together with
Happy Thursday, {{first_name | everyone}}!
Some verses take a whole week before you notice key concepts tucked away in them. Today, we’re zooming out to see how this verse fits into God’s big story.
In today’s email…
👑 What the kingdom of God means
❤️ Someone to take this to before the week is over
🔦 Voices from the Malachi Daily community
MEMORIZE 🧠
___ ____ _____ ___ _______ of ___ and ___ _____________, and ___ these ______ ____ be _____ to you.
Matthew 6:33
Want to go deeper with Scripture memorization? Try our new iPhone app here.
CONTEXT 📕
The “kingdom of God” is one of those Christian expressions that people use all the time without necessarily pausing to consider what they mean…
Yet the Bible’s kingdom-language runs from Genesis to Revelation, because God is not merely King over one part of creation — He is sovereign King over all of it.
For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm!
In the ancient world, a kingdom was simply the “domain of the king", the literal space where his word was law and his will was carried out.
And Jesus came proclaiming that God’s saving reign was now here:
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
The Old Testament prophets promised the coming of a royal Son (the Messiah) who would reign forever.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
But there is a problem: we are rebels against the King. It’s not just that we “make mistakes.”
We refuse God’s rightful rule over our lives and instead seek to rule ourselves.
We cannot establish our own righteousness or enter God’s kingdom by our own moral performance…which is why the Father sent his Son:
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Through repentance and faith in Christ, sinners are rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought under the reign of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:13–14).
This is why Jesus commands His disciples to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Seeking the kingdom means a change of allegiance.
It means no longer trying to be the king of your own life, but submitting joyfully to Jesus Christ.
The world says security comes through what you can accumulate, control, and protect.
Christ teaches that security rests in the character of the King — the Father who knows His children’s needs and faithfully provides for them (Matthew 6:25–34).
Jesus does not rule as earthly kings do, using subjects for His own advantage.
He is the righteous King who gave his very life to save his people.
So if you’ve repented and trusted Jesus as your king, then every area of your life belongs under his rule.
APPLY AND RESPOND 🏃♂
🤔 Reflect
Seeking God’s kingdom is trusting Christ’s wise and good reign, obeying his Word, pursuing his righteousness, and resting in his provision.
It means waking up and asking, “What does my King want for my life today?" instead of "How can I make sure I'm safe today?"
How would your priorities change if you were fully convinced that your King is both completely in control and completely good?
🏃♂ Act
Being a child of God takes on new meaning when we consider the kingdom. Share this with someone before the week ends:
“You are loved by the king of kings”
🙏 Pray
Father, you are king above all the earth. Every other leader or power must submit before you. Yet in your great mercy, you sent your son to become righteousness for me. I thank you that I get to be a royal heir because of what Jesus did. Amen.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT 🔦
We’re doing something new with the community spotlight!
One of the biggest encouragements to me is hearing how God is moving in the lives of other people I know. It reminds me that God is active and moving every single day.
To that end, we would love to hear how God is moving in your life!
Simply fill out this 30-second survey and tell us what you’ve seen God do!
"This newsletter has been next level for me. I have attempted to memorize Scripture on my own in the past, but the older I get the harder it is. Using a whole week to dive deeper into context has been the key."
"He has been showing me what waiting on Him actually looks like. It's not something that is passive, but me actively choosing to entwine myself with who He is and turning my focus and attention to Him, instead of trusting my own understanding, in the waiting."
— Erin, California
SHOUT-OUTS 📣
HUGE thank you to Jacob, Harold, Elise, Mary, Gerri and everyone else who chose to pay-it-forward to support our work and help us keep operating!
Your support allows us to keep Malachi Daily free and accessible to everyone!
p.s. If you’d like to give a custom amount to support our work, you can do that here.
ANSWER KEY ✅
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
If you missed our emails from earlier this week, you can read them here:
Best,
The Malachi Daily team 🙏
Today’s Contributors
Eljoh is a South African writer, editor, and artist with a Master’s in Practical Theology. She creates resources to help believers of all ages abide in Christ and grow in faith. Explore more free resources and creative tools at Vine Creative Studio.
Kieran is a husband and father living in NJ. In addition to Malachi Daily, he writes a personal newsletter about the intersection of faith, fatherhood and entrepreneurship.
Go deeper with Malachi Daily
Pay it Forward
Malachi Daily is (and always will be) free thanks to generous readers who choose to support our mission! 🙏
Click here to support the mission for the price of a few coffees/month ☕️
Give us feedback 💬
How was today's newsletter?
Try our iPhone app 📱
Want to go even deeper with memorizing Scripture and learning its context?
Our iPhone app, Within allows you to:
Memorize 1 verse every single week and learn its context through daily devotionals you can read (or listen to)
Memorize any verse you want in your favorite bible translation
Store all of your previously memorized verses in one place (and review them regularly with interactive games)
And much more!
What are the differences between Within and Malachi Daily?
Malachi Daily 📧 | Within 📱 | |
|---|---|---|
Type of tool | Email newsletter | iOS mobile app |
Cost | Free | 7-day free trial, then $5.99/mo or $49.99/year |
# of verses | 4 verses per month as a community | 4 verses per month as a community + unlimited for any verse you want |
Who chooses the verse | We choose | We choose AND you can memorize any verse you want, anytime |
Bible translation(s) | ESV | ESV, NIV, NLT, KJV, and NASB |
Reviewing previously memorized verses | You do this on your own | Use the built-in memory bank |
Spread the Word
1
