“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:3 NLT)

As I write this sunny morning in Jerusalem, I gaze across rocky hillsides dotted with shrubs and small trees. Bible scenes come alive here. Easily I envision Jesus beginning His Sermon on the Mount: “One day as He saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around Him, and He began to teach them.”

As Matthew 5:3 declares, Kingdom blessings begin to flow once a person realizes he or she is poor and in need of God.

Last night I sat by a busy Jerusalem street watching hundreds of people walk by. Only a few miles away from me, maybe on a similarly warm evening, long ago “a Jewish religious leader…came to speak with Jesus. ‘Rabbi,’ he said, ‘we all know that God has sent You to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with You.’” (John 3:2)

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” As their conversation further progressed Jesus presented Nicodemus with the Gospel:  “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

It might be easy to overlook the significance of John 3:16 since it is so familiar. It’s a perfect outline of the Good News. In only one sentence, Jesus touches on all the vital truths needed for eyes to open to the Kingdom:

• God
• Love
• the world
• He gave His one and only Son
• everyone
• believe in Him
• will not perish
• have eternal life

This is the Gospel. To everyone who repents, believes and receives Jesus, the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs! Without the King, there is no Kingdom. May we never try to establish the Kingdom without the King. We have an amazing message we’re to proclaim. “This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached as a witness to all peoples….” (Matthew 24:14)

Question for reflection: The Abrahamic Covenant says, “I will bless you…all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” What was the first blessing on Jesus’ list of blessings and why is it so important?

Kingdom prayer: Lord Jesus, within the next few days, please open an opportunity for me to share Your Good News with someone poor in spirit who realizes his or her need for you. Amen.

In Matt 13:38 Jesus tells us, “The good seed represents the people of the Kingdom.” The message of the Kingdom of God is contained within His disciples. When individual people of the Kingdom gather together and commit to love one another and obey Jesus’ commands—they become Kingdom Seeds.

Take a look at this picture of a Kingdom Seed. Within the seed, we see Kingdom disciples united together under the crown of their King. “Each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.” (I Corinthians 14:26) They listen to King Jesus speak through His Word and His Spirit. In faith, they respond with Kingdom-focused action.

From these simple seeds, Kingdom life, growth and multiplication burst forth. Such seeds are the “most absolutely potent thing” to transform communities and nations.

What does Jesus have to say about these Kingdom Disciples? What do they experience, believe and do? What is the fruit of their lives? Jesus paints a vivid picture of Kingdom Disciples using words: “The Sermon on the Mount.” In the next several editions of Kingdom Reflections, let’s take a close look at His picture.

Question for reflection: The Sermon on the Mount starts with the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:1-12). Each of the Beatitudes begins with the word “blessed.” What are a few of the greatest ways you personally have been blessed by God?

Kingdom prayer: Lord God, You promised Abraham (and all his decedents by faith), “I will bless you…and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” As You bless us, increase our ability to work with You planting Kingdom Seeds and spreading Your blessings to those who have never heard.

“He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: ‘Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds.’” (Matthew 13:3) Among the many stories and illustrations Jesus used to describe the Kingdom of God, I best relate to the ones involving planting. Even though I’m not a farmer, I do love gardening and the outdoors. It’s easy to understand words and concepts involving farming such as: soil, field, sow, seed, water, growth, weeds, rocks, fruit, workers, harvest, etc.

In planting the Gospel of the Kingdom among unreached peoples, it’s helpful to know about the kind of seeds we sow. In the natural world, a seed is a group of forces combined together, ready to burst to life. The same thing is true spiritually.

In Matt 13:19 Jesus speaks of seed as “the message about the Kingdom”, but He goes on to say, “the good seed represents the people of the Kingdom.” (vs. 38) So here, the message is contained within people. When people of the Kingdom group together and commit to love one another and obey Jesus’ commands—life and growth will burst forth.

In other words the seeds we plant in unreached fields are “Jesus-centered fellowships.”

E. Stanley Jones put it this way:

“The most absolutely potent thing on this planet is a small group disciplined to great ends. The people of the Kingdom are the seeds of the new order. They do not give the message—they are the message. They do not seek an answer—they are the answer, the Kingdom in miniature. There is nothing so absolutely potent as a group unbreakably bonded to each other and unreservedly given to God. ”

Through the words and works of local disciples—these Kingdom seeds—the Gospel spreads within their families, among their neighbors, throughout their society and across the nations.

As I described this idea to my artist friend Dave Hudson, he began to think of a visual way to illustrate “Kingdom Seeds.”  Inside the circle (seed) which Dave drew, we see Kingdom disciples united under our King’s crown. As they listen to Jesus speak through His Word and His Spirit, He leads them to take Kingdom-focused action.

Seeds like these are the “most absolutely potent thing” to transform the nations. Let’s plant Kingdom seeds!

Question for reflection: How well did the message of the Kingdom shine through your life this week?

Kingdom prayer: Lord Jesus, help us plant Kingdom Seeds that burst to life and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as we plant!