The Order of Righteousness | The Worshipper's Thought of the Day

Two Wednesdays ago, I had the privilege of hearing Pastor Amie (Hayes) Dockery, daughter of Pastor Mike Hayes (Senior Pastor, Covenant Church | Carrollton, TX) deliver an awesome message entitled, "This One Thing I Do."  She shared so much that was relevant to my own life right now, and I could probably write at least five blog posts from the page and a half of notes I took during midweek service.  However, there was one thing in particular that really stuck with me: "We're moving from paranoia to metanoia, from everything coming against us to everything working for us."

While many of us may be familiar with the term "paranoia," let me hip you to the term "metanoia."  It means a transformative change of heart.  The word originated from the Greek word "metanoein," which means to change one's mind, to repent.  When we seek first the Kingdom (the rulership) of GOD and His righteousness (His way of doing things), it pulls everything into alignment (Matthew 6:33).  Order is established in our lives simply because we've chosen to submit ourselves to a government that is both known and regarded for being orderly--we take on the characteristics of that to which we have submitted ourselves.  By changing our minds, we tap into GOD's order; and His sense of order is so powerful that it's able to literally move us from one state of mind, in which we FELT everything was coming against us, into another state of mind, in which we KNOW everything is working for us.  Now that's powerful right there!

Upon further examination of Matthew 6:33, we can see relationship and fellowship. Seeking the Kingdom of GOD is relational in that, once we've been reconciled to the Kingdom, we're permanent Kingdom citizens sealed unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30).  Once saved, always saved--that relationship is permanent just like me being a natural born citizen of the United States of America FOREVER.  Seeking GOD's righteousness (or His way of doing things) is a matter of fellowship in that adopting a code of conduct pleasing to the Kingdom keeps us, as citizens, in right standing with our government.  This is conditional, just as is the case how obeying the laws of the United States of America keeps us in rightstanding with Uncle Sam.

Now if you haven't done so already, please notice how nothing I've shared about relationship and fellowship with GOD has anything to do with "religion."  Just as we expect our lives as U.S. citizens to be orderly simply because we're legal, law-abiding residents (even though that's not always the case); we can expect this to be the case in GOD's Kingdom--unlike in man's flawed government--because order is a genuine attribute of life as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Therefore, if we desire order, we must intentionally live in pursuit of BOTH relationship AND fellowship with GOD.  It's this Kingdom lifestyle that guarantees that our steps are ordered by the LORD (Psalms 37:23).  Furthermore, when our steps are ordered by GOD, we can confidently take on the mindset that EVERYTHING--no matter what--IS WORKING FOR US.