'INVENTING ANNA' AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
‘INVENTING ANNA’ AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
I just finished binge watching the new Shonda Rhimes Netflix series- ‘Inventing Anna’. It was just released this February. I loved it! It was well scripted and well acted and well filmed. Ahhh! Have you watched it or heard about it?
It is a Netflix series that is based on the story of Anna Delvey. A young Russian-German immigrant who lives in New York City. Out of sheer hutzpah (aka audacious bravado!), she manages to get pre-approved for a multi-million dollar loan and almost secures the property lease rights to one of Manhattan’s most exclusive properties! And all of this is accomplished without her having one red cent to her name!
How was Anna able to con and defraud so many supposedly savvy New York City investors?
You can blame her success on the world’s obsession with STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE!
What Anna found out is that if you wear the right clothes, go to the right restaurants and party with the right people, you can fool supposedly ‘intelligent’ people. If you look like an heiress and talk like an heiress and behave like an heiress, then some people assume that you are, in fact, an heiress!
What does Anna Delvey’s story have to do with discipleship? Just this. Her story highlights a fatal flaw in how we, as human beings, assess people and situations. The world values style over substance. And because we do, we often don't recognise when God is at work in our lives!
You are doomed to despair, disappointment and failure if you value style over substance and appearance over reality! Stop doing this!
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A KINGDOM LIFE?
Everyone has a story and everyone has a purpose in the kingdom of God.
§ A murderer.
§ A prostitute.
§ A pagan.
§ An adulterer.
§ A prisoner.
Definitely NO style here! But don't let your past or your present circumstances define you. God doesn't!
Moses, Rahab, Ruth, David and Joseph are biblical heroes. But each one of them had less than perfect life stories. Still, God chose each one of them for their integrity and their faithfulness. God overlooked their lack of style (aka social desirability).
§ Moses the murderer.
§ Rahab the prostitute.
§ Ruth the pagan.
§ David the adulterer.
§ Joseph the prisoner.
So don't worry if you are not one of the 'it' people and don't become distracted trying to become one either. God sees the real you!
KINGDOM ASSIGNMENT- LIVING ON PURPOSE
We are each given a kingdom assignment. Do you know what your assignment is? What is that particular thing that God has sent you here to do? On the topic of living within your kingdom assignment, Jesus gave us a good model to follow.
§ First, He had a sense of PURPOSE. He told His disciples that He was here to do His Father's will.
§ Second, He COMPLETED His assignment. "It is finished" He said.
§ And third, Jesus tells us that our Father is waiting to tell us 'WELL DONE!'. Just as the profitable servant was told 'well done' by his master.
Live on purpose- be the you God wants you to be!
ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THE ‘KINGDOM OF GOD’ IS?
Do we understand what Christ meant when He talked about the ‘kingdom of God? Here’s a clue- it is NOT what Luke described in Luke 17:21!
Christ defined the ‘kingdom of God’ in the LORD’S Prayer in Matthew 6:10. And, in Matthew 25:31-46, He gave us some real life examples of the behaviours that prove that we are kingdom-oriented believers.
Our membership in the ‘kingdom of God’ is not meant to be a retreat from the world! The kingdom of God does NOT lie within us. It is NOT a state of piety! The kingdom of God requires believers to live lives of SUBSTANCE! It requires the collective efforts of all believers to transform our world into a better place. We are not supposed to become distracted by the superficialities of life.
And God promises to BLESS US if we do this! Remember Matthew 6:19-34 (KJV, emphasis mine)? As you read this passage, remember that a ‘gentile’ in the Bible doesn't always mean a non-Jew. The proper translation of the word ‘gentile’ in the Bible is- an ‘UNBELIEVER’! Remember this definition as you read verse 32 and 33. If you believe in God, then concentrate your efforts on building His earthly kingdom.
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 NO MAN CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. YE CANNOT SERVE GOD AND MAMMON.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the GENTILES seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have NEED OF ALL THESE THINGS.
33 BUT SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and his righteousness; and ALL these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Amen!
You and I are the members of God's earthly kingdom. We are the 'people of God' (1 Peter 2:9-10). So, if we, as believers, are not actively making a positive difference on this earth, then who is supposed to be doing this? The non-believer? The gentile?
Don’t get distracted by the parties or the clothes or the ‘in’ crowd or any of life's superficialities. Focus on living a life of substance instead!
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‘HARVEST TIME Prophecies’ is the blog post site of TNG Academy. Our blog post site gets its name from Matthew 13:30- the separation of wheat and tares that occurs at harvest time (i.e. the endtimes). Remember, the ‘wheat’ symbolises the things of God and the ‘tares’ symbolise the things of the devil.
The purpose of this blog is threefold.
1. Some of the posts are written to help the reader develop a deeper understanding of the theology of Christ’s core message- i.e. the ‘gospel of the kingdom’.
2. Some of the posts are written for the reader’s personal discipleship journey. We need to understand what God expects from us. After all, all believers should be on a journey of ‘becoming’ our best selves, capable of impacting and changing the world!
3. Finally, some of the posts are written to answer this question:
What would our faith look like today IF we had fully embraced Christ’s doctrines, as recorded by His Apostles, and rejected the doctrines of Paul and the other false apostles?
If we are sincere about our desire to restore Christianity to its roots, i.e. a return to Christ’s original message, then we must start by admitting that ‘while men slept’ (Matthew 13:25) the enemy planted false teachings (tares) into the New Testament!
Visit our website- WWW.TNGACADEMY.ORG, to see our Bible study books. Which books would I recommend for you to read first? Start with these three-
- WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
- MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN!
- THE APOSTOLIC SCRIPTURES.
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