I have been sharing about each of Life Action’s six responses to God that prepare us for revival. So far we’ve looked at five: Humility, Honesty, Repentance, Forgiveness, Obedience.
Today we look at the sixth response:
Kingdom-First Living
“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33 NIV).
That’s a big promise. If we live for Christ’s kingdom first, we will have everything else we need!
Well, what is our King doing? What kingdom is He building? King Jesus told us His mission:
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
So, if we are to seek this kingdom first, we must join Jesus in helping lost people be found, just like we have been found.
Then why do so few Christians actually do that? It’s shocking to think about. The vast majority of those who claim to follow Jesus never actually go with Him on His mission.
The answer is not that complex:
We don’t do the sixth response until we do the first five!
It’s not that we must have revival before we share the gospel. It’s just that if we don’t, we probably won’t.
Because the reality and the tsunami of life will cause all the “stuff of life” to matter more, unless Jesus really is the center of ALL our life.
And guess how that happens? Through humility, honesty, repentance, forgiveness, and obedience.
If you try to share Jesus without living with Jesus, you just won’t be effective. You will find yourself in your own power. And that’s a bad place to be.
Two years ago, my friend and mentor Gary Witherall challenged me to spend one day with him living like Jesus was our life. For one day we decided to talk only about Jesus, to Jesus, and with Jesus to other people.
It was an astonishing day. Among other amazing experiences, we felt led to talk to a young couple we met on a trail in the Smoky Mountains. It turned out they had heard me speak at their school, Houston Christian University. And now they were on vacation on the other side of the country, and we met on a trail. What are the odds?
It got better. They shared with us that they were called to be missionaries to Finland and were praying to meet a leader there who God was using in great ways. Gary shocked us all by telling us that the man they wanted to meet is his prayer partner! As a result of that supernatural encounter, the couple we met, Gabe and Haty, are now serving in Finland. And in April, Gary and I joined them on mission in Finland, sharing the gospel. Together we shared kingdom-first living. Gabe said to me, “After what God has done, if I ever don’t trust and follow Him, I should just punch myself in the mouth!”
True.
How foolish, to miss life with Jesus! I don’t want to. But I have to take care of my soul in the first five ways so I can be emotionally and spiritually healthy enough to choose the sixth—kingdom-first living. And when I choose His kingdom first, I get life with the King. On mission. And there is no life like it.
Will you join me in going after that? Say yes to Jesus in those first five ways, and then ask Him, by the power of His Spirit, to take us with Him on His mission in our normal daily lives—to empower us to live more and more like Gary and I did on that one day. Today is about Jesus, to Jesus, and with Jesus.
This is life. This is revival. This is worthy of our pursuit in the week ahead. And this is why we do what we do together at Life Action. It is my great honor to live for the kingdom first, with you!