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“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Matthew 6:33
There really are only two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Satan, our enemy. There is no middle ground.
The kingdom of God is a kingdom of light and love and forgiveness and acceptance.
The Kingdom of Satan is the kingdom of darkness and hate and anger and doubt.
Within each of us there is a battle as to which kingdom we will follow. Our passions and emotions scream at us to take care of ourselves and fight for our own rights through our own power. Those are the voices of the kingdom of the enemy.
God‘s kingdom is completely different. To the human mind God’s kingdom makes no sense. While the enemy screams at us that we need to take care of ourselves, God’s Kingdom quietly tells us we need to give up ourselves and trust God.
It doesn’t seem logical, but the more I give up, the more I gain. With God’s kingdom less is more because when we give ourselves entirely over to him he needs our emotional and spiritual needs. When we find that contentment, the physical becomes less important and the spiritual becomes our passion.
When we align our lives with God’s word, our desires will follow. So don’t listen to the voices to tell you your destiny is your responsibility. Give God your destiny and he will give you a peace that passes all understanding
When people think of generosity, they usually think about money. When you think of a generous person you generally think of someone who is willing to give you financial support. A greedy person is the kind of person who holds onto everything and trusts no one.
But there’s another kind of generosity that’s even more important than financial generosity and that is found in the emotional or spiritual realm.
As a rule, greedy people are unhappy people. Their focus is on themselves. On their possessions, their opinions, and their social standing. They get their identity from themselves.
Generous people are usually content with what they have and who they are. They get their identity and contentment from something outside of themselves.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. When we become self focused in our spiritual lives we only think about our rights and our opinions and our desires. But when we think of others, our focus turns away from ourselves to other people.
That’s how Jesus was. He did not think about himself. He did not base his feelings about other people on who he was. Rather he looked at their situation and saw life through their eyes. That’s why he was willing and able to reach out to those who were prostitutes and drug dealers and other people of immoral character.
A greedy person will never make a difference in the lives of other people because they are focused on themselves. A generous person will make a difference in the lives of others because they are willing to give what they have to better the situation of other people.
As followers of Jesus we need to make an impact in a world is becoming increasingly dark. We can do that by allowing the light of Jesus to shine through us and allow us to be an encouragement to those who are struggling. Anger, hate, and violence will never be defeated by using anger or hate or violence. The only way we can defeat the darkness of anger hate and violence is through the light and love of Jesus.
My hope today is that you will be able to share the love of Jesus with those around you. There are a lot of people that are afraid. There are many who are angry. There are many who are confused. As followers of Jesus we can make a difference in the lives of others through the power of the Holy Spirit by encouraging them and showing them the love and forgiveness of Jesus.
“From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me. Let all Israel repeat this: From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me, but they have never defeated me. My back is covered with cuts, as if a farmer had plowed long furrows. But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.” Psalms 129:1-4
Sometimes it seems like the whole world is against you and you can’t catch a break. You try to make a difference and you’re misunderstood. You live as best you can for Jesus only to be ridiculed. You may have even been thrown under the bus a few times by those you trusted.
You read the Bible. You pray. You do the very best you can to make a difference in other peoples lives and it seems like they don’t listen and they don’t care. In fact, sometimes they turn on you and call you all kinds of names or even attack you.
I wonder if that’s how the Psalmist felt when he wrote these verses. He bore the scars of an entire life of attack, pain and rejection. He didn’t play the victim card. He was a victim! I wonder if that’s not how Paul felt when he said we are beaten down, we are persecuted but we will prevail.
As a Jesus follower, life can be a a good news/bad news situation. Life will be full of a lot of disappointments. Life will be full of a lot of pain. We will be attacked for preaching the message of Godliness to the godless.
But as believers in Jesus we have this to look forward to. Ultimate victory is ours through Jesus. So hang in there. Don’t be discouraged. It may seem dark now but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that light is Jesus.
The psalmist ends these verses with a promise to hang onto in the upcoming darkness of hatred.
“But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.”
“He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Psalms 23:3
One of the most well-known psalms is the 23rd Psalm. It’s been memorized by Sunday School classes and confirmation groups, put to music and had entire books written on it.
Unfortunately, many know this psalm as a funeral psalm. Virtually every funeral or celebration of life service includes the 23rd psalm somewhere in the service. That’s unfortunate because Psalm 23 has little to do with death and much to do with life and love!
Todays verse is a great example. There are times in our lives, like now, when the trials and fears of life weigh us down. One more news report, one more doctors visit, one more call from the bill collector, one more car breaking down. We need strength! We need the power to push through.
When life gets confusing, and people let us down, by nature we look for someplace to get our strength. God, as our good shepherd, does two things to help us move forward when we don’t think we can.
First of all, he renews our strength. Like a drink of fresh cold water he revives us. Like a strong hug, he encourages us. Like a reassuring word he comforts us. He strengthens us physically, emotionally and spiritually when we rest in his arms.
Secondly he guides us to the path that we should move forward on. The voices of society and culture scream at us and tell us where we should go. But their voices conflict. The way they tell us changes with the wind. There’s no stability, no trust, no truth in what they preach.
With the strength and guidance of our good shepherd we can be strong. We can see the path clearly, although He may only show us a few steps at a time. When we have direction, we feel good about ourselves. And when we feel good about ourselves God is glorified.
“So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die.” Jeremiah 10:24
None of us like to be corrected. I think there’s two reasons for that. What is pride. Let’s face it, none of us like to be wrong.
Another reason we don’t like correction can be linked to the person doing the correcting. If we trust the person doing the correcting in love, then we realize that what they are doing is for our good and our benefit.
It’s far easier to take the correction when it’s done in love. Notice I didn’t say it is EASY to take that correction because correction of any kind can be difficult , even painful.
But when we know it’s for our best and the person doing the correct thing loves us it makes it EASIER.
In our verse today, the prophet Jeremiah is realizing his sin as well as the sin of his people. He is well aware of the fact that God loves him. He is well aware of God‘s power to be able to do anything. He is also aware of God’s wrath. That’s why he pleads for correction, not punishment. Correction is done in love. Punishment is done in anger. Correction is done for our benefit. Punishment is done for revenge.
God corrects, or disciplines, those he loves because he wants us to be better, to be stronger. Our job is to ask his for discipline and accept his action, knowing that he loves us and only wants our best.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 