Be number one! Defend yourself! Earn the most!
In a world of self-centered thinking, these mantras are motivating!
The ways of the world, however, stand in opposition to the ways of Jesus. He turned those ideas upside-down to describe the kingdom of heaven. Being Christ followers, we are just passing through this world. As we grow in faith on the path to eternity with Christ, we must remind ourselves that our mind should be on heaven, not self.
In the book of Matthew, the phrase ‘kingdom of heaven’ is mentioned over 30 times and is unique to Matthew’s writings. He contrasts earthly goals and gains with the heavenly and emphasizes the spiritual condition of Jesus’ kingdom, in contrast to the physical kingdom the Jews were anticipating. The ways of God are so different than those of our natural thinking. Surrendered to Christ, we still must deal with our fleshly mindset as we work out our salvation in the power of the Holy Spirit.
The first mention in Matthew of the ‘kingdom of heaven’ is by John the Baptist. He prepared the way for Jesus; he called people to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sin (3:1-6). A heart that is prepared to hear the gospel of Jesus can usher in acceptance of the gospel. The Holy Spirit does this preparing and opens minds to understand Jesus’ words. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV).
Opposite of what the world would exemplify, the blessed ones who Jesus described in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-16) are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the peacemakers, the persecuted. These do not sound like typical, majestic kingdom citizens. However, these conditions bring dependence upon God, righteousness through the Savior, and glory to the heavenly Father. In many of the parables Jesus spoke, he described the kingdom of heaven as opposite of what the listeners would have expected. Jesus said that in the kingdom of heaven the king is generous (20:15), the last will be first (20:16), and one must be humble like a child (18:4).
Jesus, whose life is an example for us to follow, embodied the blessedness of whom he spoke. He is our master and we are not above him, but rather we are to serve as he did, obey the Father as he did, and love others as he did.
Also as Jesus taught us, may we pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9,10 NIV).
When you use a Heart Training workbook, you’ll learn the ways of God’s kingdom to be able to put them into practice.