy. But you enjoy your freedom in the context of the fear of the Lord.
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, not of this world; but it is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness int he sense that you need salvation. Peace in the sense that you deliverance. Not everyone who believes in the Lord is truly free. Many and bound by their addictions, wrong thinking and so on and so forth. But God wants everyone to be free of all their bondages. God wants everyone to be healthy and joyful. Proverbs says a merry heart is a medicine to the body. Righteousness, peace and joy - the Greek word for salvation is “Sozo” which means it is complete, whole and perfect.
The Lord is coming soon. In Revelation 11:15 says, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.” If you open your minds to these things, the Holy Spirit will enable you to see the kingdom that has already been established within your heart. That which is to come is already penetrating within you. In the language of the prophet Isaiah, it is called the double portion of the Spirit. In the language of the prophet Hosea, it is called the combination of the combination of the early and the latter reign. In the language of the prophet Haggai, the glory of the latter house will be greater than the former one.
The church is going to be raptured in a greater demonstration of the power of the spirit. At this moment in time, you should have a Kingdom mentality and mindset. God did not call you to adopt the culture of the day. God has called you and raised up this generation to transform the culture because the culture of the Kingdom of God because it is far more powerful than any culture in the face of the earth.
You are significant because the Spirit of God lives in you. You host His presence in your heart. In the secret place of your heart, God develops a unique relationship. Your uniqueness never contaminates the gospel but demonstrates its power. Only human beings have the grace and ability to be transformed by the word of God.
Numbers 23:19-20 says, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.” God never changes, not in His essence, nature and being. Jesus Christ remains the same, now and forever. Deuteronomy 7:9 says, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.” God’s word also never changes. His loves never changes and it never fails. You will never fail because Jesus never fails.
God did not design you to compete with anybody. He did not make anybody without talents. If you are motivated to compete, compete with yourself. You live in an overfed generation through social media. You are spoon fed everyday. Be careful of what you see and hear. There is much trash everywhere. Also, be careful of how you watch and listen. You may be physically present but absent in mind. How you see and listen is how you can have a fruitful life.
The first will be last and the last will be first. God will level you up from glory to glory and from victory to victory. Because God never changes, His word never changes and His love never changes. His word is the key to have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the key to the Kingdom of God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And the word of God transforms.