Good morning people who intentionally live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Before God’s kingdom can be outworked through us, it must be functioning in us.

The kingdom of God cannot be separated from the Lordship of Christ. The royal authority of God to rule – the very definition of kingdom – must be preeminent in the life of every believer. Having a Saviour in Jesus is essential to enter into eternal life. But there needs to be a deeper revelation of the need to live under the Lordship of this very same Jesus.

Lordship is evidenced by submission, and submission is seen most at the point of a differing of wills. Jesus always did what He saw His Father doing. He delighted to do His Father’s will. And yet we see the ultimate act of submission in this well-known verse:

Luke 22:42 NIV “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Jesus didn’t want to go to the cross. His Father required Him to go to the cross. Jesus submitted to His Father’s will, and this was an evidence of the kingdom of God being at work in the life of Jesus.

What do you do when God tells you to do something that you don’t want to do?

The answer to this question reveals whether you are living under the Lordship of Jesus and whether the kingdom of God is at work within you.

The truth is, we either obey God or we don’t. It seems that many people add degrees to their obedience or state things like “I do what the Bible says but…” Partial obedience is disobedience, and disobedience only happens when the kingdom of God is not at work in us.

While this is heavy – and I know it is – the cross was unbelievably heavy for Jesus, and yet He went the way of the cross for you and for me.

It’s time for us to live for Jesus like Jesus died for us. It’s time to cry out, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” It’s time to live in submission to the Lordship of Christ and to let God’s kingdom rule be supreme in our lives.

Good morning people who pursue what is on the heart of God.

As we look ahead to 2025, I want to set you up to fulfil all that Father has prepared in advance for you to be and to do. There are many essentials that are required to live a life that pleases God, and one of those is to identify and to use the keys of the kingdom that Jesus has given to us. Let’s lean in.

First, we must understand the importance of God’s kingdom.

Matthew 6:33 NIV “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

While God’s kingdom might seem like a distant concept to many, and to others it may not be something that ever crosses your mind, it was a central message of the New Testament, and it is still deeply on the heart of God today. Therefore, it needs to be important and imperative to every follower of Jesus.

John the Baptist preached the kingdom of God. Jesus preached the kingdom of God. Jesus instructed His disciples to pray the kingdom of God. Jesus exhorted people to seek first the kingdom of God. And after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension, He spent 40 days talking about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is very important.

In the simplest of terms, the kingdom of God is the royal rule of God in a realm. It is the outworking of God’s rightful authority. It is ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’

The kingdom of God on earth is initiated from the God of heaven. While He can do all things without us, He chose to do many things through us. This includes the display of His power and authority on earth. It started way back in the beginning.

Genesis 1:28 NIV God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.

The kingdom of God cannot be separated from our partnership with God. The Lord never intended to be involved in what we wanted to do. His original plan that is unchanged is for us to be involved in what God is doing.

This is partnership with God. This is the kingdom of God.

Good morning people who diligently study the precious Word of God.

Recently I wrote a BIY about the cross, and in it I stated that the cross had the final word.

A BIY reader and man of God sent me an email concerning this particular BIY. This wonderful man has emailed me many times over the years, and he loves being on the journey of what Father is sharing through this daily devotion. However, with this particular BIY he saw it differently, and so he lovingly communicated this to me.

Here’s part of what he said: “My thoughts are ‘God despises the inhumanity and public shame His Son had to go through to save me’. Yes, it was necessary, yes it needed to be a ‘public spectacle’ but I don’t agree with ‘the cross has the final say’.”

He is very right. I worded this poorly.

The cross was essential, and on it, Jesus completed His God-given kingdom assignment. But it didn’t end on the cross, therefore, the cross did not have the final word! Praise God for the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ.

This prompted me to consider the following verse:

Acts 17:11 NIV Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

In my response to this precious brother, I sincerely stated that “I don’t want to be right”, but rather, “I want to know the truth.” My desire is not to win an argument, but to correctly handle the Word of truth. At times, this will require me to correct what I have said, and that’s ok.

So, today, I want to encourage us all to be like my friend who wrote to me and like the Bereans. Let us receive the message with great eagerness, and from this heart motivation, let us examine the Scriptures every day to see if what is being said and preached is true.

If something is true according to Scripture, embrace it. If it is not, reject it. But let’s do it as my brother in Christ did and as the Bereans did – with a humility and love that builds bridges. Let’s go deeper together on this journey in Christ.

Good morning people who discern the timing and ways of God.

In this time of assessment, we need to firstly understand that God has pre-written our lives.

Secondly, we need to understand God appointed times and seasons.

Not everything is for always. Please think about this.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Here’s what Daniel wrote about God:

Daniel 2:21 NIV He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

There is a time for everything. There are seasons in life. There are new eras.

As you present God with a blank document for Him to write what He has planned for you heading into another year, you will need to hold onto things lightly and onto God tightly.

One of the things that can throw people off is when God tells us to stop something that we love doing, or conversely, when He tells us to start something that we don’t want to do. Unfortunately, some falsely believe that God would never do this – the Bible is one example of this after another.

These are days for Christians to live all in for the glory of God. These are days to live dead to self and alive to and in Christ. These are days for increased Lordship, and as we start to prepare early for a new year, may God speak clearly and may His children obey boldly and fully.

Good morning people who present your life to the Lord for Him to write on.

I believe this is a time of reassessment. Living life is wonderful, but we all know there are times initiated by Father to pause and allow Him to speak into what we are doing and where we are going.

There are two things I want to place before us today.

Firstly, God has already pre-written our lives. This does not take away our ‘free will’. We can still choose God’s way or our own. We can still choose kingdom ways or worldly ways. We do have choices to make.

But our lives are not without purpose, and that purpose is divine kingdom purpose. We were not created to simply exist or to focus on just doing our own thing. We were created by God and for God.

When we live according to His plans and purposes, we bring Him glory.

Therefore, the truth is not that God is yet to write the next steps of our lives – they were written before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). For us as children of the Most High God, our next steps are to be revealed by the Father.

Often we look at our full and busy lives as the starting point, and from this overwhelming reality, we ask God if we should change anything. This is not a bad thing to do, but I believe there is a better and more empowering way to assess in this season.

I encourage you to present God with a blank document. In other words, imagine you were not involved in anything and there were no “demands” on your time.

What would Father ask you to start doing?

Ask Him. And then have the courage to only write these things down on your document. May this become the blueprint of your life and what you step towards as we all seek to bring God glory.

Let’s look at the second thing tomorrow that speaks into this time of assessment.