kingdom

“[C]all on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15). Deep in the Arabian Desert is a small fortress. It stands silently on the vast expanse of the ageless desert. Thomas Edward Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, often used it. Though unpretentious, it was most efficient. Its main commendation was its security. When under attack, often by superior forces, Lawrence would retreat there for safety. While staying there, the resources of the fortress became his—the food and the water stored there were life-supporting. The strength of the fortress became the strength of its occupants. Old-time desert dwellers talked about how confident and secure Lawrence always felt when he was within the walls of the fortress. Prayer is the believer’s greatest fortress. It is a place we can run to any time of the day or night. The strength and protection we receive in God’s presence are unmatched by this world. […]

“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). In Jeremiah, the Lord promises Israel restoration of relationship with Him, saying, “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:12-13). Through Christ we have this promise—a special relationship with God—if only we will seek Him and meet with Him in prayer. For, if we fail to pray, we will never fully experience the power of God in our lives. Prayer is our declaration of faith in a mighty God. When we pray, we acknowledge our need of Him and our dependence on Him alone. Calling out to God also declares our desire […]

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Read John 16:12-15 and 1 Corinthians 2:9-16. In these verses, we see that it is the Holy Spirit—the third member of the Trinity, God’s very Spirit—who empowers us to perceive the Truth and follow God. He does this by indwelling us, making it possible for each of us to see Christ for who He is and live for Him here on earth. It is the Holy Spirit’s power that enables us to be born again, to enter the Kingdom of God, and to be called children of the living God. This is the same power God exercised at the formation of the universe and the same power that raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Indeed, this is the power that indwells all who believe in Christ Jesus. We also see that the Holy Spirit is the only […]

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). Do you ever wonder why answers to prayer tarry? Is it that God is teaching us to wait? Are we not correctly hearing the voice of God? Is God trying to deal with something in our lives? Of this we can be certain: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). When we pray in alignment with the will of God, we know that He hears us and that His will cannot be thwarted. But what about when our prayers—even prayers for […]

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’” (Luke 15:31). Read Luke 15:25-32. To any outside observer, it would seem the older son loved his father. But in reality, the older son was a legalist—he kept the form of obedience, but his heart was far from his father. When his younger brother came back in repentance, he should have celebrated. But instead, he refuses to welcome his brother home or attend the party being held in his honor. In doing so, he rebels against the heart of his father—all under the guise of so-called “righteousness.” The Pharisees listening to Jesus’ story would have understood He was describing them. If you recall, all this storytelling began when the Pharisees and teachers of the Law complained that Jesus was […]

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). Read Luke 15:11-24. The younger son makes a basely awful request of his father—he demands his inheritance—now. In that Middle Eastern culture, such a request was akin to telling the father, “I wish you were dead already.” Now, the Pharisees listening to this story would have been incredulous at the audacity of this son, but more than that, they would have been reeling at the response of the father, who let his son go with his inheritance. Jesus’ parable was designed to unsettle them with how incomprehensible, how longsuffering, how generous, how humble, how inexhaustible the love of the father, who, of course, represents our heavenly Father. The younger son burns all the bridges—or so he thinks. But sometime later, in a far country, the […]

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” (Luke 15:8). Read Luke 15:8-10. In Luke 15:8-10, a woman loses one of her ten coins, but these weren’t just any coins. They were part of a semedi, a beautiful headdress a woman would be given by her betrothed. It represented their coming marriage; it was a symbol of their commitment to one another. To lose one of the ten coins set in that headdress was traumatic. It simply would not do to wear it with a coin missing. In Jesus’ day, the houses in Israel were not very big, and they were also very dark. Most were tiny and did not have windows to let in natural light. The floor would have been dirt, which can crack, leaving lots of nooks for a coin to fall into. Is it any wonder, then, that […]

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4). Read Luke 15:1-7. In first-century Israel, tax collectors were on the bottom rung of the social ladder. Everyone hated them. That’s because they cooperated with the Romans to levy high taxes on the people. They regularly took more than was necessary, robbing their neighbors. They were traitors to the nation. They were truly outcasts in society. “Sinners” were in a similar situation. These were people of low moral character—prostitutes, criminals, and the like. The Pharisees considered such people a stain on the nation—people whose occupations were clearly incompatible with keeping God’s Law. They believed these “sinners” were the reason God seemed to tarry in rescuing His chosen people from Roman occupation. Like tax collectors, these people were pushed out of polite society in every way possible. […]

“So the king and Haman went to Queen Esther’s banquet, . . . the king again asked, ‘Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted’” (Esther 7:1-2). In the Old Testament, we learn of an ordinary woman, named Esther, who saw a need and met that need. Esther was a Jewish woman living in exile in Persia. Through God’s plan, she married King Xerxes and found herself in a unique position to help her people. When the king agreed to the planned execution of the Jews within his kingdom, Esther was poised to change his mind. God had placed her in the right place at the right time—but it was risky and dangerous. Esther was afraid and hesitant to act. Drawing from his trust in God, Esther’s cousin Mordecai knew the Lord would act for His people and thus admonished Esther that this […]

“Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). God gives His vision to those who are faithful in small things. He will give a greater vision to those who are being faithful in what is already in their charge. The Bible teaches us that God rewards His faithful servants. “You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things” (Matthew 25:21). The good news is that it is never too late to start following God’s vision. We are always at the right point in our lives to decide to honor God and delight in Him. And when we do that, we will experience the broad and joyous vision of God at work in our lives. Beginning today, commit to accept God’s vision for your life so that you may bring glory to Him. Prepare yourself to receive His vision by asking Him to […]