Steps to Nurturing the Kingdom of God in My Heart

Nurture: to care for and encourage the growth or development of

Knowing I had to prepare to leave for a writers’ conference, I rushed through the devotionals I use during my daily quiet time. Our Daily Bread, check. Daily Guideposts, check. Mornings with Jesus, check. On to the “Faith Step” in the latter, then get busy with my day.

“List ways you care for the things most precious to you.” Easy. My family—husband, children, grandchildren—mean more to me than any material thing. I listed “spend time with them; serve them to ease their day-to-day lives; love them.”

But then I read the second part of the Faith Step: “Apply some of those to nurturing the Kingdom of God in your heart today.”

I immediately thought, “What does it mean to nurture the Kingdom of God in my heart?” I assumed a hurried devotional time didn’t cut it. One definition considers the Kingdom of God a depiction of the relationship between God and humankind. Maybe I could nurture it in a way similar to how I nurture my family.

Steps to Nurturing: Spend Time with Them

“Mama, can you stop on your way down to Grandma’s for a cup of tea?” Faith used to message me with this question often. At that time, my trips to my mom’s to help her with various tasks took me right past Faith’s home, but our visit would last over a half hour, meaning I needed to leave a half hour earlier. With the dog to walk, emails to check, and dishes to do before I left, I wanted to say no. But I didn’t. Those days of shared cups of tea would end too soon. That daughter now lives six hours away.

“Sure. I’ll only have a half hour, though.” I knew as I said it that I would allow an hour minimum because a half hour would fly by before we got the tea made! Emails could wait, dishes could be done later, and the dog’s walk could be hurried. I chose to spend time with our daughter.

Steps to Nurturing: Spend Time with Him

What would happen if I considered the time spent with God during my morning quiet time in the same light as time with my family? I cherished it, watched for it, made space in my days for it. Doesn’t God want me to cherish my time with Him? To get excited to talk with Him? To make time for Him?

Of the 100-plus times the word “delight” is found in Scripture, sixty of them reference our relationship with God.

• “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4 NKJV).
• “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2 NKJV).
• “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments” (Psalm 112:1 NKJV).

To delight myself in God and His Word became a way to cherish Him. Each time I read a devotion or do a Bible study, I underline the Scriptures used in them. I get excited seeing whole passages underlined. Dates in the margin show the passage of time spent with my Jesus.

“Cherish my time with Him.” Check! “Get excited to talk with Him.” Check!

But “make time for Him.” Hmmm …

That one challenged me. My mornings begin at 5 a.m. to make my husband’s lunch and tea and tend to the dog. Add my new activities of sending “good morning” greetings via Messenger and responding to the messages, my daily quiet time has gotten extended and often feels hurried. I’ve found myself distracted and not truly spending that time with God.

I decided I’d get up earlier, with time for my devotions before doing other things. Getting up at 4 a.m. works for me, but my husband likes that extra hour of sleep. I prayed God would just wake me.

When you pray for something to nurture God’s Kingdom, He hears and answers. The first morning after I prayed that prayer, I awoke at exactly four o’clock.

Psalm 143:8 says, “Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You.”

“Make time for Him.” Check.

Steps to Nurturing: Serve Them

“Mama, when I go back to work, will you watch the baby for us? I would need to leave by 6:15 a.m. and should be home by 6:00 p.m.” I had expected Holly’s request a few years ago but not the long hours. With our newly emptied nest, I had begun to enjoy leisure time in the mornings, unhurried walks with our dog, hours to work on my writing. Babysitting would cut into that time.

However, I knew Holly didn’t want to go back to work. Her desire to stay home and raise a family began before she graduated. Today’s high living costs made an extra income necessary. I could ease her pain by agreeing to do this for them. Not the perfect empty-nest life I’d come to enjoy, but for our daughters, any sacrifice came first.

Steps to Nurturing: Serve Him

What ways could I help God and serve His people with as much love as I do for my family? I sacrifice time, energy, and resources. Nothing keeps me from finding ways to show them my love. Could I do the same for Jesus?

During the three years of His earth-bound service, Jesus walked among the people, talked with them, healed their bodies, soothed their hurts, taught them about His Father in heaven, and ultimately sacrificed His life for their souls. When He said, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also” (John 12:26 NKJV), He wanted His disciples and all people to realize that following Him meant serving as He did.

When I make a meal for a sick church member or volunteer at a senior care facility, when I’ve taught in children’s church about the stories of Jesus and His love, I’ve served Jesus. When I write devotionals for our friends and family to lead them to seek God and His Kingdom, that’s serving Jesus.

Serving others takes time, commitment, material possessions, and often my heart. I become the “living sacrifice” from Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

And I’m glad. “Serve the Lord with gladness; come before His presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2 NKJV).

Steps to Nurturing: Love Them

“I love you, Rosemary.” Our then three-year-old granddaughter enjoyed the little game I started when my husband and I dated.

“I love you two!” Her eyes twinkled, expecting my reply.

“I love you three!”

“I love you four-ever!” Her squeal accompanied a giant hug. Ah, the love between a grandmother and her grandchildren, something I’d waited a long time to experience. Our word game was one of many ways I showed my love to her.

Every opportunity I get, I love on our children and grandchildren. I surprise them with gifts—a bouquet when a daughter feels down, a balloon to make a grandson giggle, a chapter book to read to a grandchild. I love them.

At home, I start early to make my husband’s lunch, as I’ve done for 40 years. I wash, dry, fold, and put away his clothes. I buy gift certificates to his favorite bowling alley. I love him.

Do I think long about these things, making sure I have time and money and emotional stability? No. I give my love to these, my most precious “things” with no thought of myself.

Steps to Nurturing: Love Him

How do I show God how much I love Him? Do I give it forethought? Do I say, “I love You, God,” in a flippant way and go about my business?

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV). In other words, Jesus wants me to love Him first with all I am and all I have. Then, He wants me to love His people with the same unconditional love He shows me.

When I spend time reading about Him and talking to Him, when I serve Him in my work and my leisure, when I love my family and my neighbors, I love Him. I can imagine His face as He smiles and says, “I love you four-ever.”

“Love Him.” Check.

And with that relationship intact and nurtured, I add a gold brick to the Kingdom of God in my heart.

Steps to Nurturing: Your Turn!

How will you nurture your relationship with Jesus today? Reply with your thoughts in the comments below.