Kingdom Characteristics

Deuteronomy 17:18-20
I hear a lot of talk from churches about kingdom living, having a kingdom mind, or kingdom vision. I found through reading Deuteronomy 17 chapter, God outlines kingdom characteristics through Moses. God begins this outline actually in verse 18 of Deuteronomy 17 chapter. God says through Moses that when you take throne of your kingdom, you ought to write a copy of the law for yourself. One kingdom characteristic is having the law close to you in written form, or in another words the bible. With so much technology available today, the Word should be accessible to us at all times. If you are going to have kingdom characteristics keeping the Word near, and dear to your heart is but the first step. Most people treat their cell phones with more importance than the Word of God (Bible). Keeping the Word of God near you at all times, displays discipline, and shows that the Word is the highest priority in my life. Again, with so much technology available the Word of God can be found on the web, cell phones (Iphone), and various other forms. So keep in mind that one kingdom characteristic is having the word in written form near you at all times.
In verse 19 of Deuteronomy 17 chapter, God mentions through Moses that a king should read the Word daily. Which is the second kingdom characteristic, read the Word of God daily. Whether you read a chapter a day or 10 chapters a day, keeping up with a daily routine is pertinent to developing this kingdom characteristic. There is so much reading material on having a daily devotion, the most notable is “Daily Bread”. You can find “Daily Bread” at most of your churches in the information section. This is design to increase your discipline in reading the Word daily. Reading the Word daily, suggests that God is to be included in your life daily. Reading the word daily is the way we expand and expound our relationship with Christ. Christ reveals so much to us through His Word, and if we don’t take time to read his Word, we are neglecting him. When you don’t spend time reading the Word, you don’t enhance/improve your relationship with Christ. You can’t be a kingdom thinker or living a kingdom lifestyle, and have no idea what kingdom you are a part of or what the history/legacy of the kingdom is about. The Word of God gives so much insight on kingdoms and the history of all the kings of Israel. The importance of developing the kingdom characteristic of keeping The Word near you is essential to developing the next step, which is reading the Word on a daily basis
After keeping and reading the Word of God on a daily basis, another characteristic is shown. This kingdom characteristic is Humility. In verse 20 the bible reads, “…not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left”. There is a trend that once I have master the Word, that I am now better than those who have not. God says through Moses at the end of chapter 17, make sure the king does not think, because he has keep the law and read the law that he is better than the people he rule over. The same law that works on him is working in those he lead. You have to read this Word daily, and God will manifest signs and wonders to you, but do not think that you are better than the next person or that the Word changes for you only. Humility plus daily reading, and keeping that Word with you creates a kingdom characteristic that others will follow. That is the reason that kingdom characteristics need to be developed. Kingdom characteristics are not about you become a king or queen, but about understanding that you are an heir to throne of Christ. If Christ had kingdom characteristics on earth, shouldn’t we act like our heavenly father who is king of kings and lord of lords? The beautiful thing about Jesus Christ was that he as a boy recognized his kingdom potential, and begin to act like it the rest of his life. For that reason his disciples followed him and displayed kingdom characteristics that led many followers to them. So remember to develop your kingdom characteristic’s of keeping the Word near you daily (Deu. 17:18), reading the word daily (Deu. 17:19), but also practicing humility daily (Deu.17:20).