Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Oh Friends, it’s time for the ‘Morning Neighbour, Morning’ chant, on what seems like another cloudy, rainy day. But our omnipotent, omniscient God is still in control, so that means everything’s A okay! And with that assurance we can continue being obedient to Him, as well as giving Him thanks and praise for all the good things He’s done, is doing and will do for us. All together now: ‘We bless and praise your Holy Name oh Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth and all therein! And we give abundant thanks for your kind mercies, which are new everyday! Amen!’ Yes my people, let’s always remember to give praise, thanks and gratitude where it’s due, for such is the behaviour and attitude of the righteous, which we, as true believers, all seek to be. Hn, hn! Now how did I get off on this tangent eh? I guess the Spirit thought we needed some reminding on the subject. And anyway, talking about giving thanks and praise to our Heavenly Father is always an important and essential topic in the Christian’s life. But as you can see from the Bit, today we’ll continue our conversation on the kingdom of God. Yesterday we saw what Jesus said; that it’s within and all around us. Today we’ll check out Bruh Paul’s take on the subject. Here he’s talking to the Roman church; ‘For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ Again we see, that God’s kingdom is already at hand, and according to Bruh Paul, it doesn’t consist of food and drink, but the way in which we live our everyday lives, in trust and cooperation with the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. So God’s kingdom is in and around us, and we’ll experience it by the level of righteousness, peace and joy that abounds in our daily living. Bruh Paul compares the kingdom of God to food and drink because he’s talking to the Roman church about minor contentions in their midst, like what was clean or unclean to eat, and he advises them thus: ‘Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.’ (Rom 14:13) And my people, that’s something we all are guilty of; putting stumbling blocks in our brother’s way, though many times it’s unintentional, and we don’t even realize we’re doing it. As the food example Bruh Paul uses, where he considers nothing unclean of itself, since God made all things, and none bad, but if someone considers it unclean, then to him it is such. Now, if that’s the main focus of our disagreement, then the stronger, the more mature in faith, should not escalate the argument and turn something minor into a major dispute. ‘But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.’ (Rom.14:15) In other words, the stronger believer should forego his freedom to argue the minor point, in favour of preserving peace in the church, cause God will be the ultimate judge of things amoral, those matters of conscience where there’s no clear biblical teaching. ‘For the kingdom of God is not meat or drink.’ That’s so true my Friends, and Bruh Paul also reminds the Corinthians of it. ‘But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols:’ (1 Cor.8:8-10) Yes my brethren, the strong, mature believer has to be careful the weak ones don’t see them doing things that are liable to make them go astray from the Word, and disrupt the kingdom of God, which ‘is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ Bruh Paul’s putting a lot of responsibility on the strong believer, but that’s the only way the faith can grow; by the weak seeing the strong live a godly, peaceful, joyous and righteous life, which can only be done on a spiritual basis, in tandem with the Holy Spirit. ‘For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.’ (Rom.8:6) Yea Friends, that’s what the kingdom of God is all about; living in peace and righteousness with each other, obeying God’s Word, helping each other bear their burdens, not fussing and fighting over minor matters, considering others before ourselves, speaking kind, uplifting words, not being greedy, jealous and judgemental, not putting stumbling blocks in each other’s paths. In other words, just living the way Jesus lived, and the way He wants us to live; in harmony with each other and His Holy Spirit that dwells with us. For therein is the kingdom of God my people; a life of peace, joy and righteousness, existing both in us and around us. Much LOVE!…God’s kingdom only requires…LOVING Him…and LIVING in true Faith…
Oh Friends, it’s time for the ‘Morning Neighbour, Morning’ chant, on what seems like another cloudy, rainy day. But our omnipotent, omniscient God is still in control, so that means everything’s A okay! And with that assurance we can continue being obedient to Him, as well as giving Him thanks and praise for all the good things He’s done, is doing and will do for us. All together now: ‘We bless and praise your Holy Name oh Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth and all therein! And we give abundant thanks for your kind mercies, which are new everyday! Amen!’ Yes my people, let’s always remember to give praise, thanks and gratitude where it’s due, for such is the behaviour and attitude of the righteous, which we, as true believers, all seek to be. Hn, hn! Now how did I get off on this tangent eh? I guess the Spirit thought we needed some reminding on the subject. And anyway, talking about giving thanks and praise to our Heavenly Father is always an important and essential topic in the Christian’s life. But as you can see from the Bit, today we’ll continue our conversation on the kingdom of God. Yesterday we saw what Jesus said; that it’s within and all around us. Today we’ll check out Bruh Paul’s take on the subject. Here he’s talking to the Roman church; ‘For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ Again we see, that God’s kingdom is already at hand, and according to Bruh Paul, it doesn’t consist of food and drink, but the way in which we live our everyday lives, in trust and cooperation with the Holy Spirit that dwells in us. So God’s kingdom is in and around us, and we’ll experience it by the level of righteousness, peace and joy that abounds in our daily living. Bruh Paul compares the kingdom of God to food and drink because he’s talking to the Roman church about minor contentions in their midst, like what was clean or unclean to eat, and he advises them thus: ‘Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.’ (Rom 14:13) And my people, that’s something we all are guilty of; putting stumbling blocks in our brother’s way, though many times it’s unintentional, and we don’t even realize we’re doing it. As the food example Bruh Paul uses, where he considers nothing unclean of itself, since God made all things, and none bad, but if someone considers it unclean, then to him it is such. Now, if that’s the main focus of our disagreement, then the stronger, the more mature in faith, should not escalate the argument and turn something minor into a major dispute. ‘But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.’ (Rom.14:15) In other words, the stronger believer should forego his freedom to argue the minor point, in favour of preserving peace in the church, cause God will be the ultimate judge of things amoral, those matters of conscience where there’s no clear biblical teaching. ‘For the kingdom of God is not meat or drink.’ That’s so true my Friends, and Bruh Paul also reminds the Corinthians of it. ‘But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols:’ (1 Cor.8:8-10) Yes my brethren, the strong, mature believer has to be careful the weak ones don’t see them doing things that are liable to make them go astray from the Word, and disrupt the kingdom of God, which ‘is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.’ Bruh Paul’s putting a lot of responsibility on the strong believer, but that’s the only way the faith can grow; by the weak seeing the strong live a godly, peaceful, joyous and righteous life, which can only be done on a spiritual basis, in tandem with the Holy Spirit. ‘For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.’ (Rom.8:6) Yea Friends, that’s what the kingdom of God is all about; living in peace and righteousness with each other, obeying God’s Word, helping each other bear their burdens, not fussing and fighting over minor matters, considering others before ourselves, speaking kind, uplifting words, not being greedy, jealous and judgemental, not putting stumbling blocks in each other’s paths. In other words, just living the way Jesus lived, and the way He wants us to live; in harmony with each other and His Holy Spirit that dwells with us. For therein is the kingdom of God my people; a life of peace, joy and righteousness, existing both in us and around us. Much LOVE!…God’s kingdom only requires…LOVING Him…and LIVING in true Faith…
SCRIP-BITS 