Kingdom 102: The Divine Confrontation
To many people, the Kingdom message is something new! But why is it a strange sound to so many followers of the Lord Jesus? Jesus preached and taught this message while He was on this planet over two thousand years ago. This is his priority and confrontation:
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. But read what He said before He made that statement:
“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."
Even before he spoke His mandate to seek His Kingdom, He let us know that in the Kingdom, we have all we need. Our provision is in His Kingdom, as long as we have our priorities straight. Yes, at that time He was speaking to His disciples, but the written message included those of us who will embrace it. In essence, what the Lord was saying was that all your needs will be met if you make the Kingdom of God your supreme loyalty...your first priority. Not only will your needs be met, but when you belong to the Kingdom you have the significance of that Kingdom living within you.
The purpose of this message of the Lord was to cause the people to do a reversal of their behavior. In order for them to do that, they must first become willing to embrace Him and then they would embrace His message of redemption. Having said that, if anyone is going to accept your message, they must first accept you for who you are.
Suppose you don't seek first the Kingdom, but choose to make yourself a god--meaning, seeking first the kingdom of self. Then all of those things will be subtracted from your life. Even if you get them, they soon will end up owning you instead of you owning them. In time, they will destroy you. There will come a time when you will realize that the very things you wanted so badly are now controlling your actions and behavior. Why? The very thing you thought you needed isn't what you were seeking. Jesus made this statement:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. The operative word here is "seek" and the other is "ask". Meaning: 1. To try to find; to track; to search out; to bend one's efforts toward; to pursue 2. To make a request; to inquire. By the way, "to ask" does not mean to beg!
Every attempt by the individual and by society to seek for any substitute in place of the Kingdom of God will end in dramatically swift or slowly corrosive failure. Remember, your biggest need is your Heavenly King's backing, the One who owns the cosmos. When that is lacking, the house of man's soul and spirit is in conflict within and empty--totally lacking of purpose, vision and goals. That is an emptiness that drives us to be filled.
Matthew 6:25-33 Matthew 7:7-12
~~W.R. Luchie
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. But read what He said before He made that statement:
“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."
Even before he spoke His mandate to seek His Kingdom, He let us know that in the Kingdom, we have all we need. Our provision is in His Kingdom, as long as we have our priorities straight. Yes, at that time He was speaking to His disciples, but the written message included those of us who will embrace it. In essence, what the Lord was saying was that all your needs will be met if you make the Kingdom of God your supreme loyalty...your first priority. Not only will your needs be met, but when you belong to the Kingdom you have the significance of that Kingdom living within you.
The purpose of this message of the Lord was to cause the people to do a reversal of their behavior. In order for them to do that, they must first become willing to embrace Him and then they would embrace His message of redemption. Having said that, if anyone is going to accept your message, they must first accept you for who you are.
Suppose you don't seek first the Kingdom, but choose to make yourself a god--meaning, seeking first the kingdom of self. Then all of those things will be subtracted from your life. Even if you get them, they soon will end up owning you instead of you owning them. In time, they will destroy you. There will come a time when you will realize that the very things you wanted so badly are now controlling your actions and behavior. Why? The very thing you thought you needed isn't what you were seeking. Jesus made this statement:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. The operative word here is "seek" and the other is "ask". Meaning: 1. To try to find; to track; to search out; to bend one's efforts toward; to pursue 2. To make a request; to inquire. By the way, "to ask" does not mean to beg!
Every attempt by the individual and by society to seek for any substitute in place of the Kingdom of God will end in dramatically swift or slowly corrosive failure. Remember, your biggest need is your Heavenly King's backing, the One who owns the cosmos. When that is lacking, the house of man's soul and spirit is in conflict within and empty--totally lacking of purpose, vision and goals. That is an emptiness that drives us to be filled.
Matthew 6:25-33 Matthew 7:7-12
~~W.R. Luchie
