Experiencing Kingdom Life
Feb10
Have you ever thought about what your rights are as a citizen of God’s kingdom? Having just celebrated the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and with President’s Day just ahead, I have thought about my rights as an American citizen and how blessed we are in this country. But our rights as a citizen of the kingdom of God are even greater and are a greater cause for celebration!
It breaks my heart that so many kingdom citizens have heard Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God…..” but have no real understanding of how to live in this kingdom. God’s word reminds us that Jesus heroically rescued us from the clutches of satan and sin’s domain.
For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col 1:13-14
Now that we have been rescued from a dark kingdom He wants to teach us how to live out a full and prosperous life in His kingdom of light. While He doesn’t promise every kingdom citizen a million dollars, He does promise to give us something better-peace and joy.
17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom 14:17
For years we have been told what we should do and should not do once we come into the kingdom of God. We’ve been reminded of the horrible consequences of hell and destruction if we do wrong. However, I strongly believe that so much emphasis has been placed on the “what and the why” that we have forgotten to tell people how to live a kingdom life!
In order to experience kingdom life we must be confident in the righteousness of the kingdom, speak fluently the language of the kingdom and become proficient in “riding the transportation system of the kingdom.” When we know that through His blood we are “made righteous” and now have right standing with God we can function boldly as kingdom citizens. Today embrace who you are. You’re no longer just an “old sinner” but a person who has been saved by His grace. (Ephesians 2.8,9) As we learn to operate in love and faith we can succeed in the kingdom.
I would love to hear from you. What is the greatest hindrance to your kingdom life experience? Could you use some help in learning to speak the language of the kingdom – love? Do you struggle with maintaining faith?
This was a great post and has been a life changing series on the Kingdom. I think the Kingdom language is one we all need to practice and we yearn to be more like our King.
Keep em coming Bishop,
We love you….
This message is actually a challenge to me as very often i forget and end up speaking the earthly language of woryy and the like forgeting the advantages that are in speaking the language of the kingdom.
Thanks Bishop McBath God bless you
Bishop I really do struggle daily with my Faith and I feel in my HEART and soul that it should not be this difficult. I also know that I am not in control of what has or will happen to me in this life. I believe that all has been preordained by my HEAVENLY Father. Over the last 10 years it has been one thing after another never letting up. I lost my Grandfather to cancer, my oldest brother to Sickle Cell Anemia, my Father who raised my me to a horrible MVC all with in a 2 year period. Then there is my Step Mother loss her to cancer, 2 Aunts 1 to ovarian cancer the other colon cancer. If that is not enough I was in a MVC (T-Boned) that totaled my SUV and left me with numerous physical and emotional issues. Then there is the replay image of my father on theTV news being loaded into the ambulance. My daughter 20 years old has been rear ended 3 times all of which totaled her cars. My husbands MVC totaled his car. All MVC cases were lost in court even though none and I mean none of these car accidents where our fault. Now we are dealing with money problems due to my disability. I also have just been diagnosed with a Cerebral Embolism and due to have surgery on March 1, 2010. I love my Heavenly Father I really do. I feel at this point enough is enough. I am tried Mentally, Emotionally and Physically. All in all it has been very painful. Don’t even get me started on my marriage. These are just the high points Bishop and I am still hanging in there. My level of trust is shot I must say…….Over the last 10 years it has been one thing after another never letting up I am tried Spiritually, Mentally, Emotionally and Physically. Lets us not forget I was told the man that raised me was not my Bio Father. I meant the man who claimed to be my Father and lost him last year to lung cancer. I really wish this event never happen. I meant with him ( because of the GOD in me) only to find out he never wanted children and he wanted nothing to do with me. Lord knows I am glad my children were not exposed to him. All in all life has been very painful for me of late. Don’t even get me started on my marriage. These are just the high points Bishop and I am still trying to hang in there but it’s not easy. My level of trust is shot I must say…….but I keep looking up and praying for relief as I wonder what have I done to deserve all of this. Still trying to maintain Gods Riches At Christ Expense (GRACE)
Bishop I do struggle daily with my Faith and I feel in my HEART that it should not be this hard. Over the last 10 years it has been one thing after another never letting up. I lost my Grandfather to cancer, my oldest brother to Sickle Cell Anemia, my Father who raised my me to a horrible MVC, Step Mother to cancer, 2 Aunts 1 to ovarian cancer the other colon cancer. If that is not enough I was in a MVC that totaled my car and left my with numerous physical and emotional issues. My daughter 20 year old daughter has rear ended 3 times all of witch totaled her cars. My husband MVC totaled his car. All MCV cases were lost in court. Now we are dealing with money problems due to my disability. Last but not least I have just been diagnosed with a Cerebral Embolism and due to have surgery on March 1, 2010. I love my Heavenly Father I really do but at this point I fell enough is enough. I am tried Mentally, Emotionally and Physically. Lets us not forget I was told the man that raised me was not my Bio Father. I meant the who claimed to be my Father and lost him last year to lung cancer. I really was this event never happen. I meant with him only to find out he never wanted to have anything to do with me. Lord knows I am glad my children were not exposed to him. All in all it has been very painful. Don;t even get me started on my marriage. These are just the high points Bishop and I am still hanging in there. My level of trust is shot I must say…….
It’s interesting that you mention “UNDERSTANDING”. As a teacher, I’m always asking myself, “How do I know that my students understand?” How do I know if they’re really learning. Settling for the spiritual “Do’s and don’ts” suggest that voluntarily or involuntarily we’ve allowed ourselves to stay at a lower level of understanding of God and His Kingdom. Based on Bloom’s taxonomy “KNOWLEDGE” is the lowest level of understanding. I believe that as believers we have to be more intentional, proactive, and aggressive about climbing the “Understanding Ladder”.
I believe people’s hunger for God is building, and so they no longer want to settle for just having “KNOWLEDGE” they want to progress to an “UNDERSTANDING” level where it can be applied, solve problems, create, and defend. This “UNDERSTANDING” will hopefully result in more fruit being born in their lives as well as a greater advancementment of God’s kingdom where they have been placed.
Learning to live in the Kingdom is very important. In the past I missed opportunities to enjoy life because I was holding myself back with unnecessary self-imposed legalism. Now that I am learning what it truly means to be free in Christ I am walking in what God has for me. It’s not always easy and I still have some areas that I am asking God to change but I have hope. Now that I know the Kingdom isn’t about what I “can’t” but more about what I “can” through Christ I am living like God intended for me to.
my hindrance in my kingdom life if my temper. I am quick to go off and slow to forgive. so, I guess forgiveness as well. My faith in what God can do and have done is strong but I block my own blessings by not taking control of my temper. I can’t say, it’s satan testing my faith because it’s not. I know I have to learn that every small situation isn’t a battle and really those small situations isn’t really important in what and where I want to be in life. I have prayed and ask God for more patience but as I type this response to your blog..I know honestly I wasn’t being real and that’s why God hasn’t stepped in. I have to be real with myself first. I don’t know why we as christians THINK we can out smart or out think the creator of heaven and earth, the God who made man. Once, I let go of small insignificant mess then I know my temperment will become much better. I feel better now, just blogging about it. I guess a journal or blogging could help me..LOL.
Bishop McBath, I thank you for allowing God to use you, to spread his Word to his people. Great blog post as well..
Your sister in Christ,
Ericka
The greatest hindrance to my Kingdom life experience is ME.I am my own hindrance. I’m faithful in the things of God. However,there are times when I’m not consistant at all. I often wonder how in the world will God’s promises ever come to pass in my life when I’m messing up on doing my part. Everyday I fall short and I thank God for keeping me because I am my worst enemy. I’m doing good in the faith and love Kingdom but the waiting kindom is a challenge!! Any pointers for while I’m waiting?
This is so great you must keep this up. I follow you on facebook but this is so much better. My greatest struggle is staying focused on the process of living day by day,and remembering that I’m in the Kingdom of Almighty God what a awesome thing this is.