Learning to Live in the Kingdom

Last Sunday in worship, I talked about how God protects his Kingdom people in the world (If you are interested in seeing that sermon, you can click here). One of our observations was that God promises to protect his people and his Kingdom; if we believe this, then it is wise for us to obey God, because the path God offers to us is the path of protection, even though it is sometimes difficult.

If we find obedience difficult, it may be helpful to realize that the act of obeying actually can be subdivided into several smaller steps:

Listen – we have to start by receiving the direction of another
Hope – for us to take what we have received any farther, we must believe that the one who has offered us direction is qualified in such a manner that such direction could actually lead us to a positive outcome
Trust – we must also believe that the one who directs us intends or desires good for us, and therefore is offering a credible direction
Act – finally, we would take the steps proposed by the one who we believe to be qualified to speak into our lives and oriented toward our well-being

These are the stages that can move us from inaction to obedience. If you wish to examine yourself, to consider where you may be disposed to obey or where you may need to change yourself, the following are questions that might be useful for such examination.

Listen:
Are you listening for what God has to say to you?

How do we listen? Historically, the primary ways the Church has listened is by reading the word, praying, worshipping, and fellowshipping with others who are following Jesus

Are you committed to continuing to seek out the promises of the Lord, to come to deeper understanding and better knowing of God?

Hope:

Can you believe that God can do the extraordinary things he has said he will?

Can you give thanks for things that have been promised but have not yet come?

Can you believe that God will even remove your sin, that he will make it as if you never had sin?

Trust:

Are you willing to be fully dependent upon God?

Are you willing to set aside your own methods of gaining love, power, righteousness?

Act:

Are you willing to set aside whatever in your past you must walk away from?

God called Abram to make God the only priority in his life; are you willing to do the same thing?

Are you willing to make your past past?