One of the most important scriptures in the Bible is Matthew 6:33, which says, “Seek first God’s kingdom and what God wants. Then all your other needs will be met as well.” But what exactly is the kingdom of God? Let’s talk about it in simple terms.
It’s a Kingdom Where We . . .
Pray for Our Enemies
Did you just cringe when you read that?
Yes, pray for your earthly enemies.
If you have an earthly enemy, here’s what you can do: Go ALL IN and pray for them with all your heart. Are they jealous? Pray that the spirit of jealousy leaves them and that Jesus allows them to see what their purpose is so that they can see their value. Are they hateful? Pray that the Lord gives them a brand new, softened heart so they can learn to forgive from that new heart and maintain it by guarding it and walking in the Spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit.
It might be hard, but as you think of what they did to you, try to recognize the spirit behind it. Was it a spirit of lust? Was it a liar? What was it? Once you identify it, you can pray that the Lord will set them free from those spirits and that they will get to know Jesus and learn His ways.
Praying for your human enemies is part of your Christian occupation. That’s how you get to be a light in the darkness.
Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Just think:
In some environments with high levels of darkness (maybe your job?), there’s probably no one praying for anyone there. Who will shift the atmosphere into the kingdom of God in that dark place? But now here you are :).
Just got a new job in a secular environment? Time to get to work with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Every single one of those people is loved by God and on His mind.
I know, I know. It can be hard to remember that the person offending us is not our real enemy. That’s why it’s good to pray without ceasing. We should always be praying, speaking to God, and acknowledging Him in every part of our lives.
Bless People Who Curse Us
Maybe you’ve come face-to-face with a witch or someone who speaks evil over you. Do you curse them back? No, not according to the New Testament. We don’t do that eye for an eye thing anymore. David was authorized to do that in his day, but not us. Jesus amended that. Now we leave all the vengeance to God. He handles those things for us in His time. And like I said in How to Stop Hating People Part 2, if you think God is taking too long to punish someone, think of how long He waited for you before you decided to repent. It helps.
Real-Life Example
So I was on the road, and a man in a pickup truck was in a SUPER rush behind me on a one-lane road. I’m driving normally, not interested in being on anybody’s bumper, rushing them. But that guy, yeah, he was interested in all of that. He drove closely behind me for a while . . .
When it was time for me to turn, I said something like this to myself, “Let me move over and make sure he can finally pass me because I ain’t got time.” He decided I was blocking the road, so he honked and yelled out his window (as he was able to pass by, by the way), “MOVE THE *^&* OVER!” . . . Now, in the past, I would be so angry along with him and embarrassed, but I just made my turn when it was time and sort of shook my head. I started feeling bad, like, “Man, that was evil.” That was a devil at work. So I prayed for him.
That man made sure he looked in his side view mirror at me after zooming past and cursing at me. Little did he know, I was about to pray for his soul right after that. So it looks like I took an “L”, but in the kingdom of God, that was a WIN. Let’s goo!😀
In the not-so-distant past, I would have been cursing him back in my own personal life, telling friends and family about how terrible he was, building up all the bitterness available.
And yes, in the end, I had to go to God and tell Him how that whole bizarre thing made me feel because it still didn’t feel good.
What Else?
Give to the Poor
So Jesus left all of His riches in heaven to become poor. He said that when we give to the poor here on earth, we are actually giving to Him. And He will repay us. Don’t ask exactly how that works, because I just don’t know.
People in the kingdom of God are not stingy and they don’t hoard more than they need; that’s just not a quality that comes with this kingdom.
Don’t worry, it’s not about giving to any random person, but the ones God puts on your heart to where it’s like you’re compelled to give. Always live this life with wisdom. Remember the rules: It is evil if someone is forcing you to give or making you feel bad to manipulate you into giving. That is never okay even if it’s coming from a church leader.
I would refuse to give if I felt forced to give and say to myself, “Nope. I’m not doing this out of force. It’s just not gonna happen and that’s the end of it.” Jesus gave instructions on this in the Bible and that is not it. Yes, the kingdom of God has rules on how to give.
It’s a Kingdom Where We . . .
Don’t Fight With PEOPLE
Instead of having fights with other humans, in the kingdom of God, we fight with evil spirits, demons, and principalities. How? Using your Christian weapons. If you’ve read some of my other blogs, you know that we’ve talked about this! Remember Ephesians 6:12.
Maybe you’ve met that enemy before. Perhaps in dreams, perhaps by recognizing feelings? But maybe you haven’t exactly met this enemy in some spiritual experience and you just believe it by faith in the Word of God. Either way, it’s true. There are evil spirits in this world and they have a clear agenda not only for your life, but for your day. What’s the agenda? Here it is: They come to kill, steal, and destroy — and nothing else (John 10:10).
I really connect with the way the New Century Version of the Bible gives this scripture:
"We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments 5and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ."
Corinthians 10:4-5
It’s a Kingdom Where We . . .
Feed Our Enemies If They’re Hungry
So God tells us through His word to “heap burning coals” on your enemy’s head by giving him or her food if they’re thirsty and bread if they’re hungry.
Here’s how I do this in my real life:
The Gift Strategy
Let me tell you a story: I had those demonic thoughts racing through my mind one day. I imagine that the enemy or enemies are standing next to me, speaking evil into my ear (in my spirit). They tried to get me to go along with those evil thoughts. From my experience, they seem to aim for me to have those thoughts running through me for the entire day.
So I said to myself, “No! We’re not doing this. Hmm . . . Let me think of a hypothetical gift I would get her. She likes makeup. What about a make-up subscription? No, not that. Hmm . . . Ooo! An Ulta gift card. Yeah, she’d like that.”
Then, before I knew it, all of those evil, intrusive thoughts, and the feelings that came with them went away. (Haha) I guess that specific devil (a spirit of anger and unforgiveness) who came to influence me on that make-Alisha-go-back-to-hatred assignment felt the burning coals on his head and ran away 🏃🏽➡️🏃🏽➡️🏃🏽➡️.
"So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.."
James 4:7
Well, he fled and probably had smoke coming from his shoes in the process because I felt happy about getting her that gift card in my mind. Looks like that’s a weapon, right? The burning coals of righteousness in the spirit ✅. So since we’re not meant to get revenge on our so-called human enemies, those burning coals must be for the real enemy. Do you see how that works?
If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink.
Proverbs 25:21-22
Doing this will be like pouring burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.
You can read more about this topic in my series “How to Stop Hating People Part 2“.
It’s a Kingdom Where We . . .
Fight Using Spiritual Weapons
The weapons used in the kingdom of God are given their power by God Himself. When you’re in a spiritual fight and you say, “No weapon formed against me shall prosper…” remember that the Word became flesh. Jesus and the Word of God are the same. So it is Jesus fighting for you when you fight back with the Word. You gotta study it and find out what it says so that when the time comes, the Holy Spirit will remind you of it.
In the kingdom of God, we don’t use physical guns, knives, fists, etc. when we fight. No. We use spiritual weapons and they work. Have you ever been in a sleep paralysis attack, said, “Jesus!” and the attack stopped? That was a weapon right there: the name of Jesus. God is spirit. There is no other name by which any human can be saved. Those that call on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Even demons believe and tremble. They know His name and they submit to it because Jesus gave us human believers the authority to trample over every enemy when we go into a fight in the name of Jesus.
Let’s look at 2 examples of our many weapons:
Weapon Option 1: Living the way God wants us to live
One of the weapons that comes with being a Christian is your lifestyle. Now this one needs to be worked on a lot, especially if you’re fresh out of the devil’s world. It involves applying all the tips in this blog post to your personal life. It starts with talking to God, learning His ways. That means it’s time to dive in and read the bible to get to know His character and what He’s like. What He accepts, what He rejects. David mentioned in Psalms 119:11 how he honored God’s word and cherished it:
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”
After you finish reading this blog and get some of the tips you came for, find out more about how the kingdom of God operates.
Weapon Option 2: Worship
Worship the Lord with all of your heart! Do you know what it’s like to go all in and worship God? He shows up in a special way when we worship Him. So when God shows up, He fights our battles. Let me explain: If you’re ever feeling depressed or starting to get thoughts of worthlessness, for example, that is an evil spirit of sadness or “heaviness”, as the Bible says. It also says that the garment of praise replaces the spirit of sadness or heaviness.
But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.
John 4:23
“God is spirit and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
Forget all other things and zone in on God when you go into worship. Think of every word you’re saying. Don’t allow autopilot to kick in where you’re just blindly singing from memory with no connection to what’s coming out of your mouth. Engage in every word you say. Speak those words, sing those words, or dance those words from your whole heart. Make sure you’re not holding onto sin, but confess it, make the decision to repent from it, and go into worship. Yes!
That, my dear, is true worship.
A Prayer for YOU
Father God, I’m praying for everyone reading this blog post to get to know You better, to get to know Your ways so that they can know how to live and what You expect from them. That their lives can be pleasing to your sight and smell (no stenches), just beautiful, repentant, fragrant lives. I’m praying all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen👍🏽