When the Pharisees asked Christ Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, the Master replied (Luke 17:20, 21), "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." The kingdom of God within us! What a challenging and joyous outlook—harmony, joy, health, supply—all that is truly good, available and demonstrable now within our own consciousness!
Jesus often referred to the kingdom of God. This blessed kingdom is an inner kingdom, a kingdom of spiritual poise and dominion, of consecration within the secret of one's own heart which holds steadfastly to the power and presence of good. Mary Baker Eddy describes the mental nature of God's kingdom in the following definition of "heaven" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 587): "Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul."
Establishing the recognition and enjoyment of the kingdom of heaven in individual experience is not to be done in a moment. In Christian Science we learn that human thought must be spiritually awakened, motives must be made pure, and good deeds must abound. No one need wait to take these progressive steps. When the cruelty of mortal mind begins to take its toll, we hasten to God. Why not claim and prove Love's dominion now? Then mortal mind can take no toll, and Spirit's supremacy will become an acknowledged and demonstrated fact.
