In the substance of your being do I exist. In the evidence of who you are, invisible, Eternal, do I find my place.
In the intimate places of my heart, in the secret places of your chambers, you abide, and make me real.
There is no reality found within this life, and there is no truth within its shadows. The reality, the real, is only you.
Indeed, the fountain of life is with you. In your light we see light.
Psalm 36:9
And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:19
The victory cry of Israel was, “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.” Psalm 100:5 They sang this refrain over and over, as a praise to their God who had given them them their victory. No other words are recorded, if there were any, this was their triumph!
No one is good but God. Even Jesus, God Himself, didn’t try to stand in His own goodness as a man. Everything He did, He obeyed His Father, as an example. He said that whoever does truth comes into the light so that it might be plainly be seen that what has been done has been done through God (John 3:21).
The Word became flesh, and [tabernacled] among us.
John 1:14, portion, paraphrased
We live in our tents, our bodies. Jesus, in becoming man, put on flesh as a garment. We are not our own. Our bodies are not ours, nor are we all that is within.
The spirit realm is complex and vast. The inter-workings of the body and the spirit are not generally well understood by those in Western cultures. Yet, as when two people come together in intimacy they become one flesh, there are realities that go Beyond the carnal, which the Western mindset as a whole has no capacity to account for.
[W]e know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (portion)
Love builds up. It edifies. It substantiates. Love is the substance of the Gospel. The man without love is without God, for God is love.
The Kingdom of God requires diligence, patience, long-suffering, peace, and trust, because these are what love are. Perhaps one of the greatest equalizers in the universe is the power of love. Both kings and those who the world regards as “nobody”s can have it, and it can make either of their hearts warm, and soft, and alive. Both can possess everything that matters in this life, and never lack, because love is enough.
They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.
Exodus 25:10-16
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). What Moses built in the wilderness was a picture of an unseen thing. He built according to the “pattern” that he had seen on mount Sinai. That pattern was Christ, a detailed look at who He is as the Word of God and His ministry on Earth.
The entire of the tabernacle was a walk through model of Jesus. Every facet of the tabernacle from the ark down to the very tent pegs and number of pillars represented something of the perfect man Christ Jesus.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Romans 14:17
I think that when it comes down to it, many people today miss it today regarding the Kingdom.
Nearly all probably do in some ways, perhaps, with some exceptions, but, primarily, we fail to recognize the King’s heart in coming.
Jesus said in language impossible to misunderstand that He was The Way. Not that He came to show it, demonstrate it, teach it, or model it, but rather, that He Himself was The Way. He was the Son of God, and the Son of Man, and no one came to the Father but by Him.
Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33
The Kingdom is invisible, in the heavens (John 3:3). It is the unseen dominion, greater and more sufficient than the natural, which, from its excess, overflows into what we can see.
What we can see, feel, and experience is not the Spirit. What we can see is not the Kingdom. What we touch with the soul and body is but our response to God.
One word from God’s lips is worth more than a thousand others.
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, enlightening the eyes.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey in the honey-comb.
Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them, there is great reward.
Psalm 19:7-11
He who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought.
1 Corinthians 8:2 (paraphrase)
The most interesting thing about the gospel is that, you could have all the words right, you could say all the right things, have all the right demeanor and mannerism, you could know when to shout and how to dance, but you could be just as much of a devil as Judas was. That’s right. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.
You don’t have what it takes. You never have, and you never will. If you can do it, it isn’t God, and it needs to die.
An entire oak tree is contained well within a tight, easy to carry package. It has it’s own leathery cover, and even a handy carrying cup attached to the top. You could, in fact, carry a hundred complete oak trees just in your pants pockets alone (assuming you’ve got big pockets). The only thing you need to add, in order to convert your easy to transport oak tree into an immovable pillar is some sunshine, a plot of dirt, some water, and a hundred years or so!
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, that when planted, it is the smallest of seeds, but when it grows, it becomes the largest of all garden plants, and the birds of the air make their nest in it.
Matthew 13:31-32
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