This is the message I preached at the First Baptist Church in Clearlake, CA this last Sunday.

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The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. – John 10:10
 
From the beginning man has misunderstood the purposes of the kingdom. The serpent posed the idea that God was holding man back by restricting what he should know. Man listened to that lie and a desire was begun in man to know what God knows and thus become like God. The serpent is the thief Jesus was talking about.

The feeling that following God will somehow keep me from being fulfilled has permeated the human experience since the first sin. Many today feel that God’s way is boring and leaves no place for just being themselves. How many times have we been asked, “What do you Christians do for fun any way?”

The thief, who is the same as the serpent in the garden, has sown false hope in self, which is the seed of destruction. Listening to the lies of the arch deceiver has allowed him to steal our peace, 1
destroy our hope and lead us ultimately to death.

All of man’s searching for the good life, outside of what God has to offer, has left him empty and still searching. It seems that the more he strives for fulfillment the emptier he becomes. As man focuses on self-realization he moves further and further from the God who has promised fulfillment in knowing him.

Jesus expressed a purpose in the kingdom of God in our verse for today. “I have come that you might have life, and have it to the full.” A primary purpose for the kingdom is to restore man to the fullness he had with God in the garden.

The kingdom of God is positioning us so that the best heaven has to offer can be released to us. The kingdom is not about controlling our life but it is about calling us to a lifestyle which allows him to open the doors of heaven and pour out upon us a blessing we cannot contain. It is about God having an opportunity to express his love for us.

The Scripture is full of promises which are to be fulfilled in those who have been born into the kingdom of God through a faith in Jesus Christ.
 
Prayer:  Lord, I thank you for the opportunity to experience your kingdom. Grant me the grace to serve you will. In Jesus name. Amen.
 
Message:  A primary purpose for the kingdom is to restore man to the fullness he had with God in the garden. The kingdom of God is positioning us so that the best heaven has to offer can be released to us. The kingdom is not about controlling our life but it is about calling us to a lifestyle which allows him to open the doors of heaven and pour out upon us a blessing we cannot contain. It is about God having an opportunity to express his love for us.
 
Affirmation:  God's purpose for me is that I might have an abundant life. He makes the way for me to have that life by showing me the path to follow. That path is his law.
 
Reflection:  We must not misunderstand the grace of God. The path to abundant life in the kingdom of God is straight and narrow. Not everyone who claims to be on the path are really on the true straight and narrow path. Think about it.

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Day Seventeen
 
Ask, Seek and Knock
 
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
– Matthew 7:7-8
 
This passage has given hope to many, and to some who don’t understand the full meaning it has been a discouragement. I say that because I have heard people say, “I asked, but I did not receive.” What would be a proper application of this passage?

Let’s look at some of the other passages where Jesus talks about prayer. In Luke 18:1—3 he implies that the answer to prayer must be diligently pursued. In the Luke 11 version of this event he prefaces the promise with the story of a man who received what he asked from a friend because of his persistent asking (5-8). Luke then gives the “ask, seek knock” narrative.

The message seems to be that the asking is more than just including a request when blessing our food at meal time. It appears that the message is ask first for the thing you need or desire, then seek until you find the door to your answer then knock until the door is opened. When the door is opened walk through it to receive your answer.

James captured this concept when he writes, “The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]” (James 4:16 AMP). We can rest assured that God has our best interest at heart and that he will answer our heartfelt prayers when it is the best time and in the best way.

There are three major components to answered prayer. The first is the question, “Is this according to God’s plan for my life?” The second is obedience to God. The third is a commitment to earnestly pursue the answer. When these components are lined up we can have the confidence that God will answer. John writes, “We have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands” (1 John 3:21-22).
 
Prayer: Lord, help me to be earnest and diligent in my praying so that I will ask, seek and knock until the answer comes. Amen.

Message:   The message seems to be that the asking is more than just including a request when blessing our food at meal time. It appears that the message is ask first for the thing you need or desire, then seek until you find the door to your answer then knock until the door is opened. When the door is opened walk through it to receive your answer.

Affirmation:  I have learned to ask God then seek him until he reveals the door to the answer then knock on the door until it is opened and the answer is given to me.

Reflection:  Give some thought to the three components to answered prayer given in this devotion. First is the question, "Is this according to God's plan for my life?" The second consideration is obedience to God and the third is a commitment to earnestly pursue the answer.

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Jesus taught in Matthew27-28  that it is not just the act that is sin, but to harbor the desire in our heart is sin as well. It is true: Thoughts count.
Listen to the Daily God Walk devotion on this subject: THOUGHTS COUNT