Category: Kingdom Concepts

Wanted to create gathered foundational attributes of heaven as we find it here amongst us on earth.

Trust/Rest

On By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom Concepts, Reflections & Musings2 Comments

I’ve been around the idea of trust for sometime, but I didn’t really begin to think about rest until listening to a series on it maybe seven years ago.  I never realized how powerful rest is.  When we strive and fear and fret, its not only so exhausting, its just simply a less fun way to be alive.  I think it helped me to answer the question, what does trust look like?  It can and often, looks like rest

Our imagination can cause our heart to tighten up and our breath to shorten when we imagine some undesired outcome.  Sometimes this process of fear is actually worse than even what we’re fearing!  Most times, these imaginings never come to fruition and they are nothing more than a haunting illusion.  But the goal of fear in our lives is to cause us to become our own Gods.  This is never in our job description.

The only thing that interrupts this is a living relationship with the one who is God.  When we know he is good and we know he is in our future situations and events as much as he’s in our immediate moment, we will rest in the face of illusions of possible frustrations or disappointments.  I think one of the ways God displays his greatness is actually in the personal details of our lives.  He’s really good at.

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In the kingdom of God, a living relationship with a good father, brother, and friend (just a few of the dimensions of our relationship with God) keeps our heart at rest.  Because we experience his love for us, we believe it, we remember it, and we trust rather than react like someone who is alone and needs to fix/control things when there could be an event or situation outside of our expectations.

In God’s kingdom, peace doesn’t have to be forsaken.  If there is a thought or conversation that threatens it, when you recognize that feeling, it is okay to let go of control, to change or fix something.  It is okay not to figure everything out or why something went wrong.  It is okay not having everything figured out for things to come.  It’s okay.  You’re going to be okay.  You are living loved.  And there is someone very capable with you sharing in your experience who is not worried, not fretting, not far away, and who understands and loves you very much.

Trust/Rest is just one more wonderful attribute of God’s wonderful invisible kingdom.  I have forgotten this in certain situations and events in my life.  I can feel his tangible love even now.  And just recently I have been able to completely let go of things in the past I don’t understand, aren’t fixed, and can’t change.  I can trust/rest God completely with the past as much as we can with illusions of our future.  He really is good and moves on our behalf.  It is a beautiful journey of courage that only love creates: surrender.

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Character     Covenant     Creativity

Family     Freedom    Gift Giver

Joy    Judgement    Kindness    Trust

Love     Praise      Prayer     Self-love

Kindness

On By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom Concepts2 Comments


Kindness is one of the most powerful tools in God’s kingdom.  It has the ability to pierce even the darkest places with bright light and cross any cultural or language barrier.  It is the tangible manifestation of love.  If any other expression of love is given to you, but this is one thing is withheld, do you believe it?

My only regrets in life are when some inner judgement of another or an offense by them has caused me to justifiably (so I thought) withhold kindness from someone or some group of people.  And continually I am humbled and shown God’s love for those very people and again my heart humbles itself to agree with heaven towards them.

Random acts of kindness towards strangers are beautiful and powerful, but what about also choosing to be kind even when we are being yelled at by someone we love, or have been misjudged by friends, or are being shunned by those closest to our hearts?  What if we never forsook kindness in our marriages?  Or our parenting?


Kindness is the only thing that matters.  This is what lingers with people, this is what hearts recognize from eternity when they experience it.  Sometimes kind people are also not given a lot of recognition.  For instance, cold and aloof people appear can appear more powerful or popular.  Sometimes kind people don’t demand or command attention.  But these people, the kind ones, are the wealthiest people on the planet.  They posses a self-love that is genuine and therefore have an undiminished supply of love to share, whether others appreciate it or not, or whether it is reciprocated or not.

True kindness is never earned.  Kindness is only kindness when it is unconditional.  It especially shines the brightest when the recipient of it is underserving.  These moments are our greatest opportunities in life to shine.  You possess something that changes lives.  You possess something humans were made to experience daily and that heaven never forsakes.

Never let kindness leave you…   proverbs 3:3

Some of the most encouraging instances in my life were when I was hard on myself and someone, despite myself being unpleasant, was relentlessly kind to me causing me to dare to believe again that I was worthy of the love they were showing me.  True kindness, I believe, is one of the most attractive features of any human being.  It exudes inner peace, confidence, and grace, whose impact is often beyond description.

Choose to be kind today.  Any arguments of reason in our minds placing ourselves in a position of withholding kindness from someone are false and we are compromising our own inner dignity and strength when we do this.  Choose kindness while you still can, you will not regret it.  It is the very nature of the king of this kingdom. This is the very expression of himself. Jesus, the Kind One. Where you find kindness, there you have found him.

Character     Covenant     Creativity

Family     Freedom    Gift Giver

Joy    Judgement    Kindness    Trust

Love     Praise      Prayer     Self-love

Joy

On By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom ConceptsLeave a comment

He keeps turning my eye here.  I try to focus on other things in this world or his kingdom and he keeps pointing me to this thing called happiness, this thing called Joy.  Perhaps the wide road is the one of worry, fear, anxiety and frustration and the narrow road of heaven we’re actually invited to traverse upon could just be the road of trust, peace, contentment, love, rest and joy.

Joy somehow sparkles with glory and a supernatural existence; it is a gift of heaven without limit and often overlooked.  Joy has a lowly state.  It is often seen as ignorance or immaturity.  Serious, urgent things are looked upon with esteem and great importance.  But Joy is not news.  It is not urgent.  It does not fight for power.  Joy is meek and unassuming.  It is persistent and unexpected, playful and a welcomed guest.

There are things we must chose to not give attention to in order to participate in Joy.  We must look away from the fears of our own condition and any worries ahead.  We must turn away from decisions gone awry behind us.  Joy requires us, or allures us rather to be entirely present once again.  We must let go of performance in it’s company.  It is participation with someone wholly other than ourselves.  A different source from which this magical river flows; Jesus’ side.

It is God’s expressed desire for our Joy to be full, not finding lack in our experience of this wonderful gift of heaven.  But the realist would ask, what is Joy’s purpose?  How is it productive or long lasting?  Joy is a fruit to be enjoyed, not to be made into a gadget for a machine to use.  It’s expression is as purposeful as the beauty of a flower.  It is meant to be enjoyed.

The treasure map to finding joy is clearly shown in scripture.  Psalm 16 says the fullness of Joy is found in God’s presence.  Everlasting pleasure is found at his right hand.  Not on this earth or in a thing or an activity or a person, but in God’s company.  His nearness, his friendship.  Where can you find his will for your emotions?  In the goodness, safety, commitment and gladness of himself!

So many things can happen in life that deter our hearts from this child-like track.  Perceived failures, tragic losses, disappointed expectations, and hurtful betrayal are just to name a few.  The eternal part of joy is that we don’t derive it from what we see around us, what people are saying, or doing.  We derive it from his presence within us.  It is truly powerful and absolutely unassailable.  Nothing has truly threatened or will ever be able to take away this gift of Joy that has been given to us through Christ Jesus.   He has overcome everything that claims to have overcome his presence in your walk with him in this life.  His Joy is yours.  His Joy is mine.  And it endures.

Character     Covenant     Creativity

Family     Freedom    Gift Giver

Joy    Judgement    Kindness    Trust

Love     Praise      Prayer     Self-love

 

Self-love

On By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom ConceptsLeave a comment

Self-love is necessary to the Joy-in-full as given to us in Jesus.  When we realize how we are forgiven by him and we choose to then forgive ourselves of every shortcoming and mistake we perceive we walk in or we’ve made, we begin to have permission to love ourselves again which ushers in inner peace.  Many fears are actually a fear of punishment by God for our transgressions, now or later.  That there is a God who is mad and will inflict suffering upon us for our lack of obedience or performance consistency.  We then, in turn, hold ourselves to inner standards that we perceive God does.  I shouldn’t have done x, y, and z.  I should be doing this.  I should be less like…myself.  And there lies the endless cycle of I’m not good enough as I am.

Christ has come not to change you so he can start to like you, but in fact, reveal to you your value and worth that you yourself cannot destroy, damage, or take away.  God’s kingdom–he–continually speaks dignity, self-worth, value, and significance in who you are, apart from the decisions you’ve made.  You cannot undo your likeness of him.  You are God’s child and he is your father that loves you and is proud of you.  He laughs at my mistakes more than I give myself permission to and he understands our thoughts and motives at this point in our journey more than we understand ourselves.  God gives me far more grace than I give myself and he is challenging me, growing me in consistently loving myself well, despite my perceived shortcomings.


He speaks this way.  “Remember the verse about forgiving other people 70 x 7?  That refers to my way, my nature.”  That he operates like that with us. “Well I want you to forgive yourself the same way. 70 x 7.  Without limit, without measure.  Forgive yourself, rather than accuse yourself.  Let things go and operate within my love that covers and forgives.  Lean into grace.”

He continues with, “Remember that verse about nothing in heaven or earth can separate you from my love?  No angels, no demons, no trial, no suffering?”  “Well I want the love you carry for yourself to be just as indestructible as my love is for you.  That is never waiver or falter.  You have my permission to give yourself approval at all times, rather than disapproval.”


God’s spirit will always guide us into taking care of ourselves, insides and out because he is your creator and has given you this gift of life and he knows its value and how much it is a journey of experience with him that is a gift.  Anything that cuts down, or discourages your personality, your expression, your gifts, your life, your freedom are quite possibly not from your father who delights in you as you.

Mission minded people sometimes think:  I will serve God by loving other people.  But we can only really love people to the capacity we have received God’s love for ourselves.  You count just as much in God’s aim of love upon this earth amongst all of humanity.  That God’s kingdom of peace and joy and love endure and reign within our own hearts.  Permission to love ourselves fully and completely again through the eyes of Christ, this is what I call self-love, agreeing with God that he says we are lovely.

Some believers are quick to expect God’s rebuke but they never hear God’s romance.  We don’t allow ourselves to hear it, because we don’t believe it’s true or because we don’t believe we deserve it.  That’s a lie.  God is in love with you and he wants you to give you permission to love yourself again too.

Character     Covenant     Creativity

Family     Freedom    Gift Giver

Joy    Judgement    Kindness    Trust

Love     Praise      Prayer     Self-love