Strength of the Week: Daily Inspiration The Kingdom of God Is Within You

The Kingdom of God Is Within You

The Kingdom of God Is Within You

From the Introduction toThe Imitation of Christ.

You are holding in your hands a very powerful book. A book far more powerful than anything found in popular fiction, the kind that contains secret formulas for solving mysteries and makes you superior to all the disruptive forces in life. The difference is that, unlike these books from fiction with their imaginary powers, this is a book of real power, real mystery, and real victory.

The title is both terse and telling: The Imitation of Christ. It concerns a master and his disciple. The master is the greatest hero in our history, Jesus Christ, and each of us is the disciple. Jesus fought and overcame a foe that we contend with daily although we are so often unaware and unprepared. This foe is the evil one who comes under the cloak of discouragement, fear, envy, pride, laziness, and concupiscence.

Life is a mystery. We are all confronted by problems, we face challenges, and we endure sufferings. Sometimes these are more serious than at other times. These external forces may seem overwhelming, but most of our effort at discipleship is spent internally on the unseen struggles of our soul. And, how we deal with life’s bigger crosses often depends on how we cope day to day with our defects and our weaknesses, our duties and our disappointments, our reactions and our relationships. Daily trials, temptations, and tribulations need not confound us. In these we look to Jesus, and we try to model ourselves on him….

Is the style too passive for today’s Christians, who are expected to take responsibility for their faith? Is the language unfamiliar? Is the tone too stern and demanding for our contemporary worldview? It is a stronger challenge than we might expect, but is it really too much for a generation of “personal best-ers?” A good number of people today are in search of a challenge, not necessarily a competition, but a personal goal. The biking, running, climbing generation also deserves an inner challenge. The Imitation of Christ offers the personal goal that will motivate us to seek to grow in virtue and union with our Master Athlete, Jesus Christ our Lord. Approach reading The Imitation of Christ as a spiritual workout, taking small steps daily. The reward will be a firm faith, a total commitment to the following of Christ, and a love that surrounds and surpasses all this life sets before you.

— Mary Lea Hill, FSP

Excerpted from The Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis 
Interior Conversation

1. The kingdom of God is within you (cf. Lk17:21), says the Lord. Leave this miserable world and turn to the Lord with your whole heart, then your soul will find rest.

Learn to despise external things and give your full attention to what is internal, and you will see the kingdom of God come within you.

“The kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17), and it is not given to the wicked.

It is a certainty that Christ will come to you with his consolation, if you have prepared a worthy place for him within.

All his glory and beauty are within your heart. It is there that he delights.

He frequently visits within us, holds sweet conversation, delightfully consoles us, gives us much peace, and shares with us a great familiarity....

4. Why are you standing here looking all around? This is not your resting place. “Our citizenship is of heaven” (Phil 3:20), and we should view everything on earth as passing.

“All those things have vanished like a shadow” (Wis 5:9), and so will you, too, along with them.

Do not cling to them or you may be ensnared and perish.

Keep your thoughts on the Most High, and direct your prayer to Christ without ceasing.

If you don’t know how to meditate on high and heavenly things, dwell on the Passion of Christ, and willingly hide in his sacred wounds. If you focus devoutly on Christ’s wounds and his saving scars, you will have great consolation in tribulation. Being despised by others will not shake you, and you will be at ease before your detractors....

6. If you could just once enter perfectly into the heart of Jesus and experience a little of his ardent love, then you would not be so concerned about your own convenience or inconvenience. Instead you would rejoice when confronted, because the love of Jesus makes a person forget self.

A lover of Jesus and of the truth, a truly interior person, free from inordinate affections, can turn to God, transcend self, and enjoy a delightful rest....

Reflection

Learn to give little notice to exterior things. Instead prepare within your heart a permanent place for Jesus. This will identify you as a true Christian and let you adore God in a way worthy of his infinite majesty. You will even find yourself absorbed in God. At the same time it will allow a foretaste of the happiness you will possess in heaven.

Prayer

Most loving Savior, life of my soul, my hope and my salvation, come and take possession of my heart. Fill me with your love and with the virtues that you practiced during your life on earth. Come, live and reign in my heart and make it completely yours. Amen.

From Imitation of Christ published by Pauline Books and Media