The Importance of the Kingdom

-
  A few years ago, when I was a pastor of a church in West Virginia, we did a study called EKG: The Heartbeat of God by Ken Hemphill.  Ken use to be the President of the seminary I went to in Ft.Worth and is also the author of several books.  In this study, Ken points out the importance that Jesus and the Bible emphasize the Kingdom of God.  For example, when Jesus says in Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you."

   The word "seek" is the same word that Jesus would use in Matthew 7:8.   It means a continual and constant seeking.  It has a lot to do with priorities.  In the verses before Jesus said this he was talking about people who were very worried about worldly priorities, what to wear, what they would eat and things like that.  They were, in a sense, worried about their own kingdom, while Jesus was singular focused on God's kingdom.

  This is the same kingdom that Daniel mentioned to King Nebuchadnezzar that became the great mountain and overcame and endured more than all the other kingdoms.  It is a kingdom that has Jesus as its king.  The disciples mistakenly thought that the Messiah would be an earthly king because scripture does mention that type of Messiah.  What they didn't realize is that Jesus had a different kind of kingdom in mind.   Jesus said in John 18:36-37 "My Kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting, that I might not be delivered up to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of ths realm. Pilate then said to Him, "So you are a king?"  Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king.  For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. . . ."

    The challenge becomes then, in the rush of everyday life, to have ourselves focused on the bigger picture while at the same time to realize we have to do our jobs, take care of children, bills, homes and other things.  As christians though, I operate with another agenda.  I need to be thinking about how can I promote and further the kingdom.  Am I allowing God to be king in my own life?  Am I thinking about what he wants or just what I want?  Who rules and reigns in my life?  As it turns out, the idols that the Old Testament people worshipped may have been easier to see, but the idols of money or power or position or a myriad of other things still exist.  The truth is, the devil doesn't care who your idol is, as long as it isn't Jesus.

Popular posts from this blog

Some thoughts about the church in Corinth

-
Image
    Since March of this year, I have been doing a verse by verse study of the book of 1 Corinthians.  I have also listened to the class on 1 Corinthians taught on the bibleproject web site.  In that class, the teacher spends some time speaking about the controversy of chapter 11 and Paul's role of women in the church.  Though Dr. Lucy Peppiatt has some different views than mine it is a very interesting class that I would recommend.        I have found it encouraging that though the Corinth church had many problems Paul still had a lot of good things to say about them.  For example, in chapter 1 verse 4, he says that he always thanks God for them because they have been enriched in every way.  It says that they do not lack in any spiritual gift.  He never questions their salvation, though he does describe them in chapter 3 as "infants in Christ".  Paul may have written another letter to Corinth which remains lost that was possibly more direct and harsh.  But, he never gives
Read more

Introduction and chapter 1 of 1 John notes

-
  Study of 1 John started November 5, 2023 1 John Introduction The author- John was possibly born in Bethsaida (John 1:44) and was a son of Zebedee and Salome.  It appears his mother helped with the financial support of Christ (Mark 15:40,41).  He and his brother James were called “sons of thunder” Mk 3:17.  John lived in Ephesus, the capital of the province of Asia Minor, the Roman proconsul resided there.  John may have been battling against Gnosticism during his later years.  It said that deity cannot unite itself with anything physical such as a body.  It understood that knowledge is superior to virtue.  John battled against this by saying that Christ came in the flesh.  It is possible that 1 John may have been written around 90 A.D.   Wycliffe divides the book up into these sections Fellowship’s conditions 1:5-10 Fellowship’s conduct 2:1-29 Fellowship’s characteristics 3:1-24 Fellowship’s cautions 4:1-21 Fellowship’s cause 5:1-21 1 John 1 John begins by saying that which was from
Read more

The wise men Matthew 2

-
    Matthew chapter 2 starts like this 2  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold,  [ a ] wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,  2  saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”   3  When Herod the king heard  this,  he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.  4  And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.   5  So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 6  ‘But   you, Bethlehem,   in   the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’  ” I've always thought that there were three wise men who came to find Jesus, but the scripture doesn't actually ever say that there was 3 men.  It says that there were wise men who gave Jesus three gifts
Read more