A Higher Calling: Quest for the Kingdom of God
Jesus clearly said, "No man can come to Me, except the Father
who has sent me draw him..."(John 6:44). Jesus is the Way, the
Truth and the Life. The Christian calling includes recognizing
Jesus is the only way to the Father, learning all about Him as
the Incarnate Word of God and walking in that light as a way of
life, following Jesus by the lead of the Holy Spirit, the
power and influence of God (Romans 8:14, 1 John 2:6).
Jesus instructs us to "Repent and believe the good news" (Mark
1:15). What good news? The gospel of the Kingdom of God. Repent
of what? Repent of breaking any of the holy commandments,
whether in attitude or action, word or works, in the letter or
the spirit of the Law (Matt. 5:17-20, 1 John 3:4).
Jesus didn't just say to believe the good news, He calls upon us
to repent: to have a change of heart, a renewing of the
mind; to experience a new attitude and go in a different
direction, confessing and forsaking those thoughts and ways that
aren't in peace and harmony with God's Word and Will (Isa.
55:7-9, 2 Cor. 10:5).
We're to have an attitude of gratitude for the Passover Lamb of
God's ultimate sacrifice for us, by living out our lives in
loving obedience, living sacrifices, receiving the pardon
and the power to go and increasingly sin no more (to the degree
we exercise the Holy Spirit and receive help from the Throne of
Grace), knowing we must overcome sin through Christ, not be
overcome by it, unlike those rebels who preach the dangerous
religious lie that overcoming isn't important (2 Pet. 1:9, 1
John 2:4, Rev. 2:26).
This holy process is called conversion (Heb. 8:10). God
will add the finishing touch at the resurrection to divine
perfection. Those presently partaking of the divine
nature are God-beings in the making! (2 Pet.
1:4).
Around 15 a girl I knew had stopped using drugs and sleeping
around and classmates were mocking her as a "Jesus freak." I was
impressed and admired how she wasn't ashamed to carry her Bible
to school.
Soon I began attending Bible studies with her group -- formerly
the Forever Family but later changed to the Church of Bible
Understanding to distance it from any association with the
nefarious Charles Manson. It was there that I first accepted
Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I now recognize they're a cult, but
I'm confident God permitted that experience to insure my
familiarity with His Word, which is what caused me to separate
from them later.
I backslid into the teenage wasteland but had hope God would
ultimately straighten me out, especially after once praying,
"The harder I try, the more I fall on my face." Then Isaiah
45:1-2 glistened before me, God emphasizing that He would
go before me, and that He would break my bonds. I was
given a quiet confidence and calm assurance that God has the
ability to set us free; that God is stronger than our
weaknesses. After all, "in the LORD have I righteousness and
strength" (Isa. 45:6).
Around 17, after flirting with the foreign gods of Hinduism, I
was miraculously called out of that deception by our Great
Creator God, the God of the Bible, the God of Israel who didn't
let Christ die in vain as my Savior.
Later, unexpectedly, I was given a vision, a sneak preview of God's Kingdom
where I saw myself as a brilliant Spirit-being teaching two
humans. Only after reading literature from the Worldwide Church
of God and getting baptized at 19, did I see they
confirmed what I saw to be true: the Kingdom is God's
Family and we're to become divine Priest-Kings ruling with but
under Christ; the Kingdom of God-Beings are to
rule Earth from Jerusalem!
Truly this spiritual journey is the adventure of a lifetime!
It's a daily quest for God's Kingdom and righteousness,
living and learning, so help us God.