Living The Kingdom Life

(00:00): It's 1973 and my four sisters and I are going to go to Disney world. It had just opened in Orlando, Florida, and we were jumping out of our skin with excitement. But I have to say I'm kind of jealous today. I still go almost every single year and I still love it. But now I see all these little girls dressed in their princess outfits. There's actually a salon called [inaudible] Bobbity boo, where they get their hair done up like Cinderella and snow white and all the other princesses. And I'm kind of jealous because every little girl loves to be a princess and loves to dress up, loves to be a princess in the kingdom. And we're going to talk about that today. We're going to talk about our position in the kingdom of God. So you are to stay tuned. Welcome to episode 42 of the well-versed woman podcast. I'm Renee teller

(01:10): And I'm Theresa Morgan. You see Renee and I are two perfectly imperfect women who have a heart to share our faith and our love and our life's journeys of faith with you.

(01:21): [inaudible] is all about our relationship with God and how it started and how it grew. We know if you stay tuned week after week, your relationship with God will grow too. But before we get started, we begin every episode, the exact same way we believe we need to be still and plug into that power source. Actually ask God to come and be with you in this quiet time to open your eyes, your ears, and your heart, to what God himself would say to you today. So 20 seconds starts right now.

(02:19): [inaudible]

(02:20): That's it. That's 20 seconds. And I can promise you that if you continue that stillness, if you continue to invite God to answer your questions every single day, it's going to change your entire life. But back to this idea of being a princess, I know you must have shared that experience as a little girl, Theresa, did you ever dress up like a princess?

(02:45): Oh my gosh, Renee, you know, back in the day when I was a little girl, we didn't so much dress up for play. We were, we were more into Barbies and puzzles and that thing, but is coming to mind is Halloween, right? That's when the urge to dress up like a princess came about and you know, the wigs and the clothes and the sequins and the glitter. And of course, you know, every little girl needs a Sceptre and a crown is a matter of fact, my little granddaughter, uh, has, has that now. And a couple of days ago we were, we were dressing up and I was the queen and she was the princess.

(03:26): Oh, how fun is that? So why do you think it is that we love to be Prince and princesses and we love to take our position in the kingdom. Yeah.

(03:38): You know, it's really, uh, a position in a place of honor, and it's a place in the family. It's a place that says, this is where I belong. And when you're in a family, when you're in a kingdom, there are beautiful blessings, beautiful rights. They go along with that, that, you know, even if your behavior isn't pin perfect that day, you know, those rights still belong to you. And I love that as an introduction to our subject matter today, Renee, because God says in Psalm 23, verses five and six, God says you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So, you know, even though we're in this world, even though challenges come before us in sometimes daily, sometimes that the tide of those challenges seem to come more ferociously and they're more evident in our lives. But when they come, we, as children of God have to understand that he has provided a table. And on that table, he has provided a banquet of blessings that are, that is ours for the taking Rene. And we need to pull up a seat. That is, that is what our right in the kingdom of God calls for. And we need to understand this.

(05:17): I so agree. It's more recently that I've began to investigate and look into this idea of a kingdom because it is so prevalent in the Bible, Theresa, where God talks about the kingdom principles, not the worldly principles, not the government that we understand as citizens of the United States. For example, we watched the monarchy in England so often, and we see kingdom principles and we see a very clear difference between kingdom principles and the government that we work under in the kingdom. Everybody is subject to the King. Everybody bows down and respects the King much different from the democratic government that we live under in the United States.

(06:11): That's very true, Renee. You know, when we get to heaven, we're not going to find a democracy up there. We're going to find a theocracy that there's one God in charge, one loving, benevolent, God who will continue to provide all of our needs. You know, when Jesus was on the earth, he, he kept talking about the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God has come on to you, the kingdom of God. And that's because he brought that kingdom. If we go over to Romans chapter 14, verse 17, the Bible defines what he was talking about is the kingdom of God. The Bible says that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace enjoy in the Holy spirit. So what does that mean? How, how does one in this earth travel in the kingdom of God, righteousness, peace enjoy in the Holy ghost. That is the banquet of blessing that God talks about.

(07:08): When he talks about preparing a table. When he talks about that, we've been raised and made to sit together with Christ. He's talking about when a person comes to Christ gives their heart to Christ. The kingdom of God comes into them in the person of the Holy spirit. And it's out of that lifestyle with that person, with that ruler, with that King, who's always leading and guiding us. Who's always providing for us financially, spiritually, morally. Who's always giving us direction. Who's healing, our natural bodies, who's providing protection. You know, Renee, when you were talking about a natural kingdom, perhaps, you know, over in England, right? The royalty, they have privileges, privileges of wealth that brings sustenance and food and daily, uh, needs of, of clothing and shelter to them. It brings protection, you know, 24 hour security. It brings, you know, any medical needs are, are provided. I'm sure right there on their promise. So when we look at that as an example, that is everything we have as children of the most high here in this life provided by not just a human being, not just a system of government, uh, we have that provided by God almighty himself, the omnipotent, the Omni potent, the omniscient God. So, wow. Renee, is it any wonder that you and I have come into a place where we enjoy the fruits in the banquet of the kingdom on a daily basis?

(08:53): So true Tricia, you know, that day that we raised our hand and we talk about making that conscious decision to be a follower of Christ, to be a follower of the father, son, and Holy spirit. We make that decision. We're basically raising our hand and saying, I want those privileges of the kingdom. I want to be subject to the King's kingdom and everything that entails all the privileges, all the rights of a Prince or princess are ours. When we make that decision, when we raise our hand and say, okay, I will follow.

(09:39): You know, that that's very true Renee. And the scripture that has just come to my heart is from Psalm one Oh three, verse two. And it says, blessed the Lord, all my soul, bless the Lord. All that is within me and do not forget all of his benefits. Wow. So this is what we're talking about today. And it's not that we clean to him for the benefits, just like one who is in the family of a natural kingdom. No, because we're in the kingdom. We know the benefits. So as a child of God in the kingdom, we have rights to exercise the privilege of those benefits. So when we need healing, as a matter of fact, Renee and I were just praying for her husband who feels a little bit achy. And before we started this episode today, because we know that healing, physical healing is an attribute of our redemption, our salvation in Jesus Christ. We reached out for it. And we know by faith that Peter will be healed. So that's a benefit of the kingdom. And we would have never known about the benefit Renee, right? Had we not read it in the Bible. And then once we see it and we know about it, we exercise that right through faith.

(11:07): Oh, so true. I love simplifying this for all of us, because it's a great reminder of how non-complex this all is that there is a God. He has given us a kingdom to live in the kingdom, has rights and privileges. And they're all in the word of God. They're all in the Bible. And that's exactly why we're doing this podcast and exactly why we studied the word so that we get to know that. And there's so many ways that we can learn those things in our world today. And it's there there's a lot. If you've been listening to this podcast, you know, week after week, there's more subjects to talk about that we could even begin to ever fill, but next 10 years, and it's so key to just keep filling ourselves with the understanding Theresa, um, there's things in the Bible that we learned and maybe forgot there's things in the Bible that we are being enlightened to for the first time or being taken to another level, so to speak. Right? So I just love that I can today know that Peter's going to wake up healed different than I might have been five years ago. So I have a whole different depth because I continue digging, digging, digging in the word of God.

(12:42): That's right, Renee. We need to know what has been included in our salvation. And as we were just describing and sharing that, you know, healing is one of those virtues. But when we realized that that literally right, uh, we've been seated with Christ in the heavenly places, meaning there no physical distance in the spirit by virtue of the Holy spirit being in our spirit, we're at the right hand where Christ is at the right hand of God. Let's listen to a few of these scriptures. Ephesians chapter two verses four to six says, but God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ, by grace, we have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Wow. How isn't that beautiful? We're seated in the kingdom in LA, you know, in, because there is no physical distance in the spirit. And again, because the Holy spirit of Jesus is in us. We're also seated at the right hand of God. In Psalm 16, 11 says in your presence is fullness of joy in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Meaning the benefits of salvation are ours to obtain through faith.

(14:13): Boy, I love that thought. You don't just let that sink in. There's no physical distance in the spirit, in my, in my head and heart. I know that. But to hear it that way, there's no physical distance. And what we're saying and what you're really clarifying Theresa, is that the spirit of God is in us, like we've talked about, which means the kingdom of God is right here right now, wherever we are heaven. And its benefits are not something that's out there in the future, the kingdom of God is here and now because God lives in us. So that makes sense.

(14:57): Yeah, that, that that's so perfect Renee, to put it in another way to understand right now, believe it or not listeners Renee is in Florida and I'm in Syracuse, New York. So in order to be with Renee, I would physically need to travel to Florida now because of this great technology, we can be with each other through zoom and through talking and through speech. But if there wasn't technology, in order for me to be with Renee, I'd have to travel in order for us as children of God who have entered the kingdom of God through faith in Christ. We do not need to physically travel to heaven, to be with God, by virtue of the Holy spirit of God being in our spirit, we are with him. And it's something that we can't fathom in our natural mind because we like in everything to physical reality.

(15:58): But spiritual reality is different in by faith. We know because the Bible says that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the father in his Holy spirit is in us. So because of that, we are with God, the right, we are with God, the son at the right hand of God, the father. And of course we could also get in to the Trinity. The fact that, you know, God is three persons in one, but we're not going to go there today. But suffice it to say that the kingdom of God is ours through faith in Christ righteousness, right? Standing with God, peace, peace, and joy in the Holy, in the Holy ghost, peace with God, peace of God in the overflowing joy of that knowledge. Let's look at another scripture, Rene and Colossians chapter three verses one and two. It says if then you were raised with Christ, seek those things, which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, set your mind on things above not things on earth.

(17:13): So what does that mean? Does that mean that we don't, we're not mindful of our daily tasks? No, no, no. What it means is just like Renee and I did this morning before the podcast came on, we saw in the natural, Peter's not feeling well. He has a temperature he's achy. We then quickly set our mind on the benefits of salvation, which includes healing. So that means we, we know the healing scriptures and by faith, through prayer to God, we, we reached out and were receiving. We're believing, we're receiving the healing that Jesus died in, provided through his death on the cross. I hope that makes sense to everyone. So that's an example of setting our mind on things above. It means setting our mind on the promises, the benefits of God, in our relationship with God, knowing that our good heavenly father, our daddy wants to meet every need of our hearts in this earth. So that we're victorious in that we're more than a Concord in that. We're everything he's created us to be

(18:32): So interesting. Teresa, what's coming to mind and I don't want to get controversial with anybody, but what's coming to mind is this idea that we had to seek that privilege. We had to go to the King and ask him for the healing for Peter. And it reminds me of Prince Harry and Meghan princess, Meghan, who decided, I don't know how long ago it was that they didn't want to be part of that kingdom anymore. They made a decision to leave the privileges of that kingdom and do life their own way, do life outside of that privileged environment that Harry grew up in. Does that make sense? And so we need to exactly what CISA was saying. We needed to go before God this morning and ask for the gift that is ours for the taking at absolutely

(19:42): Right Renee. And from that, I just, I love, I like the sequence of thought here because from knowing our rights and privileges of being in the kingdom, we go and we receive those rights and privileges, right? And the Bible says in Isaiah 26, three, you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. So the you hear, of course is God almighty. God keeps us in perfect peace because our mind is stayed on him because Renee and I trust in him. So this morning she's really, you know, sorry. Now I'm telling on you a little bit here without your permission, but I think I, but I know you'd be fine with it because the natural examples, I think bring out how we do faith on a day-to-day basis. So because Renee's planning on a trip and it's a beautiful trip to see family, she is concerned in that we need Peter to go onto this trip. So we know that in the natural, it could be a little unearthing, you know, plane reservations are made and et cetera, et cetera. But Renee is in perfect peace. Why? Because we started this day with keeping our mind on God, his word, and his faithfulness to bring the things he promised. He will bring them up the house. You know, again, one of my favorite scriptures is Hebrews 10 23. Keep your confession of faith for he who promised is faithful. So Renee right now, I think you're at perfect common, perfect peace. Correct? Absolutely.

(21:33): Yeah, I am. Yeah.

(21:35): Yeah. There's another scripture I wanted to share today. And that's John 17, 14. Jesus says we're in the world, but we're not often think about that. Meaning we are in the kingdom of God. We walk of course, according to the dictates the laws of the land, but our higher laws of the land, if you were our higher principles that we walk by are the principles of the kingdom of God that are contained in the pages of the Bible. And when we walk, according to those principles, boy success, and every good thing follows.

(22:18): Yeah. Again, that famous line easier said than done. And you might be sitting thinking, Oh my gosh, I can't, I can't hold this all together. I can't remember all the scriptures. I can't pray that way. I can't remember the, the, one of my favorite scriptures is that God tells us that we need to be like little children over and over again that we need to that's all we need to do is to be like the little children that you've all experienced in your life, who just so purely, simply and innocently come to us. So we're called to grow in this journey. Like we say, in the beginning of every episode that it's, it's a journey, it's a process, but really at the end of the day, you just cry out. You know, God help me, God heal me. God. I know. You're amazing. I know you're wonderful.

(23:20): And so often, Theresa, I think when I, when I work with my knife, friends who are just learning to pray, they say, I don't know how to do that. I don't know how to pray. And it's simply speaking just the way we speak to any other dear, dear friend of ours, like, Hey, I'm sitting here God and I can't go on. I'm tired. I'm weary. And I need you. I need your help. I need your strength. I mean, Oh my gosh, like we've said, how much do we love when our children come to us with that kind of surrender and purity and innocence of, can you just help me? It's that simple. At the end of the day,

(24:10): It really is that simple. You know, Renee, the scripture that you're referring to can be found in Mark chapter 10, verse 15, and Jesus says, assuredly. I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God is a little child will by no means enter it. And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them and blessed them. So what that scripture is saying to us as adults is we come to God, not through works of the flash. We can't be good enough. There are no scales in heaven. When we get to the pearly Gates where God is going to weigh our good deeds in our bad deeds. No, we are saved by grace through faith, Ephesians chapter two, we're saved by grace through faith. If we come to God like a child with faith, when we hear the gospel, give our hearts to Jesus Christ and vitamin to our hearts to be Lord and savior in that gives us entrance into the kingdom of God. And once salvation has come into our hearts, we then of course we do good works for the glory of God and to help our fellow brother and our fellow mankind. But we don't work to get to salvation. We receive it. It's a free gift. Like Ephesians chapter two says we're saved by grace through faith, not of works, lest anyone should boast. It's a gift of God.

(25:38): So that Mark chapter 10 verse 15, remember what Teresa said? If you do not enter the kingdom this way and there's that word kingdom again. And so I've started off of thinking my, of myself, Theresa as that little princess in the kingdom, I'm a princess in the kingdom and I can just come before the King and ask. That's so simple and so beautiful. And I love, I love looking at it that way. I mean, it's, it is the way so great.

(26:16): That's absolutely correct. And I think we've come full circle on this episode today, Renee, where we've come right back into the little girl. And I love the metaphor of putting on our, our princess clothes in our, our, um, our crown and our Sceptre because truly that is who we are in this life. Now, someday, yes, we will be physically with Jesus, but for now, Renee, we're going to travel in our kingdom benefits. We pull up our seat to the table of the banquet of blessing every day. Can you and I are going to wear those clothes? We're going to wear our crowns. Well, they may be tipped every now and again, or you're going to say straighten up to that crown tree. I'm going to say, Renee, you got to straighten up that, you know that, that crown on your head today. And that's what we do for one another. And that is that one of the beauties of Christianity is when we're, when one is down, the other can remind our sister or brother in Christ. Hey, come on. Remember what God's word says that by his stripes Peter's body has been healed. Come on, you guys are going to have a great vacation and we're able to pray in faith in the joy that comes from that is truly the joy that is mentioned in Romans 17, 14. The kingdom of God is righteousness. Peace enjoy in the Holy ghost, Romans 14, 17.

(27:53): That's so great. And just like I step into Disney world and see all those princesses, how do we step into learning,

(28:03): Learning our privileges as,

(28:06): And some princesses of the kingdom tree. So are

(28:10): Well-versed woman verse that's right. Renee, Romans 10, 17, and then face comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. We'll see you next week. Bye. Now we love you grow in faith. Believe God, trust him. Amen.

(28:28): Amen.

(28:32): Thank you so much for listening. We are so excited to be able to give you a well-versed woman journal. If you great subscribe and review this podcast, right on your favorite podcast platform, we also have a well-versed woman, Facebook community group that you can ask to join, and we'll approve you and let you in. And lastly, don't forget the show notes. The show notes are so key to you remembering and seeing the scripture that related to this very episode, you can download them, print them out, circle your favorite scripture so that you can remember the privileges and rights you have as a Prince or princess and the kingdom of God. We'll see you next week.