What Difference Does the Reality of the Kingdom Make in My Life? | He Does for Me What I Cannot Do for Myself

by Bob Hamp

Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
Matthew 20:27–28

He walked into the office and waited his turn. The man he came to see had was a world-renowned dentist in great demand—known for his ability to repair and restore very difficult cases. When he was finally called into the treatment room and the exam was completed, the hygienist came in to give him the news. His mouth was in great shape. He had no cavities, and his gums were healthy; a simple cleaning was all he needed. His dental hygiene was great. But he left the office and never got to meet this renowned dentist. 

We all live with the weighty realization that we’ve been created to bring glory to God. Our lives are intended to glorify the One who created all things. All too often however, we shoulder the very burden that God intends to carry for us. In doing this, we glorify ourselves and not God. Showing Him our skills and strengths does not glorify Him. Bringing Him our needs and our weaknesses gives Him the opportunity to demonstrate His nature.

If God were a taskmaster, we would glorify Him by our work. If He were an employer, we would glorify Him by our service. God, however, introduces Himself as a father, a healer, a redeemer and one who binds up the brokenhearted. We glorify God by needing Him. We glorify Him by presenting openly to Him our need for healing and redemption. If you have taken care of all these things yourself, you may actually be glorifying yourself and not Him.

Jesus did not come searching for those who did a good job of managing their lives so that he could present them as trophies of man’s success to His Father. He came for the wounded, the brokenhearted, the captive and the blind. He can present people like this as trophies of His success and evidence of His goodness, rather than man’s capabilities.

1.  What is it you most want to present to God—your success stories or your needs?

2.  In what area have you been trying to do for God something that He may actually want to do for you?

3.  Have you ever known someone who seemed to have it all together who you later discovered was really struggling?

What Difference Does the Reality of the Kingdom Make in My Life? | I Become Who I Am

by Bob Hamp

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:27

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.
Colossians 1:28–29

My friend was raised by his mother and never met his father. He was a jazz-guitar player with an intuitively brilliant mind in the area of technology and media. When God’s call came, Yuri made his way from the beaches and nightclubs of Hawaii to the mainland and got involved in the business of Christian media. Eventually, he found out that his real father wanted to meet him. In their brief visit, he began to learn who this man was and what his life had been about. He learned that his father was a jazz-guitar player with an intuitively brilliant mind in the area of technology and media. Although my friend grew up not knowing his father, there were key aspects of his father’s personality that were reflected in him. 

You were created in the image of God; the eternal and infinite God. Deposited in you is the seed of God’s image. Carried down through the generations of your family, God has deposited in you the unique and specific aspect of His nature that you were designed to carry. It is His plan to bring to life the seed He planted in you when He placed you in your mother’s womb. What this means is that when you return to God, you return to the source of who you are.

Out of the blue, Zaccheus, a greedy and self-centered man, stood up and declared the change in his life. He was going to give away his money to people he had stolen from. Suddenly he was selfless and generous. What happened? Jesus explained it, “The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.” What was lost? The man that Zaccheus was created to be had been lost. Jesus found that man and restored him to who he was created to be.

God didn't come to earth to tell you to stop being yourself. He came to show you who you really are and then help you become that person. Life and history, what you think and how you feel, all these things may try to tell you who you are. Jesus knows exactly who you are. When you surrender to Jesus and allow Him to heal you, you become who you are. When the kingdom of God comes near, you become who you are … and God likes it.

1.  What do you wish were true about yourself?

2.  What do you wish were not true about yourself?

3.  Have you ever thought that God wished you were somebody else?