Another great mistake many individuals make is being busy, but not effective. Being busy is a common human pastime. But just because you are busy doesn't mean that what you are doing is worth doing or productive in the Kingdom.  Many people deceive themselves into believing that being busy all the time gives their lives significance.  That definitely is not always true.  Significance has nothing to do with being busy, but everything to do with effectiveness.  While King Jesus was on planet earth, He was the most effective individual who ever lived, but He was never too busy.  Every single thing that Jesus did had a purpose.  Everything He said and did had a purpose, and was effective in some way.  Jesus always obeyed His Father, the Word, and we are to do the same.  “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  It is a tragedy to waste time and energy on things that are unfocused and non-productive.  Those resources, once expended, can never be regained.  We must learn how to be effective without being too busy.  King Solomon stated it correctly.  To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven

While King Jesus was here on earth, He made perfect use of His time, knowing that it was limited.  Keep in mind, we only have a certain amount of time to complete our purpose.  I should I say that you only have a certain amount of time.  Now it is personal.

Finally, the greatest failure in this life is being successful in the wrong assignment.  You see this every day if you take the time to read and observe.  Success alone isn't enough because you can be sincerely wrong.  Faithfulness alone is not enough, because you can be faithful to the wrong belief system as so many have.  Commitment alone isn't enough because you can be committed to the wrong cause, as so many are.  Succeeding in the wrong assignment is, therefore, failure.

The Lord God isn't impressed with your sincerity, faithfulness, commitment or even your success, unless you are pursuing the right assignment or purpose for YOUR life, His assignment.  Stay connected to Him.  Jesus made it very plain:    

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Abide in the vine, for anything else is failure.

John 15:9-12   Ecclesiastes 3:1   John 15:1-5
~~W.R. Luchie

I have learned that individuals who don't view God's Constitution from a Kingdom concept speak from a religious  mindset.  Religion separated the masses from seeing the Lord God's original purpose.  The greatest tragedy in life is not death, but life without knowing your purpose on this planet.  Many individuals in today's society are obsessed with finding ways to prolong their lives.  They are so caught up in trying to live longer that they never stop to consider why they are living at all.  The Lord God has already established our purpose in Jesus the Christ.  ...who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began  The ambassador Paul made this quite clear in his letters to Timothy.

People are drifting from one day to another without purpose, with untapped potential and unfulfilled dreams.  This is for many a fate worse than death.  The rising suicide rate in modern society bears this truth out.  Many individuals are drained of hope.  They take their own lives because they find death more appealing than continuing what is to them a meaningless existence.  This is because many fail to seek the Kingdom of God.  They have fallen into the trap of a religious  mindset instead of embracing the only message that Jesus came to restore (the Kingdom of God).  Jesus stated very plainly what one's priorities should be.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Finding our purpose in life is critically important.  The greatest challenge in life is knowing what to do.  You get up every day, and many of you go about your daily tasks or activities, and never give a thought to your purpose in life or what you are supposed to be doing.  Do you know what to do with your life?  What drives you to get out of bed every morning?  With each passing day you grow older and use up the time that God has given you.  You use up your energy on things that are temporal.  Do you even know what you want to do?  Now these are tough questions, but learning the answers is vital to your future.  The answers will cause you to live a more effective and productive life on this planet called earth.

The Lord God's representative made this very profound statement:  You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.

We will continue this in my next article.
II Timothy 1:9   Matthew 6:33   Isaiah 26:3
~~W.R. Luchie

One thing I know for certain, everyone is searching for a simple formula to be successful and have a fulfilled life.  They want to find the one key that will unlock the doors to the good life and answer the questions of their heart.  Unfortunately many have regarded the kingdom as an individual religious calling and seek to get others to come join their religion.  From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  He made it quite clear that if they would stop seeking stuff and things and focus on seeking the kingdom first they would have all those things that they seek!  “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Now, if you were to conduct a poll in any large city in this country, and ask people "What is the key to life?" you would get several different kinds of answers.  Some would say that the key to life is to acquire as much  money as you can, as quickly as  you can and hold on to is as long as you can.  Others would see gaining political power and influence as the key to life.  Then there are always those who would say there is no key to life.  Life is an accident and therefore has no key or significance.  If you believe that, you had just as well do whatever you desire.

The fact is, most people do not know the key to living an effective life.  This is why so many individuals live such tragic lives, especially in the religious realm and the church really doesn't know why they are here.  They haven't a clue how to make their time on planet earth count for something worthwhile.  Their existence is, in many ways, a kind of "living death", because a life without knowing one's purpose is not really a life at all.

So then, what is the key to life?  Finding your true purpose and living it to the fullest.  I know that this word "purpose" has been overused in the past few years. Many think they understand it, but I want to say that this most essential component in life has never, and can never, be exhausted.

In my next articles I will sum up keys to understanding the difference between a purpose filled life and a life with no meaning.

Matthew 4:17   Mathew 6:25-34
~~W.R. Luchie

In my last article I gave a synopsis of my foundation for living and who--not what--strengthens and encourages me.  It is God's Constitution, meaning the Word, which is life.  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

Now allow me to share with you this piece of information.  Marriage is necessary to fulfill the Lord God's purpose, but it isn't necessary to fill the place the church and the world system has assigned it--to take two halves and make them whole.  To choose God instead of a spouse is still a higher calling, but don't choose the life of single-minded focus on the Lord Jesus unless you are positive that you can do it and that an unmarried lifestyle is His Will for your life.

Allow yourself to be filled with the teaching of the Kingdom (not religion).  Then the Holy Spirit will fill your life with His Presence.  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  If you choose an unmarried life out of religious pressure or some false spirituality or being "disappointed" in what you thought of as love--but really was lust; then you aren't giving God a whole single person.  You will be cheating Him and especially yourself.

If you know the unmarried life isn't for you, then begin to ask God to prepare you for marriage.  Being single doesn't mean you indulge in sexual relationships. That definitely is breaking the laws of the King, and you will definitely pay the price.   ...in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.  The ambassador Paul made it quite clear in God's Constitution.  Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.  Now, what was the ambassador Paul stating?  He was stating that those individuals who conduct themselves in that manner will not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Kingdom of God will not reside in your mortal bodies.

In conclusion, if you aren't a whole (single) individual, ask the Lord God to assist you in becoming whole; not a "half person" or a leech and nonproductive.

John 6:63   Acts 1:8   Romans 2:16   I Corinthians 6:9-10
~~W.R. Luchie

Now the fifth gift of Adam was to cultivate. Adam's gift of cultivation meant that He could improve whatever he put his hands to.  Wherever Adam went and he did, things got better.  Is that the case with you?  Are you secured and self-assured enough in your own identity and with the Lord God that you can improve your environment wherever you are?  Before making a long-term commitment such as marriage, you need to consider this:  Are you a "weed" that will constantly choke off the relationship, or are you rich "fertilizer"  that will assist in cultivating and nurturing it?  King Jesus gave a great illustration of the sower:   “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”  Jesus explained the parable of the sower and the seed.  Jesus was very careful to not cast pearl before swines.  

The sixth gift was to protect.  God gave Adam the responsibility to protect and guard his environment and everything that was in it.  That meant that anything that was in Adam's presence was safe.  Can that be said about you?  Are people safe in your presence?  Do you safeguard their confidences, their trust, and their dignity, no matter what?  If you cannot be trusted to protect and honor the worth and parenthood of another person, you aren't ready for marriage.  It's just that simple.

Now the seventh was "God's Word".  Adam knew the Lord God's Word through a direct, face to face contact.  Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.  He understood the principles under which the Kingdom of God were to operate, and exactly what God expected of him.  It is only in the context of knowledge and obedience to the Word of God that any relationship can maximize its potential.  My question to you is how well do you know the Lord God's Word?  How much time do you spend reading, studying and meditating on it?  That isn't a trick question.  Just as a potential spouse should find you in Eden, he or she should also find you a diligent student of the Word of God, applying it to your life effectively every day.  The knowledge of God's Word is essential to any truly successful and effective marriage.

Now when you are manifesting these seven gifts in your life, at least to some degree, and increasing in them; that is when God says to you, as He did to Adam, "It isn't good that you should be alone".

Matthew 13:18-23   Genesis 1:28-30
~~W.R. Luchie

As I stated earlier, once you have established who you are in the Lord God, you will be able to take care of yourself using your own abilities, gifts and talents.  First we talked about the image of God.  Second, functioning like God.  Now allow us to move on to the third, His Presence.  In God's Constitution, King David was so secure in His Presence, that he made this statement: You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.  Before Adam ever had or even needed the presence of another human being, Adam enjoyed the Presence of the Lord God.  In the Garden of Eden, Adam was in the correct environment to be protected from pollution and corruption.  God gave Adam His own presence, thus establishing an eternal principle.  The first presence that you need in your life is not the presence of a boyfriend or a girlfriend, but the presence of the Lord god.  Use your unmarried years to get to Jesus Christ and how He obeyed the Lord God's every command.  Pray, read and study God's Word.  Welcome the ministry of the Holy Spirit in your life and become intimately familiar with God's Presence.  When a prospective spouse finds you, they should find you in Eden. Ultimately, the presence of the Lord God is all you ever need.  Remember, marriage is never appropriate until you are so complete within yourself and your relationship with god that you do not need marriage in order to define yourself. 

The fourth is work.  God gave Adam meaningful work to do so that he could become fully himself and manifest his fullest potential.  The Greek word for "work" is eregon, literally means "to become".  When the Lord God placed Adam in the garden and charged him to dress it and keep it, He was telling Adam to "become" himself.  In other words, Adam was to manifest who he really was. God has the same purpose for you.  He wants you to become yourself and manifest who you really are.  He has hidden inside you a truly awesome person with an awesome dream and awesome vision, an awesome design and some awesome abilities.  Those qualities are in latent form, and you must work to bring them out.  Your first focus should be on becoming yourself, and not on finding or becoming someone else.

In all you do, seek the Kingdom of God and He will show you who you really are. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

I will continue tomorrow with part three.

Psalm 16:11  Matthew 6:33
~~W.R. Luchie

As I stated in one of my previous articles, before you even think about involving your life with someone else, you first must be single (whole).  Now the seven gifts that Adam received from the Lord God is also our legacy as human beings because we are all descended from the first man, Adam.  That which was lost or distorted through Adam's disobedience was restored through the blood of Christ.  If you want to be an effective single, follow God's list:  First the Image.  God's first gift to us as humans is His image.  The first thing you  need is not to find someone else, but to find yourself.  You need first to be secure in your own self-image, and that is only found in the Lord God, nowhere else.  If you don't know who you are, or if you have a poor sense of self-worth, you have not yet tapped into the God-nature within you and will probably be a liability to anyone you marry.  

To marry without a strong sense of self-worth and personal identity means that you will spend your life trying to become someone else, or usually by attaching yourself to your spouse's identity.  If your spouse also has an identity issue, then you have double trouble, and you may not be aware of it.  You need to know who you are and be secure and complete as well as being whole within yourself before you even think about getting married.  If you know who you are, if you have a good self-image, you won't need anyone in order to be someone.  

Secondly, functioning like the Lord God.  God gave Adam a specific function and a way of operating.  He stated You know who you are, now here is how you work:  you function by speaking.  What you say will come to pass (or will happen):  Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Keep in mind, God designed us to function in such a way that what we speak into our lives determines in large measure our environment and circumstances.  What we say about ourselves and our situation influences our patterns of thought and belief, and thereby tends to become self-fulfilling prophecies.  Before you even consider entering a long-term relationship with someone, get our own tongue sorted out first.  Understand that whatever you speak regarding your personal circumstances,positive or negative, will become true in your life.  Learn to speak positive and confident truth about yourself before entering a long-term relationship.  It took a long time for me to learn this.  That is because I was caught up in a religious mindset.  If you know how you function, you won't have to depend on another individual's approval or other people's resources in order to make a living.  I will continue in my next article.

Proverbs 18:21
~~W.R. Luchie

When the Lord God created Adam, He gave him seven gifts that fulfilled his singleness and made him a complete individual.  The first was His image.  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  Today we hear a lot about "self-image" and how people have trouble feeling good about themselves.  Adam's self-image was the image of the Lord God.  In this context, the word "image" refers to the spirit nature and moral character.  By design, Adam was endowed with the God-like characteristics so that in his spiritual and moral nature he would be the "spitting image" of his Creator.

God's second gift was function.  Being made after God's likeness was to function like the Lord God.  How does the Lord God function?  He speaks and whatever He speaks comes to pass.  Within his own earthly realm, Adam had the same capacity.  His voice carried power and authority.  That which he spoke into his own life or domain came to be into existence.  And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.

The third gift is presence.  Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.  "Eden" is a strange word, meaning variously "spot" "moment" "presence" or "open door to heaven". Adam's presence in the Garden of Eden meant that he was continually in the presence of the Lord God.  

The Lord God's fourth gift was work.  Adam was placed in the Garden to cultivate it.  Work involves becoming (a process). 

Adam's fifth gift was  cultivation.  To dress a garden means to cultivate it.  Part of his responsibilities in the garden was to improve his environment and to do it in such a way as to benefit every creature in it.  

Adam's sixth gift was protection.  As steward and lord of his earthly domain, Adam was also its guardian.  The Lord God endowed him with the capacity to protect and defend those under his care, as well as to protect and defend the presence of God for their benefit.  

And finally the seventh gift, He gave him His Word.  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  Adam knew who he was, and how he was supposed to function; where he was, what he was supposed to do, how to improve his environment and how to protect his environment.  On top of all of that, he knew the direct Word of God.  by any measure, this is the definition of a whole, fulfilled, well-balanced and well-adjusted individual.

Genesis 1:26   Genesis 2:19-20   Genesis 2:15
~~W.R. Luchie

Adam was totally single in the Garden of Eden.  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created the Earth for man to manage.  But first, man had to be a whole single individual.  God gave him spirit.   And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  That is when he became a living soul.

There is a difference between being single and being unmarried (a big difference).  Most unmarried people consider themselves to be single.  Arlene and I are both single.  It is our singleness that makes our marriage successful.  The more single we become, the more our marriage improves.  Now before I write any further, ask the Lord God to open your understanding.  The average individual has never been single, even though they may be unmarried or divorced.  Unmarried means to be without a spouse (so does divorce, in the legal sense) but being single means to be all (alone); separate, unique, and independently a whole individual.  Many marriages fail because individuals get married before they are single.  They latch onto a spouse, identifying themselves with someone else before they come to terms with their own identity--Knowing who they really are in the Lord God's Kingdom.  They get married expecting marriage to make them whole (single).  In other words, lacking a personal sense of completeness, they look to marriage to make them a whole person.  Individuals who are truly single don't pursue marriage, they are whole and complete without it.  Unmarried people who aren't single (whole) can't wait to get married.  They think about it all the time, they dream about it talk about it, they are always running after somebody to marry them.  Those who don't want to get married, just want their sexual desires fulfilled through the lust of the flesh.  A truly single individual does not even have a desire for marriage.  Now Adam, who was the first human being was single, but was also unmarried.  In his single and whole state, he not only had no interest in marriage, he did not even know about marriage.  There was no laws concerning marriage, just obedience to God's Word.  As the Lord God had created him, Adam was complete and fulfilled within himself and his relationship with the Lord God.  He had no knowledge that he needed anybody else.  His whole fulfilled singleness was the foundation that God laid for the entire human race.  Singleness, therefore, is the fundamental building block for all human relationships.

I pray that the Lord God has opened your understanding to who you truly are.

Genesis 1:26   Genesis 2:7
~~W.R. Luchie