Food for ThoughtMatthew 3:1-2 Kingdom of Heaven
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

Matthew 3:1-2 New King James Version

1. In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 

2. and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

John discerned through the Holy Spirit that the Christ was already on earth.  His heart’s desire to recognize the Savior opened His spirit up to the changes in the atmosphere upon Jesus’ arrival on earth.   John was prepared for what He was to do when Jesus entered his life.

Prior to Jesus’ arrival, John was to reveal the message of God and at the same time he expressed his hope that God’s kingdom through Jesus was now a reality not a destination to arrive at some day.   Jesus is God and therefore He is the Kingdom of God.

In the Bible you will see that the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are used interchangeably. This is because the kingdom encompasses an omnipotent God who is our past, present and future and in Him heaven exists.   Heaven is a place where we dwell in the presence of God. It is not apart from God; it is to live within God.  On earth, as we move within the parameters of God’s presence, we enter eternity.   It is a state of being as well as a physical dimension.  

Not to confuse this with new age, God is not a tree or a dog or even a person. God is everywhere because of His spiritual deity and everything is in Him.  In Acts 17:28, we find this concept.  

Acts 17:28 New King James Version

28. for in Him we live and move and have our being………

Through our faith and love we are interwoven into God’s holiness and presence.  Our life becomes His and His life becomes ours.

In this present moment we are living in the Kingdom of God because we are living and existing in Christ who is the pathway or door entrance that removes the division between God and us.  

His kingdom is eternal and forever.    

Challenge:  In order for us to reap the benefits of Kingdom living which is peace, joy, hope etc., we first must recognize that our salvation automatically brings us into the Kingdom of heaven  

It is our responsibility to keep our minds and hearts there.

God bless

Marni

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lamb-rightThe purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.