Reflections on "My Utmost" November 28 Part II

"We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God through our own efforts. We must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest spiritual blessing we receive is when we come to the knowledge that we are destitute. Until we get there, our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us as long as we think we are sufficient in and of ourselves. We must enter into His kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are “rich,” particularly in the area of pride or independence, God can do nothing for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is placed and made effective in us by the Holy Spirit. He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, making us truly alive. He takes that which was “beyond” us and places it “within” us. And immediately, once “the beyond” has come “within,” it rises up to “the above,” and we are lifted into the kingdom where Jesus lives and reigns (see John 3:5)."

Jesus spoke to this spiritual reality very succinctly in His Sermon on the Mount:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3)

Of course, Jesus spoke these words before His death on the Cross.

What, then, is the Kingdom of Heaven? The dominion of God in us through the Holy Spirit!

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" 9Luke 11:13)

Which then couples with this grand promise:

"Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32)

This kingdom every believer receives, based on the Finished Work of Jesus Christ:

"And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:" (John 20:22)

Then:

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." (Romans 14:17)

Righteousness we become in Christ (cf 2 Corinthians 5:21)

Peace and joy are fruits of the Holy Spirit (cf Galatians 5:22-23)

Receive the Holy Spirit, receive Christ's dominion in your life, and watch what he does in you!