Week 92: Seek First God's Kingdom (Part 2)

Romans 14:17

17... the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Last week, we established that "the kingdom of God" is righteousness, peace and joy. The "kingdom of God" is not outward, but rather inward within us. Therefore, let us all establish His kingdom in our lives by focusing inwardly on our righteousness in Christ, peace and joy. Amen!

This is particularly important because we live in a world of highly-developed environment equipped with advanced technologies and high efficiency of information network, our lives are in fast-pace and we tend to be carried away by those momentum. We are often tensed up in everything we do, we want to be fast and quick. Unconsciously, we may loose our patience over a 15 minutes wait for the bus. God give us  1440 minutes each day and 15 minutes equate to 1% of our total time each day! Yet, 15 minutes is too much to wait.

Despite the efficiency in technology and network, we are also troubled by many things today, isn't it? For example, we concerned about our kid's rebellion? Perhaps we see his rebellion as our problem, so we try our best to discipline him, only to end up with a heart full of worries and pain. And he is nowhere better!

God says “Don’t focus on controlling our rebellious kids. Instead, seek first His kingdom, which is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Be conscious of the righteousness we have as a gift from His Son. Keep our inner man flowing with His peace and joy, and He will take care of our children.” Amen!

Most often, we tend to think that the people around us are the problem. When we don’t get the recognition we want from work, we blame our bosses and colleagues. When we lose our cool, we point our fingers at our wives and kids. However, God wants us to stop looking outside and to start looking within because His kingdom is within us; His Spirit is in us. Amen!

Luke 17:21

20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

The abundance of the kingdom of God is already inside us. When we seek first God’s kingdom, and follow His righteousness, peace and joy, the abundance within us will flow out and become a reality in our circumstances.

Matthew 6:33

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

As I have shared last week, when I asked for a cab, God gave me an upgrade; He gave me limousine cab. Things will be added to us when we seek His kingdom first. Amen! You will find that God has not only taken care of what is troubling you, but has also added blessings to you, be it a promotion, well-behaved kids or a loving wife. Amen!

How do we keep our inner man flowing with righteousness, peace and joy?

Be conscious of our righteousness in Christ. Don’t be conscious of our sins nor the outward circumstances and problems. Listen to anointed sermons that remind us of how righteous we are because of the perfect sacrifice of Christ. Peace and joy flow when we know that all our sins have been forgiven because of Jesus’ finished work. Amen!

A lady who was held bondage for sixteen years in addictions, struggled desperately to quit her smoking habit without any success. Even during the time when she was pregnant with two kids, she only manage to quit for awhile. Soon, she was back to smoking cigarettes and marijuana.

A year and half ago, she caught hold of the teaching of righteousness and the word of grace. She began to soak herself with sermons after sermons on those teachings, even when she was under the influence of cigarettes and marijuana.

Let pause for a moment. Here, it says "she continue to listen to the sermons and teachings EVEN when she was  under the influence of cigarettes and marijuana..." If our believe system is not right, we might do otherwise. Instead of listening to the sermons, we would probably STOP listening to sermons. For a Christian, if one does not understand and believe that God has already forgiven him or her, one would probably stop listening to anointing sermon nor attend church regularly. Why? guilt and condemnation. The devil, who is diligent in his part, will remind us that we sin and fall short of God's standards. We are "unholy" to listen to sermons nor attend church services. Satan will convince us to set apart and be cleansed before coming to God again.

Because of

Such erroneous thinking has robbed me years of my life from God's blessings. Every time when I sinned, I will stay far, far away from God's word. So, my relationship with God was always "in and out". When I feel "holy", I was in with God. When I don't feel "holy", I was out.

All thanks to the devil, Satan. No wonder he is called Satan, not because he is a evil ugly looking creature (that's what movie always portray devil to be), but the name Satan means tempter, adversary of God and humanity. The bible called him the accuser of the brethren because he is good at accusing! He certainly knows how to attack. His one and only trick is to ATTACK OUR HEART AND OUR CONSCIENCE!

But, be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome the world (including Satan)! When we are in Christ, we can overcome his tricky lying accusation. Amen!

We don't have to take his accusation, we don't have to feel guilty nor condemned. The Bible says there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Yes, we may sin from time to time, but that does not make us sinners anymore. For we are the righteousness of God in Christ! Amen! Hallelujah!

When we understand the kingdom of God, we will surely be transformed by the power of His grace. Sin will loose its grip over our lives eventually. This is what happen to this lady. Let's continue with her story.

After much listening to anointed teachings, hope began to fill her heart—not hope that she would soon be free, but hope that no matter what her state was, Father God would NEVER be mad at her! His grace is enough for her!

She said in her testimony  "For so long,  I tried to earn the blessings of God. But after allowing the water of the Word to cleanse me daily, I was able to receive His love, grace, shalom, and all of His blessings, regardless of behavior. 

Every time I used cigarettes or marijuana, I would say, “Thank You, Father, that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!” I quit trying to quit and decided that His grace was enough for me! One day, several months ago, I was set free from both addictions! I didn’t try to quit; it just happened. My heavenly Father has completely taken the desires away from me. Even when I am in public and exposed to others who are smoking, I still have no desire to do the same! Even right now, thinking about this great freedom, I have to cry, and cry out, “My Father is SO faithful!”

What willpower and self-effort couldn’t do, God did by the power of His amazing grace. I like what the lady said "I didn't try to quit, it just happened." That the power of God and His grace. Things just happened effortlessly. Amen!

His living and eternal Word proclaims, “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14). Grace is the power over every addiction that is destroying us. Only grace can give us lasting freedom. Amen!

So the next time something troubles you, don’t focus on correcting the problem. Neither let Satan's accusation come between us and God. Satan has been defeated two thousand years ago at the cross. He has no absolute say to our freedom. Our freedom is bought by the precious blood of  Christ. Amen!

Instead, seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Make it a priority to have your inner man flowing with His peace and joy, and He will take care of that problem for you! Amen! Hallelujah!

Grace and peace be with you.