The Kingdom Is Already Inside You

Most of us picture the Kingdom of God as a place we go later. Somewhere up there, after all of this is over. Jesus talked about it like something much closer than that.

A kingdom is simply the area a king rules. In one sense that is everything, because Psalm 103:19 says, "The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all." But most of the time in Scripture it means something narrower and far more personal. It means His rule inside people who have said yes to Him.

The Jews in Jesus' day were waiting for a political rescue. They wanted Rome gone and a throne in Jerusalem. Jesus said in Luke 17:20-21, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." He will rule physically one day, and Revelation 11:15 says, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." But right now His throne is a heart.

This is not something you are working toward. Colossians 1:13 says, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Translated. Past tense. You were moved the day you were born again, and nothing you do today makes that more true than it already is.

So when you pray "Thy kingdom come," you are not begging God to start something. You are asking Him to release into your Monday what is already sitting in your spirit. That changes what you do with real situations. When the group chat starts tearing someone apart, you have a King inside you who does not go along with it. And 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds," so the fight happens in your thinking long before it happens anywhere else.

The new birth already put you inside something bigger than your circumstances. Ask the Holy Spirit to make that real to you today, not as a doctrine you agree with but as a rule you actually live under. The King is not far away. He is already home.