It is one thing to know how to seek the Kingdom of God but another thing to understand God’s Kingdom and the principles under which it operates.
As King Solomon said, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7
As a high school student, growing up in Brooklyn, New York, my favorite class was history. Whatever you greatly enjoy, you will do well! In that class, I learned about medieval times and how they operated. One of the main things that I learned was that the king owns everything, even the citizens. He is responsible for their well-being. To live in a true kingdom, means that all your needs are met, you are there at the behest of the king, all your needs are met, and you don’t have to concern yourself with the basics of life.
Keep in mind, keeping the Kingdom first does not mean first among many, but first and only. Seeking the Kingdom of God first means considering the interests of the Kingdom before meaning any other decision—what school to attend, who to marry, what job to accept, and how to spend money and handle our finances. Before deciding on these and other life decisions, we should ask ourselves, “Is this in line with God's Kingdom principles?” Developing the habit of considering everything in reference to God’s Kingdom first will help to avoid a lot of mistakes and poor decisions. Remember what King David stated: Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:3-6
Seeking the Kingdom of God is a command, not a suggestion. The word kingdom means to have influence over that territory. When you seek His Kingdom first, you are seeking His influence to be extended over your entire world: your private life, your thoughts, your business life, your marriage, your relationships, your sexual life and every other dimension of your life. We know that nothing is hidden, with total submission to be His territory, under His rulership.
This has to do with being under the “administration of Heaven’s government”. The Lord God—our King—becomes your point of reference and standard for everything. This raises an important point: you can tell which kingdom you are in by the way you live and conduct yourself. I must say that in my lifetime, I have lived in both this world’s kingdom (even while being religious) and the Lord God’s Kingdom. I don’t ever want to live in the world’s kingdom again because there is nothing better than life in the Kingdom of God! It is worth everything! Nothing I may "give up" is of greater value to me than the Father, my Lord and King! The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 NLT
If you believe and follow the King, your life will reflect the influence of His government and its administration in your life. Those who are not in God’s Kingdom will wonder and perhaps even ask why you are so different. Why aren’t you fearful? Why don’t you worry? How can you have peace? Then you can state that it is because you are under a different government than in this world, with a different culture, different laws and a different leader. You are a citizen of God’s Kingdom. He is your Lord and King and He meets your needs and cares for you. As ambassador Paul stated: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20
Remember what the Lord Jesus said about our fruit: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” Matthew 7:15-18 Believe it or not, others can tell what kind of tree you are by the fruit you produce in your life.
In God’s Constitution, the Hebrew word for kingdom is mamlakah. In the New Testament Greek the word is basileia. Both words carry the same general range of meaning: dominion, kingdom, sovereignty, to rule and reign, rulership and royal power.
The following describes the Kingdom of God, and what we are to seek, perfectly: The governing influence of a king over his territory (domain), impacting it with His personal will, purpose and intent, producing a culture, value system and lifestyle that reflects the King’s desire and nature for His citizens. It is the seeking of His Kingdom, not in religion, that we will receive all of our needs in life that the rest of the world toils, labors, frets, worries and strives for. “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:24-33 NLT No religion has such a guarantee as the Kingdom of God.
The best example of life in the Kingdom of God vs. life in the world is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden vs. Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God’s Word. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:8-13
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:16-19
Disobedience is sin and sin is when they lost the Kingdom of God. The stark difference in Adam and Eve’s life in the Garden and life after they sinned against God shows us life in the Kingdom of God and life in the world.
Remember, your faith in the Lord God’s Word is your greatest asset in His Kingdom.
All scriptures are NKJV unless noted
W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you
As King Solomon said, “Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7
As a high school student, growing up in Brooklyn, New York, my favorite class was history. Whatever you greatly enjoy, you will do well! In that class, I learned about medieval times and how they operated. One of the main things that I learned was that the king owns everything, even the citizens. He is responsible for their well-being. To live in a true kingdom, means that all your needs are met, you are there at the behest of the king, all your needs are met, and you don’t have to concern yourself with the basics of life.
Keep in mind, keeping the Kingdom first does not mean first among many, but first and only. Seeking the Kingdom of God first means considering the interests of the Kingdom before meaning any other decision—what school to attend, who to marry, what job to accept, and how to spend money and handle our finances. Before deciding on these and other life decisions, we should ask ourselves, “Is this in line with God's Kingdom principles?” Developing the habit of considering everything in reference to God’s Kingdom first will help to avoid a lot of mistakes and poor decisions. Remember what King David stated: Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:3-6
Seeking the Kingdom of God is a command, not a suggestion. The word kingdom means to have influence over that territory. When you seek His Kingdom first, you are seeking His influence to be extended over your entire world: your private life, your thoughts, your business life, your marriage, your relationships, your sexual life and every other dimension of your life. We know that nothing is hidden, with total submission to be His territory, under His rulership.
This has to do with being under the “administration of Heaven’s government”. The Lord God—our King—becomes your point of reference and standard for everything. This raises an important point: you can tell which kingdom you are in by the way you live and conduct yourself. I must say that in my lifetime, I have lived in both this world’s kingdom (even while being religious) and the Lord God’s Kingdom. I don’t ever want to live in the world’s kingdom again because there is nothing better than life in the Kingdom of God! It is worth everything! Nothing I may "give up" is of greater value to me than the Father, my Lord and King! The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. John 10:10 NLT
If you believe and follow the King, your life will reflect the influence of His government and its administration in your life. Those who are not in God’s Kingdom will wonder and perhaps even ask why you are so different. Why aren’t you fearful? Why don’t you worry? How can you have peace? Then you can state that it is because you are under a different government than in this world, with a different culture, different laws and a different leader. You are a citizen of God’s Kingdom. He is your Lord and King and He meets your needs and cares for you. As ambassador Paul stated: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20
Remember what the Lord Jesus said about our fruit: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” Matthew 7:15-18 Believe it or not, others can tell what kind of tree you are by the fruit you produce in your life.
In God’s Constitution, the Hebrew word for kingdom is mamlakah. In the New Testament Greek the word is basileia. Both words carry the same general range of meaning: dominion, kingdom, sovereignty, to rule and reign, rulership and royal power.
The following describes the Kingdom of God, and what we are to seek, perfectly: The governing influence of a king over his territory (domain), impacting it with His personal will, purpose and intent, producing a culture, value system and lifestyle that reflects the King’s desire and nature for His citizens. It is the seeking of His Kingdom, not in religion, that we will receive all of our needs in life that the rest of the world toils, labors, frets, worries and strives for. “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:24-33 NLT No religion has such a guarantee as the Kingdom of God.
The best example of life in the Kingdom of God vs. life in the world is Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden vs. Adam and Eve after they disobeyed God’s Word. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:8-13
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:16-19
Disobedience is sin and sin is when they lost the Kingdom of God. The stark difference in Adam and Eve’s life in the Garden and life after they sinned against God shows us life in the Kingdom of God and life in the world.
Remember, your faith in the Lord God’s Word is your greatest asset in His Kingdom.
All scriptures are NKJV unless noted
W.R. Luchie
www.kingdomcitizens.org
This article may only be reproduced, in print or on the internet, if the author's name and website address are included at the end of the article as originally placed. Thank you
