Part 1: “BUILDING THE KINGDOM”

At times the world God created appears to be seriously broken, doesn’t it? Sometimes rejoicing is the last thing we are thinking about. However, since each day was created & given by God, each day—whether broken or whole, is the Lord’s day, containing the hope & potential to reflect the image of our Creator. Each one of us regardless of our gender, race, culture, are created by our Holy living God as a physical vessel to house our spirit. Our purpose in life is to reflect Gods image & Holy spirit through our living on earth, thus to build up God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. We read in the Bible that Jesus tells the people, that the Kingdom of God is not a physical place to be searched for, but rather a spiritual reality that exists directly inside believers, established in the hearts of individuals through the Holy Spirit, characterized by righteousness, peace, unconditional love & joy.

As His vessels housing God’s Spirit, we are able to rejoice regardless of what is going on around us because of our faith in our living God. It is faith in our living God which is the bedrock of our hope & thus the fuel for all of our healing. We read in the Holy Bible that from the beginning of creation, God our Creator promised to walk with us & to guide us on our journey. As broken or troubled as our journey may seem & as subsequently troubled or helpless we may feel as we walk on the earth, the fact is, as we move through our days, regardless of how broken things in our mind, body & spirit may seem, God our Creator & great composer, promises to be ever present with us in all living things & in all situations. There is great comfort in that reality!

However, human that we all are, the fact is sometimes we are so distracted by the scattered pieces of our lives, that we just don’t recognize the varied ways that God may be speaking to us. Do you know what I mean? The fact is, as distracted as we may be, it is not so much what is happening or what has happened to us that makes the difference. It is what we do with it, how we handle the challenges that assail us, that speaks to who we are & whether or not we are reflecting our Maker’s Spirit or choosing other paths to walk on. It is important to recognize the varied ways that God may be speaking to us & then to go forward in His Light. In the Gospel of Matthew 6:33, we are told we are to seek the Kingdom of God first & His righteousness & all these things will be given to you as well & therein lies hope.

When things are broken, or conflicted & when we are suffering from: pain, illness, loneliness &  grief; or from feelings of hopelessness when we can’t understand the injustices of life, the lack of mercy, or are suffering from abuse that we are subjected to & forgiveness that we are denied, it is at these times that we need to make a choice of what we are going to do about these things & how are we going to move forward. Regardless of whether these despairing feelings belong to us or to someone else, the question for all of God’s creation is: are we going to ignore the sadness & hopelessness or are we going to step out into God’s light & reflect His unconditional love & mercy, illuminating His presence to others & thus grow in our faith & spiritual healing as we step into God’s Kingdom? As stated in the Holy Bible, God’s Kingdom is not a physical place to be searched for, but rather a spiritual reality that exists directly inside each believer through the Holy Spirit, characterized by righteousness, peace, joy, love & hope. Gods’ kingdom resides within each one of His creations.  We have a choice as to whether we are going to build up God’s Kingdom on earth, spreading healing & righteousness or to ignore the emptiness we encounter in life & walk away.

~Posted by Rev Kathryn Bindig, MDiv. MS; Pastoral Care Minister with assistance from Rich Muscatello; Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer