Heart t' Heart

[ScottPart2]

Luke 17:

  20 ¶ And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
  21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

How beautifully put; “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,” it will not be a big, obvious thing, “for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

It is within me as I allow it to be, and as I allow it to flow through me into my daily walk—I feel it—letting it be in me giving me peace no matter the outward circumstance, and allowing me to love and not judge, to bear with patience, to wait for the Lord’s timing, knowing that all things are in his hands and will work for our eventual good as we remain in him and let him remain in us.

I wish I felt it strongly all the time, but am grateful for those moments, even those occasional days, when I do, and I am learning that in the moments when I do not feel that presence, to have faith that he is there even if unseen and unfelt for the time being, and I will gratefully feel the return of that presence before long.

I find the kingdom of God opening up within me as, instead of praying for strength in a wave of temptation, or even instead of asking the Lord to fight my battle, I simply open my heart and begin giving thanks and expressing love for my Savior. It changes my heart and invites the Spirit and renders the temptations irrelevant if still a bit distracting.

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Lord Jesus, what is thy will for me today?

Abide in me and I will abide in you. This is a great secret and a great comfort—to know that I am in you and you are in me. I truly will live in you and through you if you let me, all without affecting or diminishing who you are, who and what your spirit and personality really is. In fact, that is what will be revealed to you as you live in me and I in you.

Thank you Lord. I do love you and pray, as these next weeks go by—a time when I have a pattern of suddenly resisting and taking back my will and acting out—I pray to be swallowed up in thy love and thy presence and let the rest wash over me even as I go about my daily work and relationships and challenges.

It is not so sudden—you are simply unaware of it coming over you. Remain in me and it will wash over you if you allow it to, without grabbing on to it. It is a lie which seeks to hold you captive—be free in me.

Thank you. I will try and remember.

Amen.

-Scott