Am I Really A Disciple of the Kingdom?

Matthew 7: 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock;"



Remember this one? It also describes a foolish man. But notice that it doesn't say only"hears" but also "does" them. This really hits home to someone who is "seeking first the Kingdom of God".

It's the part that says "does them" that I am thinking about. Does what, exactly? The sayings of Jesus?

Then in John 14:21 Jesus said this; "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me." Keeps them, does them? What does that look like in action?



Do you remember the "Parable of the Sower?" You can find it in Matthew 13, the explanation of it in verses 18-23. Have I let the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches allow me to become unfruitful? In verse19, we know the seed is the "Word of the Kingdom". So the question is; what does "keeps them", "does them" and "fruitful" look like?



The answer to that should be found in Jesus' sayings and instructions. Many will look at Matthew chapters 5-7 as some nice teachings of a great teacher, but what if they are more than teachings, but instructions for living in the Kingdom Jesus spoke about? Why not look at some direct instructions Jesus gave His disciples?



Matthew chapter 10 begins some instructions that Jesus gave His disciples before He sent them out by themselves. Here is a sample: "As you go, preach, saying 'the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand'. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."



Is it possible that we as "disciples of Jesus" are living below what Jesus asked? Are we preaching "another gospel" when all we talk about is what happens after death? Is all our talk about "going to heaven when we die" short of Jesus' commands, His "word of the Kingdom", making disciples of the nations?



Consider Luke 4:18,19. "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."

To be a proper disciple of Christ would be to do the works He did, to obey His word, to make known His works, not by speech only, but by action, displaying the Kingdom in everything we do!



Am I really a disciple? I would say that I have a lot of work to do.

King David Surrendered to a Greater King!

Here is a story that has been on my mind: 2Sa 6:16 "Now as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart."

So here is the story. The Ark of the Lord had not been in the Capitol city for some time. David looked up scripture to see how it was properly moved, and had it moved in a glorious procession. David danced wildly before the Lord, as the Ark was placed in its resting place.

In David's day, when one King would defeat another King, the victorious king would have what was called a "Triumph". The conquered king would be forced to dance wildly in front of the conquering king, naked, leading what we would call a parade. People would line the street to make fun of the conquered king, and honor the victorious one.

This is exactly what David did. As a king, he was telling his kingdom that he was conquered by a greater King, the King of Kings. His wife was embarrassed, not because of the lack of clothes he was wearing, as she told him, but because her husband the king was surrendering his kingdom to another!

This is why God held David in such esteem! When David would sin, he was quick to repent, and get his life back in right-standing (righteousness) with his God, and his King! If only we could learn to live as surrendered to God as David was, not worrying about what anyone else thinks, but worship and declare that our God is truly King! And as Jesus would later say in Matthew 14, "I do and say what the Father tells me!"