Want To Serve the King? Abide in His Kingdom!

In the Body of Christ today, there is an emphasis on doing things for God. Apart from Him, though we can do nothing. The life that we live, we live by the faith of the Son of God living in us (Galatians 2: 20-21) His grace moves us to produce fruit of obedience (1 Corinthians 15: 10), which God has already laid in place for us -- we just have to walk in them (Ephesians 2: 10)

The kingdom of heaven is within every believer (Luke 17: 21) though the Holy Spirit:

"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

"For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another." (Romans 14: 17-19)

God has given us His Spirit (1 John 4: 13), a gift accorded to us because of His Son's death and resurrection at the Cross (Acts 2: 33).

Through the Holy Spiriit, we receive the same righteousness as Jesus as a gift (Romans 5: 17). In fact, we are made the righteousness of God in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5: 21)

We therefore serve by living, abiding in His kingdom:

"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." (John 15: 4-5)

We dwell in Him, and He dwells in us, and through our unity in Christ, He quickens us into obedience:

"Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

"And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." (Ephesians 5: 1-2)

Paul outlines that the Holy Spirit living in us leads us:

"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

"But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." (Galatians 5: 16-18)

We do not follow after peace, for Christ is our peace (Ephesians 2: 14), and the fruit of the Spirit indwelling in us includes peace (Galatians 5: 22)

Instead, we are called to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts (Colossians 3: 15), and so those things which do not inhibit God's peace in our lives are the very things which He is working in us both to will and to do (Philippians 2: 12-13).

If we want to serve the King, let us learn to abide in His Kingdom!