The truth that we are kings and queens in Christ is not some idea conjured up to boost our self-esteem but a present reality that we will enjoy in its fullness at the resurrection of the dead. At that point, we will sit on thrones alongside our Savior and enjoy by grace what is His by right. Until then, we are to reign over our sinful passions, bringing our minds, wills, and affections into submission to Jesus by the power of the Spirit through His Word.
~ from Ligonier Ministries

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will display at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 1 Timothy 6

Oh beloved, it is true. We are both much less, and much more than we think we are. For there are two truths in the good news that change everything. We are, both, if we are willing to accept the truth, the scum of the earth and the royalty of the coming Kingdom.

We hear the voices in our head:
I didn’t deserve to be treated this way!
I will do whatever I want!
I am important!
I am better than others!
I deserve to be respected!
I decide what is right!
I want it. I will have it!
And on….

This is the voice that proves our brokenness and affinity for sin and self. It is the voice that tells us, if we have ears to hear, that we really are scum. There is no way around it. We really would rather that somebody else die than for us to give in to anything, or to give anything away.

And this voice, we can come to understand for what it is. We are nearly comfortable with our fallenness and scumminess. It keeps us close to the earth, and lets us grovel. It plays into our fallen nature and its overtly religious tendencies to think that G_d is like us. That is, if we behave a certain way then G_d will like us. Or, if we are “bad,” then we can expect for G_d to be mad at us and to push us further into the dirt.

Oh yes, sin is a terrible thing. There are few things worse in the universe. Death, sins payment, for one. And pride, the progenitor of sin, for another. Sin is horrible. And this is why G_d died for it. Jesus Christ died for all sin. It was such an enormous problem, that only an infinitely large payment could cancel out its effect on mankind.

But beloved, pay the price He did.

And this takes us to the next truth, though it is very hard to hear within our souls and spirits. Our brain and flesh is making so much noise with its prideful and rebellious and religious drumbeating that we can miss it if we are not careful.

This voice is still and small. It is Him – and it is the voice of a believer’s inner man.
You are deeply Loved.
You are wanted.
You are free.
You are nothing apart from Me.
You are everything in Me.
You are my beloved son (daughter) in whom I AM well pleased.
You are delightful.
You are seated with Me in heavenly places already.
You will reign with me in the coming Kingdom.

Can we see it? This voice is the real voice. And it is the one we must listen to, if we are ever to escape our attachment to our selfish and prideful ways. We are held in the heart of a Friend, and this makes us part of a royal family. The KING of kings and LORD of lords has co-regents. And these are not some other cosmic beings. These kings and lords are us.

So, the question before us is twofold. 1) Which voice are we listening to? 2) If we are listening to the right voice; this Voice that speaks to our true and eternal identity in Himself – are we humble enough to accept who we really are?

What if we did listen and accept our coronation? Might this fool of a writer be so bold as to suggest that all the other things that are drawing us away from our desire to be good, or to live in victory, or to actually make a difference in the world, would come true.

Tonight is your night beloved. Time to believe in your position as a believer in The KING of kings and LORD of lords.

Written by Makala Doulos: Makala  is a child of G_d, a husband to his wife, a father to his children, and a teacher to his students. But mostly, he is a prisoner set free by Jesus. Love has invaded his life, crushed it, and made it new. Now, G_d’s Love is what constrains him to live in full surrender to the freedom The Father and Son and Holy Spirit have bought for us all. Grace and Peace to you all.

 

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 45; Proverbs 15

Daily Quote: [The] insistence on the absolutely indiscriminate nature of compassion within the Kingdom is the dominant perspective of almost all of Jesus’ teaching. What is indiscriminate compassion? ‘Take a look at a rose. Is is possible for the rose to say, “I’ll offer my fragrance to good people and withhold it from bad people”? Or can you imagine a lamp that withholds its rays from a wicked person who seeks to walk in its light? It could do that only be ceasing to be a lamp. And observe how helplessly and indiscriminately a tree gives its shade to everyone, good and bad, young and old, high and low; to animals and humans and every living creature — even to the one who seeks to cut it down. This is the first quality of compassion — its indiscriminate character.’ (Anthony DeMello, The Way to Love)… What makes the Kingdom come is heartfelt compassion: a way of tenderness that knows no frontiers, no labels, no compartmentalizing, and no sectarian divisions. ~Brennan Manning

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

Genesis 37:3-36; James 2:1-13; Genesis 45:3-8; Genesis 50:19,20; Romans 12:2,3; Colossians 3:1–4

You remember the story: Jacob showed partiality to Joseph; this angered his brothers and caused them to have bitter hate toward him. It didn’t help that Joseph told his brothers about a dream he had that caused his brothers to hate him more. Every once in a while my wife reminds me and my sons “It’s not what you say but how you say it that causes disputes”. When the opportunity arose his brothers sold him into slavery and then they lied to their father about his death.

Years later a famine arose which caused them to go to Egypt; what the brothers didn’t know was that Joseph through years of suffering had finally risen to power. He in fact was in charge of the whole country including the food. Joseph gives his brothers food, but through various tests by word and deed, he puzzled them, tested their integrity, and raised their level of concern over past guilt.

The day of revelation and reconciliation had finally arrived. Joseph “could not restrain himself” his emotions were so deep and “he wept aloud”. His brothers were still in the room everyone else had left. He then told them “I am Joseph…”; this revelation caused his brothers to become distressingly disturbed and dismayed. He then became even more pointed. He wasn’t just any Joseph; he was the Joseph “whom YOU sold into Egypt” (Genesis 45:3,4); I can picture it in my mind, they were thinking “Oh no! He’s going to take it out on us”. Now for the shocker.

Joseph had to learn to think God’s thoughts after Him. During his humiliation and exultation he learned God is in charge of all his circumstances. This opened the way to forgiveness and reconciliation. “…for God sent me before you to preserve life (v.5). and God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance (v. 6). So now it was not you who sent me here, but God…(v.7)”. “When we refuse to forgive we place ourselves in the prison of self inflicted pain.” – Pastor Ron Schmidt, Davisville Church, sermon on Proverbs 4. It was this perspective that Joseph had which freed him from the burden of unforgiveness.

There are times when we are tormented by our own past sins and from the hurts we received from others. Joseph’s brothers had that happen to them after the death of Jacob in Genesis chapter 50. But this is what Joseph said, ” Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive.(vv.19,20)”.

Will you join me today in changing our view of our circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18)?

Written by Pastor Bob Wood: Pastor Bob is a retired Pastor and a dear friend of America’s Keswick.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 39; Proverbs 8

Daily Quote: My circumstance is the will of God, I will be thankful because God is in charge and He promised never to leave me nor forsake me.

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:

God has a new heart for us that cannot be offended, an “unoffendable” heart. Beloved, possessing an unoffendable heart is not an option or a luxury; it’s not a little thing. An offended heart is endanger of becoming a “heart of stone.” Consider: Jesus warns that, as we near the end of the age, a majority of people will be offended to such a degree that they fall away from the faith. Listen carefully to His warning: “Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another . . . and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:10-12 KJV). ~Francis Frangipane

Whoever gets sense loves his own soul;

he who keeps understanding will discover good.

A false witness will not go unpunished,

and he who breathes out lies will perish.

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury,

much less for a slave to rule over princes.

Good sense makes one slow to anger,

and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

~ from Proverbs 19

Oh beloved, it is true. We think we love justice. And though this is partially true, most of us just want to be worshipped. So, when we are not given the due we think we deserve, we get angry. We take offense.

This is the precipice of danger in our lives. If we go over the cliff of offensive, we will find ourselves injured much more than what we imagined we were, where we stood before jumping. Said more simply: Offense seems like a protective measure, but it actually exposes us to much more danger.

We give, and no one thanks us.

We share, and no one cares.

We bleed, and people scorn our pain.

We believe a truth, and others see it as a lie.

We fail, and people wag a finger in our direction.

We do right, and it is judged as wrong.

We protect, and the one we saved gets angry.

We care, and no one else does.

We see injustice, and people cannot, or won’t.

We Love, and we are abandoned.

All of the above, and more, hurts. Some of it hurts in such a way that we are left gasping on the floor of our souls. Sometimes what has happened to us has rent large chunks out of our lives. And the first step in avoiding being offended is to admit that we have been stung or shaken – or worse – by something that someone else has done or said.

This fool of writer has been hurt. There are some things that have been done to me that are just plain wrong. I have been lied to in ways that have caused me incredible loss. I even lost a large home, and nearly everything in it, due to the betrayal and lies of an assistant pastor and person very close to me. Beyond this, I have been involved in relationships where I have honestly given everything – and had nearly all of it thrown back in my face as though the good were bad.

It hurts. And we must admit this. But there is more. The question is what are we going to do with the pain? There are many options, but only one path is going to work.

1) We ignore the pain of the offense when people hurt us. This one feels like it might work. But, it won’t work for long. And often, if we are people who do things this way, we can eventually find ourselves lashing out at someone for the littlest thing. Our souls are sensitive. Our hearts are made of flesh, and they can be wounded. So, when we try the strategy of ignoring pain, eventually the cuts become so tender and infected that even a bump can send us into an offended rage.

2) We don’t ignore the pain. Instead, we nurse it. We nourish it. We worship the pain. We give it the perfect place to grow inside of us. And this, is dangerous not only for its folly, but also for the idolatry it is. In creating a sanctuary for our pain and offense inside of us, we push aside the rightful Master and enable a dark vacuum in our inner man where there should be rivers of Living Water.

3) We separate ourselves from the source of our pain. Now, sometimes this is exactly what we should do. There is no need to endure the abuse of others. Nor is there the need to put ourselves into needless danger. So here, i am not talking about prudence. No, rather i am speaking of the way that offense can play on our fear and separate us from others that would actually bring health and life to us (and them) if we stay in appropriate fellowship.

Can we see it? All of the above, and more, are the strategies that will kill us. If we ignore the pain of offense, if we worship the pain of offense, or if we separate from good fellowship over the pain of offense, we are in grave danger. The evil one is the author of these strategies, and he is doing anything he can to spite our King – and to render His servants and friends useless in the Great Commission.

So, what do we do? His Word is the guide. First, i believe that one of the things we must do is to come to a place of honest humility and realize that we really do not have the right to get offended. We have been a huge offense to others and to G_d. Secondly though, when someone really does try to hurt us with word or deed, Proverbs gives the guidance that works.

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

First, a word. Glory is a really beautiful word that is much like the pressure a large ship makes on the ocean as its millions of tons displace the water that is more dense than the vessel. Glory is an over pressure that overcomes a powerful force. Glory is also the fame that comes from Him – and to Him – for doing the right thing.

The strategy is to overlook the offense. Do we notice it? Sure. Do we feel the pain. Yes. But, we look beyond the offense into what could really be if we don’t ignore, worship or run from the pain. Love wins, beloved. We can stay in contact with pain as we choose to obey His commands to not be afraid and to allow courage to flow out from our hearts and overwhelm the situation He has allowed us to be in.

So, are you feeling offended? Caution, this is a very dangerous place. But, if handled correctly, you may just be on the verge of something glorious. Tonight is your night. Time to overlook a few things.

Written by Makala Doulos: Makala  is a child of G_d, a husband to his wife, a father to his children, and a teacher to his students. But mostly, he is a prisoner set free by Jesus. Love has invaded his life, crushed it, and made it new. Now, G_d’s Love is what constrains him to live in full surrender to the freedom The Father and Son and Holy Spirit have bought for us all. Grace and Peace to you all.

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 30; Proverbs 31

Daily Quote: “But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible but not relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft and true witnesses without being manipulative.” ~Brennan Manning

This Week’s Verse to Memorize: