The Importance of Kingdom Habits
By Ryan Dawson
God has given us a vision as a church to see thousands of people experience and live out the Kingdom of Jesus together, wherever we live work, play & go. The Kingdom of Jesus is reign of Christ, and the loving leadership of Christ, where the Lord restores all that is broken and destroyed by sin. This is made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and we experience this Kingdom when we place our full trust in the Words and Work of Jesus who is the Saviour of the world.
If we are to be Kingdom people, we need to train our hearts in the ways of the Kingdom, because our hearts are like wayward sheep that keep straying from the things of God. Like sheep seeking out better grass, our hearts wander towards other affections that we think hold life for us. We can’t empty the heart of our affections, so our only hope is to replace these affections with something greater. Scottish Pastor Thomas Chalmbers says: “the only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is through the expulsive power of a new one.” When we see and respond to the love and grace of God, our hearts are gripped with a new more powerful affection that impacts every area of our lives. When we see the goodness of God we want to live for Him and we want to seek Him and His Kingdom first. But because of our propensity to “go back to other pastures” we need to continue to lead our hearts with Kingdom habits or rhythms to curate our heart towards the Ultimate good.
A kingdom habit is something we intentionally build into our lives to help us seek Christ and His Kingdom as a first priority. Here are a few Kingdom habits (by no means an exhaustive list) that we value at Sequoia:
•We embrace the Kingdom habit to live in community because we need each other to help us maximize our full potential before God.
•We embrace the Kingdom habit of daily time in God’s Word and prayer because this helps us remember that life isn’t about the stuff we have but the richness of our relationship with God and others.
•We embrace the Kingdom Habit to serve so our hearts grow in compassion for others as we fight off our tendency to be self-absorbed and selfish.
•We embrace the Kingdom habit to give regularly because this helps us depend on God and reflect Him in His generosity.
•We embrace the Kingdom Habit of sharing the Good News of Jesus because people are lost without Christ, and sharing this also helps remind us of our desperate need for grace everyday.
•We embrace the Kingdom Habit of gathering for worship on the 1st day of the week to remind ourselves that Jesus needs to be first in everything.
It is true that if we want to see a different output in our lives, we need to introduce some different inputs. In what ways do you need to embrace some new or refreshed Kingdom Habits that will help you grow closer to Jesus and live out the Kingdom life this year?
One thing that I added this year to help me grow in my love for God is to once again read through the whole Bible using a 5-day plan. I have recently finished Exodus and Philippians, and it has been rich to be in God’s Word every day.
Jesus said: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and [God] will give you everything you need…Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” Luke 12:31
Let’s lead our hearts with Kingdom habits so that we grow in love and devotion for Jesus, our Saviour King.
Blessings, Ryan
God has given us a vision as a church to see thousands of people experience and live out the Kingdom of Jesus together, wherever we live work, play & go. The Kingdom of Jesus is reign of Christ, and the loving leadership of Christ, where the Lord restores all that is broken and destroyed by sin. This is made possible by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and we experience this Kingdom when we place our full trust in the Words and Work of Jesus who is the Saviour of the world.
If we are to be Kingdom people, we need to train our hearts in the ways of the Kingdom, because our hearts are like wayward sheep that keep straying from the things of God. Like sheep seeking out better grass, our hearts wander towards other affections that we think hold life for us. We can’t empty the heart of our affections, so our only hope is to replace these affections with something greater. Scottish Pastor Thomas Chalmbers says: “the only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is through the expulsive power of a new one.” When we see and respond to the love and grace of God, our hearts are gripped with a new more powerful affection that impacts every area of our lives. When we see the goodness of God we want to live for Him and we want to seek Him and His Kingdom first. But because of our propensity to “go back to other pastures” we need to continue to lead our hearts with Kingdom habits or rhythms to curate our heart towards the Ultimate good.
A kingdom habit is something we intentionally build into our lives to help us seek Christ and His Kingdom as a first priority. Here are a few Kingdom habits (by no means an exhaustive list) that we value at Sequoia:
•We embrace the Kingdom habit to live in community because we need each other to help us maximize our full potential before God.
•We embrace the Kingdom habit of daily time in God’s Word and prayer because this helps us remember that life isn’t about the stuff we have but the richness of our relationship with God and others.
•We embrace the Kingdom Habit to serve so our hearts grow in compassion for others as we fight off our tendency to be self-absorbed and selfish.
•We embrace the Kingdom habit to give regularly because this helps us depend on God and reflect Him in His generosity.
•We embrace the Kingdom Habit of sharing the Good News of Jesus because people are lost without Christ, and sharing this also helps remind us of our desperate need for grace everyday.
•We embrace the Kingdom Habit of gathering for worship on the 1st day of the week to remind ourselves that Jesus needs to be first in everything.
It is true that if we want to see a different output in our lives, we need to introduce some different inputs. In what ways do you need to embrace some new or refreshed Kingdom Habits that will help you grow closer to Jesus and live out the Kingdom life this year?
One thing that I added this year to help me grow in my love for God is to once again read through the whole Bible using a 5-day plan. I have recently finished Exodus and Philippians, and it has been rich to be in God’s Word every day.
Jesus said: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and [God] will give you everything you need…Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” Luke 12:31
Let’s lead our hearts with Kingdom habits so that we grow in love and devotion for Jesus, our Saviour King.
Blessings, Ryan