What Shall I Render

The disciples of Jesus were longing for His throne and kingdom to be established. He taught them to pray as much. We have been redeemed by His blood and transferred into His kingdom, yet we are still to be seeking the increase of His reign and the Father's will in our lives. (Matt 6:33; 7:7-8)

Born of the water and the Spirit, we enter the kingdom of God. The Spirit leads us, as children of God. The Spirit brings life, freedom, peace, and confidence, not fear!

The kingdom brings a relationship that the law of Moses could not. Children born by the suffering of the Son at the cross and born by the authority of the Son as King (Matt 6:5-9; Heb 2:5-13; Isa 8:11-18).

The relationship between a good shepherd and his sheep is comparable to the relationship between a good king and the people of his kingdom. Good shepherds and kings provide, protect, and lead their sheep or people.

Sometimes in Scripture the kingdom names the realm or the territory of a king one/some might enter or from which one/some may be cast out (Matt 5:20; 7:21; 18:3; 23:13).

Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. . . . The ever increasing glory of our transformation into the likeness of His Son comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

The work of God in His Son is nothing less than glorious! 2 Cor 3:17-18

When anyone gives you a gift of love, the best thing you can do is willingly and humbly receive it. God has given the greatest of gifts! It would please Him, if we would just be willing to receive His gifts! (Matt 5:14-16; Col 1:10-14)

Humility can seem as problematic as picking up mercury. If we will choose to hear the gospel message and believe it, humility will be a natural response to God's power and grace. Humility is required to find the blessing of the kingdom.

The Holy Spirit of God is a person of God. If we seek the purpose of God in His Son for our lives, then why would dismiss the purpose of God for His Spirit in our lives? We must not be ignorant of His Spirit within us!

Catching what God has done for us in Christ will help us understand the nature of the kingdom and the joy we can have from it (Mt 5; Ps 126).

We can trust the mercy of God toward us in His Son, like all God's redemptive activity; it is based on His Sovereign power and authority.

God is eternal. Therefore He is powerful and sovereign. His sovereignty is displayed in His story of redemption.

The kingdom is the purpose of God to bless those who will accept it. Holding to human expectations kept the Jews from understanding and most from accepting Him as King and so, from the blessings of His kingdom.

God has demonstrated His concern for man and His power to give life to the dead in the story of His Son.

God raised Jesus to immortality, He cannot die again. What does that do for us? Hope, assurance, freedom, and eternal life must come from somewhere. The resurrection of Jesus proves the faithful source of these things!

An anthem to God's king for the joy and gladness found in His kingdom (Psalm 45).

The kingdom brings us freedom from the worries life on earth can bring us! (Heb 9; Ps 37; Matt 5)

The blessing of the kingdom is found by those who humbly seek and value it! Self-righteousness and arrogance will miss it and forfeit what the blessing that could be theirs (Matt 5:3; Lk 18:9-14; Rev 3:14-22).

Jesus explaining the kingdom to the Jews of His day, even those who praised Him as the Son of David, and even His apostles could not understand the nature of His reign and rule as King. No one understood it, until the Holy Spirit brought the truth of it to the apostles on Pentecost, just as Jesus had promised them.

The reign of Christ is within us, the reign of grace in righteousness (Lk 17:21; Rom 5:21; Matt 21:1-45).

Worship the Son, God's King, and find refuge in Him (Psalm 2).

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13-14).

The call of the kingdom, is a call to live in Christ's reign over sin and its effects. It is a His call for us to live under His reign and rule. We must answer the call of the gospel to live in His kingdom.

The King is calling. It is our choice to answer the call of His kingdom.