The Kingdom

A pastor at the HIM Conference made a statement like, "Jesus is on a boat in a storm, and I prefer to be on the shore where it's more comfortable. But I realize now that the safest place is not on shore, but rather the safest place is next to Jesus."

I'm sure most of us would prefer to be on a nice comfortable + warm beach next to Jesus. We want to avoid the storms of suffering, toil, and tribulation. However, the best place to be is with Jesus. 

"God wills that we should push into His presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It is more than a doctrine to be held, it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day." -A.W. Tozer

What or Who in our life do we worship? We worship someone or something whether we're aware of it or not.

It's easy to pursue some good things in life like work, health, wealth, hobbies, good relationships, etc. But it's also easy to indulge in food, social media, entertainment, materialism, consumerism, comfort, greed, and addictions, and somewhere along the line, we get very distracted as our hearts are prone to wander. We end up loving created things over our Creator, which then becomes an idol before God.

None of us would like to be considered, "carnal Christians." Carnality emphasizes the physical and secular world. Christians are to be set apart and light to this world. What does it look like to truly live for God? When we say make God first or keep Christ the center of our lives, what does that really look like? And more importantly, how do we consistently do that?

Original sin, the world, and the enemy use little things to tempt us. One of the biggest temptations is to turn or rely on yourself and in pride do things on your own or in your own way, rather than trusting and seeking God. 

Our society finds security and identity in these six A's. They are Achievement, Affluence, Appearance, Authority, Ability, and Acceptance. We seek to be recognized or validated by others. We can often find our self-worth in what we've achieved. We may put too much value on our appearance. We can also care too much about being accepted or approved by others. We also can find our identity in our abilities or talents. Others may gravitate to a sense of authority or power over others. Affluence has to do with wealth and belongings. In our society and in the American Dream, they tend to be centered around pursuing these six A's. 

Our biggest idol will often be ourselves. We worship ourselves by living for our selfish desires. We focus on elevating ourselves by trying to look better, to have more wealth, to have power, to have talent, to have more popularity or skills. Man often seeks to glorify and elevate themselves. In some sense, man wants to be god. A Christian on the other hand identifies that there is a God and lives a life of surrender. I'm not saying that it's always bad to pursue these six A's, but they can often be traps if we love pursuing anything else higher than God. 

What areas of our life do we sin in omission by not valuing Him first and foremost? In what areas of our life are we ignorant and completely miss the opportunity and the invitation to abide, remain, and commune with Jesus? We are all guilty as prodigal sons and daughters. In some way, we have all sinned and run astray. We are born in natural sin. Through Adam, our nature is to sin and not worship God, but to worship ourselves. It is through the second Adam, who is Jesus, that we have a new nature. We become Saints with the ability to worship God.

Jesus loves the world so much that he humbled Himself and like a Lamb that was slain, died to atone for the sins of His people, the church. It's debatable if he died for everyone's sin, or only for His children, His church, and those He knew would come to faith. No one else that could be crucified would be able to atone for our sins. Jesus who is fully man and fully God was the only one worthy and capable to satisfy God's wrath and consequence for our sins. 


"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. -Ephesians 2:8 

We are saved by grace, through faith. We are redeemed, adopted, justified, regenerated, and saved. By faith, we are forgiven, and he takes away all our sins and the penalty for our sins. If Jesus were to only forgive and wash away 99% of our sins, we still would be condemned. But because of His great love, grace, and power, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He not only takes away our sins but imputes/ gives us His righteousness. We can now be holy as he is holy. He calls us and knows us all by name as a father knows his children. 

God calls us to Himself, to be satisfied in Him. God is our highest good. There is nothing or no one greater. As humans, we must commit ourselves to the highest good. We must commit ourselves to live for Him. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. True life and meaning is only found in Him.

"Now when Jesus 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; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. (or in your midst)" -Luke 17:20-21

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." -Matthew 6:33

I've been pondering the idea of "First seek His kingdom." What is the kingdom? How do we seek it? In the Old Testament, we can see man wanting a human king to lead them. We see eras and dispensations where mankind tries to set up human forms of government and none truly work. A way I understand it is that the kingdom is God's rule and reign over and in His people. Human kingdoms are flawed and do not last. Citizens of the kingdom of Heaven choose to submit to a good King in a theocracy or God's government. A good king protects, leads, and his ways are for the good of his people.

I guess the questions we should be asking ourselves are..

"Do I submit myself to the King's rule?"

"In what ways do I submit to His word, and in what ways do I not?"

"Does God's word, will, and way reign supreme in my life?" 

"In what areas of my life does God call me to surrender to Him?"

"Where could I deepen in my faith, trust, and dependence on the Lord?"


"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." -Hebrews 4:16

Come before His throne of grace with confidence. Ask anything according to His will and He graciously wants to give us what is for our good. As Christians, we have a level of faith in God and know God to some extent.

But how can deepen our faith and grow in greater knowledge of Him? Like any other relationship, it requires spending both quality and quantity time. Sit at the feet of Jesus in the stillness of His presence & Spirit, and wait upon Him. Meditate on His Word. Ask and Receive. Trust and depend. Abide and Remain. Prayer is not just speaking our requests, praises, and petitions, but also listening & waiting. 

Spiritual formation, sanctification, and true transformation come from encountering and proclaiming God as our Lord and King. For those solely concerned only with transformation, it can be easy to see the relationship with Him only as a means to grow or develop our spiritual life and cope with life's stressors. Through submission, trust, reverence, commitment, dependence, obedience, servitude, worship, and spiritual disciplines we can encounter and create more inner space for the Holy Spirit to work within us. 

Our relationship with God is not but a vehicle or means to find a transformed life, but rather the main purpose of our being. In other words, we are created to know and glorify God, by simply being satisfied in Him. God invites His people not only unto salvation but into intimacy and communion with Him. Justification declares us right with the Judge, but Adoption has to do with the love of a Father for His children.

At the end of the day, Who or What do we worship? Who or What are our pursuits, attention, and eyes focused on? Who or What do we talk and think about most? Who or What is your god? For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Worship is not just singing songs before a church service. Worship is praising and glorifying God in all circumstances. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

"O God, you are my God, I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you, my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory." -Psalm 63:1-2

"The deepest desire of our hearts is for union with God. From the first moment of our existence, our most powerful yearning is to fulfill the original purpose of our lives, to see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, follow Him more nearly. We are made for God, and nothing less will really satisfy us." -Brennan Manning