Kingdom Seekers

                   Life Can Be Tough JOHN 16:33 ICB 33 "I told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have trouble. But be brave! I have defeated the world!" Jesus never promised us that everything would be perfect here on earth. He recognized that we would encounter trouble. But His instructions were to be of good cheer -- not to let it get us down. As we encounter difficulties in life, it will help us to remember the big picture. First, God is our Father and has a wonderful eternal plan for us. We are His children and He loves us. Second, this time is but a training period for our future life with God. We are supposed to be learning to trust God and to obey Him. So, every problem we ever face is an opportunity to walk in faith and please God. Every problem is an opportunity to overcome with God's help. How can we expect to receive the blessings promised to the overcomer if we nev...

What Is The Kingdom Of God? ROMANS 14:17 ESV 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. A kingdom is the domain of a king. It is wherever a king governs, or is in control. A king can be in control without being physically present. Wherever his ideas and rules are governing is part of his domain, or kingdom. This is the point of Romans 14:17. God's kingdom is not just a location where you would live (eat and drink), but it is everywhere we allow God and His spirit to govern us. So the Kingdom of God includes everywhere the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is acknowledged as King. It is where His ideas govern and where His rules are obeyed. 1 JOHN 4:8 ESV 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God is love, so the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of Love. There can be no selfishness in the Kingdom of Love. In the Kingdom of Love, everyone delights to help...

 Believing Prayer Changes Things We have authority in our domain and can choose to invite God's involvement -- or not. EZEKIEL 22:30 NKJ 30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. JOHN 16:23-24 NKJ 23 ". . . Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. JOHN 14:13-14 NKJ 13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. Christ has delegated a certain amount of His authority in the earth to His Body, the church. Our decisions as believers -- which we can express in prayer -- make a difference in our lives and others' lives. MARK 11:24 NKJ 24 ". . . whatever things y...

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success." Joshua 1:8 ESV "O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures." Psalm 104:24 ESV "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the L...

          You Reap What You Sow GALATIANS 6:7 NKJ 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. The Bible says it, so you can count on it. EPHESIANS 6:8 NKJ 8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. LUKE 6:38 NKJ 38 "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you." The world has a saying for this, "Whatever goes around, comes around." If you are unkind, you can expect unkindness to come toward you. If you are merciful, you can expect others to be merciful to you. If you are generous, others will be generous with you. You cannot expect to plant carrot seeds and harvest tomatoes. It does not work in the physical realm, neither does it work in the spiritual realm. You wil...

God & Government Reading: Romans 13:1-8 "Those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God" (Rom 13:2)   Obeying civil authorities is obeying God. Read what Paul wrote to the believers in Rome the political capital of the then world (Rom 13:1-4). Peter belonged to the illiterate section of the society. Yet he clearly understood how God was behind the civil authorities. He writes in his first Epistle, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the King as supreme, or to governors" (2:13,14). He beautifully brings out how our obedience to civil authorities is the other side of our obedience to God: "Fear God. Honour the King" (v17).   What a different world this would be if only all the Christians would pledge not to evade tax payment, not to cheat customs officials, not to bribe anyone, not to break traffic rules, not to disregard town-planning regulations, and so on and so forth! (Rom...

                It Is Written MATTHEW 4:3-4 NKJ 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " When tempted, Jesus did not use any supernatural powers to resist the devil. Jesus simply quoted the written Word of God to the devil. You must do the same thing. Jesus was our example, showing us how to overcome the attacks of our enemy. Notice how the devil came to tempt Jesus -- with a thought -- a thought contrary to the written Word of God. Then after Jesus quoted the Bible, the devil also quoted the Bible but twisted the meaning. Jesus responded only with another verse from the Bible. MATTHEW 4:6-7 NKJ 6 and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels char...