Prioritizing God: The Path to True Freedom

Devotional

Day 1: The Kingdom of God: On Earth as It Is in Heaven

The core message of Jesus is the Kingdom of God—a present reality that is meant to transform our lives here and now, not just a distant hope for the afterlife. When we willingly submit our own “crowns” and allow God to reign in our hearts, His heavenly ways begin to shape our daily existence, bringing about true change and blessing. This kingdom is not established by force, law, or policy, but by a renewed heart that desires what God desires, resulting in a life marked by love, freedom, and purpose. [07:03]

Matthew 6:10 (ESV)
"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you are still holding onto your own “crown” instead of letting God’s will be done? How can you surrender that area to Him today?

Day 2: The Danger of Wanting an Earthly King

When the people of Israel demanded a human king, they were rejecting God’s direct rule in favor of being like the surrounding nations. This desire for a visible, worldly authority led to loss of freedom and greater burdens, as God warned through Samuel. Even today, the temptation to seek security in earthly systems or leaders rather than trusting God’s kingship can lead us into unnecessary bondage and anxiety. [12:05]

1 Samuel 8:6-9 (ESV)
"But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.' And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.'"

Reflection: In what ways are you tempted to look for security or identity in something or someone other than God? What would it look like to trust God as your true King this week?

Day 3: Freedom Comes from Having God First

True freedom is found when God is first in our lives. The first commandment, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage,” is not just a rule but a promise: when God is truly Lord, we are set free from the chains of fear, anxiety, and slavery to lesser things. When anything else takes first place, we inevitably find ourselves in bondage, but with God as King, we experience liberty and the ability to truly live. [15:24]

2 Corinthians 3:17 (ESV)
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Reflection: Is there a “chain” or area of bondage in your life that you sense is connected to not putting God first? What step can you take today to invite God’s Spirit into that area for freedom?

Day 4: The Problem of Putting God Second

The real issue is not that we abandon God entirely, but that we allow something else—money, family, achievement—to take first place, relegating God to second. This always leads to chronic worry and anxiety about whatever is in that top spot, because only God can bear the weight of being first in our lives. When God is second, we become enslaved to our fears and the things we idolize, but when He is first, everything else finds its proper place. [15:56]

Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Reflection: What is currently competing with God for first place in your heart? How can you intentionally seek God’s kingdom first in your decisions and priorities today?

Day 5: Discipleship: The Heart of the Kingdom

The Kingdom of God grows in us through discipleship—a daily, Spirit-led transformation where we become the kind of people who naturally desire and do what God wants. This is not about following rules out of obligation, but about becoming new people who love because we have been changed by God’s love. As we commit to this journey, the Holy Spirit shapes us into citizens of God’s kingdom, bringing heaven’s reality into our everyday lives. [09:03]

Romans 12:2 (ESV)
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Reflection: What is one practical way you can open yourself to the Holy Spirit’s transforming work today—perhaps through prayer, Scripture, or an act of love?

Sermon Summary

When anything in life—be it money, children, career, or even our own intellect—takes precedence over God, anxiety and worry inevitably follow. The human heart is naturally inclined to build its own little kingdoms, seeking control and security in things that ultimately cannot deliver true peace. From the earliest moments of life, we assert our will, but the invitation of Jesus is to lay down our crowns and allow God to reign as King in our lives. This is the heart of the gospel: the Kingdom of God is not just a future hope or a distant reality, but a present invitation to experience “on earth as it is in heaven” through willing submission and discipleship.

Throughout history, people have tried to establish utopias—heaven on earth—through laws, policies, or even religious systems. Yet, these attempts always fall short, often leading to more bondage rather than freedom. The biblical story of Israel demanding a human king illustrates this truth. When God was King, Israel experienced true freedom, but when they insisted on being like other nations and placed a human king above God, they traded liberty for subjugation. This pattern repeats in our own lives whenever we put anything—even good things—ahead of God.

The Kingdom of God is not about external control or forced obedience. It is about a transformed heart, a new creation that desires what God desires. Discipleship is the process by which the Holy Spirit shapes us so that loving our neighbor and seeking God’s ways become natural, not obligatory. The first commandment, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the house of bondage,” is both a command and a promise: where God is truly first, there is freedom. When God is second, we become enslaved to whatever we have placed above Him, and our lives fill with worry and fear.

The call is to willingly submit our crowns, to trust that God’s reign brings not only order but also joy, growth, and true liberty. This is the foundation for a successful, victorious life—not as the world defines it, but as God intends.

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Key Takeaways

1. Whatever is First in Your Life Controls You When anything other than God takes the top spot in your heart, it becomes a source of chronic anxiety. Money, children, or achievement, when elevated above God, demand your constant attention and worry, ultimately enslaving you to their outcomes. True peace comes only when God is first, and everything else finds its proper place beneath His reign. [00:07]
2. The Kingdom of God Begins with Willing Surrender God’s Kingdom is not established by force or law, but by the voluntary submission of our hearts. Unlike worldly kingdoms that impose their will, God invites us to lay down our crowns and trust His leadership. Discipleship is the journey of becoming the kind of person who wants what God wants, not out of obligation, but out of a transformed heart. [08:35]
3. Freedom is Found in God’s Kingship, Not in Self-Rule The story of Israel’s demand for a human king reveals a deep truth: when God is King, there is freedom; when we insist on ruling ourselves or following the world’s ways, we end up in bondage. The desire for safety and control can lead us back into chains, but God’s rule brings true liberty and growth. [14:19]
4. The First Commandment is a Promise of Liberation In Jewish tradition, the first commandment is not just a rule but a declaration: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the house of bondage.” Keeping God first is the key to never returning to slavery—whether to sin, fear, or lesser loves. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and this freedom is sustained by God’s primacy in our lives. [15:08]
5. Discipleship Transforms Duty into Desire The Kingdom of God is realized not by external compliance but by internal transformation. Through the Holy Spirit and the Word, we become people who naturally love our neighbors and seek God’s ways—not because we must, but because we genuinely want to. This is the fruit of a life where God is truly King, and it is the path to lasting joy and victory. [09:03]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:07] - The Problem of Misplaced Priorities
[01:02] - The Gift and Cost of Attention
[02:01] - The Value of Taking Notes
[03:36] - The Foundation for a Successful Life
[04:02] - What is the Core Message of Jesus?
[05:14] - The Many Kingdoms We Build
[06:21] - The Kingdom of Darkness and Deception
[06:48] - The Kingdom of God: On Earth as it is in Heaven
[07:22] - Why Utopias Fail
[08:20] - How the Kingdom of God Happens
[09:03] - Discipleship and Heart Transformation
[10:14] - The Kingdom of God is Now
[11:29] - Israel’s History: God as King
[12:05] - Israel Rejects God’s Kingship
[14:19] - When God is King, There is Freedom
[15:08] - The First Commandment: A Promise of Freedom
[15:39] - The Problem is God is Second

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

1 Samuel 8:4-22 — (Israel demands a king, rejecting God’s kingship)

2. Exodus 20:2
(“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”)

3. Matthew 6:33
(“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”)

Observation Questions

In 1 Samuel 8, what reasons do the Israelites give for wanting a human king instead of God as their king?
According to Exodus 20:2, what does God remind the Israelites about their past and His role in their freedom?
In the sermon, what are some examples given of things people might put above God in their lives?
How does Jesus describe the Kingdom of God in the Gospels, according to the sermon?

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think the Israelites believed a human king would provide more security or success than God’s direct rule? What does this reveal about human nature?
The sermon says, “Whatever is first in your life controls you.” How does this idea connect to the biblical stories of Israel and the first commandment?
The pastor mentions that the Kingdom of God is “on earth as it is in heaven.” What does it mean for God’s kingdom to be present now, not just in the future?
How does discipleship transform a person’s desires, according to the sermon?

Application Questions

The sermon says that when anything—even good things—take first place over God, it leads to anxiety and worry. Is there something in your life right now that you tend to put above God? How does it affect your peace or sense of freedom?
The Israelites wanted a king to be like other nations. Are there ways you feel pressure to “fit in” or follow the world’s ways instead of trusting God’s leadership? What does that look like for you?
The first commandment is described as both a command and a promise of freedom. In what areas of your life do you need to experience more of God’s freedom? What would it look like to put God first in those areas?
The pastor says, “Discipleship is the process by which the Holy Spirit shapes us so that loving our neighbor and seeking God’s ways become natural, not obligatory.” Can you think of a time when following God felt like a duty, and another time when it felt like a desire? What made the difference?
The sermon challenges us to “willingly submit our crowns” and trust God’s reign. What is one practical step you can take this week to surrender control in an area where you tend to hold on tightly?
The message says, “When God is King, there is freedom.” What would it look like for you to experience more of that freedom in your daily life?
The pastor encourages taking notes and being intentional about learning and growing. What is one way you can be more intentional about your spiritual growth this month?

Sermon Clips

If money is the first thing in your life and God is second you are chronically going to be worrying about money if your kids are higher than God you're going to constantly worry about your kids you're going to smother them you're going to make sure they're always safe they'll never grow they'll become anxious and incapable if intellectualism and academic achievement is your number one thing and God is second you're going to always feel like a fraud you yourself are always the one thing that's above God you will always be crippled by anxiety but here's what we should be loyal to what we can be loyal to is the promise of the Kingdom.

The core of the message is not about any of that I think this message is going to be a gift but in order for you to get this gift you're going to have to pay pay what pay attention all right you're going to have to pay it comes with a price and that price is your attention especially the first half is a bit on the deeper side theologically and I want we need to tackle the first heavy bit to understand the second lofty bit the easy easy encouraging bit. [00:00:54]

Now as a pastor one of the sad things about being a pastor is you don't really get to experience church anymore the way you used to before you were a pastor one of the main reasons pastors are pastors is because they like church so much they liked it so much somebody's like you should be a pastor and so you actually lose in many ways the experience of what you enjoyed and uh on rare occasion as a pastor you can visit a church and I was able recently to visit a church when to St Andrew's Presbyterian wonderful Church Pastor Jason Smith gave an amazing sermon and this is what I brought with me I brought this this is about $5 for a huge package of these from Amazon uh take notes. [00:01:33]

What I realized whenever I whenever I hear especially good sermon I love to take a lot of notes just keep writing through the whole thing and I find that for me personally it's hard to really track through a good sermon all the way it's easy to track with a sermon that makes you feel good but not necessarily with one that where you're learning a lot and I what was so am I I loved this sermon so much but as it was winding down I was looking around and there all these people kind of checking out checking their email I thought I had at least a half a page of ideas and philosophies and things about the Bible I'd never known before and I thought all these people are leaving here without this treasure nobody's taking any notes and I thought why even come you know. [00:02:18]

So all that to say I know you can't just manifest like a genie illegal pad right now but I want to encourage you to consider bringing this and bringing this these two things to church because the other thing about the Bible is you can write like little notes in it so when you go back and study you can find the things that we said but if you have an iPhone and I think a Samsung has it too you have this on your phone it will not bother me at all if you have your phone out and it looks like you're texting your best friend or your mother-in-law or whatever if you're taking notes and you can look back you'll track with the sermon better and you can talk about it with your friends and family after the service. [00:03:08]

We're going to talk today about the foundation for this really successful life that's made available to all believers to talk about that we need to talk about the core message of Jesus now imagine you and I we're sitting across the table from one another and you've been studying the Bible for a while and you think you got a feel for it and I were to ask you if you could encapsulate the message of Jesus say into one phrase what would you say love and I think yeah love is good that's right I think other people you know because Jesus is described as a moral teacher many people are going to start there you're going to hear love your neighbor right or you're going to hear maybe the Golden Rule do unto others as you'd have them do unto you um something like that or you'd probably hear something about what we call the gospel about how Jesus is going to lay his life down John 3:16 for God so loved the world none of these are wrong but they don't really get the whole picture all of these are parts of the whole. [00:03:41]

Now some of you have gone here long enough you know what the answer is and the answer is the kingdom of God in each of the gospels it's mentioned I think in Matthew it's mentioned over 50 times the kingdom of God is like this the kingdom of God is like that the kingdom of God is like this it's it's the core of the message the kingdom of God and this is what Christ is what the Bible wants to get across to us first but the first Kingdom that God is really talking about is my kingdom in this room right now there are a bunch of spiritual crowns on each of our heads each one of us has our own little kingdom and we learn that when we're born what's the first word every human baby says or learns almost always no right we no right that's like what are we saying you're not in charge here right. [00:04:53]

So much of of life is actually a negotiation of spiritual kingdoms and compromises there is then another there are other kingdoms as well like the ones we spoke of there's business kingdoms there's School kingdoms right and then there is a a shadowy kingdom called the kingdom of darkness which is also at work to deceive people mainly by making them scared in the Kingdom of go darkness is totally based on Deception when we lie in any way we're participating in this Kingdom and establishing its reign in our lives and the lives of others and so what we're talking about we say the kingdom of God means that God is going to rule over these spiritual Kingdoms in a good way that might sound ominous but it's not. [00:05:56]

Here's one way another way of saying what the kingdom of God is from a Biblical standpoint the kingdom of God is on Earth as it is in heaven on Earth as it is in heaven now Christians think it's just about going to heaven and that's great when we die but no the goal of the kingdom of of God Is On Earth as it is in heaven that when we are submitted to God's ways that Heavenly life comes to earth now what a lot of people thought is we do that by law by policy we call these people utopians on Earth as it is in heaven many of you even now are saying hey that's great but rule number one we know Utopia we know heaven on Earth does not happen because of law. [00:06:56]

The Communist project of the 20th century proved that does not work what looks good on paper ruins everything it touches Venezuela Soviet Union Cuba you just see it the idea of of making sure everybody's taken care of and all the stuff for whatever reason if you do it by law it doesn't work we have other utopians theological utopians we have in the past Christian kingdoms that were like that that made everything worse today for example countries like Iran say if if everybody believed if everybody just did this theological thing everything would be better and we see it made it worse in every case so it doesn't happen via law and even the Bible tells us that that the law brings what with it brings death spiritual death. [00:07:34]

So this is what has to happen the kingdom of God does not force its way on people people people have to believe in the idea and willingly submit their Crown that's what has to happen we have to willingly submit for it to work we have to decide that it's the best way for it to work so this is how it works it happens through a renewed heart and we call this word discipleship it's the commitment that I'm going to transform and become a new person through the Holy Spirit and the Bible so that I want what God wants once I don't love my neighbor because I have to I love my neighbor because I love my neighbor I've become a loving person you see that is when the kingdom of God Reigns in my life it's a it's a thing that the Holy Spirit does in my life over time through the Salvation the working of the Cross and that is the kingdom of God. [00:08:25]

Now Jesus remember what does he say when he's here he's the kingdom of God now in in the Old Testament they're talking about the kingdom of God when Jesus is talking about the kingdom of God in the gospels it's not a new idea here's what's new everybody said the kingdom of God was going to come what does Jesus say the kingdom of God is at hand or it's now or it's in you what a revelation that is the kingdom of God is in you whoa so it's the rule of God in my life when God is king of my life things start to go better the kingdom of God is established in the Old Testament in the giving of the Torah we might think it's in the Covenant it's really the giving of the Torah the giving of the law. [00:10:02]

The Bible remember comes to us in Parts the first part we were given was the Torah Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy and that giving of the law establishes God's kingdom the Ark of the Covenant is seen as God's Throne so here's the King on his throne on The Mercy Seat The Arc of the Covenant anybody seen uh Indiana Jones right here's the Lost Arc okay so that's the arkc of the Covenant that's God's throne and then Israel the nation of Israel become becomes the borders of God's physical Kingdom and for 500 years after the Exodus Israel is ruled by God as a king God is their King for 500 years and the the way God administers his kingdom is through prophets and judges and that's how it happens until we get into this verse that Hannah read in s first Samuel. [00:10:46]

Now in Samuel what do we hear all of a sudden the people want what do they say we want a king we want a king this is the first time in the Old Testament God is dethroned first time up until then if you ask somebody in Israel who's the king of Israel everybody would say the Lord is our King but now they're saying we want a king we want a king what are they saying they're saying this God is not a real king he's not a real king and this spirit is still alive today in the church God is I mean we say oh I want a king well God's not a real king I mean you're not really going to solve my problems he's not really involved in my life right and this Spirit uh we want something you know real king is here and why do they want this real king because they want to be like the world they want to be like their neighbors they see all of their neighbors have a guy with a crown and a scepter and they're like we want we want one of those. [00:11:41]

So Samuel goes to the Lord and he says Lord they've rejected me they they want an Earthly king and you remember what God says to Samuel my dear Samuel they have not rejected you they've rejected me and what does he say to Samuel he says here's what you want I want you to go and tell them if they really want it I'll give them a king but here's what this king is going to do he's going to recruit all their boys to drive his chariots and all of their girls are going to have to work in his shops and warehouses selling perfume and the like and he's going to take your money and you are going to be his subjects and you are going to lose the freedom that I give you Samuel goes back and shares this message with the people and what do they say no no no we want a king and so what does God say thy will be done. [00:12:50]

When I read the story it actually reminds me a lot of when the Israelites are coming out of Egypt in The Exodus and they're sick of the the boring food and the boring walking around the Wilderness and what do they say take us back to Pharaoh we want to be slaves again notice how when God is not in your life this need for safety for somebody to to to manage your life this hunger for whatever comes over in your life now the opposite is true when God is King there's Freedom amen when God is King we get freedom in life when God is not King we are in bondage and we want it we want the bondage we want the chains because with the chains comes our safety our Three Square meals not for you or not for me amen. [00:13:54]

Here's the first commandment in a Jewish tradition it goes like this I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt out of the house of bondage that's it this is what I how I taught my kids The Ten Commandments and here is the mystery here is the mystery that the and why the Jews have kept this as the first commandment I'm the Lord your God what do you think that commandment would be it's not just a commandment it's a promise there's a clue if you keep God as the Lord of your life you will never go back to the house of bondage where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom Freedom having God first in our life means that we have freedom means that we have Liberty means that we we are ready to go with our lives. [00:14:46]

The problem then and now is this it's not that God is last Israel did not say we're done with God we're walking away from God this is not the problem the problem is that God is second putting God second makes you C chronically worry about whatever is first and this is the truth if money is the first thing in your life and God is second you are chronically going to be worrying about money if your kids I know it sounds crazy but if if your kids are higher than God you're going to constantly worry about your kids you're going to micromanage them you're going to smother them you're going to make sure they're always safe they'll never grow they'll become anxious and incapable if intellectual ISM and academic achievement is your number one thing and God is second you're going to always feel like a fraud. [00:15:36]

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