Grace full mama

“Vanity of vanities,” says the preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” , What profit has a man from all his labour in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; Ecclesiastes 1:2-4

What kingdom are you working for? I can tell you that in my lifetime I have punched time cards at a few kingdoms. There have been times I have cooperated with the enemy, and punched my time card at the kingdom of darkness. We all have. Thankfully, one single drop of the redeeming blood of Jesus undoes that work. I have spent a lot of time working towards a kingdom here on earth. And thank God, I have spent time investing in the kingdom of heaven. I have built that eternal peace and connection with God that is what can get me through the hard stuff.

Let’s talk about our kingdom here on earth. It’s a kingdom based on works, it’s a kingdom that will work us like a hamster on a wheel, using up every ounce of us until we are dead and gone. We will think to ourselves that we are building a legacy! We are building our fortune, building esteem, working towards being perceived the way we want to be perceived. It is a kingdom where we are the monarch on the throne. We will use people around us to get to our goal. The kingdom on earth makes every one of us into a narcissist, because our goals… our end, is all that matters in this kingdom.

Everything that we do in this kingdom is smoke and vapour. It is barely here today, and certainly washed away by tomorrow. We manage our children, we “get through” the hard bits of their childhood. But this kingdom leaves us no room for getting to their hearts. We constantly feel like we are failing, because, well it’s all vanity. It’s just smoke that can be wiped away by a swipe of the hand. We fail because we are trying with all our might to create meaning out of something that is meaningless. The kingdom on earth is built on a foundation of money and pride.It is about creating an image for ourselves, controlling how we are perceived, wanting glory for ourselves instead of for our heavenly Father.

Here is the secret. The kingdom on earth is a counterfeit. It is such a clever ruse by a clever enemy. If we spend all of our time chasing a carrot we will never catch, we will do nothing that matters. We will be no threat at all to the kingdom of darkness, in fact, we might even help build it. If we spend all our time in the kingdom on earth we will have no time to do anything for the kingdom of heaven. If we serve ourselves, we cannot serve Him. All flesh is grass, and all it’s loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:7-8 Everything that we work for apart from God is meaningless. It is here today, and gone tomorrow.

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying ” The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”‘ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

So, how do we invest in the kingdom of heaven? How do we make sure what we do on earth means something more than pride, smoke and vapour? Well, I really believe the first thing we need to do is give up our image here on earth. I do not want to catch myself caring about how others perceive me. Do they see a good mom? A cowgirl? No. Those things are meaningless. I want others to see JESUS through me. I want them to look in my eyes and see Him. I want my life to point to him, my words to echo him. Everything that I do from that perspective lasts forever. Everything done for the kingdom of heaven is done for His glory, and not our own glory. This takes us shifting our perspective… because our sin nature is very “us” focused. We need to shift to being “Him” focused.

The kingdom of heaven is about relationships. It is about our relationship with our heavenly father, and then the impact that we make on other people as he works through us. It is about investing through love, sharing wisdom and discernment, and listening to what Holy Spirit has to say. It is about putting our own goals aside for his goals.

I’ve known of people who God tells to give all of their money away! And they do it! And you know what? He replaces it and then some. He owns the storehouses of heaven. All the things that we work away for like an anxiety driven hamster on a wheel can be given to us so easily by our father in heaven for his purposes. But we always have to give them up before he can replace them.

It takes intention to decide what kingdom we are going to live in. It takes dealing with our pride, our self serving aspirations, and abiding in Holy Spirit. It takes a lot of releasing and a lot of listening. It might mean giving up physical things, or physical moves, or giving God your “YES!” But I promise you it will be worth it. Both in this life, and the next!