The Kingdom of God

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

The Kingdom of God is not about what you eat or drink. It is not a physical kingdom. It is spiritual. Notice those components of the Kingdom of God:  Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Now Paul goes on to say, “For he that in THESE THINGS [righteousness, peace, and joy] serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men” (Rom. 14:18). If you serve the Lord in righteousness, and have peace and joy while you’re doing it, God accepts it and men will respect you.

One of the most difficult testimonies a Christian will ever have to give is when everything seems to go against him and he still maintains his peace and joy in the midst of it all. That’s tough because fiery trials have a way of disrupting your service for God and tends to rob you of your peace and joy.  Then some unsaved person sees you in the dumps and he thinks, “Uh-huh. That Christian just like me.  If I were going through what he is going through, I’d probably act the same way.”

But, what really causes that unsaved guy to be amazed is when everything goes against you and you go right on happily serving the Lord with peace and joy. He can’t understand how you can still have peace and joy when your are in the midst of trouble.

The reason is, you belong to a different kingdom than he does.  Your kingdom isn’t effected by meat and drink (physical things). Your kingdom is “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” The unsaved man doesn’t have that.

Does you life demonstrate you are a citizen of God’s kingdom when you go through difficult situations?