nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 17:21 NKJV
If you are a seeker like I am, every once in a while, you come across a piece of Scripture that feels different from the rest. I seem to find those verses often—the ones that carry a deeper layer of meaning. These are the Scriptures I pause on, break apart, sit with, and seek to understand so I can write about what they reveal to me personally.
Over the years, I can clearly see how my understanding of Scripture has changed. Much like the seasons in nature, my perspective continues to shift and bring fresh insight. As I keep seeking the Lord, certain passages stand out in new ways, and I find myself embracing truths I may not have seen before. This growth has brought me to where I am today in my understanding of Luke 17:21. It is part of the human spiritual journey and closely mirrors the cycle of seasons.
In life, we often begin in a state of spiritual slumber—much like winter. Spring follows with growth, awakening new perceptions and learning. Summer represents maturity, when what we have learned becomes rich, ripe, and fully lived. Then comes fall, a season of letting go—releasing what once served us to make room for what is new. While pieces of the past may remain, they are transformed as we step into a deeper way of receiving and believing. This is the cycle of growth. This is the rhythm of the journey.
The more I have focused on this piece of scripture about heaven I believe the Lord has opened a new door of learning for me. I believe that it is not necessarily about the knowledge but about how to receive and live from what the Bible teaches us.
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV
I have come to realize in this season of my life that the Kingdom of Heaven truly is within. God created us with everything we need to sustain life and to prepare us for eternity. While we are here, Scripture calls us to work with all our might—but this work is not the labor of the world. It is the inner work of becoming more like Christ. Each day we knock and seek, God opens more of Himself to us. He is drawn to those who love Him and long for an intimate relationship with Him. Jesus taught that heaven is not somewhere we strive to reach externally—it is something alive within us. As we awaken to what has always been in the heart of the believer, we grow in insight and transformation, gradually embodying the Kingdom of Heaven within.
Jesus was the perfect pattern, demonstrating the Kingdom of Heaven within so that we could experience the same life He lived on earth. We are called to follow the Way He brought to the world, a path that sets us free and shows what life through Him truly looks like. While we always have free will, His death ushered in a new age, healing and purifying us physically and emotionally, and reconciling us to the Father so we could begin our true ministry here on earth. Life on earth can be seen as a classroom, where each day we learn, grow, and draw closer to God. The closer we come to Him, the more we are transformed into His likeness.
Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
Mark 1:12-13 NKJV
Jesus officially began His ministry after forty days in the wilderness of fasting and temptation. These passages reveal a deeper significance of both the wilderness and the fast. I believe God was preparing Jesus for His unique role, setting Him apart from others. While the first Adam failed, the second Adam would not. I wonder if this forty-day period removed all earthly attributes from Christ—false self, ego, identity, and more—allowing Him to overcome the systems of the world and strengthen His calling.
This experience also serves as an example for us. As followers of Christ, we are called to live separate from the ways of the world. Since Jesus is our pattern and we are to reflect His image, this story carries profound lessons. When we fast, we surrender in order to gain clarity, direction, and freedom from paths that lead to dead ends. None of this can be done alone; we rely wholly on God. Though Jesus was physically alone, God was within Him—God was Him. Likewise, we are never truly alone. To connect with God and live from the Kingdom within, we must let go of earthly ways. Without God, the Kingdom cannot thrive. Through fasting and surrender, Jesus showed us what it looks like to remember who we truly are and to live fully from the heart of God.
Learning to operate from heaven calls us to examine who we truly are. At some point, we all reach a crossroads where we must begin the inward search, asking ourselves the important questions instead of playing it safe. There is much to work through to establish heaven on earth within us. Life gives us glimpses of this—tiny pieces of peace that hint at what is possible—but a partial yes, one that clings to the old ways, cannot move fully forward in the Kingdom nor fully experience what Jesus describes in Luke 17:21. This is the work the Scriptures speak of: coming face to face with our true self, our true north.
If we consider that we are all parts of one body, then self-examination becomes vital. Each of us is a reflection, a fractal, of who God is. He created us in His image, breathing life into us with our very first breath. Because God is the Creator, He is in and through everything. There are a few key truths I have discovered that are essential to awakening the Kingdom of Heaven within us.
Jesus said to him, “‘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.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:36-40NKJV
We love Him because He first loved us.
1John 4:19 NKJV
Love is the key. If God loved the world enough to send His only Son, then we too are called to love unconditionally. He extends mercy and grace to us endlessly, and as those who follow Jesus, we are called to reflect that same love. This includes forgiving others—not keeping count of hurts or wrongs—because through genuine forgiveness, our hearts are healed and set free. A surrendered heart belongs fully to God, leaving no place for the enemy. No one is greater than another; we are all connected to our Source, each a member of the body, called to work together in unity. Love is the force that heals, the heart of God’s Kingdom. God is love, and we love because He first loved us. Only then can the world glimpse true peace—the Kingdom of Heaven within.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 3:23 NKJV
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:12 NKJV
Forgiveness and repentance are what maintain our connection with God and allow us to experience the Kingdom of Heaven within. Through forgiveness, we remain submitted to God and aligned with His purposes.
If we cannot practice these, we cannot awaken the Kingdom that resides within us. This is the foundation for living the life God created us to have. Over the years, I have come to understand that these practices help us detach from the expectations of the world and attach to what God intended for us. Just as the first Adam failed, the second Adam—Jesus Christ, Savior of the world—came to show us what is waiting within. By letting go of hurt, pain, judgment, and fear, we open the way to experience the richness of the Kingdom of Heaven from the inside out.
With love comes peace, joy, faithfulness, kindness, patience, and more. True transformation begins within, flowing naturally from the heart rather than the mind. When we examine ourselves, it should come from a desire for the “more” that is already planted within us, waiting to be discovered.
The Kingdom of God is not built on visible power, position, or external control. It does not begin with authority imposed from the outside, like an earthly throne. It begins within the human heart, where God rules through transformation rather than force.
May the Lord continue to open our eyes and lead us to new doors as we seek Him and awaken the Kingdom within.
May God Bless you