Do you believe that God wants to give YOU His kingdom? I love the beginning of today's scripture in Luke 12:32 "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Most of us don't really think God wants to give us anything. We get stuck on the fact that we will be judged when our time comes, but to be honest, as I learn the Bible, I realize God isn't looking at things that way. He wants us to succeed and be prosperous in this life, but He wants us to include Him and let Him make it even better. He loves us that much.
Does that mean he doesn't expect things from us? Yes, He does. He expects us to be ready for his son's return and to be like the servants getting ready for their masters' return after the wedding. Have you ever been waiting for something that keeps getting pushed off? You have to wait another week and then another month, till it's been years. This waiting gets us complacent in our belief in what's supposed to happen, doesn't it?
Even John the Baptist questioned Jesus when he was in prison waiting. I guess he forgot what he said in John 1:29 when John saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Then as he lay in prison, he sent a message to Jesus and asked in Matthew 11:3, "Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?" Time has a way of twisting things in our minds, and we start questioning. Our belief gets smaller as our anxiety gets more prominent. We question more and rationalize it into a different form.
The same is happening today, we hear a message about Jesus coming back, and no one gets excited or reacts anymore. We are no longer sitting at the window anticipating his arrival. We've all become very satisfied to do our own thing, we think we have plenty of time. The disciples thought Jesus would be back in their day, so if you think about it, it's even closer for us. How can we change our thinking? How can we get excited about something that seems so far off?
Maybe it's time to remember that His kingdom is ours if we want it. When Jesus comes back, he doesn't expect to find us perfect, there was only one perfect human being to ever walk this earth, and his name was Jesus Christ. God knows all our mistakes. He knows what choices we will make, but what he wants is to be with us when we make these choices. He wants a relationship with us, to see us opening our hearts to Him. How do we do that? Spend time with God, repent of our sins and bring him into our decision-making every day. Get involved in his ministries, not because we go to heaven on our works, but because we go by our beliefs, but our works back up that belief. Let God guide you, not in this world but look to His world, which helps make this world more tolerable. So, when you think it's too far off that Jesus won't be back any time soon, remember to not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom, which makes it all worthwhile.
Let's pray:
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day Lord. We thank you for loving us though you already know the mistakes we have made and will make. Thank you, Lord, that all we have to do is come to you and ask for your forgiveness to be whole again. It's hard for us to believe you want us sinners to be in your kingdom Lord, but we are blessed beyond belief that you want us by your side. We praise your name Lord and love you more than we can ever imagine. In Jesus Holy name we pray. Amen.
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