Living in the Invisible Kingdom

This morning I came across a few great thoughts as I was reading Jack Hayford's Bible Handbook. In the Ecclesiastes section he presents these three keys to understanding life:
    1. Life is fulfilling only when it is given away.
    2. Life in pursuit of excellence without sacrifice will ultimately disappoint.
    3. Life that is solely lived on the earth-plane breeds cynicism.
These three keys give us a picture of what it is to live life in the Invisible Kingdom. I think that number three is the one that I most struggle with. When life becomes difficult ... really difficult ... it is easy to look at the natural aspects of life and living and become despondent, depressed and cynical - it is a matter of focus ... things that you can see are often powerless to help in life's difficulties.

In John 18 Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this (visible) world. When looking for life in the visible we become frustrated because real life can only be found in that which is invisible. Consider this excerpt from Romans 14:
"the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"
The beautiful thing about the Invisible Kingdom is that it can become visible at any time ... peace and joy can be manifested in our lives even in the most difficult of circumstances ... if our focus is on the invisible ... following Jesus' command in the gospels to seek first this Invisible Kingdom.

3 comments:

  1. SusanWednesday, May 30, 2007 10:01:00 AM

    I linked on to you from Pearlie's site. Hope you don't mind. Wonderful post and thoughts here. Yes, it is a daily struggle to keep our eyes fixed on "The Kingdom" instead of what we see around us with the human eyes.
    Susan

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  2. pearlieWednesday, May 30, 2007 11:13:00 AM

    KB,
    "Invisible Kingdom" - could you explain more on that, particularly how that term came about.

    Life is fulfilling only when it is given away.
    How true. Life is meaningless unless it becomes meaningful to others.

    Life in pursuit of excellence without sacrifice will ultimately disappoint.
    A fact of life that does not sit well in the world. We are trained so much to corroborate, to have a win-win situation, to gain, to conquer, without pain, though with risk. Which is why the way of Christ, the way of the cross is such foolishness to the world. (1 Cor 1:18-25)

    Life that is solely lived on the earth-plane breeds cynicism.
    I was reading Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World just yesterday, likening our living like living on a rabbit's back. When we are young we are at the top of the fur looking out to see what's beyond the normal but when we mature, we settle down where we are comfortable, living our lives contentedly without thinking beyond the world we live in. I do not think I am like that though I need to always remind myself to look beyond life here on earth and think and live eternally even at this moment.

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  3. kc bobSunday, June 03, 2007 7:55:00 AM

    Pearlie, I think that I got the idea of an invisible kingdom from a sermon years ago. It captures the idea that the kingdom of God is not a visible one that can be discerned physically. The invisible kingdom is mostly discerned spiritually by the Holy Spirit's revelation.

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