Night of Prayer

Women’s Potluck

Leadership Meeting

Kingdom Ambassador

The Character and Conduct of a Kingdom Ambassador

by Monique Grady

How should we represent and establish the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven?  Jesus did it by building and establishing the people that followed Him and would become a part of His Kingdom.  The book of Matthew starting at chapter five, Jesus longest recorded sermon, describes the outward manifestation of the character and conduct of a Kingdom Ambassador.  Your conduct displays your character.  Your character is your moral fiber, your nature, your disposition.  It’s You!

In order to experience a higher level of living in Christ, we must raise our level of thinking.  We have to be careful not to build our walk or relationship with Christ on a false foundation.  A foundation of just things, selfish desire, carnality and being so impressed with the gifts of the spirit that we are not at all building or establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth according to the government, the rule, the control, the direction and the administration of God.

Side Note:  The reason I said not to be so impressed with the gifts is… The gifts can be imitated.  The book of 1 John 4 teaches us to test every spirit to see whether it is from God.  For example:  Prophet of the Most High God vs. Psychic for the kingdom of darkness.  This shows us how our enemy, Satan, can and will pervert the spiritual gifts to steal, kill and destroy.

Before you can build anything of substance you must start out on the right foundation.  To make sure we all understand the importance of building on the right foundation I asked Bob Villa, via the internet, a trusted home renovation and repair expert how important it is.  This is what he said…

A foundation anchors your house to the earth, holding it up and, just as importantly, holding it down. Surprisingly, houses are as likely to blow away in a windstorm as they are to sink into the ground. But foundations do more than just hold a house: they must resist water, ice, fungus, insects, and soil gases (gasses that penetrate concrete), and they have to stand up to soil pressures that can exert far more force than the weight of the house itself.

“When they are working well, foundations escape notice, quietly doing their thing below grade. But when they begin to fail, they can be the source of trouble and expense. Even a quarter inch of uneven settling can crack stucco or tile, separate brick joints, cause windows and doors to stick, or cause floors to sag and slope. And these are the small problems!”

Psalms 127 says “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it”  The Message Bible makes it plain “If God doesn’t build the house, the builders only build shacks”

Let’s briefly discuss materials that are sure to allow us to build on something strong, solid and secure.   The foundation of a Kingdom of God representative features character traits that are unlike any other kingdom of this earth.  There are some general character traits that everyone has to follow as a Kingdom Ambassador.  For example, being humble and meek are just a couple of basic traits of a Kingdom Ambassador.  Then there are some specific traits to your position, office or place in the Kingdom of Heaven.  For example, a pastor nurtures the whole person in their walk with God.  They also walk in a great amount of patience and compassion for the people of God.  An evangelist is one who can deliver the message of the Gospel with clarity and cause people to move towards Christ.  An Evangelist is always looking for an opportunity to share the Gospel.  Today we will talk more about the general character traits and conduct of a Kingdom Ambassador.

Just to refresh our memories let’s take a quick look at Matt. 4:1…

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said…

Jesus was tempted in all ways, body, soul and spirit…

1. Body/Flesh (Matt 4:3) – Jesus had been fasting for 40 days. Satan told him to command the stones to be made bread.  And what did Jesus say….?
2. Soul (mind, will and emotions Matt 4:6) – jump from pinnacle/top of this temple.  Satan wanted to mess with and shake His faith, get him to start questioning the word of God because Satan quoted it out of context.  (See Psalm 91:11&12)  And what did Jesus say….?
3. Spirit (Matt 4:9) – Satan offered Jesus more things if He would bow down and worship him (Satan).  And what did Jesus say….?

What can we learn from the conduct of Jesus while he was being tried…?

• Make sure we are not allowing our body, natural desires or natural disasters cause us to sin against God with doubt or out right rebellion
• We need to make sure we know the Word and our minds have been renewed in the Word of God so the we are not deceived like Eve was in Genesis
• Know your God and whom you worship.  Too much focus on things will cause you to bow down to worship a god other than the Most High

Now let’s review what Jesus taught about character development in Matthew 5…

Keep in mind that your character is your nature, disposition, personality, your spirit and your make up.  It is not something you do when you feel like it.  It’s simply who you are.  I want to just point out some of the Beatitudes that Jesus taught during the Sermon on the Mount.

The Kingdom is the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled.  We are the “Ambassadors” or “Authorized Representatives” of that Kingdom in this place called Earth.

Matthew 5:3-16.  Blessed are…

• (verse 3)Poor in Spirit/theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven – the opposition of pride and haughtiness.  God resist the proud, but give grace unto the humble (James 4:6). Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD (Proverbs 16:5)
• (verse 4)They that mourn/shall be comforted – those who show grief or sorrow for the lost in sin shall be comforted by the compassion of God.  Remembering where we once were or could be and crying out on their behalf.
• (verse 5)The Meek/shall inherit the earth – HUMILITY again… This character trait is big with God.  Not only will the humble receive the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven they will also receive the blessing of the Kingdom of God on earth!!  God wants us to experience His blessings in earth BUT you must be humble before Him.  Remember James 4:6? 
• (verse 6)Hungry and Thirsty for the righteousness of God/shall be filled – when you have a deep desire to be on one accord with His divine law, He will satisfy that hunger/thirst.  (Psalms 107:9) When your mind, will and emotions are all wrapped up in Him.  Looking and searching to please Him.  So thirsty for a drink of His love because there is none other like Him… He will satisfy you. 
• (verse8)Pure in heart/shall see God – those that are born again, those that have been transformed by the grace of God and are continually/constantly being shaped into the image of Christ.  True Holiness! (Eph 4:24)
• (verse 10)Persecuted for Righteousness sake/theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven – for those are can and will stand for the righteousness of God in the midst of me misunderstood, judged, disliked, mistreated and talked about.  Now what I want to make very clear here is that not all of our persecution is for the righteousness of God.

After taking another look at some to the Beatitudes I have to ask… What type of foundation are we building our walk in Christ on?  Are we displaying the character of a Kingdom Ambassador?  Are we properly representing Jesus?  Is He being glorified in or through our lives?  A lot to think about huh…?  I encourage you, as I will, start with the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 and ask Holy Spirit to help so that we can be true representatives of Jehovah God and His Kingdom.

 

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