我们所期盼的，是神的国。那么首先我们就会有这样一个问题：神的国在哪儿？主祷文中告诉我们说，神的国是降临下来的，因此，神的国在天上，而不是在地上。主耶稣也说：“我的国不属这世界，我的国若属这世界，我的臣仆必要争战，使我不至于被交给犹太人，只是我的国不属这世界。……你说我是王：我为此而生，也为此来到世间，特为给真理作见证；凡属真理的人，就听我的话。”（约18：36、37）Paul也说：“不要效法这个世界”（罗12：2），地上的国是撒旦的国，全世界都伏在恶者的手下，这世界也充满了混乱、仇恨、纷争、嫉妒、痛苦、黑暗与罪恶。神的国不能建立在这个败坏的土地上，这个地必须毁灭。神的国从天降临，则是新天新地。

国家是一个政权的范围，因此神的国也就是神权统治的地方。人类背叛神、离弃神、不认识神、拒绝神；神的国就不在人类中间，因为神权不能在人类中伸张。而当人类肯转向神的时候，当福音传遍地极，得救数目满足的时候，主就要亲自降临，实现他的国度。因此，当我们祷告说：“愿你的国降临”的时候，这不仅仅是一个盼望，不仅仅是我们羡慕主的显现，更是我们每一个基督徒的责任，加紧传扬救恩的工作，迫切为罪人的灵魂祷告，使神的国早日降临。

神的国虽然还没有降临，但却是永远存在的，从永远到永远的。“耶和华阿！你一切所造的，都要称谢你，你的圣民，也要称颂你，传说你国的荣耀，谈论你的大能；好叫世人知道你大能的作为，并你国度威严的荣耀。你的国是永远的国，你执掌的权柄，存到万代。”（诗145：10－13）

神的国既是永永远远的，我们这血肉之体，就不能承受神的国，因为“必朽坏的不能承受不朽坏的”（林前15：50）。而主耶稣死在十字架上，是为赎我们的罪，用他的宝血洗净我们，是我们出黑暗入那奇妙光明中；他的复活也是为我们称义，使我们能藉着他复活的大能得胜死亡，变成不朽坏的，好承受那不朽坏的国度。

有了这个荣耀的盼望以后，我们便更能忍受世上的苦难逼迫，病痛死亡。因为我们知道，“我们这至暂至轻的苦楚，要为我们成就极重无比永远的荣耀。原来我们不是顾念所见的，乃是顾念所不见的；因为所见的是暂时的，所不见的是永远的。”（林后4：17、18）

当法利赛人问神的国几时来到，耶稣回答说：“神的国来到不是眼所能见的。人也不得说，‘看哪，在这里！看哪，在那里！’因为神的国就在你们心里。”（路17：20、21）

神的国就在我们心里，只有谦卑悔改，接受耶稣为救主的人，才能重生，进入神的国――这是唯一的门径、唯一的方法、唯一的资格。神权所能及的地方，就是神的国。如果神不在我们的心中作王，如果神的权柄不能首先在我们身上作主的话，我们仍然没有生活在神的国里，我们求主让他的国降临在这地上，那就先求他的国降临在我们心中吧！正像John所祷告的：“阿们！主耶稣啊！我愿你来！”（启22：20）

..Awake in the morning, and the first thing you do, thank God for it, even if you don't feel particularly happy about the day which is to come. … Come to God again with two convictions. The one is that you are God's own, and the other is that this day is also God's own; it is absolutely new, absolutely fresh. … This day is blessed by God, it is God's own, and now let us go into it. You walk in this day as God's own messenger; whomever you meet, you meet in God's own way.

--Anthony Bloom

By John Fischer

One of the prerequisites for being a servant of God is to think like a servant. This would be fine if it wasn't so impossible. We are all naturally wired to think only of ourselves.

Learning to give preference to others is one of the true marks of a Christian because it is so contrary to human nature. That's why desiring it comes from God, and doing it comes through the Holy Spirit.

Paul said of Timothy: “I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares for your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:20-21 NLT).

Hidden in these verses is the secret to making an attitude of servanthood become a part of your thinking. It starts with Jesus. When you fall in love with Jesus, you focus on Him and worship Him. As you do this, you find out about Him -- you get to know Him as you would a friend -- and soon you come to know what matters to Him, until finally, you start to realize that what matters to Him, matters to you. This is not just a factor of familiarity, either. There is a supernatural element at work here as well. What matters to Jesus connects with the Holy Spirit in you, and the Spirit answers from deep inside you to the call of truth.

Other people mattered deeply to Jesus. He could read their hurt and pain. Scripture says He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Well where did that grief and sorrow come from if it didn't come from the suffering of people around Him? In other words, He was bearing their grief and carrying their sorrow. Once a woman touched him in a desperate need to be healed, and He could feel the compassionate power go from Him even though He didn't see who touched Him in the press of the crowd. He was that sensitive to the needs of those around Him.

So if you're struggling with having a servant's heart, get closer to Jesus. Ask Him to help you see people through His eyes. Ask God to move your heart with the same things that move the heart of Jesus, and then be ready to act on what you find out. And don't forget to keep falling in love with the life of Christ as recorded in the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), because that is how you come to learn what moved Him.