As it is in Heaven

I’m sitting cross legged on my leather couch trying to abate a bout of nausea and musing about heaven. Our air conditioner is working overtime these days with temperatures as hot as 110 F. Wildfires are raging in many locations in Greece. Today I noticed tiny flecks of ash on our balcony, and there has been an ominous cloud of smoke above the apartment buildings across the square. We’ve been icing mint tea, bobbing in the sea, and trying to keep a few blooms alive on the balcony.

I’ve also been praying the Lord’s prayer, pausing softly over the lines,

“Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Imagine a place where the perfect will of God is always done. What unity of spirit, what peace of mind! While I am always longing for it in heaven, I am determined to pray more for it here on earth. His kingdom and His will are the most transformative and glorious realities available to experience. I get swept away by the reality of His will not being done, distracted by the other kingdom some days.

That other kingdom brings me faces of hopelessness, sorrow, and despair so overwhelming that I could be overcome by it. I whisper prayers in the spirit over heads bowed in tears and hands clenched in pain. The effects of the kingdom of darkness linger, pressing in hard some lonely nights.

And then we look up.

“Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.”

We don’t need to see light all around us if we have His light within us. His kingdom comes and starts right square in our own hearts if we let it, and that’s how His will is done. When His will is done, hope happens. We can face all of this darkness with an eternal hope inside us no matter what is raging outside us, when that kingdom is in our hearts.

His Kingdom coming to earth is something simple, something transformative, something faithful. It might be slicing into a warm loaf of bread and sharing it with anyone who comes to the door. It might mean holding someone just a bit closer when the grief hits strong. Maybe it’s forgiving the most frustrating person in your existence right now, standing firm in the kingdom of light. It’s always powerful, simple, supernatural.

If the kingdom starts within us, we should pray it right into the most broken parts of us before we pray for revival in our land because that’s when the real change happens.

“Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.”

That’s when His kingdom comes.

My Mom used to tell me I was going to enjoy heaven more than most because I was chronically frustrated with the world. Maybe you’re feeling that same dissatisfaction these days; the restless longing to see something supernatural happening.

Invite His kingdom into your hearts.

Invite the darkness to take up a fight with light, and watch Jesus win.

Pray with me, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

We try to stay away from evil most days. I enjoy thinking about fields of poppies, fresh mint out of the tea bed, and kissing my husband much more than I do engaging in something evil. What if His kingdom actually overcomes evil and we’re so busy attempting perfection we’ve let evil have it’s way?

He delivers us from evil.

His kingdom in our hearts might not move us physically into locations of darkness, but it will move us spiritually into lives ravaged by evil. There will always be a clash of light and darkness in our daily lives when His kingdom is alive within us.

Women of faith, the world around us is in the grips of the enemy, but some days we leave part of our heart up for grabs too. We cannot wrestle against the kingdom of darkness when we have not been transformed into the kingdom of light. We can spend most of our lives fighting petty battles of self and lose or we can engage in an all out war against evil and win. We can chose today to be transformed into His kingdom to fight real battles with Him, and win! His kingdom is advancing much faster then our own hearts can keep up.

Let me tell you that this power can uproot anything evil within us and around us and scatter hope like star dust everywhere we go. His kingdom power has an agenda; surrendered members faithfully obeying Jesus every day.

That sisters, is heaven on earth.

Women of the kingdom choose to spend the majority of their brain space and efforts bringing heaven to earth through his will. Bringing heaven to earth through unconditional love, roasted chickens, warm bowls of soup, and peaceful encounters with anger. His will is what brings heaven to earth.

How much of heaven is in your heart?

How much heaven are your bringing to your earth?

My friend asked me this week how I engage with evil so much. I told her, “Because Jesus is just that beautiful.” There is no textbook or training that can give you the heart muscles to really step into the graves of evil and see a resurrection. There is no experience that will give you the necessary tools to face evil and overcome it.

Only His kingdom in our hearts can do that.

Only heaven in our hearts. Heaven in our minds.

Engage with me in the real battle of souls tonight. Leave behind the petty bickerings and longings and face the kingdom mandate. There are millions of battles we can fight and thousands of distractions to leave us reeling in frustration today, but when we’re translated into His kingdom, we win. When we’re translated we turn all that frustration about evil into an overcoming worship because His kingdom is just that beautiful.

Thy kingdom come, right into our broken hearts tonight.

Thy will be done, in everything we do on this shattered, bleeding earth as it is done in the bliss of heaven.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

Amen.

Photo by Jennifer Schmidt on Unsplash