How Do I Seek First the Kingdom? | Being God-Centered

by Bob Hamp

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:35–37

His funeral was attended by three people who did not know each other and a hired chaplain who had never met him before. This small group gathered around a casket, looked in at the man’s body and struggled for meaningful words to say about his life. He died in prison after leaving his wife and kids to pursue the life he was sure would make him happy. He died alone. The sadness in the room seemed to be as much about lost opportunities as it did a lost life.

We have an opportunity to make something the center of our lives. All of us have some idea about what will make life work though not everyone has the same idea. Many things men seek will actually take their lives away. One thing will give life back. What is it? We should all answer that question.

A lamp produces light, but it can’t be plugged into itself. Only a power source produces what the lamp needs to function. The equation is simple: Make your desires first, and you will have none of them fulfilled. Seek to connect daily to the Source of life, and your life will be changed.
     
Jesus never said to make church or good works the center of your life. The gospel is simple—God is here among His people. God is looking for daily, consistent acknowledgment that He is in your home and your car—that He goes to work with you. He desires ongoing two-way communication. Living a God-centered life is not about you working for God every day, it is about Him working in you.

1.  What is the first thing you think about when you wake up?  When you get off work?  When you're tired?

2.  How do you hear God’ s voice when you ask Him questions?

3.  If God were sitting in the front seat of your car this morning, what would you ask Him?

What Is the Kingdom? | New Creation

by Alan Smith

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away …  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new."
Revelation 21:1, 4–5

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17

Four of us checked in to a Marriott Hotel in Guatemala City when we first arrived in the country. We stayed one night and then drove four hours into the mountains for three full days of ministry. We then returned to Guatemala City and checked back into the same hotel, but it wasn’t the same hotel at all. Marriott sold the hotel to a company called Barcelon, and the transformation took place quickly between our stays. No trace of the old Marriott identity was anywhere to be found. There was new management, new branding, even new towels and new soap!

That’s what it will be like when God’s kingdom comes in fullness. All the old will pass away and everything will be made new. All that Jesus purchased for us through His death and resurrection will be fully appropriated. All that God purposed for creation will be fully realized. The only appropriate term for this is “new creation.”

We do not have to wait for that day to know what this will be like! God is now doing in you what He will one day do in all creation. He is causing all the old things to pass away and making everything new in your life now. You are a new creation! Those who have opportunities to observe this transformation will, through your life, get a foretaste of the new creation that is yet to come.

That’s what happens when the kingdom of heaven comes. Old things pass away. Everything is made new. Tears, death, sorrow, pain— these are old things. The kingdom brings such newness that these old things are displaced with God’s presence, voice, joy and health.

1. What are some old things that need to pass away in your life?

2. How is experiencing God’s kingdom a better solution for getting rid of these old things than simply trying harder?

3. In what ways have you already experienced new creation as a result of God’s kingdom in your life?