Kingdom Living +

Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:10 NKJV

Right from here, let me assure you this is NOT a political statement. However, to properly reveal how I have been corrected, I have to provide a little America history background.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. This sentence - from the Declaration of Independence - is one of the best-known sentences in the English language and has been called "the most potent and consequential words in American history" according to a book titled American Creation. The Declaration justified the independence of the United States by listing grievances against the crown, asserting certain so-called “natural rights,” including the right of revolution.

People who are born and raised in the U.S. usually have a different view than most everyone else with regard to the world and the way they think it should be. Unless one has traveled or lived outside of the continental United States, the prevailing mindset is we have our rights - certain unalienable Rights – and that’s all there is to it. (And if you are blessed and highly favored of God enough so that you get to live in Texas – well, I’d say that statement alone is proof that there is a certain – shall we say – convinced attitude – of what rights are natural and unalienable…) And as Americans (whether Texan or not), if anything goes against our grain or “violates” our rights, we’re going to do something about it. (And right up to this point, I’m amen-ing and nodding approval and in 100% agreement with myself…)

But a few years back, my very Texan, very American pastor poked a great gaping hole in my Texas/American attitude and made me look at myself in the Light of Truth. What am I FIRST– a Lover of Texas? An American? Or a Christian? Where do I pledge my allegiance and faith? By what rules do I live? Where is my heart?!? 

Well, I’m a Christian Texas-loving American…  However, the Word reads, Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As Christians, we’re no longer in a democracy, we’re in a kingdom. God’s kingdom. He rules… with HIS rules.

Prayer:

Father,

            Forgive me for every time I try to bend the rules to accommodate myself – to try to justify my own wants and my own desires. I want to follow You. I want to live the way You want me to live. Help me, Father. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen