December/Vision

What could be more wondrous to someone than that kingdom?

  - Anonymous, In Tenga Bithnua (Old Early Irish, 9th century)

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

  - Romans 14.17

The Lord Jesus has established as the highest priority for His followers that they should seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt. 6.33). The highest priority.

The Kingdom of God is truly wondrous. It advances from the throne of Christ by His Word and Spirit, through the lives of His people, to exert transforming power for good on everything it overwhelms. The effect of the Kingdom's coming is to renew the world in uprightness before God, so that its inherent beauty, goodness, and truth can shine through the tarnish of sin which has settled on it in every place. Where the Kingdom of God's Son prevails against the kingdom of darkness and sin, the glory of God breaks through and the promise of God comes to fruition.

Embracing the mandate to seek this Kingdom should not be difficult for those who trust in Jesus Christ, even though seeking the Kingdom is full-time work. It involves prayer, study, daily circumspection and obedience, mutual encouragement and assistance among like-minded Kingdom-seekers, working out our salvation in fear and trembling, serving one another in love, bearing witness to the King, and achieving the favor of God and the approval of men (Rom. 14.18).

What hinders us from such a project? The distractions of the mundane world, largely. Most Christians know of the Kingdom and even affirm its importance. However, lacking a compelling vision of the Kingdom, or any instruction in and accountabilty for seeking it, they scarcely realize its power, presence, or fruit.

But that doesn't bother them. When your faith in Christ is "good enough" for you, seeking the Kingdom becomes just one more option among the mandates of Christ - pursue holiness, make disciples, work out your salvation, resist the devil, etc. - that we can take or leave at our pleasure.

But this is not the way of a true follower of Christ. Those who know they have been sent as Jesus was sent, to the world of lost men and women (Jn. 20.21; Lk. 19.10), are gladly spending and being spent in pursuit of the wondrous Kingdom of God. And the more they pursue it, the more they experience its power, which only spurs them on to more heroic efforts of seeking the wondrous and glorious Kingdom of God.

Are you one of those true followers of Christ?

Today at The Fellowship of Ailbe

Today's ReVision looks at the present taxation mindset and sees in it a tinderbox for revival, lacking only the prayers of true believers to ignite a conflagration of grace and truth.

It's time to register for our Winter Training Courses. If you've ever wanted to learn how to write, or if you need a helpful way of getting some handles on Christian worldview, then we have the courses for you. Check them out today.

Thanks to those of you who are sending gifts to support this ministry. We rejoice to know that The Fellowship is meeting some need in your life, so that you are willing to help us financially. If you'd like to make a gift, use the donate button here or at the website, www.ailbe.org, or send your tax-deductible gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 100 Lamplighter Ct., Hamilton, VA, 20158. May the blessings of our sovereign Lord press close on you and yours this Advent season.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.