Embracing Childlike Faith in Seeking God's Kingdom

When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, let the children come to me. Don't stop them. For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth. Anyone who doesn't receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. Then, he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. [00:01:35]

Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Okay. So what I say, this is like week six of your kingdom come, and I see a lot of repeat offenders. You've been here, I don't know about every week, but you've been here, you've been here, and you've been here, you've been here, you've been here, you've been here. You look familiar. You look familiar. [00:02:06]

Some of us have gotten so good at adulting that our maturity has robbed us of the joy of just being a child who your father desperately wants to engage with. And I was thinking about how I go seek because how I go seek was not invented by my kids. It's something that started in the beginning of time. [00:03:10]

Some of us, well, we've gotten pretty good at our hiding places. You know, some of us, we use alcohol as our hiding place because we can function at a high level, but when we really get overwhelmed, we find that the bottle starts to drain a little bit faster. Some of us have found that our pills can be a great hiding place because it started off as medication for the physical pain, but then it turned into a coping mechanism for the emotional and the relational pain that we get to hide from by hiding in here. [00:08:52]

But an alternative hiding space. A good hiding place will be what David talks about in the book of psalms. You see in the book is Psalms David says, he says, for you are my hiding place. You, talking about God, his father, he says, you are my hiding place. He then goes on to say in the scripture that you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. The Lord says, I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. [00:12:16]

I believe that the only reason you're watching and the only reason you're here is because you want God to guide you along the best pathway for your life. I believe that you want God to give you the best advice so you don't make dumb decisions. I believe you want God to protect your family. You want him to protect your assets. You want him to protect your interests. You want God's blessings and protection and wisdom. But you can only have those things if he is your hiding place. [00:15:08]

That's what happens when you're seeking first the kingdom of God, is that all of a sudden things that people would think are coincidences are divine interruptions. They're divine connections. There are these moments where because I'm seeking the kingdom first, I can't even be on a flight without talking about my faith. That's why prayer is important. That's why Bible study is important. That's why worship is important. That's why being in a faith-filled community is important because it starts to put more people around you that are seeking first the kingdom. [00:17:23]

And that sounds cute, except that Jesus doesn't say that being spiritual will equate to experiencing the kingdom of God. He says, seeking his kingdom above all else and living righteously, meaning I have to be willing to submit my life to his will and his word because I could just be spiritual and be involved in the demonic. I could just be spiritual and never find satisfaction or peace or joy. I could just be spiritual and still be lost wandering through life because I have not submitted to and committed to living righteously. [00:18:16]

If we don't live for godly righteousness and find everything, we will live for self-satisfaction and find nothing. It's dangerous and scary when you think you're living the best life that you can, and you haven't scratched the surface of what God can do for and through you. What are you living for? Don't you dare tell me what's on your Instagram bio, God first? No, because whatever you constantly go after is actually what you're truly living for. [00:31:55]

This is the formula. He says, keep on asking and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking and you will find. Keep on knocking and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives, everyone who seeks finds, and to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents, if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? If they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not. So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give good gifts to those who ask him? [00:38:44]

Your level of seeking unlocks your level of living in the kingdom of heaven. Your level of seeking, the level of, I haven't seen it yet, but he promised it. So if he said something that he would do and I haven't seen it happen, if it's not happening yet, I have two choices. This is either believe that he's a liar or believe that I haven't knocked long enough. I haven't asked enough. I haven't kept seeking. [00:41:33]

But it's not until you fully surrender and fully commit to following that you'll get a full picture and a more full understanding of who God's called you to be, where he's calling you to go, and what he's asking you to do. And I'm going to ask you to think about the three things that I want you to reflect on this week. I want you to do a self-evaluation of your hiding spots. Where do you tend to hide? Ask yourself, where do I go to hide? [00:46:33]