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Dalton
Roberts |
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Jesus gave at least two clear descriptions of the Kingdom of God. He even told us where it is located. He said, "the Kingdom of God is within." He also said, "the Kingdom of God is in your midst." When we look within ourselves we see just about everything imaginable except the Kingdom of God. Yet, Jesus said, "It is within". Once I read an article by the financial wizard, John Templeton. It was really an interview format and he was asked, "What is the greatest truth you have learned in your life"? He answered, "The truth that has meant more to my success and happiness is that God is within and available to us at all times". How can you not be successful when you have the Kingdom of God within? Think of all the resources that possessing this Kingdom brings to your command. Resources like peace, joy, strength, courage and happiness. The only tools you need to enter the Kingdom of God within your own being are openness and a willingness to experience the presence of God. Jesus said he stands at the door of our heart all the time and that if any man opens the door he will come in and sup with him. That is what it feels like to contact the Kingdom of God within. Rather than the righteous man being unlucky in this life as the old Gospel song, "Farther Along' says, any person who is not aware of there inner Kingdom faces life at a disadvantage. When he needs peace he has inner turmoil. When he needs joy he is depressed. When he needs inner power he has inner paralysis. The second teaching of Jesus on the Kingdom is that the Kingdom of God is "in your midst." How can God be inside and outside? God can be anywhere at any time demonstrating his presence in countless ways. So it is no problem for God to be in our midst and within at the same time. How God manifests in these two locations (inside and outside) is beautifully different. They complement each other. It is like the difference between an inner smile and a warm hug from a friend. One is personal and the other is communal. It seems that we have just as much trouble finding God in the "midst" as we do finding God within. It is so simple we do not think it possible for anything that magnificent to be so easy. "So it is easy to enter the Kingdom of God, Dalton, is that what you are saying"? That is exactly what I am saying. One of the prophets said it is so easy that "a way-fairing man though he be a fool should not err therein." Is it hard to turn a way of life that is not working over to an inner power that can make it work? In finding fellowship with the God within and the God in the midst, nothing is asked except that you open the door. This is another way to say to open your awareness to the omnipresence of God. Christian Science has a teaching I have found helpful. They have seven synonyms for God: Love, Life, Spirit, Soul, Truth, Mind, and Principle. Contacting God within as Love is a different experience than contacting God within as Principle. It is a power-blast meditation to contact God within as all seven synonyms. God as Mind operates through positive, faith-filled thoughts to bring things to pass. Our thoughts are the building blocks we use to build a new life in the Kingdom of God within and the Kingdom of God in our midst. Choose your thoughts with full awareness that the power which will make them realities is both within and in your midst. Everywhere, Omnipresent.
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