PASTOR DARRYL BAKER

Luke 12:31
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

This is a powerful and I believe often misunderstood truth. Why do believers worry about finances, or about having what they need in this life? It is quite obvious by this verse that if this be true, then we are not biblically seeking the Kingdom of God, for in the previous verses Jesus tells us not to worry about what we need in this life. The word seek simply means to pursue or endeavor to obtain. But what exactly are we in this verse being told what to pursue and obtain? A closer look at the original definition of the word Kingdom is quite interesting and usually taught differently then its actual meaning.

Vines expository dictionary defines this word Kingdom as follows: God calls upon men everywhere, without distinction of race or nationality, to submit voluntarily to His rule. Over and over again through different Greek scholars you continually see the word being defined as submitting to the dominion, authority, reign, and rule of the King over that kingdom. You see this truth in the story of a Roman Centurion, who came to Jesus wanting Him to heal a servant of his who was at the point of death. He knew if Jesus just spoke the Word his servant would be healed, for he to was a man under authority.

There is a lot in this account but simply put, someone who pursues and obtains submission of their life under the King of the kingdom, Jesus Christ, will not worry about anything in this life; for they know being submitted fully to Him means I accept and act upon what He has said. As I do, I will walk in all that is in the Kings domain. Want to never worry about anything in your life again? Then fully accept what God’s Word says about you as a child of God, and act in line with that Word, and all that you have need of will be added to you!

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John 8:10-11
10b “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

Here we have a picture of true love. Jesus is addressing a women brought to Him who was caught in adultery. Her accusers tell Jesus that a women caught in adultery according to the law should be stoned. Jesus said he who has not sinned throw the first stone. They all from the oldest to the youngest drop their stones and walk away. Then the exchange above takes place between Jesus and this woman.

True love said I am not going to condemn you. To condemn means to be damned, separated from the Father because of the sin nature within, and then facing God’s punishment to come. The reason Jesus did not come to condemn us is because we were already condemned. He came to restore us to the Father. When you witness to someone revealing their sin nature and they say you are condemning them that is not true. They are already condemned because of sin, their spirit man is dead, separated from God.

True love not only told this woman He had not come to condemn her, but true love also said to go and sin no more. The love of God addresses sinful behavior because sin is destructive to one’s life, and Jesus who loves us does not want us to continue to live a life that is destructive. If we walk in the love of God, we do not come to people to punish them for their sin, but we address their sinful lifestyle because of its destructive results. That is true love.

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2 Corinthians 5:17-18
17 Therefore, if anyone is united with the Anointed One, that person is a new creation. The old life is gone—and see—a new life has begun!
18 All of this is a gift from our Creator God, who has pursued us and brought us into a restored and healthy relationship with Him through the Anointed. And He has given us the same mission, the ministry of reconciliation, to bring others back to Him.

When you refer to someone’s mission in life it is the same as referring to their purpose, or reason for living. Once you are born again, our mission in life is to reconcile people to God by sharing with them what Jesus has done to restore them back into fellowship with Him and with the Father. To be focused on anything else as your ultimate goal in life is to completely miss you true God-given purpose on the planet. When we make that our focus in life then whatever else we may do is simply a means to which we should be reconciling people to God.

When you think about what people focus on accomplishing with their life and it has nothing to do with their ultimate purpose given by God, they are simply living for themselves and not for the One who paid a price we could never fathom, becoming sin by taking on Himself all of man’s sin and the punishment we deserved. When your focus is on earthly goals only and not leading people to the Father, do you realize that none of the earthly accomplishments of man in the eyes of God are of any true value, for Paul himself said of his own personal accomplishments before coming to Jesus they were like yesterdays trash compared to knowing Him.

Every believer will one day stand before Jesus at the judgement seat of Christ and give an account of what we have done with our time here on earth after being born again. All the earthly accomplishments will be consumed by fire for the earth and all that is in it will be thrown into the lake of fire. But all those we have had a part in brining into the kingdom will be treasures we have laid up in heaven. The key to fulfilling our heavenly purpose here on earth is knowing the Father. Scripture reveals He is a good God, and when we know Him, we know that which is truly good and will have no problem sharing Him with others. Focus on fulfilling you true God-given purpose and you will live a life of true fulfillment.

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Psalms 81:11-12
11 But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel did not obey me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own plans.

Every failure in life can be attributed to not listening to and obeying God. Listening means we hear what God has to say, and then we do it. The reason it is a challenge to listen to God is because we often filter what we hear by what we want or what we think. His ways are not our ways, and we will have to deal with our flesh to submit to Him. You need to always remind yourself that His ways are always better.

Believers often think they are listening to God but if we are, then many times our flesh will feel uncomfortable, and we as humans don’t like that. But every time I have ever failed in any area of my life as a believer, it was because I was not fully listening to God. I was either not taking the time necessary to do so, or I was not willing to deal with my flesh to do what God had said. What often seems right to us is not right with God when we are seeing things through our old nature, and not through our new nature within.

God has never had anyone in the Bible who truly listened to Him walk in defeat. It has never happened. So, the question becomes are we really listening to God? God leads us by His Word and through the inward witness of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:16). When we are headed the right direction, we will have a powerful peace within. When we are going the wrong way, we will have an agitation, a red light so to speak in our spirit man. Choose to walk in the light of God’s Word, and the leading of the inward witness of God’s Spirit. The result will always be success.

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Luke 10:42
But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.

At the end of this tenth chapter of Luke we see Jesus going into the house of Martha and Mary. He is there to teach them the Word of God. Martha becomes distracted, and this leads her to getting up from her place of hearing the Word of the Lord, and she begins to wait upon the people by serving them. It was customary when someone came to your home to offer them something to eat and drink, but the Word of God is being delivered, and Mary is not going to budge. Martha begins complaining to the Lord to have Mary get up and help her.

Jesus responds and tells Martha she is worried and troubled about many things, but Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken from her. Not much has changed in 2,000 years in the body of Christ. What caused her to be distracted, which led to her being worried and troubled about many things? Her focus was on herself and not the Lord. She was concerned that the people would not think she was a good host. She wanted their approval. This focus on herself pulled her away from hearing the Words of Jesus and enjoying fellowship with Him.

Mary on the other hand was focused on Jesus. What the Lord had to say was not going to be taken from her. How many believers today do not have time to go to God’s house and receive the Word that He has for them? You will find such people are distracted by other things, worried, and even troubled by what happens in their lives for they are not walking by faith. Be like Mary and not like Martha, for as Jesus said this one thing is needed, hearing His spoken Word, which is how faith comes. To do so you must get your focus off of you and on Him.

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1 John 2:5-6
5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
6 the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Many ministers talk about God’s love for us, but what about our love for God? Jesus said if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (John 14:23). We walk as He walked, living in obedience to the Word of God, motivated by love not by law. We do not keep His Word because it is a law, but simply because we love Him. Obedience to God’s Word is what faith is all about.

Faith is an act, and faith is revealed to the degree that we trust God. How far can you trust the Lord? That is the extent of your faith. Faith believes, speaks, and acts in line with God’s Word, but faith works when motivated through love. Jesus was obedient to His Father and He did so motivated by love. Jesus said He only did that which He saw the Father doing.

How different our lives would be if we would only do what we see in our Fathers Word, what He would have us to do. His Word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path. So, walk in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, keeping His Word, motivated by love. It will be a life lived that you will not regret. A life filled with all that God is and all that God has for you, for He and His Word are one.

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Luke 1:38
Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary letting her know she had been chosen by God to carry God’s very own Son so that He could come and be revealed to the world, and therefore deliver the people from their sins, restoring them back into right standing with God. The words of Gabriel were not his words, for he was simply the messenger of God declaring what God had said. Her response was immediate and one of total surrender to God, willing and eager to do what God had asked.

Mark 16:15 – And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

After Jesus had breathed on His disciples so that they could receive the Holy Spirit and therefore become the ones to now carry His presence with them so that they could now reveal this same Savior to the World, He then declares these words to them in Mark’s gospel. Go into all the World and “PROCLAIM” (which is what the word preach means) the gospel to everyone. Every born-again believer should have the same response as Mary had. Behold your servant Lord, according to your Word I will honor the very life I now carry.

You see, every born-again child of God is now a carrier of Jesus everywhere they go. Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit has come to reside in us. But like Mary, we are not to keep Him to ourselves. We are to share Him with the world. The good news that every believer should be sharing with all the world is that Jesus has come to deliver you from your sin, so that you can be restored back into a loving relationship with the Father. Let’s be like Mary and declare, behold your servant Lord, according to Your Word I will proclaim this good news every where I go.

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Mark 11:24
Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Think about the many hours of prayer that people have prayed in which they have seen no results. Sadly, there are many who pray petition prayers, praying to receive something from God, and yet never seeing what they pray for come into existence. What many fail to realize is it takes more than prayer to receive from God, it takes believing prayer. If you pray but do not actually believe in your heart you have received at that moment what you have asked from God, it will not work.

To believe you receive when you pray you must first establish that what you are believing for is God’s will for you. 1 John 5:14-15 tells us that if we ask anything according to His will, we know He has heard us, and we know that we have what we have asked of Him. You start by going to God’s Word and finding out what God has said you have a right to as a child of God. To pray in faith, you must base your prayer request on His Word, what God said is already yours through Christ Jesus.

Once you find God’s promise in His Word you must meditate on that promise, speaking it to yourself until you are fully persuaded in your heart just as Abraham was that God will do what He promised. Once you have done this, you can now petition God, believing you have received when you pray, and you shall then have what you have asked of Him. It takes more than just prayer to get the job done, it takes believing prayer.

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Colossians 2:6-7
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

For all who have received Christ and been born again we are to now walk in Him, established in a lifestyle of faith. There are keys we must know to learn this new walk of faith.

1. FAITH IS ALWAYS PRENET TENSE
   Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is…”, which is present tense. When we look to God’s Word we align our life with who God says we are, what God says we have, and what God says we can do in Christ because we are now a new creation, not going to become one some day.
2. FAITH ONLY CONSIDERS GOD’S WORD
   Faith is the evidence of things not seen, which means we don’t base our belief on what we see in the natural, we base our belief on what God’s Word says. We walk by faith and not by sight. We are not affected by what is seen or felt, and like Abraham we consider not the circumstances, we only consider God’s Word. His Word is the source of our faith, so we feed on the Word of God, for this is how faith comes.
3. FAITH CALLS THOSE THINGS THAT BE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE
   Faith does not deny the circumstances we see, but only confesses God’s Word, magnifying God and His truth. We abound in faith with thanksgiving. Once faith in the Word of God has been released, believing we receive His promises when we pray, we then continually give thanks to God that we have what He promised.

We walk in Him the same way we receive the salvation we now have, by faith.

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2 Timothy 2:13
If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.

There is no doubt that God is a faithful God, but the question is what is He faithful too? Many think God is and has been faithful to them, even when they were not faithful to God, but God is not faithful to man; He is faithful to His Word. God would violate His very righteous character and nature if He were faithful to man when man has not been faithful to God, not trusting in God and therefore not acting on His Word.

The enemy of our soul wants us to allow these subtle and yet deceptive beliefs in our life. It makes many think that it does not matter what they do in life for God will just fix things for them no matter what they do. But the verse right before this one states if we deny Him, He will deny us. Denying Him is choosing not to believe in what He has said. It is when we choose to take God at His Word that He can then work in our life as He watches over His Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12).

It is important to remember Galatians 6:7 says we cannot make a fool of God; whatever you sow in your life you will reap. Sow to the flesh, you reap corruption. Sow to the Spirit and reap life, the God kind of life. God again is faithful, not to man, but to His Truth, the very Truth that never changes for God never changes. The great part about this is that God does not play favorites, for He will always do what He has said if we will just believe, for God is faithful to His Word.

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