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| Dr. Wilfred Lai ~ Senior Pastor Jesus Celebration Centre, Kenya |
Luke 12:29-34
I am continuing from where I stopped on Sunday morning. We were at Matthew 6:33. If we are going to experience heavenly riches, we must become kingdom minded people; instead of anxiety, you rest on the promises of God, spend time in the presence of God in prayer, spend time in the word and spend time with the brethren. When the church was born, it did not gather only one day, why? Because the leaders of the church understood what their Master said in Luke 19:13, "... occupy till I come." Psalm 24:1 tells us that everything in the world, God put it there for the sake of the expansion of His kingdom. For you to get into your next level, you must change your attitude towards God. You must stop treating Him like a liar, you must stop treating Him like He can't help you because He is your help: He must come first.
For some of you, your job comes first, while for others, your children can never miss school but they can miss church. What gain is it if you work so hard yet you have no relationship with your Maker (Isaiah 55:7). What is the Kingdom? The kingdom of God is the kingdom of our Father and He is the King who is solely responsible for those living in it. Jesus said when we pray, we address the Father and ask for His kingdom (Matthew 6). We are not supposed to feed and cloth ourselves, our Father is supposed to give us an inheritance because the whole earth is His. A father cares for his children and ensures they are protected. God is our Father and we should not treat Him any other way, we are not grown ups, we are His children and that is why in our reading in Luke 12, He calls us little flock and tells us not to fear. The Father wants us to own the kingdom. Luke 12:33 gives us a kingdom principle, "sell what you have and give alms ; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys." Jesus said the same thing to the young ruler in Matthew 19:21 and that is what He is saying today. I know that has just offended you like that young ruler. God does not want kingdom people to be attached to material things; what you have here is for His glory.
When the word of God says seek the kingdom, it means seek how God operates. So what does God do? God does everything for His glory. The moment you begin to do everything for God's glory, you will find favor with Him. When you are asking God to give you something, what is it for? When you change your attitude, your level will change. Stop asking God for things for yourself! You must hate everything that does not glorify God in your life. When God says your treasure in heaven will not fail, it means that every time you have a need here on earth, you draw from your heavenly treasure.
James 4:3 says, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures". Now you know why you prayed for things and you didn't get them. Change your prayer and things will start coming your way in ways you don't even understand because heaven has never bounced a cheque. If you want to know whether you are kingdom minded, check your giving. How many times do you make vows and you fail to honor them, how many times have you failed to pay the tithe, how many times did the Holy Spirit tell you to give a dress to a certain sister and you started reasoning and said you love the dress. As long as you are attached to earthly things, you cannot glorify God. Whatever you have used for the kingdom for God's glory, you are laying for yourself treasure in heaven because God pays for services and it begins by giving yourself. When you are waging warfare for other people, you are getting credits in your heavenly treasures, even when you are attending service you get some credits and if the 1st world pays in minutes, you can imagine how God pays, it could even be in seconds! Change only comes because you have a renewed mind, if you understand this, you will be available for the kingdom.
I am blessed by this.
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