A Cup of the Kingdom

^{Luke 12:31} But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. ³² “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (NKJV)

Hide & Seek. Oh, the countless hours of childhood spent playing that game. I really didn’t like being “it”. I disliked having to search and chase my prey and the resulting feeling of failure and frustration when unable to successfully find AND tag someone.
Funny, even as adults we still participate in the motions of hide and seek. We oft-times attempt to seek many material things to fill voids in our lives. We close our eyes and count to ten and shout “ready or not here I come!”. Then we frantically chase after various seemingly elusive things: riches, status, relationships, material things…this list could on and on. Just like in the game, many times the things we chase are within our sight yet always seem to elude being “tagged”. The failed relationships, the get-rich-quick tactics that cost more than we get in return and others things always seem to disappoint. We run around in circles until we, now out of breath, frustrated, disappointed, and disillusioned, close our eyes, count to ten and the start the chase all over again. Sound familiar?

Yet seeking the Kingdom of God is much more pleasurable, mainly because God wants us to find it AND possess it. He is totally pleased when we, His children, set ourselves to seek after what He has for us. He doesn’t tease us by waving the Kingdom in our faces and then suddenly do a quick “spin-move” to elude capture. He stands there, in plain view.
We must understand the Kingdom. It is not a material thing that fades, rots, or loses value. It is a realm that we called to walk in, to dwell in, and to occupy with boldness. It is an eternal and permanent realm where we can walk in power, dominion, and victory! The best part about the Kingdom is that we don’t have to go far or chase wildly after it because it is within us (Luke 12:32).
We must decide to walk in the Kingdom realm to which we have access. Not only do we have access we have a right and an expectation to walk in the Kingdom realm.

How can we walk in this realm? How do know if we are walking in this realm? Romans 14:7 tells us that righteousness, peace and joy in the Spirit are marks of the Kingdom. The choices we make, the things we seek, our relationships, our speech, even our prayers should produce these fruits of the Kingdom. This is our measuring stick. The things, people we allow into our lives, the objects we seek after, the things we value, and, yes, even our mindsets, should measure up to kingdom standards.
Friends, we have a right and an expectation to be Kingdom people! We have a right to walk, speak, pray, think, serve, love, etc…in power and victory. We have a right to expect righteousness, peace, and joy to be manifest every time we show up. We are children of the King and it pleases our Father to give His children the inheritance of the Kingdom. Let’s take our rightful ownership and begin to walk in the power of the Kingdom that is within us.
Laura