Day 208 The Kingdom

 

7/27/2026

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6:33

 

For two mornings now I have been visited by a beautiful blue bird, clothed in a deep shade of cornflower, who has been gracing me with its presence. The first morning it flew past the kitchen window while I was praying, and it lit on the lawn directly in front of me, it seemed to look in my direction as we locked eyes,  then off it flew just as quickly as it appeared. The next morning it appeared as I was sitting in my chair in the bedroom, looking out over the field. It's as if the bird wanted me to know someone heard my prayers. Maybe Holy Spirit uses blue birds as well as doves as messengers to let us know He's listening. I've noticed that we have many cardinals, too, and it reminds me of my mama, as she loved cardinals. A nice memory.

Many times as I am praying, the words of Psalm 24 come to mind as I gaze out the window taking in the beauty of creation. I've learned to take nothing for granted, especially the gifts of His incredible love for us which are visible in every sunrise, moonbeam, chirping cricket, and even hot, muggy days in Virginia. There's always a reason to be thankful, a reason to praise the Lord. When I begin to feel "less" because my kitchen floor is splitting and buckling, and the plastered walls are cracked, I have to repent, because many people do not have a home. Holy Spirit gently reminds me that Jesus did not have a place to lay His head. Watching The Chosen is a constant reminder that Jesus lacked all luxuries, even a rusted refrigerator that leaks - another of my treasured relics inherited with the house. It makes me smile, chuckle actually, when I am impatient about getting repairs and replacements or asking someone to help or at least advise me. These are temporal matters. Even so, I know He expects us to take care of what He has loaned us, so He tolerates my momentary impatience, that is as long as I quickly return my focus to what is truly important.

In our study before our prayer call this morning, Peter Tsukahira, one of the pastors of Kehilat HaCarmel Church, shared his testimony of how he became a citizen of Israel. He is a Japanese-American, raised in Boston who has been living in Israel for 30 years since God straightened out his theology regarding His chosen people and His redemptive plan for Israel in the end times. I remember Peter saying once that he had to relearn everything he learned in seminary in America. He has been a strong spokesman on behalf of Israel and the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, attempting to educate churches and pastors about the false doctrine called Replacement Theology that claims that the Church has taken the place of the Jews, that the covenant between Israel and God has been broken, and Jesus made a new covenant with the church, or some nonsense like that. I'm not a theologian, but I can clearly see the error in this teaching made abundantly clear by Paul the Apostle in Romans, Chapters 9 - 11. In fact if one carefully reads the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation God's feelings are very clear, and He changes not!

Something else he said rang true to me, because I pray about it often - continuously actually. Even though it is obvious that we are living in the last days, especially with increased antisemitism, lawlessness, perversion, wars and rumors of war, severe climate changes, and many other "birth pangs" Jesus mentioned would happen, pastors are turning a blind eye to the scriptures. They do not want to discuss "politics" and don't want to upset anyone, especially those who oppose Israel. Besides they are building their churches and their membership, following the command of Jesus, but really are they? Yes, Jesus said to go into Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth and preach the gospel, but what else did He say? Make disciples, of course, but more. After John the Baptist was put in prison, Jesus began his public ministry, and his words were: 

"Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.'" (Mark 1:14-15)

Jesus spoke of building the kingdom of God, a kingdom that is not of this earth. He spoke of the kingdom of God in the parable of the sower and the seeds in Mark 4:26-29. In Luke 13:18-21 he shared about the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven. And in Luke 17:20-21 He said:

"Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, 'The kingdom of God does not come with observation: nor will they say, See here! or See there!. For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.'"

The message Jesus taught, and the building of the church as in the book of Acts, was not to birth super churches or plan programs. The spreading of the gospel Jesus taught about was about the kingdom of God. In 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 the Apostle Paul explains it as:

"I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

It appears that we must begin to think about what Jesus is saying and become more concerned with people outside of the church that we attend. And yes, I know about community outreach, but how much is to build the kingdom of God, and how much is to fill our pews? We need to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn to do things God's way. Standing with Israel is one huge adjustment many need to make, as the media and others have brought in much confusion with regards to supporting Israel and continuing the war with Iran. Also, when many of us attempt to share about God's plan for Israel's restoration in the end times, pastors take offense. The enemy has blinded their eyes, even to scripture. This makes me so sad. If we as the church can understand our position as being grafted into the vine as wild olive shoots (Romans 9-11), then the rest should be obvious. But it is not to many, those whose eyes are blinded by satan who is the master deceiver. I say this not in criticism, as I am not an accuser of the brethren, but I cry from my heart for us to awaken from our slumber and heed the counsel of God. Jesus came as the Light to the world. The church is not God's kingdom, but His way to the kingdom, the kingdom of God within us, the kingdom Jesus preached. We are called to be His lights to the world, drawing them to the kingdom of God, the message of heaven that Jesus came suffered horrendously for our sins - all sins, past, present, future - and He gave His life, was buried and He arose from the dead just as He said He would. He ascended to heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. And He is coming again to gather believers in Christ, and then, after the tribulation, He is coming to judge the world. The role of the church today with regard to Israel is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and through our faith in Christ, to provoke the Jews to jealousy so they will recognize Jesus as Messiah! God has said, and His word is truth - all of Israel will be saved!

I don't know if I worded any of that correctly, but I cry out from my heart to read the scripture in deep humility, laying aside what we think we know, and yielding to the power of God's Holy Spirit who resides within us. Read the Bible in context, and cover to cover, praying for clarity from Holy Spirit who reminds us of what Jesus taught us through the disciples and the word. The Kingdom of God is at hand!