LIFE IN GOD'S KINGDOM

LIFE IN GOD'S KINGDOM

Matthew 6:31-33 (NIV)
"31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
>>The moment you find yourself beginning to worry  about life like pagans do, you should know YOU STOPPED BELIEVING GOD!! And if you stopped believing it means YOU STOPPED LIVING!! Believing is living because it's written "the righteous shall live by faith!!" (Rom 1:17) It's the spirit of faith that empowers you to live the life of the word you have believed!! The living never worry! Jesus never worried! Jesus never worries today in you!! And Jesus will never worry!! (Heb 13:8) Those who abide in death always worry! Worrying is their lifestyle!! Believers in Christ Jesus are always "full of peace and joy in believing, and they always abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit!!" (Rom 15:13)
The Lord Jesus said, " nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” ( Lk 17:21 NIV)
>> The Kingdom of God IS NOT HERE or THERE!! The Kingdom of God IS WITHIN YOU! So when Jesus says seek ye the Kingdom of God He is referring to the relationship between your spirit and the Holy Spirit!! (this is heart to Heart!!) He means for you;
1) To begin a new personal relationship with God who is Spirit through faith in Christ Jesus, the Saviour of all Mankind! Remember you are a spirit with a soul living in a body! A relationship with God the Spirit begins when your spirit is born again (John 3:3-7); that is, your spirit is recreated, which is to be regenerated and renewed by the Holy Spirit!! ( Titus 3:4-5)
2) And if you have believed already He wants you to focus and concentrate wholeheartedly on the deepening and intensification of your personal fellowship/communion with the Holy Ghost, and to make this your prime business of life!! This must be second to none and second to nothing in your whole existence on earth!!
3) The Kingdom of God within you means God is enthroned in your heart as King and Lord in the person of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit!! This is about you yielding and yielding to the Holy Ghost until He completely takes you over spirit, soul, and body. It's about the whole life process of continual and daily submission to the Holy Ghost in which case He becomes the sole source and origin of your thoughts where He gets to be completely in charge of your thought life!! God's purpose is that you should be totally Spirit-Minded (or Scripture-Minded). The Lordship of Jesus means ;
-You have the mind of Christ
-You have the will of Christ
-You have Christ's emotions
-You speak the Word of God
-You do the word of God (you are a doer of God's word)
>> This is a life process that is begun by the Holy Spirit and continues until you are perfectly Christ-like!! AND IT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT BUSINESS OF GOD WITH BELIEVERS ON EARTH!!

Phillipians 1:6 (New Living Translation)
"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."

After being born again, this continuous work of the Spirit within you is what eventually consummates the divine purpose!!

Romans 8:29 (King James Bible)
"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."

Again;

Hebrews 2:10 (King James Bible)
"For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings."

>> IT WAS GOD'S PURPOSE TO SAVE YOU AND MAKE YOU EXACTLY CHRIST-LIKE
>> A CHILD OF GOD MUST BE EXACTLY CHRIST-LIKE IN ORDER TO GLORIFY GOD ON EARTH AND GAIN AN ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN
>> THE BIBLE SAYS JESUS CAME ON EARTH TO SAVE AND BRING MANY SONS OF GOD INTO GLORY
>> MANY DON'T GET IT, CHRIST IS THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD, AND FOR ANYONE TO BE CALLED SON OF GOD HE/SHE MUST BE CHRIST-LIKE!!
The Bible says:
1 John 2:6 (Good News Translation)
"if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as Jesus Christ did."

1 Cor 6:17 says  " But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one
spirit with him." ( New American Bible)
>> CHRIST-LIKE MEANS LIKE GOD HIMSELF ACCORDING TO THE FLESH
>> CHRIST-LIKE MEANS YOU ARE ONE WITH CHRIST JESUS IN SPIRIT
>> THIS MEANS YOUR BORN-AGAIN SPIRIT IS JOINED TO THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST TO BECOME "ONE"
>> THEREFORE YOU ARE ONE SPIRIT WITH JESUS!! YOU ARE THE EXACT IMAGE OF GOD AND EXACT REPRESENTATION OF HIS GLORY IN THE FLESH!!
Paul wrote:
Romans 8:9 (New International Version)
"You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ."
>> WE ARE BORN AGAIN TO EXIST AND OPERATE IN THE REALM OF THE SPIRIT
>> OUR "LIFE" AS CHILDREN OF GOD IS SPIRITUAL!!
>> YOU ARE AS SPIRITUAL AS YOU ARE CHRIST-LIKE!!
>> YOUR SPIRITUALITY IS MEASURED BY THE DEGREE OF CHRIST-LIKENESS YOU HAVE ATTAINED TO!!
It's the Holy Spirit who has begun this good work of Christ formation (Gal 4:19) in you which WILL, DEFINITELY, BE COMPLETED!! You must have a constant, ever-deepening fellowship with Him if you are to become EXACTLY LIKE CHRIST!!

These things we have so far said require total life commitment and perfect self-denial!! Your "self" or "flesh" is the greatest hindrance to LIFE IN THE SPIRIT which is the real life of GOD'S CHILDREN!!
Rom 8:5-8 (NIV)
"5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God."
>>There are two mindsets: Spiritual and Fleshly Mindsets
>> To be spiritual you must have a spiritual mind
>> With a carnal and unspiritual mind YOU CAN NEVER PLEASE GOD!! And YOU WILL ALWAYS BE SEEKING FLESHLY, CORRUPTIBLE, EARTHLY, WORLDLY, AND TEMPORAL THINGS!! Your heart and mind will always be on the perishables!! These will take precedence over spiritual matters in your life!! YOU WILL ALWAYS BE ABIDING IN DEATH!! Opposed and hostile to God!! Carnal and idolatrous!! God's Kingdom won't matter to you at all!! God can never be first! You can never live by faith!!
>>You must be spiritual to inherit the Kingdom of God:

Galatians 5:16 (King James Bible)
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh."

Galatians 5:25 (King James Bible)
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit."
>> YOU MUST LIVE AND WALK IN THE SPIRIT IN ORDER TO PLEASE GOD
>> YOU CAN ONLY LIVE AND WALK IN THE SPIRIT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DEPTH OF FELLOWSHIP WHICH YOU HAVE WITH HIM
>> WALKING IN THE SPIRIT IS LIVING!! THAT IS, LIFE IS WALKING IN THE SPIRIT OF THE WORD YOU HAVE BELIEVED!!
>> ETERNAL LIFE IS SPIRITUAL!! IT IS FOUND IN THE WORD!!

John 6:63 (New King James Version)
"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life."
>> EVERYTHING GOD SAID IN HIS WORD IS SPIRIT, AND IT IS LIFE!!
>> THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES YOU THE LIFE WHICH IS IN THE WORD (INTO YOUR SPIRIT/INTO YOUR HEART!)
>> THE HOLY SPIRIT TAKES YOU DEEPER INTO THE WORD!! HE TAKES YOU DEEPER INTO GOD'S HEART!! HE REVEALS TO YOU GOD'S MIND IN THE SCRIPTURES!! HE FILLS YOU MORE AND MORE WITH GOD'S LIFE AND YOU BECOME MORE INTIMATE WITH GOD!! YOU BECOME MORE GODLY AND GOD-LIKE IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD! THIS IS CHRIST-LIKENESS!!
This is more important than preaching!! It's more important than teaching!! For it connects you to an eternal God of glory!! It brings you right into God's heart!! The Holy Spirit of love sheds abroad God's love into your heart! God is Love (1 John 4:8)! So the Holy Spirit fills you with God!! He fills you with and submerges you into the bottom of God's heart/Love!! How glorious this life in the Kingdom of God is!! This is why our Lord Jesus said SEEK YE GOD'S KINGDOM FIRST AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!! This is what matters most to Him!! "LIFE!!" Our Lord came so that we can have this life in all abundance there is!!
His holiness is his life/His purity is his life/His humility is his life/His self-denial is his life/His Love is his life/ His power is his life/His joy is his life/His peace is his life/His long-suffering is his life/His forgiveness is his life/His forbearance is his life/His goodness is his life/His mercy is his life/ His faithfulness is his life/His compassion is his life/ His gentleness is his life/ His self-control and restraint are his life/ His impartiality is his life/ His integrity is his life/ His steadfastness is his life/His righteousness is his life/ His understanding is his life/His wisdom is his life/His benevolence is his life/His knowledge is his life/ His awesomeness is his life/ His glory is his life/ His providence is his life/ His godliness is his life/ His generosity is his life/ His counsel is his life/ His revelations are his life/ His omnipotence is his life/ His sovereignty is his life/ His majesty is his life/ His omnipresence is his life/ His unchangeability is his life/ His omniscence is his life/ His instructions are his life/ His chastisement is his life/ His discipline is his life/ His admonitions are his life/His directions are his life/ His teaching is his life/ His rebuke is his life/ His commandments are his life/ His favour is his life/ His grace is his life/ His protection is his life/ His guidance is his life/ His reliability is his life/ HIS WORD IS HIS LIFE!! HIS ACTIONS ARE HIS LIFE/EVERYTHING HE IS, IS HIS LIFE/EVERYTHING HE DOES IS HIS LIFE/ EVERYTHING HE SAYS IS HIS LIFE/OUR LORD JESUS IS GOD'S LIFE IN US!! JESUS IS OUR LIFE FROM GOD!! And all this life is given by the Holy Spirit!!!
>> SO THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS ABOUT ETERNAL LIFE THROUGH CHRIST AND ABUNDANT LIFE THROUGH OUR RISEN LORD AND SAVIOUR, JESUS!! THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT ABOUT "THINGS" OR "ANY KIND OF EARTHLY OWNERSHIP!!" IF YOU SEEK MORE AND MORE OF THIS LIFE, YOU WILL IMPACT AND CHANGE MORE AND MORE LIVES, BUT IF YOU SEEK "THINGS" THEN YOUR CAN'T DO ANYTHING FOR GOD!!

>> Many Christians rush to do things for God while they are less concerned with Christ-likenesses!!! Many are like Martha (Luke 10:38-42), BUSY FOR JESUS BUT NO INTIMACY WITH JESUS!! Martha was too busy in the service of Jesus but she had no quality time with Jesus!! On the other hand, Mary, her sister chose to sit at the feet of Jesus LISTENING TO AND HEARING HIS WORDS!! Remember The Words of Jesus are spirit and they are life! (John 6:63) MARY HAD CHOSEN LIFE!! MARTHA HAD CHOSEN "CARES OF LIFE"!! It's common to find Christians and even ministers who have very little time with our Lord Jesus, but THEY LIKE TO MINISTER IN HIS NAME!!! Others COME TO JESUS BRIEFLY ONLY BECAUSE THEY ARE INVITED TO MINISTER SOMEWHERE!! This is not what Mary did! You may preach, teach, testify, etc but still be quite distant from the Lord Jesus! Christ-likeness requires intimacy!! WE ARE JOINED TO THE LORD JESUS SO THAT WE CAN "LIVE AND WALK IN HIS PRESENCE AND POWER EACH DAY OF OUR LIVES!" The Holy Ghost came to abide in us, and us in him always!!
John 14:15-19 (NIV)
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be c in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live."
>> THE HOLY GHOST CAME TO BE WITH US AND IN US FOR EVER
>> OUR LORD JESUS WALKED IN CONSTANT, UNBROKEN FELLOWSHIP WITH THE HOLY GHOST ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE
>> JESUS LIVED IN THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND MINISTERED FROM THAT BASE!! HE WAS ALWAYS TUNED INWARDS AND HE WALKED AND MINISTERED IN FULL CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE FATHER'S PRESENCE!!! HE KNEW HIS FATHER INTIMATELY! AND HE LIVED HIS ENTIRE EARTHLY LIFE IN CONSTANT AND CONTINUAL INTIMACY, ADORATION, REVERENCE, GLORIFICATION, EXALTATION, MAGNIFICATION, OBEDIENCE, PLEASING, FELLOWSHIP, PRAISE, HONOUR, AND THANKSGIVING OF HIS HEAVENLY FATHER, THE HOLY SPIRIT!! (Luke 1:35)
>> SINCE JESUS IS OUR LIFE WE MUST LIVE AND WALK EXACTLY LIKE HIM! This is the only way to live, work, and minister in God's power, love, and glory while we are in the flesh!!

Walk with the Spirit, commune with the Spirit, consult the Spirit, listen to the Spirit, obey the Spirit, honour the Spirit, ask the Spirit, follow the leading of the Spirit, thank the Spirit, depend on the Spirit, trust the Spirit, talk and converse with the Spirit, seek the help of the Spirit, respond to the promptings of the Spirit, get used to the voice of the Spirit,  rely on the Spirit, be sensitive to the Spirit, do not grieve the Spirit, do not resist the Spirit, yield to the Spirit, submit to the Spirit, do not quench the Spirit, FOR THE SPIRIT IS YOUR LIFE!!
>> To do this, abide in the word, love the word, obey the word, live in the word, do the word, esteem the word above all else, live by the word, for the word, with the word, and in the word! Keep the word, honour the word, walk by the word, crave the word, desire knowledge of the word, believe the word, think the word, meditate on the word, study the word, pursue the word, feed on the word, revere the word, stand by the word, depend on the word, refuse to do anything or make any decision against the word, seek and desire revelations of the word, understanding of the word, wisdom of the word, fear of the word, counsel of the word and power of the word, make the word the final and highest authority in your life, hunger for the word, thirst for the word, delight in the word above all else, speak the word, think the word, sing the word, YOUR WHOLE LIVING MUST BE WORD-LED AND WORD-CONTROLLED!! This is because The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the word, and loving his word is loving him!!! His promise is:
John 14:21, 23 (NIV)
"21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them."
>> These two verses of Scripture assure you believers of ABUNDANT LIFE!!
>> I, The Father, and my Son, WILL COME TO MAKE OUR ABODE IN YOU
>> The Father is the Spirit, and the Son is Jesus, the Living Word!! So you are assured of the ever-abiding presence of The Spirit and His living Word IN YOUR SPIRIT (IN YOUR HEART!)
>> HOW MUCH FULLNESS OF LIFE THAT IS!
>> HOW DEEP FELLOWSHIP THAT IS!
>> THIS IS HOW GOD IS ENTHRONED IN YOU!!
>> NOW WE SAY THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS IN YOU, HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, JESUS, IS IN YOU!! BECAUSE YOU DARED TO BELIEVE GOD!!!
>> NOW THERE IS SO MUCH THAT WILL RESULT FROM THE PRESENCE OF HIS SPIRIT AND POWER IN YOU!!AND EVERYTHING THAT WILL RESULT WILL GLORIFY GOD BY GLORIFYING OUR LORD JESUS! This is what you must seek and not the corruptibles of this world!! SEEK TO GLORIFY GOD ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE IN YOUR WALK WITH CHRIST JESUS!