PASTOR MARC EIDAHL | BISMARCK CAMPUS PASTOR
Do you ever struggle with consistent connection with God and His Kingdom? We are surrounded every day with the natural world we live in and its overwhelming complications and complexities because of the fall of man. Yet we serve a good God! He is in fact good in every way, there is no evil in Him. He is a God who is all-powerful and present everywhere at the same time. His Kingdom knows no bounds, no end, no recession, no despair, and no lack. The reality is, God and His Kingdom know no real enemies. This is because the devil doesn’t even begin to be a viable foe to God, nor will he ever be! Many of us realize this about God, yet you and I worry, get anxious, feel afraid, struggle with trust, and often feel more disconnected than we would like from our loving, all-powerful, and good Heavenly Father.
It’s as if we live in a black & white grayscale world and God’s Kingdom is one of color and dimension. If we could only have that color and dimension of His Kingdom more consistently being the main influence of our lives, how much better would it be? Here’s the great news! The Bible gives us insight on how to do just that!
1. Direct Your Worship Appropriately
We were created to worship. It’s written by the Creator into the very fabric of our being. As humans, we long for something more than the grayscale world in which we live because God placed that longing in us. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God “has put eternity in our hearts”.
Whether we realize it or not, as humans we’re always worshiping. If we’re not worshiping God, then we are worshiping something else in His place. To worship God is to place Him in the highest seat in your life where nothing and no one else is more important than Him. One who truly worships God can really say that in their lives Christ has the preeminence. 
Our worship becomes misdirected when we embrace our carnal thinking and turn our attention toward human reasoning and natural things above what God says in His Word. Paul writes in Romans 1:20-21:
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Worship pulls the beauty of God’s eternal Kingdom into the seemingly mundane world we live in. It pulls all of God’s character, power, and life into our lives and the world around us. When we worship God for who He is, the beauty and power of His Kingdom brings massive life from the eternal realm into our lives and circumstances in the temporal realm!
2. Exchange Thoughts with God
God is all knowing. No one can grasp the depths of His knowledge. Isaiah 40:28 tells us that, “His understanding is unsearchable”. Yet David pens these powerful words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” ~ Psalm 139:17-18
How can a God who already knows all things still exert Himself to think of you and I that often? Why would He need to think of us that much if He already knows it all? The Bible tells us it’s because God is watching over His plan for our lives. He wants nothing more than for us to live out a life of complete fulfillment as we accomplish what He created us to do (Jeremiah 1:12).
As we’ve seen, Gods thoughts toward us are precious and vastly numerous. But what about our thoughts toward Him? Consider meditating on the truth of God’s precious and innumerable thoughts toward you, and in return, think as God tells you to think in Philippians 4:18-9
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Take time to praise God for His abundant and precious thoughts toward you. And then speak back to Him how much you love Him for who He is and all He is to you. Jesus taught us that part of praying is praising “Hallowed be Your Name”.
3. Let the Eyes of Your Heart Influence Your Soul
Most of the worry and anxiety we face in life is because we see with our natural eyes, and through those lenses, we process life with our human reasoning. Paul tells us that we must learn to look at things that are not visible with our natural eyes. 2 Corinthians 4:18-19, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
When we allow our mind, will, and emotions to become dominated by the things in the temporal realm, then worry, fear, and anxiety are the result. Paul tells us that there is another set of eyes which allow us to peer into the beauty and power of God’s Kingdom. Ephesians 1:18-19 says, “…..the eyes of your understanding (heart) being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…..”
Ask God to open the eyes of your heart to see into His eternal realm. Ask Him to allow what your see there to be what flows through your mind, will, and emotions rather than your natural thinking.
4. See God in Community
Going back to my earlier analogy of the world around us as seemingly grayscale and God’s Kingdom being full of color: the church is like a kaleidoscope where this world of grayscale and Kingdom of color & dimension collide! It’s a community in which God’s love & beauty and humanity’s weakness & shortcomings are all reflected and so visible at the very same time.
It’s amazing to me the number of Christians who forsake community even when Scripture explicitly warns us not to – especially in the last days! They get hurt, offended, or disappointed by “the church” and turn to their own reasoning, deciding they can read the Bible and grow on their own. In their reasoning they take Scriptures completely out of context such as 1 John 2:27, “…you do not need that anyone teach you…”. Yet “the church” was Jesus’ idea and it was He Himself who gave five-fold ministers to the church to train and equip her for ministry. Think about how much you learn about God through being intimately involved in community.
- -When others offend us, we should realize how often we’ve offended God and thank God for the opportunity to grow in loving and forgiving others as Jesus did.
- -When others hurt us, we should realize how often we’ve hurt God and others.
- -When others forgive us, we experience a wonderful expression of God’s love and forgiveness and should do the same for others.
- -When others are generous with us, we see God Himself working through them and should in turn do the same for others.
- -When we let religious guard down and have fun with others through practical activities, we discover the joy of having others in our lives.
Want to pull God’s Kingdom into the mundane? Direct your worship to Him, exchange thoughts with God, learn to see with the eyes of your heart, and learn to enjoy the community of His church.
