The Kingdom of God is not a kingdom of fear

The Kingdom of God Is Not a Kingdom of Fear

The fruit of a ministry should reflect the nature of the Kingdom it represents. The way someone communicates to God’s children and the messages they consistently give should reflect God’s nature and His heart. Romans 14:17 says, “the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

That should cause us to pay attention to the fruit being produced by the messages we are receiving.

Sadly, there are ministries that have built entire platforms on scaring and condemning Christians. Believers are left afraid God is angry with them, afraid He is about to punish them, afraid they have opened a door to the enemy, afraid they have lost their salvation, afraid they haven’t repented enough, surrendered enough, prayed enough, or performed enough.

And eventually, people can become more conscious of themselves and their failures than they are of Jesus and His sufficiency.

They are constantly asking: Am I okay with God? Did I do something wrong? Did I repent correctly? Did I open a door? Is God trying to teach me a lesson? Is this happening because I sinned? Have I done enough?

That is not rest. That is not assurance. That is not the fruit of knowing that you have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the clearest picture we have of the Father. So how do we see Him ministering to people?

Jesus certainly spoke truth. He corrected people. He confronted unbelief, hypocrisy, and sin. But He never presented the Father as someone His children needed to live terrified of. He revealed a Father who seeks, receives, restores, provides, heals, forgives, and loves.

Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

So when you came to Christ, you did not come home to a mob boss who is going to cut you off if you don’t toe the line. You came home to a Father. A Father who loves you, has compassion on you, and has good things for you.

You weren't brought into God's family to spend the rest of your life wondering whether one wrong move will get you thrown back out.

That doesn't mean sin doesn't matter. It doesn't mean there is no correction, discipleship, or growth. It means those things happen within the security of relationship with your Father, not as conditions for earning or maintaining His love.

There is a tremendous difference between being corrected as a beloved child and being threatened as though you could become an abandoned one.

So pay attention to what people are saying to you and calling it ministry. Pay attention to what their message consistently causes you to look at.

Are they continually pointing you to Jesus?

Are they establishing you in righteousness, peace, joy, love, confidence in the sufficiency of Christ, and the goodness of God? Are you becoming more conscious of what Jesus accomplished or increasingly obsessed with whether you've done enough?

Are you being pointed toward Christ or continually back toward yourself?

Because if every message leaves you condemned, ashamed, confused, frightened, and obsessively examining yourself to determine whether you are safe with God, something is wrong with the picture of God being presented to you.

Why would your Father send someone to terrify His child into believing He might abandon them?

Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). He also said His sheep “will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:5).

The more clearly you see Jesus, the easier it becomes to recognize voices that don't sound like Him.

The more secure you become in your Father's love, the easier it becomes to recognize messages that portray Him as unstable or withholding.

The more established you become in the finished work of Jesus, the easier it becomes to recognize messages that put you back on a performance treadmill.

Know His voice by knowing His heart.

Look at Jesus.

He is the clearest revelation of the Father we have.

And when you know what your Father is actually like, you don't have to be controlled by every person who claims to speak for Him.

The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. God is not in the business of scaring His kids, and those who speak in His name shouldn't be either.