Blog

The light of the Kingdom can be seen in the darkness

Albert Bogle September 02, 2016 0 1
The light of the Kingdom can be seen in the darkness

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired living in the self imposed prisons in which we place ourselves.
I guess I’m searching and longing to become more tuned-in to the mystery of heaven that can be encountered here on earth. 
I think we forget that Jesus has promised that he will never leave us nor forsake us.
In the Gospel of Luke 17.5 he speaks of the Kingdom of God being in our midst. If that is the case then heaven is closer to us than we might ever imagine.
The saints of the past have talked about the need to practice the presence of Christ.

The Spirit of God is opening eyes every day all around the world to see the open door of the Kingdom on our streets and in the most unexpected of places. The door may be slightly ajar but the light of the Kingdom can be seen in the darkness. It is my prayer that Sanctuary First can become for many of us an inspirational touching place. A worshipping community encouraging each other to believe that the church, where we are, can become the agent of change that is capable of bringing about transformation in our local communities. 

There is a small charity I know of in Bolivia. It's called Angel Tree. They work in prisons where children are locked up beside their parents because there is nowhere else for them to go. I met a young Bolivian student a few years ago, who spent his weekends taking the children out of the prison for a picnic and an opportunity to breath clean air. If it was not for Angel Tree some of the children would never see the light of day, instead they are often confined to painting pictures of the sun and the sky on the walls of their prison. 

I believe more of us who are church leaders need to be free to take a walk in the light of the sun and be freed from the things and ideas that imprison us.  We need to stop dreaming dreams and start living the reality of the presence of Christ in our midst. We cannot not allow our thinking to be shaped by those who tell us what we can’t do - or by others who tell us what we must do. When all along we need to allow the Spirit of God to be the one who shapes our thinking.  We need to be listening to the inner small voice which says “this is the way walk in it”. 

Paul writing to the Romans says do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Too often we find ourselves being locked into positions and prisons that stop us from flying. Positions that prevent us from thinking outside the box.  Too often we inhabit the prisons of doubt, the prisons of fear, the prisons of divisions and mistrust, the prisons of selfishness and self interest.

We need to see ourselves, our world and our role in it, the way God sees it. Not as we see ourselves or even as the world around see us. We need to see ourselves as God see us. Its time to start living in the sunshine and start breathing clean air.