KINGDOM LIFE Living with Kingdom-Minded Purpose In My World Part 3: STAND

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1 KINGDOM LIFE Living with Kingdom-Minded Purpose In My World Part 3: STAND LIVING A BALANCED LIFE WITH KINGDOM-MINDED PURPOSE We live in a world that is constantly tempting us, challenging us, and asking for our attention We also live in a world that is the dominion of the King The King has purposed to build a kingdom of men and women for His own possession, for whom He will be their God and they will be His people How must I live then, in order to Live with Kingdom-Minded Purpose In My World? Consider the following passages: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ Ephesians 5:15-21 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it Every athlete exercises self-control in all things They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 As citizens of the kingdom, we have to be disciplined with how we spend our discretionary time We must strive for balance between family, work, rest, and social aspects of our life We must live one Kingdom Life in everything we do! In this lesson, we will list out everything that is in our world and then seek to apply priorities and a Kingdom vision to bring balance to our lives THE CENTER OF OUR WORLD THE KING At the center of everything is our relationship with the King When we See the Kingdom Vision, Relate to the King, Represent the King, and Live with Kingdom-Minded Purpose, then the King is central to everything that we are and do As we go through each day, we do so with the King Consider these passages: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Principle 12, Part 3-1

2 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away Revelation 21:3-4 [Jesus speaking] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy I came that they may have life and have it abundantly John 10:10 [Jesus speaking] I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you Abide in me, and I in you As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me I am the vine; you are the branches Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you Abide in my love If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full John 15:1-11 In the center of your 360-degree view worksheet, let s take a few moments and write down some ways that God is the center of your life and world Here are a few ideas to get you started: [My] God is God, You are Blessed am I who God, thank You for God, continue to be God, how would You have me PEOPLE, PROVIDENCE, AND PRIORITIES As we consider all that is in our world, let s go through a variety of areas, one by one, and see what all God has placed within our sphere of influence To do this, we ll take a 360-degree look around our life by looking into 3 aspects: People, Providence, and Priorities PEOPLE Let s begin by looking at all of the people in our lives We re going to create some lists of the different people that God has placed in our lives and fill them out on your 360-degree view worksheet 1 My FAMILY As we discussed in Living with Kingdom-Minded Purpose In My Home, all of us have families Granted, not all have had ideal family circumstances Yet we who live with Kingdom-minded purpose long to instill faith in our families It is our heart s desire to leave a legacy of faith that will endure for generations until Jesus returns In order to do that, we must be intentional Principle 12, Part 3-2

3 If you ve already filled this section out in Part 3 of Living with Kingdom-Minded Purpose In My Home, then just transfer those names to the appropriate section of your 360-degree view worksheet If you didn t get a chance to do this already, list your immediate and extended family List the names of your living relatives, each person related to you (include other family relationships, such as step-families) 2 Where I WORK Where do we work? Everywhere! Our work is not just defined by a job whether retired, employed, out of a job, a stay-at-home role, or volunteering, we are laboring at something or toward a goal This applies to all that we are attempting to accomplish as we use Jesus exhortation as our guide to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6:33) What tasking has the King given to you? Think about the place where you accomplish those tasks and the people that you accomplish them with Write their names in the appropriate section of your 360-degree view worksheet 3 My CHURCH Your church is the body of believers that you worship with, fellowship with, study with, care for, encourage, and serve alongside There may be multiple locations and groups This will primarily be your local body of Christ, but you may also have significant ongoing relationships with other believers as well Write down the names of the significant relationships that you have with other believers in the appropriate section of your 360-degree view worksheet This may include pastors, elders, leaders, other church members, a small group and/or bible study, missionaries, people your serve with, people you are discipling or that are discipling you, and so forth 4 The Rest of My World This category of people is less specific and probably more unique to you Let s think of all the other people in our lives we haven t listed neighbors, friends, acquaintances, people you rub elbows with regularly, people you pray for, or groups of people with whom you enjoy activities, hobbies, or just passing the time The King has placed them in your life for Kingdom-minded purpose! Let s list them in the appropriate section of your 360-degree view worksheet, so that we might see what Kingdom-minded purpose we should have with them You may want to group people together in some fashion that makes sense to you This should be a fairly complete list of the people that are within your circle of relationship Let s take a moment and review the list and see if there is anyone else the Lord brings to mind Of course, you can always modify these lists as the Spirit leads! Principle 12, Part 3-3

4 PROVIDENCE Now that we ve listed the people that the King has placed in your world, let s look at how He has created you uniquely and given you roles, responsibilities, gifts, resources, talents, passions, interests, creativity, hobbies, and activities Let s take some time and identify them on your 360- degree view worksheet 1 My Roles and Responsibilities These are items with which the King has charged you and to which you must remain faithful Roles you may wish to list here: spouse, parent, aunt/uncle, grandparent, employer, employee, volunteer, small group leader, teacher, pastor, mentor, disciple, community leader, and so forth This list should span across all of the different people groups you listed in the previous section one list of all the different roles and responsibilities in your world 2 My Gifts, Resources, and Talents What has the King given you to steward? A great way to think of this category is the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 These are things with which the King has entrusted you, according to your ability, so that He would have a good return for His Kingdom Sometimes these are referred to as time, talents, and treasure They include financial resources, property, spiritual gifts, education, talents, abilities, and so forth Let s list them in the appropriate section of your 360-degree view worksheet 3 My Passions, Interests, Creativity, Hobbies, and Activities For this section, consider how the King has wired you What do you enjoy? What do you care about? What do you like to do for fun? What do you dream about doing? These are all good questions to get you thinking about filling out this section Additionally, think about what kinds of things you would do if you didn t have any roles or responsibilities Once again, list these items in the appropriate section of your 360-degree view worksheet Principle 12, Part 3-4

5 PRIORITIES With all the people and opportunities in our lives, it can be easy to lose focus of what s most important With this in mind, it can be very helpful to create a priority structure, which will help us to more comfortably say yes or no to what comes our way, in order to Live with Kingdom-Minded Purpose! Looking at all that is in your world from the 360-degree view worksheet, list your top priorities in your life: For all who seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, God should be the priority of our priorities If the King is to be the center of our world and have an impact on every part of our world, let s make sure that our list reflects this The shaded elliptical area on the 360-degree view worksheet highlights that in fact the King is the center of our world and flows into all areas of our life A more accurate representation would be to have the entire sheet as gray to represent the fact that the King has control over our ENTIRE life Now let s restructure the list slightly, taking the same order you specified above for everything below the King, representing that we include the King in all that we do! 1 The King 2 The King and 3 The King and 4 The King and 5 The King and 6 The King and 7 The King and 8 The King and The final step in this process is to transfer your priorities from the list you have generated here to the 360-degree view worksheet Principle 12, Part 3-5

6 A KINGDOM VISION What about ministry? Take a complete look at your 360-degree view worksheet Pray about each item on the worksheet Everything you see here is unique to your role in God s Kingdom This is your ministry! Take a moment and thank God for the ministry that He has given to you, and ask Him to give you a vision for your role as a Kingdom citizen Write down your Kingdom Vision for how you can fulfill your role in the Kingdom NEXT STEPS In Part 4 of Living with Kingdom-Minded Purpose In My World, we will continue to refine our vision and create some short-term SMART goals (listed below) that will help move us toward our vision We will also review the major Kingdom Life themes and see how we can apply them to our everyday lives SMART Goals: Source: George T Doran, Management Review, November 1981 Principle 12, Part 3-6