Tales of a mustard seed – taking our place as activators in The Kingdom of God

30 Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus teaching on Prayer

It began when Holy Spirit showed me a mustard seed and asked me to paint it.  My research has led me to several beautiful images and as I paint so is my meditation.  I sense life, I feel inspired and excited.  I know it is a season of revelation with wisdom that Father is unfolding to me in which he is also revealing new Kingdom assignments.   Walking to my early morning swim, I heard Holy Spirit say, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on each as it is in heaven.”  (Incidentally I’m sooo enjoying the dawn, birds singing and busy, skies opening, inviting us into light and colour, so fresh, so clear.)

How does His Kingdom come?  Sometimes it seems we pray this prayer and wait for God to dispense or deposit ‘the answer.’  Yet the Kingdom came with the Presence of Jesus, and He dwells in us by His Spirit.  As we live in intimacy with Jesus, His Presence in us overflows, Christ ‘as us’ onto the earth, into those we meet.  The presence of Jesus in us is also His anointing which is unique to each person. In what ways does God reveal what His Kingdom looks like in heaven – that we may pull it down on earth?

He reveals His Kingdom in many ways, and clearly in the example of Jesus it begins in a posture of prayer

How then does this shape the way we pray?

Paul is practising this, talking to the Greeks about Jesus and the Kingdom of God.  He effectively preaches the words of Jesus who said “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Mark 1:15)

Acts 17:27-28   27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.

As I swam I talked to Father about this.  “What does it look like for me to live this way “In Him we live and move and have our being?” He said, “My anointing is like the water around you.  It enfolds you, holds you, keeps you by its very nature;  so it is in my presence, I am the anointed one.”  As I rest in him, I am held, just as in the water I can simply rest and I will float. As I move I move towards the direction I set myself, breast stroke – forwards, backstroke – backwards!  I love that even a baby can move in water.  As adults we can also ask Holy Spirit to train us, so that as we receive Kingdom assignments, we can move with vision and purpose in the direction He shows us.

Wow! This then has no striving in it, so there’s no space or vocabulary in heaven for ‘coping’ with stuff then.  I was quickly applying this to myself as I’d had a bad night with menopause symptoms, intense frequent change of temperature, hot flushes, sleep deprivation.  I’ve been walking this journey for many years and talking with Father about it, receiving his comfort, insight, wisdom and help in this season.  I repented of ‘coping’ rather than living and moving and having my being in Him in relation to these issues.  

Are there areas in your life where you fall into ‘striving’ and ‘coping?’ Bring those things to Father and ask Him to speak to you about how He sees them.

I thought about the many books that have been written about Christ Centred Childbirth and about my own experience of this as a birth partner with my daughter.  In the birth of her son, Holy Spirit specifically led her and us as we prayed and I witnessed the answers to prayer.  So as Jesus cares and intervenes on our behalf in childbirth then why not menopause?I remembered times when as I slept, Jesus has taken me in my Spirit into the heavenly realms to worship, with others and angels worshipping.  At first it felt as if I was dreaming, however they are truly incredible times where i’ve been able to interact and He has shown me, ‘how it is in heaven.’  These times have transformed my worship on earth and my passion to worship Him.

So I determined, that very night as I experienced the menopause symptoms I would intentionally ‘rest in Him, as I did in the water and apply this scripture, In Him, I live and move and have my being, rather than an attitude of coping.  So I did.  As my temperature raged and my body reacted, I lay resting in him.  I had a tangible awareness of Jesus holding me as I rested and I fell asleep.  Sometime later another episode, I rested in Him.   When the alarm went off I didn’t feel exhausted, rather a sense of energy and expectation, overflowing life.

As I swam, I was thanking Him for this change when I remembered how God encountered me in a similar way.  I wrote a blog post, “I sing for Joy at the works of His Hands” last October in response to this.  Here is an excerpt.

“Father God’s presence was so close, and I was surprised when He asked me “Where do you want me to take you? we can go anywhere.” As I thought “to the ocean” we were there, vast, blue green depths before me, deep blue cloudless sky above, I felt the warmth of the sun that caused me to close my eyes with its brightness.  I was aware I felt fearful about what creatures might be in the water, and without a word, Papa picked me up and walked into the ocean.  I was floating, his arm supported me, the water was gentle and warm and as I relaxed into it I was surrounded by His Peace.  I was safe.  His quiet words, “my love for you is as vast, as deep as wide as the ocean.”  “Be held, rest, there’s no effort.”  I tilted my head upward to His eyes and met a powerful sense of love, safety, longing, mischief and joy, “We are together, we can play here anytime, the oceans are mine, I made them, I know them, I’ll hold you and keep you safe.”  I had an impression of the bigness of God.  I knew that he could stand here close to the edge, but that if we went far into the distance, he could still stand, that he could carry me from one side of this ocean to the other.  It was here as I lay still and quiet the lies left, the shame melted away, it was a moment but generations of life changed and transformed.   I felt loved, at home, provided for, you are strong.

I was reminded that while His anointing like water empowers, holds, enfolds and immerses me, Jesus is with me.  His anointing flows from His Presence.  That night as the symptoms came I relaxed into the water, metaphorically speaking felt His arm and slept deeply, when I woke it was daylight and I had missed my alarm and my early morning swim!

One of my favourite things about being in relationship with Jesus is, there’s always more. He always wants to reveal more of who He is, more of His Ways and how to live with Him in them.  I love that Holy Spirt is the teacher within us and I love the care of Our Father who walks us in his ways at a personal level empowering us and releasing more of His Authority so that together we can pray and live “Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”So what about you?  I’d love to hear about your journey in prayer and The Kingdom.Ephesians 2: 6   For God raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus

What expectation do you have that God himself wants to show us the exceeding riches of His Kingdom in heaven, so that we might be activators on earth through which the Kingdom comes?

Start your own conversation with Father about these things and ask Him what He wants to say and reveal to you.

Ask Him to show you what The Kingdom of Heaven looks like in a certain aspect – as I did in worship.  Be prepared to let Him show you it may well be that to ‘see’ is to go beyond the extent of your understanding and vision.


The City Harmonic – Manifesto, Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/o_6JQDsbtlM