Kingdom Living

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

- Matthew 16:24-25

For the past week I have began listening to The Solid Rock Church  podcasts on the gospel of Mark.  The pastor, John Mark Comer, has an excellent way of preaching and I have really enjoyed listening to the messages.  So far each message has challenged me to think about my faith more seriously than before.

Questions like "who am I making king in my life?" and "what is my exodus?" have truly challenged me to reevaluate my focus.  I've been home for about a week and listening to these podcasts has been life giving, not discouraging.

All of this triggers the question, "who's kingdom am I living for?". In other words, "who am I serving?" I believe the kingdom of God is seen when God's people focus on Him and through that healing happens.  How am I serving God in my finances?  How am I serving God in my relationships?  This way of looking at the things of life shines the light on loving Him, because of His acceptance of me rather than trying to earn acceptance by being and doing things perfectly and avoiding making any mistakes.

I am no expert, and I never will be.  God's grace is sufficient for me.  Sufficient for you.  For all.  It is by His grace that I'm able to look up (at him) and out (at his people).