In May of 2023 Rick Joyner had a stroke. He said that while he was in the hospital, ‘giving thanks for all things’ and recovering, the Lord spoke to him and said, “You are not to lead people to a place, but to a state of mind. The kingdom of God is within you.” I have thought about this statement and the implications a good deal since I read it over a year ago. To go deeper we will look at more of the context.
20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20–21 (NKJV)
There is another related statement to look at before we drill down a bit on the above verses.
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17 (NKJV)
We can see that there are two important pieces in the Luke verses. Jesus said the kingdom of God “does not come with observation,” that is we don’t see it by looking around. The other point Jesus made was that “the kingdom of God is within you.” Paul said in Romans that the kingdom is “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” In other words, a state of mind.
Now to look at what this means for us. The Pharisees were committed to the scriptures and looking for the Messiah. They were looking for signs or indicators. What they failed to do was open their hearts. A great example is in Luke 5.
17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Luke 5:17 (NKJV)
Jesus was there and His power was present to heal, including the Pharisees and teachers of the law, yet while others were healed, they weren’t. They observed the external signs, the healings and miracles yet even though the kingdom was being manifest right in front of them they failed to see it. They were observing but not seeing! Jesus was trying to lead them to a state of mind and draw them into ‘righteousness, peace and joy.’ He wanted to heal their hard hearts, but because they refused to open their hearts to Him, they never received what Jesus had to offer and they retained their hard hearts.
For us, Jesus the king is present, thus His kingdom is present. So, when our hearts are attuned to His presence, we come to a state of mind where we experience His ‘righteousness, peace and joy’ and can worship in spirit and truth. While we have the opportunity let’s open our hearts to His presence so we can embrace the kingdom afresh!
