40 Days to Discovering God’s Big Idea for Your Life

JESUS SAID TO THEM, “YOU WILL INDEED DRINK FROM MY CUP, BUT TO SIT AT MY RIGHT OR LEFT IS NOT FOR ME TO GRANT. THESE PLACES BELONG TO THOSE FOR WHOM THEY HAVE BEEN PREPARED BY MY FATHER.”

WHEN THE TEN HEARD ABOUT THIS, THEY WERE INDIGNANT WITH THE TWO BROTHERS. JESUS CALLED THEM TOGETHER AND SAID, “YOU KNOW THAT THE RULERS OF THE GENTILES LORD IT OVER THEM, AND THEIR HIGH OFFICIALS EXERCISE AUTHORITY OVER THEM. NOT SO WITH YOU. INSTEAD, WHOEVER WANTS TO BECOME GREAT AMONG YOU MUST BE YOUR SERVANT, AND WHOEVER WANTS TO BE FIRST MUST BE YOUR SLAVE—JUST AS THE SON OF MAN DID NOT COME TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE, AND TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY” (MATTHEW 20:23-28).

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Notice the progression here: Jesus became a servant, and then He gave Himself. By His example He is telling us: “Find your gift and serve it to the world. That is how you will infect people with the Kingdom.” If you set your heart on the Kingdom of Heaven and your sights on serving others in the King’s name, He will open doors of opportunity for you that would never open otherwise. He will take you to places you would never be able to go on your own, and enable you to impact lives you would never even come close to touching any other way. He will take you to personal heights of joy, prosperity, and contentment beyond your wildest dreams and give you a broader influence in your world than you have ever imagined. But those things come not by seeking them, but by seeking Him; not by seeking the gifts, but by seeking the Giver.

1. To expand God’s Kingdom, believers must not use tactics of the world such self-promotion or selfish ambition. What principles should we use instead?

3. List five things that will happen if you set your heart on the Kingdom of Heaven and your sights on serving others in the King’s name:

4. Setting aside your own ambitions and surrendering to His will for your life opens opportunities you never imagined. Do you have a secret desire that God has placed in your heart? Write it down.

5. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows”(James 1:17). Discover, define, and refine your gift from God—then give it away as part of planting His gardens.
Describe the gift(s) God has given you to share with others.

Everyone dreams of being great, and there is nothing evil in that desire. We all want to be part of something significant. This is perfectly natural. Such a desire comes from God, because He created us for greatness, but we lost it when we lost the Kingdom. We can get it back, but not by walking on top of people, pushing people down, lording it over people, conniving, scheming, lying, stealing, or dealing under the table. Those are the ways of the world. In God’s Kingdom, if you want to be great, you first must become the servant of all. …

God’s big idea was to extend His kingly influence and culture from the celestial to the terrestrial by planting garden communities throughout the Earth that would perfectly reflect the richness and abundant life of His heavenly Kingdom. And He chose to do it through citizen-servants like you and me who will seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and live exclusively for Him by humbling ourselves and giving ourselves freely to others so that they may see Him in us, learn of His Kingdom from us, and apply for citizenship themselves.