Faithful on Fridays Blog

When I’m baking around my grandchildren a question often heard question is, “Can I have a taste?” They’re not asking for a full piece yet, only a sample of the final product. That’s the same idea in God’s kingdom: a foretaste. We’re not experiencing the fullness of God’s reign here on earth, not yet, but it’s coming and we have the privilege as His children to experience a taste, a portion of that kingdom rule now.

You may be wondering what a taste of that kingdom looks like in your life. Good question. Let’s go back to the beginning of God’s creation and see what it looked like before sin. Since God is all about relationship with mankind I wondered what He said to them first. Gen. 1:26 tells us that He spoke a blessing and instructed them to be fruitful and multiply. The first thing He did was empower them to complete their assignment. The blessing from the God of Heaven was empowerment. Paul picked up on that truth in the New Testament:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:3 ESV)

It’s true, we only have a taste of every spiritual blessing from heaven now but I wonder how many you are experiencing? Here’s a taste:

Redemption– Jesus paid the price for your sin.
New Creation– you’re not the same person you were; you’re new in Christ.
Holy Spirit empowerment– you can now be controlled by the Holy Spirit and not your flesh.
Forgiveness– through repentance you are forgiven every day.
Grace– Jesus lavishes His love and favor on us even when we don’t deserve it.
Face to face contact– we connect with God through worship, prayer, and intimacy.
Victory– you now have the power to triumph over the devil’s schemes in your life.
Position– Christ has given us a sampling of being seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6).

Whenever we connect with God in any of these ways it’s as if heaven is reaching down, literally touching earth for our benefit. It’s imperative that we grow in our understanding of these heavenly things:

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (John 3:12 ESV)

I desire God to explain ‘heavenly things’ to me so I can be a more effective Bible teacher, a better wife, mother, and grandmother, sister, or friend. The God of Heaven desires to rule in our lives now as a foretaste of His eternal kingdom reign when He returns. He has already blessed you with every spiritual blessing from heaven, all that you need to be fruitful and multiply. I think that’s what Jesus meant when He told His disciples to pray for His kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven. “Jesus, can I have a taste?”