Kingdom 101

John 4:23
.....But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

One of the things that drew me to the Vineyard was their view of the Kingdom of God.
What is the Kingdom? Well, it's the dynamic rule and reign of God here on earth, in our time and space. Wherever people are following after Jesus, there you'll find the Kingdom.
Wherever hearts are tuned to listen to His leading, there you'll find the kingdom of God.

But the kingdom part that really hit home for me was the view that the kingdom was NOW, but the kingdom was not yet. In other words, we are seeing glimpses and portions of God's Kingdom at work in our time and space, but we do not see the Kingdom completed. Such a view is not accepted by others.

There is a subtle pressure that comes with being a believer. Such pressure is applied by the world, as well as within ourselves that somehow, we think, will prove to others the truth of what we believe. What is this pressure? The idea that we have to have all the answers when it comes to our theology. We should be able to whip out the old Bible and prove to every non-believer (as well as a few believers who live to debate) why our view is the correct one.

"Why doesn't every one get healed?" is the big one I hear all the time.
The pressure we're feeling tells us that we'd better come up with something, or else we're going to make God look bad. So we throw out the old "They didn't have enough faith" line...
Really? Not enough faith?
It's bad enough that someone is suffering with a condition, now we have to theologically throw them under the bus so we don't look bad.
How about saying...."I don't know why they didn't get healed". With a view to Kingdom Now...Kingdom not yet, I'm given a glimpse into the Father's heart. If I look to Revelation 21:4 I will see the Kingdom of God completed....."And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." We know all too well that these things ( death, sorrow, pain, etc.) are still with us. We also know that God is moving in our time and space working in the lives of those who are outside relationship with Him, and outside His will.

God does heal....
God does heal everyone.....
Some get healed on this side of heaven....
Some get healed on the other side when they transition over.
But everyone gets healed.

Isaiah 53:5 - But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
This has been a verse used to validate that God heals...
By the stripes of Jesus, healing has been afforded to mankind.
Of course, salvation is the ultimate healing.
While I do believe in the message from Isaiah 53, I still see it as being carried out under the Kingdom mandate.
God heals, not me. He is sovereign.
My call is pray for those He directs me to.
My call is simply to be a conduit through which the Holy Spirit, and His power flows to accomplish whatever it is He is doing.

I do know this.....
If I don't pray.....
No one gets healed.

God on you....
mbb