Flowing Rivulets

There have been times when the Kingdom of God has made itself know in our midst like a mighty tsunami that changed the landscape forever.  When Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, He likened it to simple ordinary things which moved in inches.  Like a tiny mustard seed is the Kingdom.  At other times He spoke of it as something hidden such as a treasure in a field.  In contrast to these images there is the Day of Pentecost when the Kingdom of God poured upon the earth and into the hearts of people in such a way as to literally change the world.  There have also been other dramatic and powerful movements of the Spirit through revivals such as the Great Awakening, or through the persuasive ministry of some of the spiritual giants who have stood revealing a Kingdom powerfully advancing.   

Still another way to think about the Kingdom is to image a pool of water that is spilling over not in a torrent, but as a hundred rivulets of water slowly moving away from its source.  Such has been the history of the spiritual community known as the church.  What started with the twelve called to be disciples and Apostles has steadily grown in numbers as the message of Jesus went forth from Jerusalem to the churches of Asia Minor to Rome and to the rest of the world.  Steadily it has grown and gone.  If something appeared as a barrier, the Spirit pushed and created another channel for it to flow.  

The Kingdom of God invisible to some and powerfully present to others has prevailed into the present moment and though some speak of its demise, it is of God and will prevail in the the form He has designed for it. Today it is not the twelve who advance the Kingdom, but millions of folks like us whose lives have been radically transformed by an encounter with the living Christ.  Because of that encounter, we are not the same and the places where we move as a modern rivulet of living water can never be same as well