Keys to God's kingdom

Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

To seek means to desire. To seek first is to desire more importantly, chiefly among other things. To seek God's kingdom means to turn to God first for help, fill your thoughts with His desires, take His character to your pattern and serve and obey God in everything. Do people, objects, your goals which compete for priority seem more important to you than God? Any of these put God out if you don’t give him first place in every area of your life.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD. KINGDOM signifies a state of things which God is recognized as King whom everything must submit. KINGDOM of God comes when God removes evil and brings real peace and justice.

It will be established by the messiah over Israel first then over all the nations of the earth (Zech 14:9) "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one." (whose name is worshiped everywhere on earth.)

John the Baptist first proclaimed this KINGDOM (Mt 3:2) " And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Two other bible translations of this say:  (CEV)  He said, "Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here." (GW)  "Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near." 

Jesus inaugurated this KINGDOM (Mt 12:25-28) "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."  Verse 28, in another translation, says it more clearly: "But when I force out demons by the power of God's Spirit, it proves that God's kingdom has already come to you."

This is continued in the church of today (Mt 10:7) " As you go, announce (preach) that the kingdom of heaven will soon be here." In Matthew 16:19, Jesus tells Peter of "giving him the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and that whatsoever he (or the church) shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever he (or the church) shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. To bind means to be in bounds while loose means to destroy or break up.

The members of the KINGDOM of God are called "children of God" and even in this life enjoy that eternal life which will be completely expanded in the future world (Jn 3:15F) " That whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life."

The KINGDOM of God comes when God removes evil and bring real peace and justice to His entire creation. The main theme of the Jesus' teaching is about God's KINGDOM: "They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, And talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, And the glory of the majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." (Ps 145:11-13).

Now lets come to the Cebuano translation of the text: "Apan labaw sa tanan paharia ninyo ang Dios ug pagkinabuhi kamo uyon sa iyang kabubut-on ug ang ubang mga butang ihatag ra niya kaninyo."  God's Will (kabubut-on sa Dios) is "God's pleasure" or "what God wants." In other words, God's purpose or decree. Several keys are needed to desire or seek God's kingdom.

THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE. We need to have a life-giving attitude of praise and thankfulness to experience God's kingdom and glory in our midst. God "inhabits in the praises of His people" (Ps 22:3). We are to give thanks in everything "for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus towards us" (1Th 5:18). We have to show God our gratefulness in all circumstances.

HIDDEN LIFE WITH GOD. This hidden life concerns our deeds of righteousness before men, not to be seen of them: else we have no reward with our Father in heaven. (Mt 6:1-6) "When therefore thou doest alms, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have received their reward."(v2) then it adds, "But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:" (v3) which means  that when we help a needy person, lets do it in such a way that even our closest friend will not know about it. We give but we must not advertise. King Solomon tells us to "Ponder the path of our feet, and let all our ways be established." (Pro 4:26).

OVERCOMING FAITH. This faith is not just about to trusting, believing and obeying. This is to have a strong faith and an unreserved surrender of the will of God’s guidance and dependence. The faith of the gospel is that emotion of the mind, which is called trust or confidence, exercised towards the moral character of God, and particularly of the Savior.

But there’s that sincerity, honesty, faithfulness that overcomes—that triumphs over all and even the world. Rom 10:9 says that “If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. The following verse keeps on: “For a person believes with his heart and is justified, and a person declares with his mouth and is saved. The word “believes” means to entrust one’s spiritual well-being to Christ, commit or to have faith. The righteous (will) live by faith (Rom 1:17). Our faith is that dynamic force and guide to life, an action and direction. “For we live by faith, not by sight.” (2Cor 5:7). We walk in truth and in reliance in Christ and not by appearance.

TRUE REPENTANCE. God did allowed us to repent and come to a full knowledge of the truth (2Tim 2:25) God brought forth a reversal of our decisions and actions in each one of us. Paul intimates in this verse that as bad as we were before, we were not out of the reach of God’s mercy. When sinners repent, they will come to be led into the glorious liberty of the children of God, and have their wills melted into the will of the Lord. Jesus will pull us through out of the devil’s snare. We should therefore ask it of him by earnest, persevering prayer. We should make progress ourselves and take this position of opposing the intrigues and schemes of satan intending to be converted. True repentance is God’s gift: it brings freedom, truth and blessings.

DILIGENCE. Proverbs 21:5 says, “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; But every one that is hasty hasteth only to want.” Another way of saying this is “If you plan and work hard, you will have plenty; if you get in a hurry, you will end up poor.” The purposes of the man of industry have their outcome only in wealth; but one who is over-quick in acting will only come to be in need.

Christians should therefore be consistent, reliable or unswerving. In what? Paul tells Timothy to give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth.( 2Ti 2:15). The apostle tells to young missionary to do his best to present himself to God as an approved worker who has nothing to be ashamed of, handling the word of truth with precision. A workman who has no cause for shame, a man faithfully performing his duty, so that when he looks over what he has done, he may not blush.

God’s ministry of the word is a work, and it is a good work; and those that perform it aright are worthy of honor and esteem; and it requires industry, diligence, and application, and for which no man is sufficient without the grace of God; and those who are employed in it are workmen, workers together with God, and laborers in his vineyard.

In closing, let us be concerned first and only about God's kingdom and His righteousness, and all of those things we desire will be provided for us, Christ's rule on the earth, the blessings and advantages of all kinds that flow from this rule and the subjects of this kingdom taken collectively, or the Church. From the following message we can learn that we cannot enter into God’s kingdom if one of the keys is lost.

Jesus tells Nicodemus in John 3:3 that except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This should be the center of anybody’s aspirations--those who want to desire more importantly, chiefly among other things, God's kingdom not of worldly splendor and force, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; beginning in humility, and passing to happiness; only unless someone is “born from above.” This is Jesus’ guarantee to those who diligently seek God’s kingdom. AMEN!

Does God prospers?

Prov 10:22 Makadato ang mga panalangin sa Ginoo; dili makalabaw niini ang bunga sa kakugi

What other translations say: "The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." (Webster); "The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it." (ESV); "When the LORD blesses you with riches, you have nothing to regret." (CEV) From both the Hebrew and Greek dictionaries, these words came to mean: blessing as "prosperity"; maketh rich as "to grow"; addeth as "to continue", "augment," and "come more"; sorrow as "no toil or labor". Thus blessings are God's gift to you and when God blesses us, He makes us prosper beyond measure, God pours blessings on the righteous. How do your respond to such blessings?

EXAMPLES OF BLESSINGS.These are either material, financial, our talents and abilities and lastly, the spiritual blessings. Remember when God called Abraham (Gen 12:1F), He told him: "Panalanginan og himoong bantugan ang imong ngalan aron mahimong panalangin sa uban." In the priestly blessing of Aaron (Num 6:22-2) God says that "Kon ilang ibungat ang akong ngalan ang panalangin alang sa katawhan (Israel) panalanginan ko sila." Next, is the one found in Deuteronomy 28:1-14: "Ang kaayohan nga madawat tungod sa pagkamatinumanon."

"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently to the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day; that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth (v1)..."And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God." (v2)

Then we come to spiritual blessings, what are these? Long life and salvation (Ps 91:16) "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation."; Salvation in Jesus (Acts 4:12) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved." Presence of God (which is to mean walay katalagman) (Ex 33:14-17) (v17) "And the LORD said to Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name." ." Jesus also promised to "be with us always, even to the end of the world. (Mt 28:20) Strength (Col 1:11) "Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, to all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness;" Joy (Acts 13:52) "And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost." Peace (Jn 14:27) "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." The we will have no worry and fear for "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

WHY DOES GOD GIVES BLESSINGS.Simple, because we sow great in deeds, because we respect and fear God, because we lend to God (Prov. 19:17) "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto Jehovah, And his good deed will he pay him again," we obeyed God's commands, we worshipped only God. How do we respond to such blessings? In thanksgiving, by becoming a blessing to others with our life and deeds and we bless others by asking God to bring good to them. How do we bless them you may ask. We can read in Ruth 2:4: "And behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem. And he said to the reapers, "The Lord be with you!" And they answered, "The Lord bless you." By words alone you can bless everybody.

Paul, in Romans, says it completely: Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight, repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink and do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rm 12:14-21). Paul adds in 1 Cor 4:12: "when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things." Kon may motunglo, panalanginan, kon lutoson, magpailob.

There are conditions for receiving these blessings. Deuteronomy 15:5F says" if only you will strictly obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. For the LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. "

God pours blessings when we follow Him and wait for His provision. He supplies us with the personal and financial abilities to respond to the needs of others. If we all realized how has blessed us, and if we all used our resources to do God's will, hunger and poverty would be wiped out. Wealth is a blessing only is we use it the way God intended. Believe also in the blessing

God promises to give us all we need and the desires of our hearts. He promises us His best, but we have to trust His timing. "The things that are impossible with people are possible with God" (Luke 18:27). For God to bless us, we must be obedient to His Word. Disobedience will always be an obstacle to receiving His blessings, no matter how small the offense. We must take great care to repent of any disobedient behavior and change course if we want to experience His favor. AMEN!

Good must triumph over evil

“Be not overcomeof evil, but overcome evil with good.”(Romans 12:21)

Since God has justified us believers, it is not necessary for us to take justice in ourown hands by taking retribution for God will be the one who will in due coursedeal justly with all, including those who cause injury on the believers. Hence we have these words from Paul about the expression of our mutual love for all.

GOD KNOWS MAN. As man takes note only of the outer form, the Lord is different as He sees the heart and from viewing the heart of man He exactly knows what feelings, attitude and thoughts lie therein. “For the thoughts of man's heartare evil from his earliest days” (Gen 8:21). Ang tawo daotan og huna-huna sukad pa sa iyang pagkabatan-on. Webster says it in other words: “the imagination of man's heart is evil fromhis youth.” This statement from God was during the days of Noah. Is it also true in our modern time?

Paultells the Ephesians (and us) to therefore “make good use of every opportunity they (we) have, because these are evil days. (Eph 5:16). Simply put, it means making the best use of the time, “redeeming the time,” as the King James Version tellsit. This is to make all our affairs positive and be in our favor, to “walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.” (Col 4:5) and berooted and grounded in love. “For God shall bring every work into judgment,with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccle12:14) but God assures “the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.” (Pro11:21)—the seed of the blameless—those who are holy in heart and observant of the divine commands in practice; shall be delivered.

What does one have to do therefore? “O you, who love the Lord, hate evil! Hepreserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of thewicked. (Ps 97:10) Personally hate evil! Then, the judgment of evil will be our deliverance. To fear God is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogance, the evil way andthe perverse (Pro 8:13). Pagpagarbo ugmapahitas-on, mga paaging hiwi ug malimbongon nga mga pulong.

In serving God, love without pretense or double standards, we are to despise thatwhich is evil and cleave to that which is good. “Do not repay evil for evil orreviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called,that you may obtain a blessing (1Pe 3:9). Never to restore, yield or reward the evil done but speak well and invoke our blessing to those harmful to us.

The apostle John writes to us that we are not to imitate evil but imitate only good(3 Jn 1:11) for whoever does well is from God; whoever does evil has not seenGod. “Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God!” (Mt 5:8)

GOD TELLS MAN. The psalmist says to “trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and be safe”(Ps 37:3). He continues: Die away from anger, and renounce wrath: Fret notthyself any wise to do wickedness. Ayawkasuko, ayaw kaligutgot ug ayaw pagsubo kay kini makadaot.

“Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee (Pro 3:29).(When he is living with you without fear that is they live beside you, trustingyou. Another rendition says “sitting there with you and suspecting nothing.”) Again,Paul charges Timothy: “Tell them to do good, to do a lot of good things, to begenerous, and to share.” (1Ti 6:18). Paul meant that Christians should be richin good works, be generous and ready to share with others. The last phrase could also mean our appropriate contact with others. Peter advises to keep ourconduct among unbelievers admirable, so that when they speak against us as evildoers, they may see our good deeds and glorify God (1Pe 2:12).

To end, let’s read Luke 6:45, “A good person produces good from the good treasure ofhis heart, and an evil person produces evil from an evil treasure. For it isout of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” Also, Solomon wrotein Proverbs that a man may give freely, and still his wealth will be increased;and another may keep back more than is right, but only comes to be in need.Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put toshame by your good behavior.” (1Pe 2:15)

Be turned (or depart) from evil, and do good; make a search for peace, desiring itwith all your heart or pursue it. (Ps 34:14). It is always highly regarded for Christians to do well instead of evil and try to live at it. Of course we can do it. AMEN!