Today I’m looking for some Kingdom builders.  It’s my heart’s desire to see the Kingdom of God established on Earth.  The world is in such a mess, and by all indications, unless God does something drastic, it isn’t going to get any better.  In fact, THESE are the “Good Old Days” people will talk about in years to come.  Now, there’s no shortage of people who tell me they want to be in the Kingdom of God, but there seems to be a shortage of workers these days.  
   There are plenty of “Kingdom Builders” around, but they aren’t building God’s Kingdom, because they are too busy building their OWN Kingdom first.  How do you describe a Kingdom?  That’s a place where things are done according to the King’s will.  The King owns it all.  Nobody builds a house without the King’s permission, nor tears one down.  He decides where his people work, and what they do, they belong to him, and not a hand or foot is raised without his permission.  Does that sound like YOUR situation?  Do YOU decide where and when you will build your house, and where you will work and what you will do, and what kind of car you will drive?  Then YOU are the King of your Kingdom.  Well, if YOU are King, then God isn’t.  Sorry, I just don’t know any nicer way to say it.  Few who claim to be God’s people actually take note of their position from God’s point of view, and so they miss out on all the Kingdom of God benefits.  We like benefits, right?   Yeah, I’m talking to the right crowd then.
   I have to first ask the question, Why are we so intent upon building our OWN Kingdom?  The answer is obvious.  In reality, we don’t trust God to have our best interests at heart, but WE sure do, don’t we?  Who could possibly do a better job than ourselves of charting our course in life?  Well, if you have such a tiny vision for your life, I guess that’s fine.  You can be the King of your one-person Kingdom if you like, and God will let you, but let’s look at the “benefits” of it.
   First off, yes, you can call the shots, because you’re King.  But you need a castle, so get busy and build it yourself, for you have no subjects to do it for you.  I hope you like hard work.  Now, a King is supposed to be rich, right?  Get busy and get rich and work day and night slaving away for that almighty dollar so you can buy everything you want to furnish your castle.  Now, be careful, you’ve read all about Kings, how people rise up and overthrow him and steal all his riches.  Make sure nobody breaks in and steals your goods.  Are you enjoying your Kingdom so far?  Wow, it isn’t as much fun being King as you thought, is it?  No it isn’t.  I know, because for most of my life I worked hard to build my own kingdom just like you are doing.  It seemed no matter how “happy” I thought I was as King of my own Kingdom, there was no real peace or joy because I was always worried about defending it.  What if I didn’t have enough money?  “What if…” was the main question of my life, and I was exhausting myself trying to provide myself with “benefits”.

   One day I realized as a self-employed King, I was spending all my time trying to gain a Kingdom that wasn’t worth the effort of having.  The Lord Jesus came and preached the Kingdom of God.  Having myself been a “King”, I’d had about all I wanted with Kingdoms, and I certainly didn’t want to surrender MY crown and bow the knee to another King.  Boy, THAT was dumb!  I had failed to realize something real important about a King: a good King protects and provides for his subjects.  I had sadly failed that test, because, try as I may, I not only couldn’t provide security for my meager one-man kingdom, but I depended on the world to provide me a job so I could make my wages.  Some King I was, right?  I couldn’t even rule over myself well.
   We were talking a while ago about benefits.  What benefits are available for those who bow the knee to Christ Jesus?  He is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, so He knows a thing or two about being King.  Tell me about the “hereafter”. Tell me about my benefits, after all that’s what I’m here after….
   God himself ruled over the ancient Israelites, but they didn’t want God to rule.  They wanted a King over them just like all the nations around them had.  God warned them that they really didn’t want a King ruling over them, because the King would take their young men for his army, they would pay taxes to the King, and would take their daughters for servants, and their crops, and their freedom away from them.  They would serve him in exchange for his protection.  Never mind the fact that the King was not defending them at all, but rather, they themselves would take up arms to defend themselves, PLUS lay their lives down to defend their king.  Not much of a deal in my opinion.
   Now, Christ Jesus is a different kind of King.  As we accept Him as Lord and Savior, He provides for us, not we ourselves.  He laid down His life to provide eternal salvation for us, not the other way around.  He is ever mindful of our needs, and makes sure provision for us.  How does He manage to do that?  I really don’t know, but do you know what?  That isn’t my job.  He is King, Him figure it out..  Psalm 103:2-3 says, Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases.  Now just those two alone are some heavy duty benefits, but that’s not even scratching the surface.  There’s MORE!  Ah yes, MORE, we’re all interested in more, right?  God will guide us each day into His perfect will for our lives, which is for OUR benefit.  He does that because He loves us and watches over us carefully.  If we will listen to Him, we can avoid most of the trouble we seem to have a knack for getting into.
   The devil is constantly out to cause us problems and tries to separate us from our King so he can devour us and spoil our goods.  However, God says He will NEVER leave or forsake us nor leave us orphans and helpless.  Remember I said a good King protects his subjects?  He gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us into wisdom so we will always know what the devil is up to so will be not one step ahead of him, but miles ahead. God gives us weapons of warfare that are so mighty, the devil doesn’t have a chance against us.  We are not only citizens of the Kingdom of God, but we are the best armed citizenry there is, and as long as we are submitted to Him as our Lord, we cannot be defeated under any circumstances.  When necessary, God himself will come to our rescue, for He will not allow His beloved to fall. And that’s YOU!
   Where shall we live, what shall we put on, what shall we eat and drink?  While YOU were King, that was YOUR problem, wasn’t it?  The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. 
   God doesn’t mind if you have a mansion and nice cars and furniture as long as you let HIM provide it.  There are those who will try to convince you God wants you sick and broke.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  It is written in Psalm 35:27, Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant. 
   By default, if you are NOT serving the Kingdom of God, you ARE serving the Kingdom of Darkness.  If you’ve been living in the land of not enough, having more month left at the end of your money, and are sick and tired of being sick and tired, you need to give up your citizenship in the Kingdom of Darkness and move on over into the Kingdom of God.  The devil will tell you, You can be king of your own kingdom, and I’ll help you.  Don’t fall for that lie another minute.  You’ll never really be King, but he will be, and you’ll serve him with hard labor all the days of your life.  You’ll struggle every day searching for peace and joy that will never come from being your own King.
   If you’re going to serve in a Kingdom, make sure it’s the Kingdom of God.  It shall never pass away, and it’s the one with all the benefits.  AND the retirement system is “out of this world”.  Invite all your family and friends, too.  God wants them to be part of His Kingdom and there’s room for plenty more.  He’s looking for Kingdom Builders.  Can He count YOU in?