Come Follow Me (Feb 20-26) Matthew 6-7 | Kingdom Quest – powered by Happy Scribe

It’s the greatest quest the world has ever known. And you are the brave adventurer. Equip yourself wisely, defeat terrible dangers, and discover magnificent treasures. It’s Kingdom Quest, the game that could change your life. Batteries included. Detailed instruction manual required. Now, of course, life is not a game, and our journey towards the Kingdom of God is serious business. But with all the shoots, ladders, choices, treasures, challenges, and forks in the road, an epic board game is a great metaphor, and we do love metaphors around here. First, we each need to read the directions for this game found in the magnificent sermon on the Mount. Now, let’s begin our Kingdom quest. But what’s the object? To attain the Kingdom of God. So is it a place we’re trying to get to, or is it something we become? Both. Yes, it’s a glorious place we get to by becoming Christ’s disciples. We journey to a place of light by becoming full of light. We taste the fruit of the tree of life by bringing forth good fruit. Be sure to watch last week’s Beatitude Omatic episode for more info from the Master on how to do that. So we’ve embarked on the Kingdom quest, and now with the sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows us how to live as disciples and gives us a heads up as to the pitfalls and dangers we might soon face.

But just a second, shouldn’t we humble brag a little first? I mean, we’ve taken our first steps on the quest. Hooray for us, right? Whoops, that’s the first warning on the Sermon on the Mount. Seeking praise for the good we do, like giving to the poor in front of everybody, or loudly praying super eloquent prayers, or making a big deal about our fasting because there’s pizza around and we’re really hungry. All the praise we get for showing off how generous and holy we are can feel pretty rewarding. Wow, check out all that treasure. But it doesn’t last. Jesus wants us to be truly converted by doing good, loving others, and seeking God’s goodness rather than trying to gain earthly treasure. Now, there are a bunch of other things Jesus warns us about, like side quests for cool stuff we tell ourselves won’t distract us, using our new found knowledge to judge others harshly, and focusing on fixing our teammates. It’s a perilous quest at times, with fear, temptation, and exhaustion constantly popping up. But fortunately, we have a special ability when we get lost or confused by the directions. It’s prayer, and we have an unlimited supply.

We can pray anytime, anywhere, no matter what predicament we find ourselves in. But just because we can pray anytime doesn’t mean we should just toss them around without thought or purpose. Have you ever knelt down for your bedtime prayer and accidentally bless the food? Yeah. Vain repetition. Penalty on the play. Remember, heavenly father already knows what we need before we ask him, and he wants to help us. As we pause and look and listen when we pray, He’ll give us new instructions to help us become who we need to be to continue our journey. In fact, Jesus himself shows us how in a truly epic prayer. First, we address our Father, the King of the Universe, with honor and respect. By the way, isn’t it cool that of all his titles, he chooses to have us call Him Father? Yeah. Next, we choose to be willing to put what God wants first in our lives, and we say, the Lord is our die will be done. And then, of course, we can ask him for what we need or want. We then take advantage of his invitation to come back to the path that leads to his Kingdom by humbly admitting our faults and asking for forgiveness.

But again, hypocrisy doesn’t work in the Kingdom of God, so we need to forgive others for that to work for us. He’s the perfect father, so he’ll give us what we need to grow and progress back to him. Our Father, who sees our secret prayers and hears our heartfelt pleas, will reward us openly with the directions and guidance we need to move forward. Yes, with the sermon on the Mount, Jesus shows us exactly how to be wonderful human beings, how to treat each other, and how to build the Kingdom of God inside us. Today, Matthew chapters 5 through 7 might be the most important scriptures you’ll ever read as it’s the gospel, simplified and concentrated. So no matter what life throws at us, we brave adventurers with Christ may all achieve this, the mightiest of quests. Oh, and one last reminder from the Master, the foolish among us hear the Word, but the wise hear and do. Almost 50 years ago, Living scriptures was founded to help everyone better understand and feel the power of God’s Word. Who knew that today’s line upon line series would touch half a million lives every week? Season 4, The Glorious New Testament is in production, and you are invited to help us in this great cause by clicking the donation link below.

And as our gift to you, anyone donating $10 per month also receives a living scripture streaming subscription. For a donation of $1,000 or more, our artists will give your likeness a cameo in one of our videos. Together, through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can make a lasting impact on countless people around the world. From all of us, thank you. And now, go read the scriptures for yourself.