SPRING TUNE UP

A SPRING TUNE-UP

Spring is on the way, although you may not know it by looking outside at the huge banks of snow, on this mid-February day. People often think of getting their car tuned up at this time of year, to be sure of trouble free miles of travel throughout the summer months. But do we ever realize that we might need a "spiritual tune-up", after the cold winter months of waiting to see if spring will actually come? I suggest a careful study of (Matt 5, 6, 7) where we read about the first fully recorded sermon of Jesus. It is often referred to as "The Sermon on the Mount", and starts with the "Beatitudes".
As the term implies, Jesus was dealing with "attitudes", and how they can affect our lives. Jesus lists 9 attitudes in (Matt 5:3-11) that can affect our lives, and that will all please our Father God!

Notice that 2 of the 9 things listed will result in a different relationship to the Kingdom of God, than the other 7! Verses 3 and 10 use the present tense of the verb referring to their relationship with the Kingdom, "is theirs" as opposed to "will be theirs", this could be quite significant in understanding the Kingdom of God. In other words, some people referred to believe that the Kingdom exists now on earth, while others understand it to be yet future. This is the actual case in the church circles today. Because of a teaching that declares the church age must end, before the Kingdom age can begin, this situation has arisen.

Scripture is clear that Jesus Christ in the King of the Kingdom of God, so when He came to earth as the babe in the manger, the Kingdom came with Him, so to speak. When He began preaching about the Kingdom after He was baptized by John, when He was 30 years old, He often used expressions like "the Kingdom is at hand", or "the Kingdom is within you". We can understand this as meaning at the present time it is invisible, and can dwell in the hearts of believers who follow Jesus, but will be fully manifested on earth for all to see, when Jesus makes His second appearance in the clouds of glory! This is part of the mystery of Godliness that we cannot understand with our finite minds, but when we see Him we shall be like Him, and then understand all things. (1 John 3:1-3). As followers of Jesus, we should all be looking forward with great expectation to His second coming. But we know from certain scriptures like (Ps 110: 1), (Acts 3:16-22), (Matt 24:14), that He can't come at any moment, as some believe!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer