THE KINGDOM PRINCIPLE OF ADDITION PART 2

Matthew chapter 6










Today we are walking in: The Kingdom Principle of Addition Part 2










Today we look to the word OBEY --H8085 - shâmaʻ, shaw-mah'; a primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, attentively, call gather together, carefully, certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, make a proclaimation, publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, surely, tell, understand, whosoever (heareth), witness.









The Torah testifies.........……



Genesis 27:13

And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.





Exodus 23:22

But if thou shalt indeed obey H8085 his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.





Deuteronomy 13:4




Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.










The prophets proclaim..................



Joshua 24:24

And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey H8085.




Nehemiah 9:17




And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.




Jeremiah 7:23




But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.









The writings bear witness............



Joshua 24:24




And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.





Job 36:11

If they obey H8085 and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures.





Psalm 18:44




As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.










THE ADDITION PRINCIPLE




The Kingdom principle of addition is founded on four significant truths that are uniquely characteristic of kingdoms. All four relate to the relationship that exists between the King and His citizens.




1. All that is needed for sustenance and life is the obligation of the king.




In a democracy, every citizen has to earn his own living and make his own way. The government tries to create an environment in which every citizen can succeed but takes no direct responsibility for the care and welfare of its citizens at a personal level. Success levels among citizens vary due to education, motivation, opportunity, and a host of other factors. This is why every democratic society has rich people, poor people, and those in between.




Compare this to a kingdom, where the care and welfare of every citizen is the direct and personal responsibility of the king. This doesn’t mean, of course, that the king personally visits every citizen and takes care of every need single-handedly—a wise king delegates those responsibilities—but it does mean that the buck stops with him. Anything that any citizen lacks reflects poorly on the king and on the quality of his rule.




A king, therefore, has a vested interest in making sure all his citizens prosper, because prosperous citizens make for a prosperous kingdom. And a prosperous kingdom brings glory to the king. In fact, a king is obligated to take care of his citizens because he owns everything in his kingdom and they will have nothing unless he gives it to them. Consequently, and unlike a democracy, there are no poor people in a kingdom. Nobody is poor because nobody owns anything. But all citizens have equal access to the king’s assets.




I am speaking, of course, of an ideal kingdom, a perfect kingdom with a perfect, omnipotent and benevolent king who always and in every situation works for the good and greater welfare of his citizens. Clearly, no such kingdom can be found among today’s earthly governments. Only the Kingdom of Heaven and its divine King meet these criteria. And He has promised to meet the needs and protect the welfare of His people.




2. Provisions for life are the responsibility of the king and not the citizen.




Democracies are built on the principles of capitalism and free and open markets. Every person in a democracy is free to make his or her own way, free to seek and enjoy the good life. In fact, they are obligated to because no one will do it for them. Yet for many, including many believers, making their own way isn’t working. The daily rat race really drags them down. Every day is a struggle, money is always in short supply, and they see no end in sight to these circumstances. Common wisdom says, “Go for your piece of the pie,” but the pie is so small that there seems not to be enough for everybody to get some. Consequently, most people live and die never having tasted anything but crumbs.




This is the system we live in on earth, but Yahusha says, “That’s all wrong! You are Kingdom citizens. Provision for life is not your responsibility; it’s mine. So stop worrying about all this stuff. Let Me take care of it! I know it’s tough to break away from the system because the system is built for dependency. Nevertheless, let go of the system. Learn to depend on Me.”




Some of you may wonder if I am advising you to become irresponsible. Not at all. I’m actually encouraging you to become more responsible by trusting the King. It takes more responsibility to live in the Kingdom than to live in the system of the world.




3. Kingdom favor is the unearned provision of the king.




The Kingdom of Heaven does not operate on a system of wages and earnings. This is a good thing, because none of us could ever earn our way into Heaven. Eternal life is unavailable to us, completely out of our reach, unless it is given (added) to us as a gift. And this is exactly what Yah has done: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of Yah is eternal life in Hamachiach Yahusha our Most High” (Rom. 6:23).




The gift of Yah’s unearned provision is called favor. He gives because He chooses to, not because we deserve it. Favor is the system upon which the Kingdom of Heaven operates. Nothing we receive in the Kingdom do we receive because we worked for it. Anything we work for constitutes earnings, not additions. Additions always come to us unearned.




Yet still we work and fret and labor and sweat to secure the things we need and want and wonder why the Kingdom of Heaven is not “working” for us. The answer is very simple: the Kingdom does not operate on works; it operates on favor. We cannot expect the Kingdom’s provisions to come our way until we learn to operate by the Kingdom’s system.




4. Man was never designed to pursue personal provisions but the influence of Heaven on earth.




Our purpose on earth as Kingdom citizens and ambassadors is to spread the awareness and the influence of Yah’s Kingdom throughout the earth. Pursuing provision was never part of Yah’s master plan for us. That’s why Yahusha said, “Don’t worry about food or drink or clothing, because your heavenly Father knows you need these things.” When we are about our Kingdom purpose, our King will supply all the provisions we need to do the job.




The “Most High’s Prayer” (or “Model Prayer”) recorded in Matthew 6:9-13, which Yahusha used to teach His disciples how to pray, contains only one phrase related to provision: “Give us today our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). This phrase serves to reorient our hearts and minds to the One who is our true Source and Provider. The real focus of our prayers should be, “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matt. 6:9-10). In other words, we should pray (and work) for the influence of the Kingdom to advance throughout the earth and let the King handle all the logistics. Yah’s desire is that we not live for things, but live for His influence.




KINGDOM PROVISION AND PURPOSE




Provision is a by-product of obedience. It is not a wage paid for work performed or for services rendered. Yahusha promised that if we seek the Kingdom and righteousness of Yah that all the provisions we need for life will be added to us. Everything necessary for us to live righteously as Kingdom citizens will be provided. But our heart and mind, our will and desire, must be inclined toward consistent obedience to the King.




This kind of obedience involves much more than simple adherence to external rules and regulations or mere outward behavioral changes. You can obey on the outside and still possess a rebellious, disobedient heart. This is a very old problem, extending as far back as the Garden of Eden. In fact, the ancient Hebrew prophet Isaiah records this complaint of Yah about His people: “The Most High says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men’” (Isa. 29:13). As far as Yah is concerned, external obedience with a disobedient heart is not obedience at all.




Obedience that releases Kingdom provision begins in the heart and manifests in our outward lives. In other words, true external obedience is the result of an obedient heart. False external obedience is nothing more than a calculated ploy to manipulate Yah into giving us what we want, and it will fail every time. This is why many believers are perplexed today. They go to worship, they read their Bible, they pray, they give their tithe and their time, and yet nothing seems to be working. The Kingdom storehouse is still shut to them. The reason? They are not living right. Their hearts are not clean and pure before Yah. Despite their outward display of righteousness, their hearts are out of alignment with the Kingdom government.




In the Bible, abundant provision and prosperity clearly are linked to obedience to Yah. Shortly before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, Moses gave then this charge and promise from Yah:




Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Most High your Yah, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Most High your Yah will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Most High your Yah: “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out” (Deuteronomy 28:1-6 NKJV).




When we obey the Most High with our whole heart, His blessings will “overtake” us. This means that when Yah’s blessings come to us, they will be more than we know what to do with. To be blessed in the fruit of our body and the produce of our ground means that Yah will bless and guard our investments. The increase in our herds means that the accumulations of our wealth will be multiplied. Everywhere we go, wherever we turn and in whatever we touch we will be blessed.




Success, favor, and influence for the Kingdom will expand at every turn.




If we obey Yah’s commands from our heart, the provisions of the Kingdom will overtake us.




In addition to the issue of obedience in the Kingdom, is the issue of ownership. The principle of provision and prosperity in the Kingdom is access, not ownership or pursuit. Wealth in the Kingdom of Yah is defined not as having things stored up but rather having access to things that are stored up. When we avidly and anxiously pursue things such as food, water, clothing, housing, and the like, we imply that we believe these things are scarce, and unless we fight alongside everybody else we will not get our piece of the pie.




There is no lack of anything in the Kingdom of Yah; no shortages and no rationing. On the contrary, there are boundless amounts of everything. The King owns everything; we own nothing. Because the King owns everything, He can give anything in any amount to any of His children anytime He wants to. The principle of provision and addition involves being in the position through right living to have access to as much as we need of anything that we need to carry out our assignment from Yah.




Look at it this way. Imagine that your father is a billionaire and he says to you, “I will give you a choice. I will either set up a $1 million account for you to live on that is exclusively yours or, in lieu of your own account, I will give you complete and unlimited access to everything I have.” Which would you choose: $1 million that is yours free and clear or free access to billions? It’s a no-brainer! And yet when it comes to matters of the Kingdom of Yah, many of us pass on unlimited access in favor of getting and hoarding our little piece of the pie. Does that make any sense? True wealth is found not in an abundance of possessions but in unlimited access to infinite resources.




We need access to such resources because man was not created to work for provision but for purpose. And what is our purpose? To spread the knowledge and influence of the Kingdom of Heaven over all the earth. Success in such an assignment requires adequate daily provision. Just as no wise general will send his troops onto the battlefield without making sure they have all the equipment and provisions they need to accomplish their mission, neither will Yah send us forth to fulfill our purpose without providing us with the resources to carry it out. So whenever and wherever we go to work we should be motivated not by the promise of a paycheck but by the calling of our King to spread His Kingdom throughout the world, starting in our own workplace.




Man was created to work out his assignment, not work for a living. This doesn’t mean we stop working; it means we change our reason for working. Working for a paycheck can inspire only so far and for only so long. But to go to work every day knowing that we are living for a higher purpose—an eternal purpose—can place our work in a whole new light.




In the Kingdom, assignment determines access. What does that mean? It’s very simple. Whatever you were born to do is how rich you are. If you are trying to get rich so you can say you are richer than everybody else, your pursuit will end up killing you (or make you so miserable you will wish you were dead). If you are committed to your Kingdom purpose, however, Yah will prosper you to whatever degree necessary for you to succeed. In the Kingdom of Yah, your assignment determines your access to the provisions of the King.




It is far more important to find our assignment than to pursue things because the things that come into our lives come to help us fulfill our Yah-given assignment. If Yah has given you a $10 billion assignment, pursue that assignment faithfully and He will give you the $10 billion. We do not receive wealth for ourselves but for carrying out our assignment. That’s why Yahusha told us not to worry about things. Pursue the Kingdom assignment first and the things will be added.




Therefore, in the Kingdom, purpose attracts provision. Whenever a king makes an assignment, he makes full provision for its completion. When Nehemiah received permission from the king of Persia to return to Jerusalem and rebuild its walls, the king gave him a letter authorizing him to utilize whatever of the king’s resources were necessary, whether wood from the king’s forests or stone from the king’s quarries or tar from the king’s tar pits. Nehemiah embarked on his task confident that he had everything he needed to succeed.




The King of Heaven is the same way. Yah will never assign us something that He does not give us the provisions to complete. Our part is to pursue the end—the assignment; Yah’s part is to supply the means. This is why establishing our priorities is so important. Priority with purpose produces provision.




PROVISION IS TIED TO PURPOSE




When Yahusha wanted to explain to His followers the proper attitude they should take toward provision and the pursuit of things, He chose an example from nature:




Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matthew 6:25-27)




After encouraging His followers not to worry about daily needs, Yahusha then said that life is more than working for food and other necessities. If all we live for is the next paycheck and making ends meet, then we are missing out on life. He also said that the body is more than just a display rack for fancy clothes. In effect, Yahusha is saying to us, “Your body really wasn’t made to wear clothes. I created your body so that I could come into the earth through you and establish My Kingdom on earth. I want to fulfill an assignment through you, and the clothing you wear is completely immaterial except as they relate to that assignment.”




To drive home the point that it is needless to worry, Yahusha directs their attention to the birds. Birds do not sow seed, they do not reap a harvest and they do not store up food in a barn, and yet they never go hungry because Yah feeds them. First, they do not sow. In other words, birds do not work to live. They live to be birds. Second, they do not reap. Birds do not collect a paycheck. They don’t need to because Yah has already given them everything they need to fulfill their purpose of being birds. Third, they do not store up. Birds do not hoard. They do not become obsessed or stressed out over making sure they have enough for tomorrow or next week or next year. They simply take what they receive each day and are perfectly content. Have you ever heard of a bird with heart trouble or high blood pressure or cancer? I haven’t.




A bird doesn’t try to be a horse. It doesn’t try to be a fish or a monkey or a human. A bird simply preoccupies itself with being a bird. It has no desire to be anything else. It is perfectly content to fulfill its purpose as a bird. Yah created the bird to be that way and He gives the bird everything it needs to be a bird. Yah created the tree in which the bird builds its nest. He provided the twigs the bird gathers to put in the nest as well as the cotton plants from which the bird collects padding for its nest. Yah made the leaves for shading the nest. And He made the wind that enables the bird to fly to its nest and lay its eggs.




The bird has everything it needs to be a perfect bird, and Yah takes care of it. However, if you climbed onto the roof of your house and jumped off in an effort to fly, you would immediately regret your decision! If the fall didn’t kill you, your stay in the hospital would provide you ample time to reconsider your actions. Why couldn’t you fly like a bird? Because flying is not your purpose. Yah’s promise to add “all these things” does not include things to make you bird-like. Provision is tied to purpose. Just as Yah gives the birds everything they need to be birds, He will give us everything we need to fulfill our purpose as Kingdom citizens and royal children of the King.




When we set out to seek the Kingdom and righteousness of Yah, we don’t need to concern ourselves about provisions for the journey because the provisions come with the territory. All we have to do is work at being a Kingdom ambassador, and everything we need for executing that office will be provided for us.




PRINCIPLES




1.The Kingdom principle of addition operates on obedience—faithful observance of Kingdom law and clean living.




2.The rewards of the Kingdom on Yah’s part require right living on our part.




3.In a kingdom, the care and welfare of every citizen is the direct and personal responsibility of the king.




4.All citizens have equal access to the king’s assets.




5.The Kingdom does not operate on works; it operates on favor.




6.When we are about our Kingdom purpose, our King will supply all the provisions we need to do the job.




7.Yah’s desire is that we not live for things but live for His influence.




8.Provision is a by-product of obedience.




9.When we obey the Most High with our whole heart, His blessings will “overtake” us.




10.The principle of provision and prosperity in the Kingdom is access, not ownership or pursuit.




11.True wealth is found not in an abundance of possessions, but in unlimited access to infinite resources.




12.In the Kingdom, assignment determines access.




13.Our part is to pursue the end—the assignment. Yah’s part is to supply the means.




14.Provision is tied to purpose.