Get Your Shine On…Living a Kingdom-First Lifestyle

What does it mean to live a Kingdom First lifestyle?

You'll find out on this Monday edition of Destined for Victory. Hello and thanks for joining us. Today, Pastor Paul Shepherd shares this message, Get Your Shine On, Living a Kingdom First Lifestyle.

But before he gets started, he joins me from his studio in California. Pastor, we have a great offer to go along with today's message. Tell us about this booklet, Your Purpose is Calling, and why it could help everyone listening today. It's based on this concept of being pushed into purpose. The fact of the matter is sometimes God brings us into our God-given purpose through people just inspiring us, like Paul was with Timothy or Barnabas was with John Mark. But at other times, God pushes us into purpose through trouble and trials and crises. That's what happened with Esther, and it happens in a lot of our lives. So this booklet's going to help people understand all of us who are saved are called according to God's purpose.

We know that from the Bible, but people need to take it seriously. You don't get to just skate through this life being aimless and carefree. You're going to have some things to do, some lives to touch, and some work to be done. And don't plan on leaving this earth until you get it done. So this booklet's going to help inspire you and help you understand that even your troubles are pushing you toward what God has for your life. Well, that reminds me of something you're fond of saying, if you've got a pulse, you've got a purpose.

And as you mentioned just now, sometimes God may have to get us there the hard way, but that's better than not getting there at all. Friends, we'd love to send you the booklet Pastor Paul was just talking about, Your Purpose is Calling. It's our gift to you this month by request for your generous gift to Destin for Victory. Call 855-339-5500 or visit pastorpaul.net to make a safe and secure donation online. You can also mail your gift to Destin for Victory, Post Office Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538.

Again, the address is Destin for Victory, Box 1767, Fremont, CA 94538. Jesus came into this earth to establish a relationship between God and man, and he came to do that by telling us in no uncertain terms that we are to seek first and place as our highest priority God and his kingdom and to make that our lifestyle. Speaking about the kingdom of God, here's what Matthew had to say in the sixth chapter of his gospel, verse 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. But what is the kingdom of God and what does it mean to live a kingdom first lifestyle? As you'll see today on Destin for Victory, the kingdom of God isn't a geographical location, but a spiritual realm.

It's more a person than it is a place. Now from his message, get your shine on living a kingdom first lifestyle, here's Pastor Paul Sheppard. I want to talk to you today from the subject, get your shine on living a kingdom first lifestyle. Get your shine on living a kingdom first lifestyle. I want to talk to you all about the importance of what Jesus said here in Matthew's gospel, chapter six, verse 33. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

All these things will be added to you. This single statement from our Lord captures what I consider the cornerstone message of the faith we're called to live by. It grabs the heart of that message in a single sentence. And here's why I say it's a cornerstone teaching, because the fact of the matter is God has not called us to follow a religion. I don't like the idea of people considering walking with Jesus a religion.

Now technically it is, I get it, that based on the definition of religions, that Christianity, quote unquote, is a religion. But Jesus did not come to establish a religion. He didn't come into this earth to be just another way that people seek God and seek things above themselves. He didn't come to just be on a smorgasbord menu of things that people consider higher powers. Jesus came into this earth to establish a relationship between God and man.

And he came to do that by telling us in no uncertain terms that we are to seek first and place as our highest priority God and his kingdom and to make that our lifestyle. Now this teaching ministry I'm blessed to have through Destined for Victory Ministries and of course as a pastor for decades and the pastor at Destiny Christian Fellowship here in Northern California. But because of our broadcast ministry, we're blessed to reach people in territories all over the world. So not just terrestrial radio here in the US, we're on over 400 outlets here in the US. But we're blessed because of our app and we're blessed because of pastorpaul.net and various podcasts and other web-based platforms. We are blessed and I'm humbled and honored to have listeners literally in most continents around the world.

We have a very active listenership not only in North America but in South America, in Asia, in Africa and in Europe and also in various other territories across the globe. And I praise God for that. I say that with humility and great, great honor that people would listen to our ministry.

Here's why I'm pointing that out. Because some of the people around the world who listen to Destined for Victory and they hear me now talk about a kingdom, they know exactly what the word means when Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God. They're familiar with kingdoms because of where they live in the world. But we here in the States aren't that familiar with kingdoms unless we see them on some stories about places far away. And so I want to make sure especially my listeners here in the US, I want them to understand what a kingdom is and what it is not.

Generally speaking, a kingdom is a country, state or territory ruled by a king or a queen. In the case of the kingdom of God then, we're not talking about a geographic place. We're not talking about a place you can point to and say there is the kingdom of God. Oh, you want to go to the kingdom of God? Here are the directions to the kingdom of God.

It is not a geographic location. When Jesus says seek first the kingdom of God, he is talking about a spiritual realm. He's talking about the rule of God in the lives of people, men and women, boys and girls everywhere who submit themselves to him.

So when Jesus says seek first the kingdom, he is talking about make sure that your life is lived under the rule of God. For that reason, I find myself more and more not referring to myself or even other people as Christian. I've become more and more disenchanted with the term Christian.

I don't like it at all and here's why. Because in today's world, there are a whole lot of people who say they are Christian when they're filling out some application and it has your religious affiliation and they say I'm a Christian. There are a whole lot of people all over the world who identify as Christians, but when you look at their lives and their lifestyle, you do not see the reign and the rule of Jesus Christ. And so I want you to understand we are not called to check a box and say we're Christians. We are called to actually not only walk with Jesus, but we are called to live under his rule, under his leadership.

We are called to be exactly and completely subject to him and his will for our lives. In fact, one of the problems in today's world is you got a bunch of folk who are Christian in name only. But if you were looking for evidence that they truly followed Jesus and truly sought to do his will and surrendered themselves to him, if you were looking for evidence to convict him of being followers of Christ, you'd have to throw it out for lack of evidence. Fact of the matter is we are supposed to be known not as quote unquote Christians, but as followers of Christ. Now, nothing wrong with the term when it first appears in the Book of Acts, it was given by people who said those people are Christians because clearly by their lifestyle, you can tell that they follow Christ.

And we don't have that anymore. We got folk today calling themselves Christian. And if you're like me, I don't want to associate with them at all. I don't want people to say, oh, you're a Christian. So what I find myself saying these days is I'm a follower of Christ. I'm a follower of Christ.

I follow him. I don't want to put myself in a box or put that label on because if you know some folk like I know who call themselves Christians, I don't want you identifying me as that. Fact of the matter is we want to be followers of Christ according to Matthew 633. And what is that? That is a person who seeks first God's kingdom and his righteousness over our lives.

And so I want to make sure to walk you through this. Now, let me make this clear again, especially for people in the Western hemisphere. Here in America, we're familiar with a republic. That's what we have, a republic. Some would call it a democracy. And so what that is, a republic, a democracy is a place where the people rule, where we have folks set up for leadership. We have a pattern of leadership. In fact, here in America, we have three branches of government.

You know this. We have the executive branch, we have the legislative branch, and we have the judicial branch. So the executive branch is where you have a president and vice president and all that. Then you have the legislative branch, you have Congress, you have senators and House of Representative members and all of that. And then you have the judicial branch. And in our country, the highest court in this land, of course, is the Supreme Court. That's what we have here in America, a republic, a democracy. The people are in charge and we express ourselves through our vote and all of that. Let me help you understand something. When the Bible says we are to be kingdom first people, it means when you get to Jesus, you don't get a vote.

Find a host of great resources in our online store. We're called to give respect to our authorities, but we're called to give reverence to God and God alone. Here's Pastor Paul with the rest of today's message.

Get your shine on living a kingdom first lifestyle. When you get to Jesus, you don't get to tell him what you think and he's supposed to care. When you get to Jesus, he gives us his word. He has given us his will. He has given us his spirit.

And he has said, follow me and I am going to get glory out of your life. You and I are called to be followers of the Lord and to be wholly surrendered to him in that process. So I want you to clearly understand the difference between a republic or a democracy and a kingdom because we are called to live our lives as members of a kingdom. Now, physically, we live in a democracy, we live in a republic, and we are to be good citizens in this republic.

But don't get it twisted. At the end of the day, I don't answer to the White House, I don't answer to the Supreme Court, I don't answer to the Congress, I answer to Jesus Christ himself. He is Lord of all and I am to be fully and wholly surrendered to him and to him alone.

And so I want you to get this. Now, look at the differences between a president, for instance, and a sovereign. Again, to help you understand the difference between the republic or the democracy we live in and a kingdom. In a kingdom, you have a sovereign, a king or a queen or some sovereign. In a kingdom, when the sovereign appears, typically they are to be revered versus in a society like ours, if a president appears, we ought to give some show of honor, but frankly, it is optional.

And frankly, it's an honor. We ought to give respect because the Bible says to respect those in authority, but the respect is not reverence, the respect is not obedience, respect is just respect. But in a kingdom, when a sovereign comes, you are to reverence them. In fact, when a sovereign enters a space, typically some form of deference is expected, whether it is bowing or curtsying, you are to reverence them in some way. When a president shows up, they would hope that you stand in respect, but the fact of the matter is it's not lawful.

You don't have to. I think you should out of reverence for the office. Sometimes a person's in the office, and that's been true for decades.

That's been true for all administrations. Sometimes somebody's in the office that you don't personally care for. I think you ought to still give respect to the office, even if you don't have personal respect to the individual in the office. But the fact of the matter is that individual in the office, if what they say and what they do is not according to Scripture, I'm not going to pay attention to what they say or do because I have a sovereign over my life, because I'm called to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. I give honor to whom it is due here on earth.

Jesus taught us to do that. But honor is not worship, and it is not reverence. And so I want you to understand we're called to be part of an order from heaven where we have a sovereign.

Not only do we have a sovereign, but we have the sovereign. When you talk about following Jesus, you got to even take this outside of the realm of a earthly kingdom, because his kingdom is not of this earth. It is above all things. In fact, the Bible is clear. 1 Timothy 6 verses 15 and 16 lets you know he's the king of kings. He's the Lord of lords. He is the one who alone is immortal.

He is the one who lives in unapproachable light. Jesus is Lord. He's not just a sovereign.

He's sovereign over all the so-called earthly sovereigns. That's why Paul said when he wrote the church at Philippi, one day every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Do you know why we've got to get our shine on? We've got to let a dying world know that all of us are marching toward a day when we will all give an account to the sovereign of the universe.

And so the fact of the matter is we have got to get this thing down. We are called to live a kingdom first lifestyle. With that groundwork laid, let me then take you earlier here in Matthew 6 and show you what that kingdom first lifestyle is to look like.

Look at verse 19 here in Matthew 6. It says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Now, in terms of living this kingdom first lifestyle, Jesus says in these verses, one of the ways the kingdom first lifestyle is the manifest in your life and mine is he calls us to prioritize things of heavenly value. Now you say, what does it mean to prioritize things of heavenly value?

I live on earth. How am I going to have any impact on heavenly values? Well, heavenly values have been given to us on earth through Jesus and through his apostles and through the word of God itself.

You know what heaven wants you to do by being in touch with the Lord through his word and by his spirit. And so when Jesus calls us to prioritize things of heavenly value, he's not saying don't have an earthly bank account. Don't lay up treasures on earth.

He's just giving you a comparison to help you understand. In other words, your priority shouldn't be your earthly bank account. Your priority should be your heavenly bank account. I hope you know that you are laying up something for the day to come. And the question is, what are you laying up for that has heavenly significance? You know, there's a verse in the book of Revelation I quoted often when I'm doing funerals where it says, Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they the for they rest from their labors.

And it says, and their works do follow them. The Bible says that when you die in the Lord and you leave this earth, you got some stuff following you and what's going to follow you? Your works will follow you because they had heavenly value.

I want you to think about it. When you leave this earth one of these days, what's going to follow you to heaven? If you did nothing of kingdom value on earth, you won't have anything following you. And I'm here to tell you, God calls us to be people who live such a life that when we leave this earth, we have made a an eternal statement about the kingdom of God that follows us literally into eternity. And so I want you to know that we're called to prioritize things of heavenly value.

So look at this passage carefully. Don't lay up for yourselves treasures on earth doesn't mean you shouldn't have a bank account. But it says, comparatively, you ought to lay up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust don't destroy, where thieves can't break in and steal. And watch this key sentence for where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

Do you know what that means? That means kingdom first living has got to get in your wallet. Kingdom first living has got to get in the way you spend money. It's got to be in what you see money as having the purpose for which God gave you resources that will show where your heart is.

I can tell you don't know where my heart is. Yeah, according to Jesus, if I look at your at your check register, I'll get a pretty good idea. I'll get a pretty good idea if based on how you if all your money is about the way you live and the way you look here on earth, then that shows you don't yet have kingdom priorities, because it's fine to look a certain way to live a certain way if it's within your means here. But your priority has got to be advancing the eternal kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is eternal. And so what you're doing to change lives for time and for eternity is what matters to God. When you make God and his kingdom your first priority, he will not only provide all your needs, he will send blessings your way that you wouldn't get otherwise.

Thanks so much for joining us for today's message. Get your shine on living a kingdom first lifestyle. If you'd like more information about destined for victory, or if you need prayer or interested in our special offer for everyone who gives a generous gift this month, be sure to stop by our website, pastor paul.net. That's pastor paul.net kingdom first living has got to get in your wallet kingdom first living has got to get in the way you spend money. It's got to be in what you see money as having the purpose for which God gave you resources that will show where your heart is, but your priority has got to be advancing the eternal kingdom of God. That's next time when Pastor Paul Shepard shares his message. Get your shine on living a kingdom first lifestyle. Until then remember, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion in Christ, you are destined for victory. You are destined for victory.