What Difference Does the Reality of the Kingdom Make in My Life? | God is with Me at All Times

by Angie Wyatt

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified … for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6

After my parents divorced, I spent the majority of my childhood alone. To fill the loneliness in my heart, I created all types of magical, fictional friends. These friends would be with me when I walked to and from school, when I made myself dinner and when I went to bed at night. I always had these imaginary friends to keep me company. 

As an adult, I still spend a good amount of time alone. The difference is that those imaginary friendships have been replaced by my one true friend, Jesus. I understand that I can feel lonely whether or not I’m surrounded by people. When I feel alone, I’m reminded that God is calling out for my heart. He wants me to focus on Him. 

When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the intimacy of their relationship with God. They felt exposed and alone because they were separated from Him. Through Jesus, our relationship with God is reconciled. We’re no longer separated from our Father by sin, but we’re reunited with Him through Jesus Christ. He promises to be with us at all times and to never abandon us. 

We can have confidence in life because of God’s presence. 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love drives out all fear.” The perfect love of God removes any fear of the past, present or future. We don’t have fill loneliness with the things this world has to offer. We can let God’s love fill our loneliness with the nearness of Him.  He is with us always.

1.  When have you felt like God was far away?

2.  When have you felt like God was near?

3.  What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?

How Do I Seek First the Kingdom? | Living Now in Light of Later

by Alan Smith

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Cor 15:58

For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
2 Cor 5:4-5

I used to play the saxophone. I wasn’t great, but I was good and had potential. One year I set the goal to make the All Region Band. This required performing a very difficult piece of music in front of a panel of judges. Preparation for this task involved committing hours of time that would normally be allocated for play to a fairly grueling process of practice. Not being a naturally disciplined child, it might not surprise you to hear that some doubted I would in fact follow through. But I did. Why? I had captured a vision of a future reality, and I was motivated in the present to live in light of that reality.

1 Corinthians 15 is about the future moment when Christ returns; we will rise bodily from the dead to meet Him—transformed and incorruptible. In verse 58, Paul tells us that we should live in the present “ … steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Part of what it means to seek first the kingdom of God in my life involves capturing a vision for that which is yet to come. I seek first the kingdom by living within the present in light of a future reality.

Our access to this future reality of resurrection and new creation is not simply conceptual or theological. By the Spirit, we have been given access in the present to a reality in the future. The Spirit has been given to us as a guarantee, a down-payment, in the present, toward that future reality. By the Spirit, I am called to live within my present context as an heir of that future reality.

1. The New Testament firmly anchors our future home in terms of bodily resurrection and new creation. When you think of your future in Christ, is your hope similarly placed? Why or why not?

2. When Jesus returns there will be an end to sickness, sorrow, pain and suffering (see Rev 21). In what ways does the Holy Spirit work presently within believers to bring that future reality into the present?

3. Through what relationships might the Holy Spirit want to use you this week as a conduit of new creation power?

How Do I Seek First the Kingdom? | Enforcing His Victory

by Angie Wyatt

Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.
Revelation 12:10–11

I love movies about fighters and champions. Films like Rocky always bring their star to that defining moment when they are faced with a fierce, internal struggle. As Rocky plows through his outdoor workout despite a fierce blizzard, the audience asks, “Will he find the fighter within?” We watch Rocky’s inner struggle, and we cheer him on. We instinctively know that if he can conquer the battle within, he’ll become the champion when the world is watching. 

When faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, champions determine who they are and press through with an inner strength. As Christians, our status as champions in this spiritual battle is challenged daily. The Enemy accuses people by reminding them of their failures, past sins and inadequacies. All these are qualities that are cancelled through our relationship with Jesus. We must determine who we are as God’s people and enforce His victory over our lives.

By His death and resurrection, Jesus overcame the power of darkness completely and forever. As believers, we have access to His power. 1 John 5:4 says, “Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”  In Revelation 21:11, we read that believers overcome the Enemy by the blood of Christ and by their testimony. Christ has won the spiritual battle through His blood. We reinforce the victory with our testimony.

When we praise, pray, worship and put on our spiritual armor, we testify to the world that we belong to God and we believe in Jesus. We are enforcing His reign in the world and agreeing with His conquering power. When we fight the battle spiritually, we win the battle.

1.  In what ways does your life testify of Jesus Christ?

2.  How can you reinforce the victory of Jesus?

3.   In what ways are you victorious in the kingdom of God?

How Do I Seek First the Kingdom? | Engaging in the Warfare

by Bob Hamp

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3–6

The dark figure swung his sword. The young man blocked the blow and attacked. Their feet carried them back and forth on the difficult terrain as each sought to gain an advantage. The young man called on all of his skills. The dark figure called on something different. 

“Feel the anger flow through you,” he breathed. “Give in to the dark side.”

As the man in black taunted him, Luke finally gave in to a surge of rage. Backing Darth Vader down, he dealt him a death blow, seemingly winning the fight.

It is important to live as kingdom citizens with a daily awareness of the battle we live in.  However, if we misunderstand the nature of spiritual warfare compared to earthly warfare, we may falsely believe we are winning when in fact we are giving ground away. We naturally define victory based on observable outcomes. Jesus reminded us that it is of no value to win the world but to lose our soul.

We battle daily for the nature of God to be manifested on the earth. This must begin in us. From a position of anger, judgment, control or any other fleshly position, we cannot bring God’s nature into a situation. The fight is first and always for the condition of our hearts. 

Every day, your adversary tries to get you to agree with him about yourself, your situations and the people who cross your path. To the degree you agree with Satan’s view of people and God, you have given away ground. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, mercy, self-control … these are the remnants of a spiritual victory.

1.  Have you ever won an argument with someone but felt like you lost?  Why did it feel that way?

2.  What are ways are you tempted to agree with Satan’s view of people or even God?

3.  Does your work or current circumstances make it harder or easier to win the battle for your heart?  Why?

How Do I Seek First the Kingdom? | Prioritizing His Word

by Alan Smith

But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
John 6:68

At age 12, on a daylong horseback ride with a friend, I found myself dehydrated and three hours away from any drinkable water. Those three hours were some of the longest of my life. With each step, all I could think about was water. Nothing else mattered. I learned something very important that day: There’s nothing like the perception of an acute need to focus priorities. When we become aware of that which we desperately need, all other objects of our desire take a back seat.

In this passage from John 6, many of Jesus’ followers had departed. Things had become difficult; following Jesus had become too costly. They felt their desire for comfort, convenience, social acceptance and tradition more urgently than their need for the life that comes only from His word. Jesus asked His disciples if they were going to leave too and Peter replied as quoted above. In contrast to the multitude, somehow Peter and the rest of Jesus’ closest group of followers had become aware of their desperate need for life. All other considerations faded as they committed to the pursuit of this one thing—the words of eternal life.

I have experienced seasons when God’s Word has taken a backseat to competing priorities in my life. I’m sure you can relate. But I have discovered that God’s grace tends to work through the circumstances of my life to bring me back to the place where I am aware of my desperate need for His Word. Part of what it means to seek first the kingdom of God is to prioritize His Word in our lives—not because we feel like we have to fulfill a religious obligation, but because we have discovered our desperate need for His words of life.

1. What are some of the seemingly urgent things that tend to crowd out your time in God’s Word?

2. How does reading the Bible to fulfill a religious obligation contrast with reading the Bible to receive words of life?

3. If you sense that God’s grace is working through your current life circumstances to remind you of your need for His Word, what steps can you take today to respond?

How Do I Seek First the Kingdom? | Seeking His Voice

by Angie Wyatt

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.
John 16:13–14
People magazine calls Ben Underwood the “Boy Who Sees with Sound.” Ben is totally blind, but he walks freely without the use of a cane or guide dog. Ben has taught himself to navigate his surroundings using echo location. Like a dolphin, he makes a clicking sound with his voice, and then the sound reverberates off objects and back to him. He has perfected this internal radar device so well that he can tell precisely where to locate a glass of water. The clicking even tells him the difference between a truck and a sedan. When Ben makes this clicking sound, his internal radar tells him how to make sense of his world. His life becomes organized; he knows how to get around and how to function. 

What would it be like if we could suddenly “see” the unseen spiritual world around us? From Ben’s story, we learn that there are so many ways to see, hear and perceive reality. As Christians, we have our own internal radar. This radar perfectly connects us with God’s voice. Some hear God’s voice audibly, some hear God like a feeling that stirs deep within and others hear God through visions. We each hear God in our own way.

Jesus sent us His Holy Spirit to be our internal guide. Throughout the book of Acts, we see how the Holy Spirit fills believers with His presence. Because of our relationship with Him, we can hear Him speak to us. When the Holy Spirit speaks, He guides our lives into truth. With God, we are no longer blind. We can confidently walk into this world because He reveals the truth of our surroundings. Those supernatural things that we cannot see physically are perceived spiritually. 

In John 10, Jesus compares himself to a shepherd. He says that anyone who knows Him also knows His voice. He assures us that we won’t know the voice of the Enemy. As God’s sheep, we can pursue God’s voice to guide our lives like a good shepherd guides his flock.

1.  In what ways do you hear God?

2.  How can you hear God daily?

3.  What is the Holy Spirit saying to you?