The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm.’”

—John 18:36

Many people—both in Jesus’s time and now—reject Jesus because they want his kingdom to be of this world. It’s human nature.

We want victory over all the broken systems, the injustice, and the suffering now. We want to see the cruel governments, the wicked leaders, and the oppressive organizations fall.

We would be happy to pick up our swords and defeat our enemies rather than loving them.

But God’s kingdom is not of this realm. That’s why we still have tribulation though he has overcome this world (John 16:33).

Through the Holy Spirit, our inner man is free from the fear of death and this world’s trappings and temptations (Romans 6:18; Romans 8:2; Hebrews 2:14–15), though our outer man is still subject to the powers of this world (Matthew 22:21; Romans 13:1), wicked though they may be.

Our kingdom is not here, and our hope is not here.

Our Lord is preparing a place for us (John 14:2), and once we arrive there, we will recognize that this world’s kingdoms were always as ephemeral as our childhood imaginings.

When we’ve built our foundation of hope on him (Luke 6:46–49), anything of this world can be shaken and our faith will remain intact, because our hope is in the eternal, invisible kingdom not made by human hands (Acts 7:48).

May we never turn away or lose hope because our kingdom in this world is crumbling.

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