The Kingdom of God is… ? ~ Christine Malkemes
Dear Sister Disciple,
We live in the information age. Have a question, then all you need to do is google it or ask Alexa. Second-hand knowledge is as close as our smartphone.
Today we’re listening to Jesus describe the Kingdom of God. But, because of our inability to understand spiritual things, Jesus could only help us relate to things we know on earth: mustard seed and yeast.
Read Luke 13:18-21, The Parable of the Mustard Seed and The Yeast
There was a time I had to call the bank for the accurate time and temperature. The dictionary and Encyclopedia had all the answers we needed. We trusted the media. The informed read the local paper, and the well-informed read the New York Times.
Useless information swirls in our heads, and even more useless knowledge is at our fingertips. Yet, we sacrifice our time to the smartphone and our energy to streaming.
Does anyone today ask about the Kingdom of God? Does anyone care?
If you carefully at these passages in Luke, you will notice that the Son of God asks and then answers that question for us. Only the One with first-hand knowledge could tell us, and even then, we could only comprehend in a parable.
The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed-like yeast. We need to pray for spiritual eyes to see and keen ears to hear. We need His soul’s instruction to understand.
The Kingdom of God grows from a simple faith to a vast empire. They come together as one. A mustard seed grows into a sheltering plant from a tiny seed. The Kingdom of God is our source of shelter and protection.
The Kingdom of God has no factions, no strife, no bitterness, and no trouble. We are His people, and He is our God.
Like yeast hidden in the dough, the Kingdom of God is what it is, out of sight, and yet lives in the soul of the believer. Invisible to the naked eye but visible to the heart.
The world is not the kingdom of God. Unlike what we know here on earth, there are no labels, distinctions, or boundaries there. No rich, poor, famous, infamous, small, or great.
We are one in the Lord.
Jesus knows what we know and knows our feeble minds cannot grasp the reality of the Kingdom of God. Unseen to the naked eye, the mustard seed grows into a small tree, and mysteriously the yeast permeates through the dough to make bread rise.
The Kingdom of God expands and increases by the unseen hand of God. Dedicated men, women, and children are unseen, unheard, and unnamed by the world. But Jesus knows them and knows them by name.
This is the Kingdom of God.
Christine Malkemes is a wife, mother, minister, and retired Army Officer. Her passion is to see women find intimacy in their relationship with the Lord. She will tell you the most powerful prayer she ever sent to heaven was "Lord, You must become more and me less!" She is on a journey to the heart of God. Will you join her.
