The kingdom of God is a grand and all inclusive place— a state of spirituality where all participants love unconditionally and are unconditionally loved. People share freely without keeping tabs and receive freely without guilt or the feeling of indebtedness, but rather with gratitude to God for His provision, and with gratitude to their brothers and sisters whose hearts God touched to give.
At Jesus-One Kingdom Ministries, we believe in our God-given abilities to change lives for the better through faith in God. Jesus Christ says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Anyone who comes to Jesus, seeking relief from their weariness and burden, comes to the kingdom of God. And since we are the keepers of the kingdom of God on earth, it is our express responsibility to take care of their ‘weariness and burden’ not only by praying for them but also by helping them out. Jesus Christ said: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12).
There is no poverty in the kingdom of God. And since Jesus Christ replaced Himself—in His kingdom on the earth—with all of us, He has also charged all of us with making sure that the kingdom principles stay alight. That is mankind’s most honorable duty and we are equal to it. All it takes is a change of attitude.
John, the forerunner of Jesus Christ said it all: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” (Luke 3:11). There is nothing confusing about this command. Yet it is the one command we find the hardest to obey. And we all choose not to think about the repercussions of not obeying this command since everyone disobeys it.
Nothing any of us does in this world affects God in any way. God is in us, around us and all over us, yet nothing we do touches him positively or negatively. He made us and everything in the world and the universe. He was sure to keep our filths from getting to Him in any way at all, not because He does not value us, but because He knew who we are and all the craziness we would bring into the equation.
He could have prevented our craziness from affecting our brothers and sisters, but He chose not to; because keeping us together is the only way to get us to be responsible. God created us in His own image and gave us the ability to operate responsibly like Him. He gave us commandments to ensure that we have the information necessary for us to live responsibly. Upfront, He made clear to us the consequences for adversely affecting the lives of our brothers and sisters.
None of the laws God gave to man was designed to add anything to God—God is perfection already and does not need anything to improve Him. The entire laws and commands God gave to mankind are designed for our own safety, security and advancement. God created us perfect. He created our world perfect, but we mess things up. Poverty, sickness, strife, arguments, death, etc. are all products of human selfishness and wickedness.
Jesus Christ came two thousand years ago to give His grace to us and sacrifice Himself so we may be saved. He did not erase poverty or any of the other ills of society because with the grace we received, we are now better equipped to neutralize these atrocities if we obey God’s commands. That these beastly situations actually got worse instead of better is due to our own failings. We hear God’s commands but refuse to keep them. Therefore we are like people who build their houses in the sand and the wind and storm blew them down.
The blood of Jesus Christ is the power of God and is given to us to show the world what God is all about. The Bible says: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20).
We have the power but if we do not obey God, we cannot activate that power. That supernatural healings and miracles are few and far between is a clear indication that we do not ‘carefully’ obey all God has commanded us. We pick and choose what to obey and what not to.
And if we cannot activate the power Jesus Christ has made available to us, then we are all talk and no power. And that brings us to the same level of ineffectiveness as the rest of the world. For that Apostle Paul wrote: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” (1 Corinthians 1:17).
Living the gospel translates into preaching the gospel effectively; and not the other way around. We should not only present the word of God to the world, we must obey Christ’s commands to allow Christ to manifest Himself through our speech and our actions. In other words, we should be salt and light to the world. Otherwise we would become the blind leading the blind.
There is no poverty in the kingdom of God—and so there must not be any poverty among those who have given their lives to Christ and are walking with Him daily. Otherwise, Jesus Christ would not have taught us to pray: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10).
Telling our brothers and sisters that they are in difficulty because they must have been doing things not quite the right way is not a good response to the poor among the people of God.
Before Christ brought the kingdom of God to the earth, God was sure to address poverty among His people. Here is a passage from the Bible:
“If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.” (Deuteronomy 15:7-11).
And this was before Jesus Christ brought the kingdom of God to the earth. For the church of Jesus Christ, it is different: the church is the kingdom of God on the earth and there should not be poverty in the church, as demonstrated by the first Christians in the Book of Acts. The first Christians obeyed God completely and the church economy worked perfectly for them. If today’s Christians obey God in the same manner, the church economy will also work perfectly for today’s Christians.
John, the forerunner of Christ said it all: “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” (Luke 3:11). There is nothing confusing about this command. Yet it is the one command we find the hardest to obey. And we all choose not to think about the repercussions of not obeying this command since everyone disobeys it.
Now, we all understand why Jesus Christ said “You will always have the poor among you…” (John 12:18).
Not because of what God said to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 15:11—there will always be poor people in the land—but because we will continue to be in disobedience to God’s command; the one that commands us to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.“ (Galatians 6:2).
Therefore, it is not that we do not know what is required of us. It is that we do not think it is a good idea to share with others what is rightly ours. Nobody is interested in giving out things. We worked hard for these things and many times suffer tremendously to acquire them. We are all reluctant to give out much because we do not trust that God will replenish it for us.
The world has taught us how to accumulate things for our security. And no amount of material and money ever seems to be enough. No matter what you managed to scrape up for yourself, somebody has a lot more than you do. And he is doing magical things with it and is attracting praises, accolades and respect from society. So we set the same goals for ourselves.
But because we are followers of Jesus Christ and know that we have to obey Christ’s commands, from time to time, we check ourselves to see if we are conforming as Christ commands us to comply. Then we look around, and everybody we know that also belongs to Christ, is accumulating and retaining as much as they can. We suppress our conscience and move on with life: we cannot be doing anything wrong since everybody is doing it the same way we are doing it.
That we have all become like the world around us does not make it right with Jesus Christ. His words never changes and His commands forever remain. Christians in every society collectively have more than enough resources to erase poverty from the kingdom of God within the society. It is not that Christians do not give to the society at large! They do. Christians simply do not take the ‘kingdom of God’ as seriously as they should. The kingdom of God on earth is a real place—the one place all faithful followers of Jesus Christ belong.
The world over, there is only one kingdom of God. This kingdom is a real place, but all spiritual. For anyone to truly get a good grasp of it, the person has to spiritually look for it. This kingdom of God exists everywhere there is humanity. It is inter-wound with the rest of society, yet it is discrete and disparate from society at large. The kingdom of God does not consist of bricks and mortar as in church building and religious facilities. The kingdom of God is not comprised of churches or religious hierarchies.
The kingdom of God is a grand and all inclusive state of spirituality where all participants love unconditionally and are unconditionally loved. People share freely without keeping tabs and receive freely without guilt or the feeling of indebtedness, but rather with gratitude to God, and with gratitude to their brothers and sisters whose hearts God touched to give. The Bible says:
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.” (Galatians 6:1-6).
7 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Galatians 6:7-10).
Many churches embark on foreign missions of charity and often fail to take care of their own needy members. Here is what the Bible says is the purpose of tithing: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” (Malachi 3:10).
The tithe is designed to bring food, clothing and even shelter into God’s storehouse so that those who have given their lives to the Lord would never suffer lack of these life necessities. The first Christians showed us that this is what the storehouse of the Lord is designed for. Here is the passage from the Bible:
“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”” (Acts 6:1-4).
5 “This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.” (Acts 6:5-6).
7 “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7).
Does it mean that foreign missions are not necessary? Not at all! By guaranteeing that the immediate members of our own kingdom family are taken good care of, we become even more productive, more resourceful and more blessed by God. And this abundance provides us with even more to reach our brothers and sisters in need throughout the world.
God leaves poverty for us to eradicate, because it is our desire to keep it all for ourselves that caused poverty in the first place and continues to perpetuate it. Every church in the world has the ability to soften poverty among its members, and some has the resources to erase it completely. Taking care of the hardships plaguing our brothers and sisters within the kingdom is our first responsibility.
The real reason God mandates Christians to frequently get together for worship is so that people can fellowship with one another. It makes God happy to see His children get together, sing happily and share with one another in love. All Christians belong to one real family—the family of God.
The prevailing perception among church-goers everywhere is that going to church is an indispensable service to God. And this concept has led many to wrongly believe that heaven is a boring place. That is far from the truth. Church services may be boring because human being make it that way, but God’s household is a place no one wants to miss, and that is why it is all the rage.
The family of God is as real as our nuclear and extended families. We do not need to come together on Sundays for God to hear our prayers and answer them. God wants us to come together so we could interact with one another and have the opportunity to put into practice what He commanded us. True worship is having a relationship with God and obeying His commands to never hurt our brothers and sisters.
At Jesus-One Kingdom Ministries, we believe in our God-given abilities to change lives for the better through faith in God. Jesus Christ says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).
Anyone who comes to Jesus, seeking relief from their weariness and burden, comes to the kingdom of God. And since we are the keepers of the kingdom of God on earth, it is our express responsibility to take care of their ‘weariness and burden’ not only by praying for them but also by helping them out. Jesus Christ said: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12).
I want you to look first at the phrase, “because I am going to the Father.” Jesus stresses the point about Him going to the Father because we (His followers) are meant to take His place on the earth, continue to do the things He was doing, and even do things that are greater than what He was doing—once He returns to the Father in heaven.
The twelve apostles and all the other disciples, including those who believe in Christ through their gospel, have been given the power and authority to do good works on earth starting from the time Jesus Christ ascended into heaven. And this power and authority was given to us so we can take Christ’s place on earth while He remains in heaven with God the father awaiting His return to the earth.
It is important that anybody who is being saved hear the truth of God, and receive the love of God, from another human being like him. The only difference between the person who is being saved and the person presenting him to God to be saved is God’s anointing that is already on the presenter. This is the very reason Jesus Christ took the human form to come into the world and bring the salvation to mankind.
If Christ had come into the world as a supernatural being, lived supernaturally and commanded us to do the things He commanded us to do, we would all have been discouraged and would not even attempt to obey His commands since we do not have supernatural abilities. But because he assumed the human form and was born naturally like the rest of us, lived among us and operated like the rest of us, we can all relate to everything He commanded us to do. We know that they are all within our abilities if we tap into God’s power as He showed us to tap into God’s powers.
So, when Jesus Christ returned to the Father in heaven, He replaced Himself in the world with the apostles and all of us who would come to believe in Him through their message. We all received His powers to continue His message in the world boldly and fearlessly with the same effectiveness He had, if we stay with the truth. And since we are His replacement, we are charged with continuing His mission on earth: “The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
Because we are humans, Jesus Christ took the form of humanity and came into the world, died for ours ins and gave us His grace so we may be saved. And when the time came for Him to go back to His Father in heaven, He gave the authority and power to His disciples so they may continue with the works He had been doing, and greater works than that.
Therefore, when anyone comes to Jesus Christ, they have come to us—those in the kingdom of God who received the power and authority to do the same works that Christ was doing when He was in the world. And that includes feeding our hungry brothers and sisters who fellowships with us in Christ, and helping them through their other needs so they may get back to their feet again.
Everything Christ was doing for the people that came to Him when He was in the world, He now shifted to us to continue to do for “all you who are weary and burdened” who “come to Him to find rest”. That is why the Bible says:
“Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” (James 1:16-18).
19 “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (James 1:19-21)
22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:22-25).
26 “Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. 27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:26-27).
“Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:12-13).
14 “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14-17).
18 “But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” (James 2:18-19).
And for anyone who takes this responsibility Jesus Christ passed down to us seriously, Jesus declared: “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” (Matthew 11:6).
What the Father can do, the Son can do also. And whoever the son gave the power to do what He does, that person can also do what the Son does. There is no poverty in the kingdom of God. And since Jesus Christ replaced Himself—in His kingdom on the earth—with all of us, He has also charged all of us with making sure that the kingdom principles stay alight. That is mankind’s most honorable duty and we are equal to it. All it takes is a change of attitude.
27 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (Matthew 11:27).