2d (edited) • General discussion
Kingdom Key - Point 92
I Live to Expand the Kingdom of God
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” — Matthew 6:10 (KJV)
Kingdom Lesson
To live for the expansion of God’s Kingdom is to align our lives with Heaven’s agenda on earth. For parents, entrepreneurs, business owners, influencers, ministers, and leaders of every kind, there can be no higher assignment. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He said, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” This is far more than a prayer to be repeated; it is a mandate to be lived. Every believer who sincerely prays these words is declaring a desire for God’s rule, God’s order, and God’s purposes to be established in the earth. We are also offering ourselves as instruments through which His will can be accomplished.
Yet one of the great tragedies of modern Christianity is that many believers have abdicated their responsibility to expand the Kingdom of God. They have been taught how to attend church but not how to advance the Kingdom. They gather on Sunday, worship, listen to a sermon, return home, and repeat the process the following week. Their entire understanding of Christianity becomes centered around maintaining their personal faith while waiting for the trumpet to sound. But Jesus never commanded us to simply occupy a church pew until He returned. He commanded us to go into all the world, preach the Gospel, make disciples, teach the nations, and become witnesses of His resurrection and power.
Many Christians have very little understanding of Kingdom concepts because we have reduced the Christian life to personal salvation and church attendance. Salvation is glorious, but salvation is the beginning of our Kingdom assignment, not the end of it. We were not only saved from something; we were saved for something. We have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. We are now Kingdom citizens, Kingdom representatives, and ambassadors of Jesus Christ. The question every believer must eventually answer is simple but searching: Is the Kingdom of God larger, stronger, and more influential in the earth because I lived?
The Kingdom of God is not limited to a church service, a title, or a religious setting. The Kingdom is the active rule and reign of God expressed through surrendered people in every sphere of life. When we say that we live to expand the Kingdom, we are saying that our time, influence, gifts, resources, relationships, businesses, homes, and opportunities belong to the King. Our lives become platforms for His glory rather than monuments to our own success. This understanding changes how we lead, how we speak, how we build, how we spend, how we serve, and how we measure success. A Kingdom-minded person no longer asks only, “What can I accomplish with my life?” They begin asking, “How can everything God has placed in my hands be used to advance His Kingdom?”
Kingdom expansion must first begin within us. Before God can establish His rule through our lives, we must submit ourselves to His rule. We cannot effectively represent a King whose authority we continually resist. This is why surrender is essential to Kingdom living. The Kingdom is not advanced through talent, charisma, money, influence, or strategy alone; it advances through yielded men and women who have made Jesus Christ Lord over every area of their lives. When Christ becomes central rather than peripheral, our ambition becomes assignment, our success becomes stewardship, and our influence becomes an instrument for eternal impact.
Jesus made the priority of the Kingdom unmistakably clear. He did not teach His disciples to pray first for personal success, comfort, financial increase, or even protection. He taught them to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” The agenda of Heaven came before the concerns of earth. Those three words have the power to reorganize an entire life because they force us to confront the kingdoms we may be building for ourselves. It is possible to build a successful business, a large ministry, an influential platform, and an impressive reputation while doing very little to advance the Kingdom of God. The greatest question is not how large our personal kingdom becomes, but how much of our lives has been surrendered to building His.
Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He gave His followers a clear description of their responsibility. Acts 1:8 (KJV) declares, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” The power of the Holy Ghost was never given merely to make us feel something; it was given to empower us to do something. We received power to become witnesses. We received power to carry the message of Jesus Christ beyond ourselves and into a world desperately in need of the Gospel.
I have often heard Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth described as a picture of expanding circles of Kingdom influence. Jerusalem represents our home and those closest to us. Judaea represents our community and the people within our regular sphere of influence. Samaria represents those outside our familiar circles, including people who may be different from us or whom we might not naturally reach. The uttermost parts of the earth remind us that every believer and every church should possess a missionary heart. Whether we personally travel across the world or financially and prayerfully support those who do, our vision should extend far beyond ourselves.
This raises some important questions. How are we expanding the Kingdom? Are we witnessing? Are we making disciples? Are we preparing ourselves to give an answer for the hope that is within us? First Peter 3:15 (KJV) says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” Every believer should be prepared to share what Jesus Christ has done in their life. We may not all stand behind pulpits, but we have all been given a testimony. We may not all be evangelists, but we have all been called to be witnesses.
For parents, Kingdom expansion begins in the home. We must ask whether we are merely raising successful children or developing Kingdom citizens. Do our children see us pray? Do they hear us speak about the goodness and faithfulness of God? Are we teaching them to serve, give, witness, worship, and discover their own God-given assignments? A family should be more than a group of people who share a name and an address. A Kingdom family should become a center of spiritual influence from which the Gospel, generosity, service, leadership, and discipleship flow into the world.
The same questions must be asked of our businesses and careers. Is our business making a difference? Is our work advancing anything beyond our personal income? Kingdom entrepreneurs understand that profit is important, but profit alone is too small a purpose for a life surrendered to God. A business can create jobs, finance ministry, support missions, strengthen families, solve problems, demonstrate integrity, develop leaders, and provide opportunities to share the love of Christ. God does not ask every business owner to become a preacher behind a pulpit, but He does expect every Kingdom citizen to ask how the resources and influence entrusted to them can serve His purposes.
Influencers and leaders must ask the same questions. Why has God given you a platform? Why has He allowed people to listen when you speak? Why has He entrusted relationships, resources, experience, knowledge, and opportunities to you? Influence was never intended merely to make us known; it was intended to make Christ known. The Kingdom leader understands that every platform is a stewardship and every audience is an opportunity. We must resist the temptation to spend our lives building personal brands while neglecting the eternal responsibility to point people toward Jesus Christ.
Jesus demonstrated that Kingdom expansion happens through service. Matthew 20:28 (KJV) says, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Kingdom leadership does not merely gather influence; it distributes life. It lifts people, strengthens families, heals wounds, solves problems, develops potential, and creates opportunities for others to flourish. When we serve people with the heart of Christ, we demonstrate the character of the King. The Kingdom advances whenever darkness is confronted with light, hopelessness encounters faith, selfishness is overcome by generosity, and broken lives experience the transforming power of Jesus Christ.
Kingdom expansion also requires courage because the will of God will always encounter resistance in a fallen world. Darkness does not welcome light. Culture does not naturally submit to the authority of Scripture. Selfish systems do not willingly embrace righteousness, justice, generosity, and truth. Yet Kingdom citizens cannot retreat into the safety of church buildings while the world around them grows increasingly dark. We have been called to stand, speak, build, create, serve, witness, and lead with holy conviction. Jesus did not tell us to hide from darkness; He told us that we are the light of the world.
The Kingdom does not expand merely because we personally grow. The Kingdom expands when what God has placed within us begins to multiply through others. This is why discipleship is essential. Jesus did not simply gather crowds; He developed disciples who would continue the mission after His earthly ministry was completed. Moses prepared Joshua. Elijah developed Elisha. David prepared Solomon. Paul poured his life into Timothy and Titus. Kingdom-minded leaders understand that their greatest accomplishment may not be what they personally achieve, but what continues through the people they develop.
I have said many times that we are not true successes until we create successors. Kingdom expansion always moves beyond the individual. If everything God has taught us, developed in us, and entrusted to us ends when our lives end, then we have failed to multiply our influence. Our responsibility is to pour into others, develop leaders, disciple believers, strengthen families, share wisdom, create resources, write books, build ministries, establish businesses, and prepare another generation to carry the Kingdom further than we ever could ourselves. True Kingdom leadership does not fear being replaced. It rejoices when those we have developed exceed what we were able to accomplish.
Everything God has placed in our hands can become a tool for Kingdom expansion. Our time can advance the Kingdom. Our money can advance the Kingdom. Our homes can advance the Kingdom. Our businesses can advance the Kingdom. Our experiences, relationships, talents, books, ministries, platforms, and opportunities can all be used for the glory of God. The question is not simply, “What has God given me?” The greater question is, “How am I using what God has given me to advance what matters to Him?”
We must never forget that Kingdom expansion carries eternal significance. Earthly accomplishments eventually fade. Companies close. Buildings deteriorate. Awards are forgotten. Platforms change, and generations come and go. But every soul reached, every disciple developed, every family strengthened, every missionary supported, every leader equipped, every seed planted, and every act of obedience offered to God becomes part of something that will outlive us. A life invested in the Kingdom of God is never wasted.
After more than ninety Kingdom Key Points focused on believing, growing, leading, serving, stewarding, enduring, and fulfilling purpose, perhaps the most important question is now before us: What are we going to do with everything God has developed within us? Will we use our knowledge merely to improve ourselves? Will we use our influence merely to become more successful? Will we use our resources merely to become more comfortable? Or will we surrender everything God has given us to the greatest cause in the history of humanity—the advancement of His eternal Kingdom?
So pray the prayer Jesus taught us, but do not merely repeat it. Live it. Let it transform your priorities, your family, your business, your ministry, your finances, your relationships, and your future. Ask God to show you your Jerusalem, your Judaea, your Samaria, and your uttermost parts of the earth. Witness boldly. Make disciples. Develop successors. Serve generously. Build faithfully. Give sacrificially. Use everything God has placed in your hands to leave the world with more evidence of the Kingdom of God than it had when you arrived.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
May that be more than our prayer.
May it become the purpose of our lives.
Kingdom Thought
The greatest measure of a Kingdom life is not simply what we accumulated, achieved, or enjoyed, but what continued advancing the purposes of God because we lived. We have not been called merely to attend church and wait for Heaven; we have been empowered by the Holy Ghost to witness, make disciples, develop successors, and use everything God has placed in our hands to expand His Kingdom throughout the earth.
Kingdom Prayer
Father, thank You for saving me and making me a citizen of Your Kingdom. Forgive me for the times I have become so focused on my own needs, plans, comfort, and success that I have neglected my responsibility to advance Your purposes in the earth. Teach me to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” and then give me the courage to live according to that prayer. Rule first in my heart so that Your Kingdom can be expressed through my life. Fill me with the power of the Holy Ghost and make me a bold and faithful witness in my home, my community, beyond my familiar surroundings, and wherever You give me influence. Show me how my family, business, ministry, resources, relationships, gifts, and opportunities can be used for Your glory. Help me to reach the lost, make disciples, develop leaders, create successors, serve others, support missions, and build things that will continue advancing Your Kingdom long after my life is finished. May I never be content merely to attend church and wait for Your return while a world around me desperately needs the Gospel. Use everything I am and everything I have for Your eternal purposes. Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in me and through me, in earth as it is in Heaven. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Pastor Robert E. Hardy
If these Kingdom Key Points have been a blessing to you and you want to see them go across the world in different languages — we invite you to pray about sowing a one time seed and or becoming a monthly ministry partner with us at www.wordoflifehouston.org. Together we can take these Kingdom principles to every nation, every language, and every generation. Thank you for believing in this mission.
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Kingdom Key - Point 92
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