Kingdom

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1 Kings 14:8 Despising God’s Blessings

I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. 1 Kings 14:8

When a person is given something by someone else, he is expected to honor the gift and the person who gave it. It is not expected that he will throw out the gift, nor talk bad about the person who gave it. Acting in this way will be considered rude, inconsiderate and ungrateful.

Ahijah had brought word to King Jeroboam that God had taken the kingdom from the family of David and gave it to him, but he chose to refuse to obey God and follow Him with all of his heart.

Blessings come from God on a daily basis to those who are willing to follow Him. While some of the greatest blessings are not physical, many are physical blessings. Often those blessings are things taken from those in the world not following Him, to bless His people.

Recognizing that those blessings came from the Lord is the first step in honoring God with those blessings. Many feel as though they got the blessings themselves or that they deserve those blessings.

When this occurs, many will choose to continue in the ways of the world, turning to false gods, rather than to God. They begin to trust in the blessings and themselves, rather than trusting in God and obeying God with all of their heart, despising the blessing that was given to them.

True believers will recognize what God has given them and honor God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength. Turning away to false gods will not be an option in their lives.

If you take time to examine your life, you will most likely be able to see how God has blessed you in many ways. Some of those ways are with things that He has taken from the world and given to you.

In your time of blessing, do not despise His gifts to you and turn back to the ways of the world. Just as quickly as He gave you those gifts, God can remove them. Show gratefulness to God by choosing to obey His word and doing what is right in His eyes.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know what God has given you; that you will honor God with all of your life; that God will give you strength to do what is right in His eyes; and that God will guide you in using what He has blessed you with for His glory and honor.

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1 Kings 5:5 Do What God Called You To Do

I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the Lord my God, as the Lord told my father David, when he said, ‘Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’ 1 Kings 5:5

People work hard to build things up in their lives. Some have natural skills to be able to build something specific or do some type of work that benefits thousands of others. Few will run with these abilities and do what they are made to do, while others will go a different direction and not do it.

After Solomon gained peace throughout the kingdom, he chose to begin to build the temple God called him to build.

The majority of people throughout the world are focused upon building their own kingdom up, building things to build themselves up. Some of these things may be good, but all of them are temporary. It will help only in the short term of life here on the earth but in the end will fail.

God has a plan for each person as to what that person should build while on the earth. It begins with building his life in Christ Jesus as Lord. Once this is started the next part of the plan for every believer is to build His kingdom–being a witness and making disciples. How this looks and is accomplished may be different for each and every believer, but the goal is the same–building an eternal kingdom.

Every believer has started with building his life in Christ, but many will stop there. They forget or ignore what God has called them to do focusing on building their own little personal kingdom, rather than God’s kingdom.

True believers will remember and do what God wants them to do.

Whether you are a believer or not, God has a plan for you. This plan will begin with believing in Jesus and being saved. Then He has a plan for what you are to do with your life while here on the earth.

Every believer is a part of the temple of God to dwell in on this earth. Seek God to find out how you can be His witness and make more disciples, building that temple.

Do not ignore the calling God has for you but be all that you can be for God.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know what God has called you to do and be; that you will build God’s temple on this earth; and that God will give you the strength to do His work successfully.

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John 18:36 Not Of This World

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” John 18:36

Throughout the world there are many different types of kingdoms. The most commonly known ones are those of different nations. Along with the nations being kingdoms, there are also kingdoms among businesses.

The focus of the kingdoms is to rule and reign as the best, and pushing back or removing the competition or enemy. Each one has a different method of focus and method to be the best.

As Jesus was being arrested and tried, he was asked what He had done to cause His people to hand Him over. Jesus stated that His kingdom was not of this world and that it worked in a different manner.

The world likes to fight for what it wants. The type of fighting that is usually done is physically. Nations and businesses are made up of people and people will do whatever it takes to get what they want.

Those who are a part of the kingdoms are willing to fight for their leaders and country. Their desire is to protect it at all costs.

God’s kingdom is not of this world and thus works in a different way. No one can physically walk to God’s kingdom, it is in a different realm. Even though it is of a different realm, there is still a battle going on.

Although there is a battle going on, it is not a physical one, but a spiritual battle. Physical fighting is not a part of the battle plan. Believers do not have to physically fight to win this battle. It is won with prayer, sound doctrine, and love. With this type of battle, things may occur that appear crazy, such as Jesus going to the cross, to win the real battle.

Even though you are a part of this physical world, as a believer you are a part of another kingdom and world. As God works in your life, there will be times you must go through situations that do not make any sense.

Instead of physically fighting, you must pray and move forward with God’s plan for your life. You are a part of an eternal kingdom that will never fail or fade away. The problems in this life will fade away with time.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Savior; that you will be a part of God’s eternal kingdom; that you will be a part of the spiritual battle of God’s kingdom; that you will fight in God’s manner and ways; and that you will look forward to eternal life with God some day.