Living In The Kingdom--Living In The Presence Of The Lord

I John 3:8
......For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

The Kingdom of God isn't heaven....
The Kingdom of God isn't the church....
The kingdom of God is the dynamic rule and reign of God that is manifested in the lives of those people who are submitting themselves to Him.
Every time the Kingdom is seen or felt or realized, it is because God is coming against evidence that the devil has been, or continues to be, at work in the lives of people.

The kingdom of God is God Himself stepping into our time and space to exercise His will and power over the fruit of darkness that is brought forth when someone is a slave to sin.
Addiction is a fruit that is evidence of a life that is in darkness.
Jesus came...
Jesus lived among us...
Jesus gave himself as payment for the sin of addiction....
Jesus hung on that cross, blood dripping from every inch of his body....That blood being the payment for a debt I owed.
Jesus chose the appointed time of His death, and then willingly gave himself up to the Father.
"It is finished!"....Paid in full......the debt has been cancelled....Sin has been defeated....
That is why we don't have to live in the darkness of addiction/sin anymore.
We no longer have to listen to that voice that constantly plays in our mind, that tells us "You'll never break free from this addiction. It's to powerful and you are so weak."

That is why we pray, "Your Kingdom come...Your will be done....on earth as it is in heaven."
We are asking God to break through the darkness and bondage of the devil and take that individual out into the light of a new way to live. Learning to live in God's presence. Learning to live under His guidance and direction. Life with God isn't a bunch of rules, and a list of do's and do not's. With a changed heart, I find that I want to please Him by the way I live. I don't really think about doing or not doing. I find myself focused on Him. Reading His word...studying His word....talking with Him and listening for Him. So that the doing just kind of becomes second nature. I do it because that is just what I do. Learning to live in the Kingdom presence of God.
To simply allow myself to let God destroy every work that the devil has built inside me. To allow God the time to change my heart........change my mind.......change my will. And most importantly.......change my future.

God on you...
mb