Session 5

How to know you’re living with a kingdom mentality

From Having A Kingdom Mentality: A 7-Day Devotional

A man, locked in an unplugged walk-in freezer, imagined himself freezing to death and died as a result. Convinced he would die, the man began writing letters. In the final passage, he describes how he cannot write anymore because his fingers are beginning to freeze.

The people who found his body and letters discovered that the freezer’s temperature never dropped below 50 degrees. The man pretty much psyched himself to death.

A person’s mind is a powerful thing. King Solomon, arguably the wisest man to ever live, once wrote, “As a man thinks, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

Few places is this more evident than in our spiritual lives. When our minds are set on Jesus, we begin to act like Jesus, talk like Jesus, and love like Jesus. Like the man in the freezer, where we put our focus will shape our perspective and determine our actions.

Our experience of Jesus’ kingdom is greatly affected by the priority His kingdom takes in our day. One of the best ways to know what’s primary in our lives is to consider what we are willing to suffer for. What do we care so deeply about that we are willing to fight for it, sacrifice for it, and be ridiculed for it?

The apostle Paul writes, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). A kingdom mentality is one where we’ll give up temporary satisfaction for the joy that is coming.

This kind of attitude doesn’t come naturally. It’s something we have to choose day by day. Are we willing to make that sacrifice?

Reflect:

Take a moment today to eliminate all distractions and focus your mind on Jesus.

• What are some of the consistent thoughts that popped up in your mind that are not from Jesus?
• Being honest with yourself, is Jesus central in your affections, vocabulary, and dreams?
• What if anything do you feel Jesus lovingly telling you to start doing or stop doing?