“Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place’” (John 18:36).
The context of this passage is Jesus being questioned by Pontius Pilate regarding Jesus being the king of the Jews. Jesus tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” If His kingdom was of this world, the principles and practices of the world would have been used to preserve His position and kingdom. Living according the principles of the kingdom of God while living on earth is challenging.
We are living on earth while being citizens of heaven. Paul reminds us, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21). Because our citizenship is in Heaven our paradigm is to be different, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:1-2).
At times, during the pandemic consequences, it has been challenging for me to set my mind on things above. I have become frustrated with people using this crisis to further their own political purposes. Others are using this vulnerable time to scare and scam people. Restrictions have increased and freedoms have been restricted even though therapeutics have been discovered, hospitals are not overwhelmed, and a better understanding of the virus has been achieved.
Then I remember my citizenship is in Heaven. I am to live according to a different paradigm in the world. Ephesian 6 reminds me of who my real enemy is. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). My enemy is not the politician who has a different worldview than I do. It is not the governor who is putting restrictions on my freedom. It is not even the COVID-19 virus. There is a spiritual battle going on that is manifesting itself in physical ways.
Spiritual battles are to be fought armed with spiritual weapons and dressed in spiritual armor. Paul says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes” (Ephesians 6:11). One of the pieces of armor is the shield of faith for the purposes of extinguishing the flaming arrows of the devil. These arrows are thoughts that area strategically planted in your mind for the purpose of creating fear, worry, doubt, etc.
What arrows has the devil been shooting at you during this time? What thoughts is he trying to place in your mind to discourage you? You can identify them when you connect your negative emotions that you are feeling with the reoccurring thoughts going on in your mind. If you are experiencing worry, what are the thoughts that are cultivating that emotion? If you are becoming fearful, what thoughts are producing that stronghold? These negative emotions come from lies and therefore, reveal the lies you have been believing.
You cannot change what you feel until you change what you dwell on in your mind. You cannot change your thoughts until you change what you believe. Paul said getting dressed for battle starts with putting on the belt of truth. In Philippians 4:7 says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, …—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” This is why meditating on God’s truth is such a powerful and necessary discipline in our lives. Meditation is focused thinking on God’s truth, which is thinking on things above rather than things on earth. Like the old chorus says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” Help me to do this today, Jesus!