SEEKING FIRST THE KINGDOM 2
(week 16/14)
OLUBI JOHNSON
In our article last week, we saw that it was necessary to seek the Kingdom first, because enforcing the Kingdom is a necessary condition for the answers to ALL other prayers.
Matthew 6:33 NKJV: But seek FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL these things shall be added to you.
The Kingdom is the dominion of the character (righteousness, peace and joy in the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom.14.17, Lk. 17.21) of the King: the Lord Jesus in our spirits, souls and bodies.
This week, we will see HOW to seek the Kingdom FIRST in a DAILY practical way.
It takes the power of the Holy Spirit through prayer and the Word of God to experience the Kingdom: the dominion of righteousness, peace and joy in our souls, bodies and circumstances.
How do we do this on a DAILY basis?
By keeping our FIRST love by doing the FIRST works:
Revelation 2:4-5 NKJV: Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your FIRST love. (5) Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the FIRST works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.
Our first love is the love of God we have for God and men.
Mark 12:29-31 NKJV: Jesus answered him, “The FIRST of all the commandments is: ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL, THE LORD OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE. (30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ This is the first commandment. (31) And the second, like it, is this: ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
John 13:34 NKJV: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
How then do we love God and men like God does?
Love is discerning by wisdom, desiring by compassion and doing by power or ability what God would do in every situation BECAUSE GOD IS LOVE (1 Jn. 4.8, 16)!
The wisdom to discern what God would do comes through the Word of God:
Proverbs 2:6 NKJV: For the LORD gives WISDOM; From HIS MOUTH come knowledge and understanding;
The compassion to desire what God desires comes by the fruit of the Spirit:
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
The power to do what God would do comes by the power and ability of the Holy Spirit:
Acts 1:8 AMP: But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.
So to keep our FIRST love, we MUST DO THE FIRST WORKS OF
1. LABOUR FOR THE LIFE OF GOD:
Proverbs 10:16 KJV: The LABOUR of the righteous tendeth TO LIFE: the fruit of the wicked to sin.
John 6:27-29 NKJV: Do not LABOUR for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures TO everlasting LIFE, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” (28) Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (29) Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
2. LABOUR IN PRAYER TO PERFECT THE WILL OF GOD TO ESTABLISH THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT:
Colossians 4:12 NKJV: Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always LABOURING fervently for you IN PRAYERS, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
3. LABOUR IN THE WORD AND DOCTRINE TO GET THE WISDOM OF GOD:
1 Timothy 5:17 NKJV: Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who LABOUR IN THE WORD and doctrine.
We do this DAILY, BY FIRST praying to receive life, THEN PRAYING WITH ALL TYPES OF PRAYER AND TRAVAIL (EPH. 6.18, GAL. 4.19, HEB. 5.7) TO ENFORCE THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IN OUR SOULS AND BODIES; AND THEN BALANCED BIBLE READING AND STUDY TO GET THE WISDOM OF GOD.
This is how to seek FIRST the Kingdom DAILY before praying for other things.
In our article next week, we will see how seeking FIRST the Kingdom makes us ‘eat’ of the ‘tree of life’ BEFORE the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and so allows us to see the limitations of natural knowledge and optimize its use and application in the light of revelation knowledge.
