Davar Kingdom Of God

The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good (Gen 1:12). So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (v. 21). God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good (v. 25). All these verses have the statement, “God saw that it was good.” It means that he was pleased with what he made because it was made according to his will and purpose. God made everything, every species of plants and animals, according to its kind with a specific intention and purpose so that none of them was made accidentally and unintentionally. This truth is especially emphasized when it comes to the creation

Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers (Mat 7:21)!” Pay attention to the subject “we” in “Lord, Lord, did we not …?” They think, in their mind, that they prophesied, drobe out demons and performed many miracles in the name of Jesus, but according to Jesus, they did not and he does not know them. The reason they think so is that they did belong to the group of “we” who did prophesy, drive out demons and perform many miracles in Jesus’ name. Belonging to the group of believers does not save you. Only your own personal fellowship with Jesus saves you. The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven (Mat 16:1). The Pharisees and the S

My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Pro 4:20). It is good to look into the inside of our own heart. It is not to say that we should meditate upon our weaknesses, or the mistakes we made. No, our sins have been totally forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus, and we have become the righteousness of God. So, we do not need to feel weak, or should not keep any sense of guilt. And in Christ, our weaknesses have turned into strengths, and are being used by God. What we must look at is the word of God that was planted in us, and God himself who lives in our spirit. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle an

…because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake (1 Thess 1:5). Note the expression “with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.” God’s power, the Holy Spirit, and the deep conviction go together. Note, especially, the word “conviction.” A conviction is more than an opinion or a thought. It is a strong belief concerning the truth of the Bible. Since every truth that the Bible teaches is a reality in the spiritual world, it does not work for us in our world unless we believe in it. And in order for us to believe in it, we need to be convinced of it as a truth—a reality. And that is where the Holy Spirit works for you and helps you with power. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come (John 16:13). “What is yet to come” is a spiritua

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (John 14:26). Whenever teaching on the work of the Holy Spirit is given in the church, this scripture is quoted. The Holy Spirit teachers us God’s word. But how does he do that? He has no body, no mouth to speak with, and we cannot hear him teach with our physical ears. Yes, it all happens in the spiritual world, and we do not need physical ears to hear him. But it is our mind, not spirit, that needs to understand, and understanding in our mind does not occur automatically in an easy way when we hear God’s word. We know that there are all kinds of bad thoughts and ideas that are unbiblical and even Satanic in our mind, and those thoughts and ideas always work against the understanding of the Scripture. Therefore, we want to know how the Holy Spirit helps us understand God’s word so that our mind can cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he teaches. First

… because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake (1 Thess 1:5). The truth that the Holy Spirit helps us understand God’s word is well known to the Christians. God’s word needs to be understood and accepted by our hearts before it works for us with power. The above words of Paul tell us that the gospel was preached to the people at Thessalonica “with power, with the Holy spirit and with deep conviction.” The “deep conviction” was given with the help of “the Holy Spirit,” and it worked for them “with power.” You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit (1 Thess 1:6). The “deep conviction” led the listeners to the “joy given by the Holy Spirit.” This is how the Holy Spirit works for us. The strong conviction upon Jesus and his gospel appealed to them in their minds to believe and accept the mess

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better (Eph 1:17). There seems to be some misunderstanding among believers today concerning how the Holy Spirit helps us know God and his truth. We believers tend to think that our logical sense with the ability to reason does not help much when it comes to understanding spiritual things. We usually think that we can only accept biblical truths by putting aside our logical thinking. That is why for many Christians today, especially those in the Pentecostal circles, getting emotionally excited is an important sign for their spirituality: for them, being emotional is a synonym for being ‘spiritual’. There is nothing wrong, of course, about being emotionally lifted up if it is a genuine manifestation of what they believe inside. There are some interesting scriptures that we need to pay attention to regarding this matter. Therefore, rid yourselves of all mali

It is through the fellowship with Christ that a person understands God’s word and learns anything meaningful to his/her life. When you hear God’s word without the fellowship with Christ, you will fall into the same pitfall as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law did by becoming legalistic in the way you interpret the Bible and apply it to your everyday life. For legalistic people, the Bible is something of the letter, not of the word that reveals the will of God concerning their personal life, or the message that God speaks privately to their hearts. You are able to learn God’s word only by coming personally to Christ. You do this spiritually, not simply by hearing about Christ through books and preachers, but by learning directly from him. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus (Eph 4:20-21). To learn the truth in the Bible is to learn the person of Christ himself because he is the truth. H

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Mat 11:28-30). In these words of Jesus, we should pay attention to the three imperatives: Come to me. Take my yoke. Learn from me. It is worthwhile meditating upon these three imperatives: what they mean and how they are connected with each other. Let us begin with the third one, “Learn from me.” Learning is different from studying, especially if its object is God’s word. Learning the Bible is more dynamic, and requires more dimensions than merely studying it. Yet, people today tend to have the attitude of studying it as they do in school. Although this type of studying is still an important part of learning the Scripture, this bias often leads us to miss the target, the message of what God intends to say, and not much wisdom is developed in spite of our time and effort. Think about the Pharisees and the teachers

As we read the Gospels, we are amazed not only with the miracles that Jesus performed, but also with his wisdom and even with his character. When people asked him questions, he always gave answers to them. In fact, many of his teachings were given in the Gospels because of the questions people asked: he taught them by answering their questions. If the teachings given in this manner were taken away, the Gospels would become very short. Jesus gave a teaching first by answering someone’s question, and later when he was alone with the disciples, some of them asked him further about the teaching. When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, … (Mark 4:10-11) After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see … (7:17-18)? After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, … (9:28-29). When they were in the hou

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men (Acts 17:11-12). This was when Paul went to the city of Berea on his second missionary journey. There was a Jewish synagogue in the city, and the Jews who heard Paul peach searched “the Scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true.” Why did they examine the Scriptures? Didn’t they believe what Paul said? If they did it out of their doubt on Paul’s preaching, don’t you think it was not so good? But Luke says, “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians…” When the disciples returned, the Samaritan woman at the well went down to the town, and told the people what she heard from Jesus. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everythi

In order to have good ears to hear, we need to have holiness. It is difficult to understand God’s word when we have uncleanness in our hearts. As sin is against righteousness, uncleanness is against holiness. Sin and uncleanness are not the same. Sin is the fruit or the fulfillment of uncleanness, and it is something that is seen in our deeds and words. But uncleanness is of the heart. So even if we think that we are not doing anything wrong in our actions, there may be uncleanness in our hearts, which is as serious as sin. I often get comments from people saying, “Today’s sermon was hard, and I did not understand it at all,” or “I knew I was hearing something wonderful, but didn’t know what it was.” I used to think it was my fault. So, I made it really easy, but it did not help them either. Honestly, I never thought that any of my sermons was hard to understand. If people have difficulty in understanding my sermons, it must be the truth itself, not the way I teach or preach, but the content of wha

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Ps 139:23-24). In this scripture, the psalmist is asking God to check his heart if there are any wrong ideas, thoughts or attitudes in him. This is a wonderful prayer that all of us should have. But think. Hearing this prayer, how does God actually point out to us such wrong ideas and attitudes—the offensive way in us? In other words, how do we find out that particular attitudes we have in us are wrong? Having lived with those ideas for many years, we are usually blind to them, and never ask ourselves if there is any offensive way in us. So, how does God let us see it so that we can change? For that, we have the following scripture in the New Testament: For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the hea

He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear (Mark 4:21-23).” This was the parable that Jesus spoke along with the parable of the sower, which the disciples asked him to explain. So the same context still continues in the above parable: “them” refers to the disciples. This parable of a lamp is very simple, but not easy to interpret in the context. Those who think it is easy are not really seeking its meaning in the context. When you consider the context, it becomes difficult. What was it that Jesus wanted to say? The main reason for the difficulty lies in the fact that we modern people no longer see things as the ancient people did—in this case, concerning “eyes.” We all know how a camera works to capture the images coming through the lens. Our eyes work in the same way. In

Consider carefully what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you––and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him (Mark 4:24-25). These words, Jesus spoke along with the parable of the sower. Its conclusion is: “Consider carefully what you hear,” or “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” In an attempt to elaborate and emphasize his point, he brought in another parable, a short saying: “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” What was it that Jesus wanted to say? The same saying is mentioned two more times in gospels: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Luke 6:38). For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you (Mat 7:2). It can be easily observed that though the same saying is used in

For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith (Heb 4:2). God’s word is spiritual, and reveals the spiritual reality. God’s word purposes to turn the spiritual reality into a reality in this physical world. And what comes between the two realities is faith in our hearts. When God’s word passes through our faith, it substantiates the spiritual reality into this physical world, and we see it as a miracle. In other words, when God’s word is combined with our faith, a miracle happens, but when it is not combined with our faith, nothing happens and it is of no value to us. As for “they” in the above scripture, the writer of Hebrews refers to the people of Israel who just came out of Egypt. Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert? A

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is (Mat 16:13)?" It was more than two years after Jesus began his ministry, and shorter than one year before the last Passover in which Jesus was crucified and was raised from the dead. So far, Jesus had never said to his disciples anything pertaining to his coming death and resurrection. Neither did he reveal, nor admit publicly even to his disciples that he was the messiah. One day, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Since he had been often calling himself “the Son of Man,” they understood that the question was about himself—who he was. As you know, “the Son of Man” was understood those days as the title associated with the coming messiah. Therefore, it can be said that the disciples had already silently acknowledged such status for Jesus, but they had never confessed it. So, Jesus tested them, and wanted to see what they would confess. The test was given in two

We have looked at some stories in the gospels, especially in John, in which people had no ears to hear and could not understand what Jesus said. And by using those specific cases, we have discussed the specific reasons why they were deaf or blind. When we know that, we can check ourselves, and correct the same mistakes that we might be making. The following scriptures give two basic reasons for our spiritual blindness: For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith (Heb 4:2). And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe (1 Thess 2:13). The story in John 9 is another example of those who are spiritually deaf and blind. This one is especially interesting because the healing of a blind man is metaphorically used

Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here (John 6:24-25)?" After having fed 5000 men with five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus dismissed the crowd so that they could go home. The reason for feeding them was that these people followed Jesus to such a remote place, and it was not a good idea to let them go home without food. But some of them, realizing that Jesus and his disciples went to the other side of the lake, continue to follow him and came to where he was. Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval (vv. 26-27)." From here, the dialogue

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isa 55:8-9).” The first step for developing our listening ears is to realize that God’s thoughts are so different from our thoughts. We are created as God’s image in his likeness, and we are like God. But we should not think he is like us. Only when we know that his ways are different from our ways, we start listening to him. If his thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways than our ways, then so is his word than our human words. God’s word is spiritual, but our words are not. We cannot fully understand his word with our head by hearing with these physical ears only. It takes spiritual ears to understand spiritual things of God. In order for us to know what it means to have ears to hear, it would be good to see first what happens when we have no ears to hear. If you are seeing