If I allow God’s kingdom to keep living in me, while I live in this temporal body, then I will have ‘the right’ to live with Christ in a body like His, within God’s eternal kingdom.
If I am “in Christ” I will not be able to live the selfish sinful life and get away with it. No true father would hold back the painful discipline that corrects and trains his child to live a full praiseworthy productive life. God will do all He can to make us so miserable living in sin, and to cause everything and everyone to fail us – to rescue us. He will set up road sign after road sign after road sign before the crash comes.
There are NO secrets with God; none that we can keep from our Father God. Nothing is hidden in His sight. If God is our Creator, and He is, then how could we ever think that we can keep anything secret from Him. If we don’t believe there is a God and Creator – then we are self-deceived thinking our secret thoughts and desires that we want to keep hidden from others – can be.
We can think our secret life of thoughts and desires are hidden, and even believe we can get away with the resulting actions we take (that are not right in God’s view) but the day will come when ALL will be revealed and judged by Him, and we will get what is due us. That day will be too late to do a thing about all that we will have regretted doing or tried to keep secret. Therefore, we are told by God and His servants: “NOW is the time to repent; now is the day of salvation!”
TODAY, even NOW – is the time to fully come clean before the Lord. For the Lord is for you, not against you! God’s favor, His mercy and grace, have a time limit with one’s own death, and if you live in this day – with the ‘second’ coming of Jesus Christ.
Marriages, families, friendships, and partnerships will all fall apart because of “secret” hypocritical criticism, “secret” self-serving motives, and “secret” immoral desires. We are to “take every thought (and desire) captive to make it obedience to Christ.” Our thought life is under attack by the devil and his demons. We see it in how we have so many things to keep us from getting quiet and still before the Lord; devices that do the thinking for us.
We are fooling ourselves if we think we can keep a secret from the Lord. If we try (because we are ashamed to admit, or simply aren’t willing to give up a sin we enjoy doing), it’s a matter of time that our secret sin will expose us, destroy our good future, and take others down with us.
An evil secret desire will eventually ‘act out’ if YOU do not do the judging, which our God-given ‘conscience’ is there for. (But it can be hardened and useless as we continue to ignore it.) With honest repentance and God’s forgiveness by Christ’s own sacrifice on the cross, we can, with His help – overcome every wicked thought and evil desire as we feed on God’s Word and stay in fellowship with Him day by day, walking with Him to the end. This is how our evil thoughts and desires are prevented from ‘taking action’ and becoming guilty of outward sin that harms not only ourselves but others. It’s a battle worth fighting and winning with God fully on our side.
When I first met my Savior Jesus Christ and invited Him to live in me – I was inviting in His kingdom life. If His kingdom is living in me – then I will eternally live in His kingdom with Him. What I love about my Father God, is that He does not hold my thoughts and desires against me, no matter how shameful, when I daily bring them before Him. I want the desire to please my Father God to be greater than my desires to do that which displease Him. Then I know I have His full attention and power with His Word and His Spirit in me.
As I read and study God’s Word, His words correct my thoughts and God’s indwelling Holy Spirit does the work of a transformed heart and will, a heart and will like God’s. When my mind/thoughts and my heart/will is united with the Lord – my actions and behavior are bound to be acceptable to God, no matter what anyone else may think. But what I’ve learned is that this only works when I start my day fellowshipping with the Lord, in prayer (over my thoughts, fears, desires), meditating on His Word to hear from Him, and with thanksgiving – offering myself to Him to be used in any way He can that brings Him the glory He deserves.
God’s kingdom begins in me, the house of Carol, where every room He will light up, help me to clean out and make ready to have every room filled with my Father God’s eternal treasures.
“Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly/fleshly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death therefore, whatever belongs to your sinful earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.” Colossians 3:1-6