Born of water, born of spirit

Joh 3:1  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
Joh 3:2  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Joh 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

*******

Born once, born again.  Without the second birth we cannot see the kingdom of God. 

So, like Nicodemus we all have to as- How can we be born again, can we enter into our mother's womb a second time and be born?

Clearly an impossibility.

Joh 3:4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

The second birth is of a different sort, it's not of the flesh, but of the spirit and water.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

So unless we have this second spiritual water birth, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Jesus expounded on this second birth further-

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

All of us are born to the flesh it's how we come into existence. However spiritual birth is not something that everyone experiences, it's not an automatic milestone in our lives such as getting our teeth, growing tall, hitting puberty, aging in general. There is no approximate date for everyone to have their spiritual birth.

Spiritual birth is something that happens when a person is convicted by the Holy Spirit that Jesus Christ is their Lord and Savior.

Read on-

Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Joh 3:9  Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Joh 3:10  Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Joh 3:11  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
Joh 3:12  If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

Joh 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
Joh 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15  That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Joh 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Joh 3:17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Joh 3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Joh 3:20  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Spiritual birth. 

Baptism signifies this second birthing, it's a result of the spiritual birth.

Mar 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Birth signifies new life. First birth, second birth, any birth signifies new life.  So if a second birth signifies new life- what has to happen to the old life?

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

The old life, the product of our first birth is the old us. It has to be the old us if we have a new birth.  No birth produces an old anything. All birth brings forth new life. Never an old life on top of a new one, not ever. 

To be born again means we are born into a new life and our old life has to be dead.

Our old self is crucified with CHRIST.
Our old self is buried with CHRIST.

We know Jesus tells us that the new birth is a water and Spirit birth.
That water in baptism covers us and symbolizes that old life dying. If left under that water death occurs.  Burying our old life- a life of just flesh- under that water and rising to a new life of spirit and flesh is truly being born again.  A flesh life without a spiritual birth, without being born again truly cannot inherit the kingdom of God.  Remember-

Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Christ tells us we must be born again, our spirit must be born and once our spirit is born it makes our entire life new. We are no longer dead in spirit but alive and our spirit is only alive because Christ gives it life!

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD, JESUS CHRIST! Our wonderful Savior! The Giver of new life!

Gift of the Kingdom of Heaven

Are you covetous? 

Let's define covetous first of all- it's not a term we hear all the time-

'cov·et·ous
ˈkəvətəs/
adjective
adjective: covetous
    1. 1.
having or showing a great desire to possess something, typically something belonging to someone else.

Pasted from    '

Do you ever have a great desire to possess something that isn't yours?

We call that normal, don't we? We see no harm in desiring what others possess.

Can we be content with the things we have if we are coveting, if we are in a constant state of desiring the things of others?  No, we can't.

Can coveting become an endless pursuit? Yes.  No sooner than one coveted desire is met than another pops up to take its place. There is no shortage of things to covet.

The Bible tells us that the Pharisees were covetous.  Pharisees, men of Israel, God's chosen people.  Men who prided themselves on following all of God's laws and teachings. Clearly they fell far short of keeping the tenth commandment, the moral law of our God teaching us not to covet.

Read the following, the Pharisees deriding Jesus-

Luk 16:14  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

And Jesus said to them-

Luk 16:15  And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

That which is HIGHLY esteemed among men is ABOMINATION in the sight of God.

Do we believe this? We should. Seriously, do we believe this?  Right now is our gift giving and receiving season and it is especially notable during this time just how much we covet things.  We even covet things to give to others.  Coveting is coveting, we can't justify it.  With Christ the desire for the Kingdom of Heaven was paramount!  The desire for the Kingdom of Heaven was truly something we need to treasure. Things eternal, not things temporal. Yet right now we fill our homes with gifts and sit back wishing we could do more for others and for ourselves. When we do this are we truly placing our treasures in heaven? Are we helping others to place their treasures in heaven?

Before anyone thinks I'm against gift giving/receiving, I'm not.  But the extremes people go to are not of God!  'That which is highly esteemed among men is ABOMINATION in the sight of God.'  This  is something we cannot allow ourselves to forget. No matter what it might be the seemingly best, most selfless situation it can be turned to deceit and abomination. Satan loves nothing better than to turn our hearts to serve him, and he loves it all the more when he can do it and keep us in the dark about it all.  Let us imagine we are serving God when all the while we are serving Satan, the Evil One likes nothing more.

Do something this gift giving season- pray before you buy every gift, pray that the gift of the Kingdom of God is first and foremost in the hearts of those you are giving gifts to.

The Pharisees did not want people getting to know Jesus, they did not want to hear the kingdom of heaven preached by Jesus, they wanted to stick with their sacrificial system. Their idea of a Messiah was someone who would come and use the same sacrificial system and bring earthly power to their people.

Listen to this - from when Jesus went to Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, and then raised Lazarus from the dead-

Joh 11:44  And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Joh 11:45  Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
Joh 11:46  But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
Joh 11:47  Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
Joh 11:48  If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.

They did NOT want people to believe in the Kingdom of Heaven being preached by Jesus!  To believe what Jesus was saying meant believing in a way of life totally contrary to what they desired. A thief, a prostitute, a tax collector all on equal footing?! Never. They were the scum of the earth, they were a much lower class and had no right to have hope of the kingdom of heaven without a lot of ceremonial sacrificing and even then it was doubtful they'd desire the kingdom of heaven. 

These men saw and heard of Jesus doing miracles and they couldn't just let Him continue on that way or else the way of life the Pharisees and priests had come to would be forever changed. They didn't want ALL men to believe on Jesus,  if they did then those men would no long believe in them!

The kingdom of heaven, Jesus came to preach this kingdom of heaven and He taught his apostles and disciples to preach the kingdom, He wanted the kingdom preached. He want the kingdom of heaven realized! He wanted everyone to know they had hope in Him! He came to make the kingdom of heaven available to all those who would believe on Him and in believing on Him they would believe in LOVE, for He is LOVE. Love for God and love for each other.

Satan wants us to be absorbed in ourselves and our selfish, self-serving love.

We need to preach the kingdom of heaven found in Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior!

Please Lord, help us to recognize any coveting we may do, understanding that whether we are giving, getting or simply hoping to do either that ultimate that Your kingdom and Your kingdom alone found in You is the only gift - giving or receiving - that any of us really need.

Guide our hearts, Lord, be in our lives teaching us, chastising us when necessary, we need You Lord more than anything else in life! You are life!

All in YOU, by YOU.

All glory, praise, and honor unto You, Lord!

God's pleasure to give us the kingdom

God wants to give us the kingdom! If pleases God to give us the kingdom!

The kingdom!

I keep stressing and can't stop stressing this fact- the kingdom of God is REAL!

The kingdom of God is a REAL KINGDOM.

It's a kingdom unlike any other anywhere.

We marvel at historical kingdoms and their lavish settings. Even some modern day kingdoms are outrageously extravagant in such a way we can't fully comprehend.

'The Swisshorn Gold Palace in Hong Kong is 650 square meters of the stuff. Everything, including the desk, the bed, the couch, the carpet and, yes, even the toilet is gold. The project took five years to complete at the cost of $50 million.

Pasted from   '

That's just one little example, google modern palaces and just read about the 'kingdoms' on earth.  None of these kingdoms, not a single one of them can begin to compare to God's Heavenly Kingdom!

Not one of these kingdoms is worth anything in eternity. Every single earthly kingdom will fail, will fade, will deteriorate, will turn to dust.  Only God's kingdom is forever yet we keep building our earthly kingdoms! We keep telling ourselves that things here matter!

We are heading into a season of giving and receiving. When you are asked what you want- ask yourself if it something God would want you to want. Seriously, ask yourself that question. Chances are you'll be able to answer, 'yes'. God isn't monster devoid of feeling and He doesn't want us to suffer, He wants us to be happy. Yet when our SUPPOSED happiness depends upon our wants, we might just be exceeding what God wants for us. He doesn't want us to be content with earthly treasures. He wants us to be content with Heavenly treasures.  If our treasures are TRULY in heaven, then nothing on earth can take away the happiness that resides in that treasure. Nothing on earth can STEAL that treasure. Nothing on earth can rob us of that wondrous treasure.

Our Savior wasn't telling us to put our treasures in heaven without reason, He had a VERY good reason. 

Where our treasure is, so is our hearts.

Our hearts need to be in heaven.

We can LOSE everything we have, every loved one, every possession, our health, and our lives. We can LOSE it all and as long as we do still have our lives even in the loss of all things, if we have our hearts in heaven that's ALL that matters right here, right now.

Luk 12:22  And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
Luk 12:23  The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
Luk 12:24  Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
Luk 12:25  And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
Luk 12:26  If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
Luk 12:27  Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Luk 12:29  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
Luk 12:30  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
Luk 12:31  But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Luk 12:32  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Seek the kingdom of GOD.
It's the Father good pleasure to give us the kingdom.

What amazing joy we can have in our heart here and now if our hearts reside in the Kingdom of God and not here, not on anything here. The sorrow we will continue to feel over life's many hardships is normal, but they don't have to lead us to despair. All the sorrows will be over one day, all this here, right now is temporary to eternity except our love, our choice to believe in our Savior who is love!

Please LORD we would receive the kingdom that it is your good pleasure to give to us!

Pleas LORD we would be with YOU in YOUR kingdom in heaven one day! We long for Your kingdom, for You, for LOVE!

All by YOUR GRACE!
YOUR LOVE!
YOUR MERCY!
YOU!

Be our everything!

Waiting for the Kingdom of God

A disciple of Jesus.

Mat_27:57  When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple

Mar_15:43  Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

Luk_23:51  (The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.

Joh_19:38  And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

Joseph of Arimathaea--

A rich man.
An honorable counsellor.
A disciple of Jesus.
A dweller in a city of the Jews.
A Jew.
Fearful of the Jews.
A kingdom of God seeker.
Possessor of the dead body of Jesus.

We've been told that rich man will find it all but impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven, yet here we have a rich Jewish man, an honorable counsellor seeking the kingdom of God. He WAITED for the kingdom of God.

We are waiting for the kingdom of God too, aren't we?

We know that the way to the kingdom of God is our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Joseph of Arimathaea knew this too. He knew that Jesus was the key to the Kingdom he was seeking. 

When Jesus died, it was Joseph who went to Pilate to beg for Jesus' body.  Joseph knew God's Son had died. Joseph knew that it was important to get Jesus' body and bury Him in a tomb quickly, before the Sabbath which was quickly coming on. For the Savior of the world to remain on the cross any longer than necessary was unthinkable. 

Was it easy to get Jesus' body?

No.

We tend to think it was just one of those little details that aren't really important, but it is important to realize that it wasn't easy to claim Jesus' body.

It was much more common for crucified bodies to be left upon the cross for the elements and wild life to decimate. They were left on the cross as a reminder to others of the horrific punishment that awaited all who disobeyed Roman law.

Joseph - 'went in boldly unto Pilate'

Boldly. It was a very bold move on Joseph's part to go before Pilate.

Luk 23:52  This man went unto Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.

Begged the body of Jesus.

It simply was NOT common for anyone crucified to be taken down off their cross.  

Perhaps Pilate allowed Joseph to take the body not only because he came to him boldly and begged him, but because there was an element of guilt on Pilate's part.

Mat 27:22  Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
Mat 27:23  And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.
Mat 27:24  When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

Pilate didn't want to order Jesus crucified. He went so far as to wash his hands before them and say he's innocent of the blood of Jesus.

It's easy to imagine that Pilate wanted to make this uncommon gesture to Joseph, do I have proof of it, no, but it's easy to imagine.

Joseph was a rich man waiting for the kingdom.
Joseph was an honorable Jewish man.

Joseph was a disciple of Christ's.

We are disciples of Christ's, we are seeking the Kingdom of God just as Joseph of Arimethaea.  Joseph loved Christ so incredibly much. We must love Him just as much as He did.

Waiting for the Kingdom of God.

Are you waiting for the Kingdom of Heaven?

We need to be described in this way- as those waiting for the Kingdom of God.

Please Lord, help us to be YOURS so fully, so devotedly as only You can help us be.

We wait for the Kingdom of God! We wait for Your Kingdom! Please, may Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!

Please Lord.

Not far from the kingdom

Can you imagine hearing Jesus say this to you-

'THOU ART NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.'

Just imagine it! How wondrous would it be to hear those words.  That particular scribe wasn't far from the kingdom of God. This, when Jesus went about saying that is wasn't good to be a scribe-

Mat_23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Scribes as a rule were not very receptive to Jesus . 

This particular scribe however was receptive to the Lord's teachings. 

Read the following--

Mar 12:28  And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
Mar 12:29  And Jesus answered him, THE FIRST OF ALL THE COMMANDMENTS IS, HEAR, O ISRAEL; THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD:
MAR 12:30  AND THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND, AND WITH ALL THY STRENGTH: THIS IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT.
MAR 12:31  AND THE SECOND IS LIKE, NAMELY THIS, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. THERE IS NONE OTHER COMMANDMENT GREATER THAN THESE.
Mar 12:32  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
Mar 12:33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
Mar 12:34  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, THOU ART NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

The scribe agreed with Jesus.

To love God and to love others is MORE than ALL WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES.

The scribe said this! It was true! No wonder Jesus told him that he wasn't far from the kingdom of God.  To most scribes and Pharisees the sacrificial system was everything. The form of godliness was everything. To have a scribe say that love meant more than all that was truly amazing.

Love is of God, to love and have all our actions, every single one borne out of that love is everything. 

Love in every single commandment, how else could our Savior tell  us this--

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

If loving God and loving others are the greatest of all the commandments it stands to reason that loving God and loving others is found in the ten moral laws of God. Is it? We've discussed it before but let's quickly recap.

    1- Exo 20:3  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
    2- Exo 20:4  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
    3- Exo 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
    4- Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
    5- Exo 20:12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
    6- Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.
    7- Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery.
    8- Exo 20:15  Thou shalt not steal.
   9-    Exo 20:16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
    10- Exo 20:17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
   
The first four reveal our love for God, the last six reveal our love for others.
   
It makes PERFECT sense!

A summation- love God, love others.

God is love!

The scribe comprehended this. The scribe knew that even though they were bound under a sacrificial system in order to be at-one with God, that the love of God made all that possible and without that love for God and man, the sacrifices meant nothing.

Our Savior became the ultimate unique Sacrifice of all Sacrifices and His death meant the end of the old sacrificial system.  Perhaps the scribe was 'not far' from the kingdom because he had a little bit further to go, accepting Christ as God's Son, accepting Christ and His sacrifice.

I'd like to imagine this scribe will be one of those that will make it to the kingdom of heaven, that he will rise upon that day of Christ's return to call all of us to the kingdom with Him. 

By the grace of God ALL of us will enter the kingdom to be with our SAVIOR, to be with LOVE.

Please LORD we would be in Your kingdom with You!

Let us fully comprehend the truth of Your love revealed to us perfectly in Your Ten Moral Laws all by the grace of GOD, all through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Help us to LOVE GOD and to LOVE OTHERS, always!

Help us, LORD. Bless us! Keep us in You!

So is the Kingdom

Mar 4:26  And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
Mar 4:27  And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
Mar 4:28  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
Mar 4:29  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

The kingdom of God, this is our study and should be our study, it was Christ's gospel. Christ preached the kingdom of God over and over and over. The kingdom of God was to be a REALITY for everyone, not something fabled, not something passed down from generation to generation without much thought. The kingdom of God. No one should think of Christ without thinking about the Kingdom of God! He came to make it real to us! He came to make it possible for us. Christ's death and resurrection assured us of a place in His kingdom with Him.

The kingdom-

A seed cast to the ground.
A seed overnight springing up.
A seed growing.

As much as scientists can tear apart a seed and have explained away the hows and wherefores of how a seed grows, it is still amazing.  It's still miraculous.

The earth bringing forth fruit.
The blade.
The ear.
Then the corn in the ear.

Christ.
Christ's death.
Christ's resurrection.
Redemption of Christ's followers.

Christ's life, death, resurrection.
Acceptance and belief in Christ.
A new life in Christ here on earth.
A new life in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Mar 4:30  And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it?
Mar 4:31  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
Mar 4:32  But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

A teeny tiny seed with potential that is unimaginable when you look at that tiny seed. How strange it is to imagine the huge tree from such a tiny beginning.

Our Savior - God born to a woman, an infant growing to manhood, a man grown to do God's will ushering in the Kingdom of Heaven.  The kingdom of heaven where all who would be His, where all who would choose love will be!

The kingdom of heaven.
The kingdom of God.

Our Savior Jesus  Christ, the kingdom of heaven!

The kingdom of heaven what a marvelous hope!

Living in this world we need the hope of heaven, we need the hope of life in Christ.

Please Lord, be our hope now and forever!

Do this in remembrance of me- remember the kingdom

Christ's last supper.

We all know about this because it's something that is extremely important.

Throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament, God gave to His chosen people various feasts and holy days.  When Christ came and things were changed the feasts were no longer necessary, no longer relevant.   Christ institute what we call the Lord's Supper-

Luk 22:16  For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.
Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

This do in remembrance of me.

Act_2:46  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house...

1Co 11:23  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
1Co 11:24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
1Co 11:30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.
1Co 11:33  Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.
1Co 11:34  And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

This command to 'This do in remembrance of me' is a Christ's instituted act that we are TOLD to perform.

Our Savior wanted us to NEVER forget His sacrifice.  And the reason for His sacrifice- to bring us into His kingdom!  He suffered and died for US to give us eternal life in His KINGDOM!!!!!!!

Read this...

Mat 26:27  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
Mat 26:28  For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mat 26:29  But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom

Christ would NOT DRINK the fruit of the vine until He drinks it with US IN HIS FATHER'S KINGDOM!

When we partake of the Lord's Supper, when we perform the action symbolizing the death, the sacrifice of our Savior, we should do this with the realization that one day we will do this very same thing WITH CHRIST HIMSELF, and it will be done IN THE KINGDOM!

No one should partake of the Lord's Supper without this realization. The connection to the Kingdom, our SAVIOR, giving His life, suffering so horrifically for us the REASON, Christ would have us in HIS KINGDOM. Christ WANTS us to be in His kingdom when He returns to bring us there with Him.

None of us can get into the kingdom without Christ!
Christ will return for us and bring us to the kingdom!

Christ and the kingdom- the two thoughts must be together.

Please LORD let us drink the fruit of the vine new with YOU in the FATHER'S KINGDOM! Please! We would be YOURS, we would be with YOU! Please KNOW us LORD, please!

All by Your amazing GRACE!
All by Your amazing LOVE!
All in YOU and YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Inherit the kingdom

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:34

Inherit.

To inherit you must be an heir.  The very essence of inheriting something even from a complete stranger makes you one of their heirs.  We are heirs with Jesus Christ.

Rom_8:17  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The kingdom is to be inherited ONLY by those who are the heirs of God! No other will inherit the kingdom.  You cannot lay hold of any pagan belief,  you cannot lay hold of any religion that is not the truth, you cannot keep lies and expect to be an heir of God. You cannot expect to be an heir of God if you are not in good standing with God. And all it takes to be in good standing with God is a believing in the Son of God.  It sounds simple, and people jump on that quickly. They shout they believe, but the truth is, they believe in a fairy tale fable of Jesus Christ and not the true Jesus Christ, the Savior, the Son of God who lived and breathed, who preached and taught for three years lessons for us to learn and live by.  They believe in a mythical Jesus that they can call on once and that's enough. They believe they just have to believe in the Him but NOT believe and live by  anything He taught. 

If a person says they believe in you, then you are under the assumption that they believe in what you stand for, they believe in the whole idea of you. If you tell a confused young adult that you believe in them, you are telling them you believe they are of a good moral fiber, you believe in the possibility of their being capable of living a good, moral life. You tell an erring young adult that and they know that you are saying you believe they are more than what their errors are showing you, that you are more than your mistakes, there is more in you. Tell a husband or wife that you believe in them means the same thing really. You believe in their goodness, their ability to be genuine, you have hope for them and their future.  Contrary to these examples, not believing in someone- a young adult, a husband or wife, you are giving them no hope.  Tell someone you don't believe in them as a person and you are essentially telling them they are a hopeless cause, and have no worth in your eyes.

There is believing, and there is BELIEVING.

I believe in my children because they are real. We believe in things that are real.
I BELIEVE in my children because I have the hope they are in good moral standing as human beings, and regardless of what setbacks might come they will be able to weather them by the grace of God.

If we say we believe in Jesus Christ, we can believe without BELIEVING. You can believe He existed and exists. You can believe He died for you and rose again. You can believe that all He stands for is good and just.  You can do all that believing and then turn around and live your life totally contrary to all the things that Jesus stands for in His word, all the things He taught.  If you do that, if you live contrary to all the truth that Jesus taught, are you really BELIEVING in Jesus?

If I told my son I believe in Him, and then turned around and shook my head and told others I have no hope in him, that everything he is doing is wrong and he'll never do anything right-  did I lie to my son?  

Yes, I lied to my son.

People live lies about Jesus all the time. They believe in word only.

Jas_2:26  For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

A dead belief.

How many people have a dead belief and think it's enough?

How many profess with their mouths, but lie in their hearts?

Tit 1:16  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him…

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Matthew 25:34

There is a kingdom that has been prepared for us since the foundation of the world.  The kingdom is REAL and it is a kingdom that we shall inherit as God's heirs.  We are God's, we belong to Him! He is our FATHER!

Do we believe in our Father?
Do we believe in the Word of God?
Do we truly believe, or are we pretenders?

Please, Lord, help us! Save us! Love us!  Help us to believe as You would have us believe! We would be Yours! We would be in the kingdom that You have prepared from the foundation of the world for us!  Please, Lord.

By Your love!
By Your grace!

All in YOU!

The will of the Master

A servant doing the will of his Master.

We are the servants, Christ is our Master.

What is the will of the Master?  We have to do the will of our Master. If we are found doing our OWN will we are NOT servants of the Master, but servants of self and any servant of self is a servant of Satan, because Satan is the author of pride, Satan is the author of self-serving.

In the following parable our Savior explains this --

Mat 25:14  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
Mat 25:15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

Mat 25:16  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
Mat 25:17  And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
Mat 25:18  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

Mat 25:19  After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
Mat 25:20  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Mat 25:22  He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
Mat 25:23  His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Mat 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

*******

Just as with the five virgins with extra oil, those that are filled with the Holy Spirit, those who are doing the will of God, the servants who used all their master gave them for Him are those that are going to be in God's kingdom.

God's will.

If we know God's will, if we know what our Savior would have us do then we are accountable to that. The servant who hid the single talent told the Master that he KNEW the Master.  And the Master came back and told that servant that he did know Him, and because he knew Him He should have done what he knew the Master would want him to do.  That servant did NOT do what the Master expected of him. Presuming to know better the servant did what he wanted to do and the servant mistakenly thought the Master would except that because he could give back what the Master gave him to begin with.  The Master did NOT give the talent in order to get it back. The Master did NOT give the talent for no purpose, if that were the case the Master could have kept the talent and the same would have been accomplished. The Master expected the servant to do His will.  The Master even told the servant that he could have done something SAFE with the money if that were his true intention, but he didn't even do that.  The Master didn't ask the servant to do something to put himself in jeopardy of the Master's displeasure. The Master wasn't trying to trick the servant.  The servant knew the Master's will, and decided to disobey that will.

Our Master, our Savior, would NEVER put our eternal life in jeopardy, never! We are to do the will of our Savior never thinking WE know better. We are to never tell our Savior that we know best. We have a clear cut guide in the Word of God as to our Savior's will, to do anything but His will is unacceptable and must be repented of. We cannot do our will and expect our Savior to accept us into His kingdom.  When He returns for us all will have been decided, we cannot presume to have sit down time with our Savior in order to explain ourselves to Him. We either do His will and He knows us because we are doing His will, or we do our own will and no sweet talking of ours will ever explain what is truly known to Christ.

To think that we can do our own will when Christ Himself came and did NOT His own will but the will of the Father, is lunacy.

Joh_5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Luk_22:42  Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

Truly some will be great men and women of God, and others will be mere shadows of those great men and women, but as long as we do God's will from the least to the greatest, we will be in His kingdom with Him! PRAISE GOD!

All glory to God!
May His kingdom come!
May His will be done!

Preached in all the world- the gospel of the kingdom

Preaching the gospel of the kingdom.

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Mar 16:15  And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Truth.

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom.
Jesus taught His disciples to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

IF the gospel of the kingdom is to be preached until the end of the world is close then would there ever come a time the preaching should stop?

We can't know the day nor the hour, but we can know the end is close by watching the signs Jesus has given to us.

There are signs to watch-

Rev 13:11  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14  And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16  And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Signs!

Cryptic signs, signs crouched in symbolism, signs that need interpreting, signs that call us to study deeply. 

We know these THINGS must come to pass. 

We can watch for these things, we can keep our eyes on the world and all that is happening in the world and we can pray, in this we can see the end of the world coming, we can know to be ready. 

The gospel has been preached in all the world. We know it has. Everywhere people have gone the gospel has gone with them. People might say there is a remote village somewhere that hasn't and we're just waiting for them to hear the gospel.  I personally don't believe it. I believe with our technology and our ability to go to everywhere in the world that the gospel has been preached.  We will never stop witnessing of Christ, never. Our lives are a witness. We live Christ if we have the gospel in our lives. If we live the truth Christ gives to us then we are witnesses to the gospel of the kingdom. What is the hope in us?

Col_1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

Christ in US the hope of glory!

The gospel is being preached, the truth is being preached, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God is being preached it is, and will be preached right up until the end of the world.

The kingdom of God is Christ crucified, it is Christ risen, it is Christ forgiving us, it is Christ's righteousness, it is CHRIST in us now and FOREVER.

Please, Lord, let us live with You in us!
Lord, let us live with YOU as a part of our lives so that You will never be separate from us. We would be with you ALWAYS. Please LORD, please let us be YOURS now and forever, now and in the kingdom!

In Your love!

The kingdom of heaven - shut

The kingdom of heaven- shut.

People want to believe the kingdom of heaven is open to all regardless of everything.  They do. People ultimately wish to believe that no matter the circumstances heaven, a hereafter, a life after dying will be theirs. Few people will desire an after life of nothingness. The idea is that no matter what you believe, you will have heaven.

Of course there are those who simply choose to believe there is absolutely no life at all after death's sleep, they don't even believe death is a sleep but an actual end.

Truly, people believe in all sorts of theories- none proven except…  Christianity.

I can say this is proven because of HISTORY.

Prophecies made thousands of years before coming to pass. 
Prophecies prove the truth.
Prophecies 100% true and history has proven this.

You don't have to believe me, or even believe the Bible, but I personally cannot ignore the facts. When we choose to ignore the truth, we are blinding ourselves. We are putting out our spiritual eyes. 

Many people have blinded themselves and more continue to do so. They blind themselves so they don't see the truth and therefore are not accountable to the truth.  The truth is a cross. The truth is self-denial.  The truth is Christ.

The kingdom of heaven can be shut to people.

Remember yesterday-

Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

Denied the kingdom of heaven.

Luk 13:23  Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,
Luk 13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
Luk 13:25  When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
Luk 13:26  Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
Luk 13:27  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Luk 13:28  There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.
Luk 13:29  And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
Luk 13:30  And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

This is truth.

The kingdom of heaven is not easily accessible, or rather, not evilly accessible.  It's only accessible through the righteousness of Christ.

Mat 23:13  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Jesus said- WOE unto the scribes and Pharisees.
Jesus called them HYPOCRITES.

Hypocrites are those who act one way but are really another. The scribes and Pharisees were supposed to be closest to God and yet they were the farthest away.

Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees shut up the kingdom of heaven so people CAN'T go in, and neither can they.

Jesus said these supposed men of God did not even want any to go into the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven shut up.

The kingdom of heaven denied to people.

The truth shut up.

Satan does NOT want any to enter the kingdom of heaven and he'll do ALL he can to see that as many as he can stop from entering, he will stop.

Is the kingdom of heaven open to you?

Do you want the truth?!

Do you want spiritual sight?!

It's not easy! It's not the broad way!

It's the narrow way, it's the strait way, it's the way of the CROSS for all!

Please Lord, help us to have only Your truth! Please  keep our spiritual sight intact. Please Lord, we don't want to be blind. Please Lord, let us enter the kingdom of heaven, we would be YOURS. Please, Lord, by Your GRACE, Your LOVE.

Please forgive us.

The Wedding

Mat 21:45  And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.
Mat 21:46  But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
Mat 22:3  And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.

Mat 22:4  Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

Mat 22:5  But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
Mat 22:6  And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.

Mat 22:7  But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Mat 22:8  Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
Mat 22:9  Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.

Mat 22:10  So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.

*******

The kingdom of heaven.

This is the place we all should be aspiring to obtain. The kingdom of heaven is our end game, so to speak. The kingdom of heaven is the ultimate prize. The kingdom of heaven is EVERYTHING we should be living for right now!

The kingdom of heaven is the end heralding a new beginning.

The kingdom of heaven is the end of a story where you know there is truly a happily ever after in such a way we can scarcely allow ourselves to imagine it.  We are taught to believe that happily ever after is merely a fairy tale, something that can NEVER be obtained, not ever. It's a fiction, a fantasy, an unreality, a simple story for children and fools. We hear it said that only fools believe in happy endings, and we hear it said that there are no happy endings.  There are a lot of sayings out there but only ONE truth.

The truth is- there really is a happily ever after and it is found solely in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

The truth is- many will be the ways that people are led astray and those ways make for a very broad road leading to everlasting death.

There is only ONE truth, but there are MANY lies.
There is a single narrow way, and a huge broad road.

Our Savior was telling the priests that the kingdom was lost to them because of their lack of love for the truth that can only be found in Him.  The priests knew this and wanted to shut Him up, but Jesus would not be shut up. The priests knew that the people were hanging on His every word of truth and they dare not publically try to stop Jesus from speaking.

The above parable of our Savior talks of a king who has prepared a wedding feast for his son. He calls all those invited to come to the wedding but they refuse, they refuse to the point that they actually kill those servants calling them to come to the feast. 

Imagine it for a moment-  invited to a glorious wedding for a king's son- refusing to go after being invited, refusing to go and hurting those who would invite you. The insult, the horrible affront to the king.  This isn't a wicked king, in fact in the parable we know that the king is the Heavenly Father and the Son is Jesus Christ our Lord.  God's chosen people, the Israelites, refused to believe, refused to have anything to do with Jesus Christ. To this very day there are Jews, and they hold fast to the fallacy  that Jesus was not God's Son.  They've rejected the Son, spurned the Father and they are rejected by the Father and Son. 

The servants in the parable are then told to go to others out in the street, those who weren't initially invited and bring them into the feast.  These are the gentiles, these are those who believe in Jesus Christ and listen to Him. These are those who listen to the truth from the Father. 

Then there is found one of those brought in that isn't wearing a wedding garment.

The wedding garment.

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Rev 3:18  I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Rev_19:8  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Clothed- in white raiment.
Buy of Christ- white raiment - to be clothed.
Arrayed in fine linen, clean and white.

We must all have CHRIST'S righteousness if we wish to be in the kingdom of heaven.

Zec 3:3  Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
Zec 3:4  And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.

Our filthy garments must be taken from us, our sins must be taken from us and we must be clothed by our SAVIOR in the white robes of HIS righteousness.

The parable speaks of one at the feast without the wedding garments, without the raiment that is Christ's righteousness and that person was cast out. We cannot presume to enter into the kingdom of heaven of our own accord, we have no righteousness of our own. We MUST accept CHRIST'S righteousness as ours! 

It's only through Christ that we have any hope for the happily ever after that is TRUTH, found solely in Him.

There are plenty of lies for people to believe in, millions and millions of them, but there is only one truth- JESUS CHRIST, our LORD and SAVIOR.

May we be accepted of Christ, may we be found in Christ, may we be among those called to the feast from the highways and may we don the wedding garment of Christ's righteousness so that we may be with Him forever.

This is truth.

Christ is our salvation, our hope, our lives!

Please, Lord Jesus, please let us come to Your wedding feast fully clothed in the wedding garment You and You alone can give to us.  By YOUR grace! YOUR love! YOUR mercy forever! ALWAYS in YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, our LORD and SAVIOR!

Harlots and Publicans in the Kingdom of Heaven

The harlots, the publicans will go into the kingdom first --

We all know what a harlot is- but do we know what a publican was?

Definition- In antiquity, publicans - were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects. In addition, they served as tax collectors for the Republic (and later the Roman Empire), bidding on contracts (from the Senate in Rome) for the collection of various types of taxes.

Pasted from

Harlots were known sinners, and publicans as well were known for their less than honest dealings with people.

Read the following--

Mat 21:23  And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?

Jesus speaking with the chief priests and the elders of the people...

Mat 21:28  But what think ye?
A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard.
Mat 21:29  He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.
Mat 21:30  And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Mat 21:31  Whether of them twain did the will of his father?

Mat 21:31...  They say unto him, The first.

Mat 21:31... Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.

Mat 21:32  For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

*******

The sinners believed, the so called righteous - the chief priests and elders of God's people did NOT believe. 

Here they are, those who are supposed to be the pillars of God's truth and they were rejecting the truth while others who were supposed to be the devil's own children were believing and accepting the truth.

It will not be those who profess godliness without any real truth in them that will be in the kingdom of God.  The kingdom is NOT going to be filled with pastors, preachers, priests, popes, ministers, deacons, bishops, elders, men and women who wear the mantle of a religious profession.  The kingdom of heaven is going to be filled with TRUTH SEEKERS and those truth seekers are not going to be caught up in the lies of so many religious professions. 

Those who seek truth, those who seek Christ will be in the kingdom of Christ. Those who set themselves us as being gods upon earth having authority over others, making up their own rules and laws, attributing to God so much that He never intended, setting up their own religions based upon lies, these people no matter who they are will NOT be in the kingdom of God. Their hearts are NOT with God, but on SELF!

The kingdom of God will be filled with those who comprehend their sinfulness and look to Christ for His forgiveness. These sinners will look to God for all things. These sinners will depend upon God for everything! These sinners KNOW they are nothing and Christ is everything! These sinners do NOT assume anything of themselves.  Christ is all in all!

Please Lord, be our all in all!

We are sinners, Lord, we need You, we need Your forgiveness. Help us to NEVER assume we are ever good enough, it is YOU and YOU alone who are righteous, You and You alone who are good. We cling to You Lord, we holdfast to You and pray You holdfast to us!  All by YOUR grace, Lord!  Forgive us, we are such awful sinners! Forgive us, Lord, please, forgive us. We would be with You in the kingdom, Your kingdom!

By YOUR LOVE!

The first shall be last, and the last shall be first

The world's standards of fairness are not God's.  If we desire God to be fair as we imagine fairness we are on the wrong path. 

Our idea of fairness means equality. And that equality means in the following parable the man complaining is right. Read the following about the Kingdom of Heaven...

Mat 20:1  For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard.
Mat 20:2  And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
Mat 20:3  And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
Mat 20:4  And said unto them; Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Mat 20:5  Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise.
Mat 20:6  And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?
Mat 20:7  They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.
Mat 20:8  So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.
Mat 20:9  And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny.
Mat 20:10  But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny.
Mat 20:11  And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house,
Mat 20:12  Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.
Mat 20:13  But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny?
Mat 20:14  Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee.
Mat 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
Mat 20:16  So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

Do you see? The man said it's only fair they get paid more money, they worked longer, harder. They did work longer and harder, so do they deserve more? We want to say yes. But the truth was they agreed upon a set wage. That man was NOT cheated out of the agreed upon wage. They agreed to work for a penny and he gave them a penny.  What he agreed with the others really, truthfully was none of their concern.  They felt cheated when in truth there was no cheating at all. It wasn't any of their business if the man wanted to hire others and pay them the same. Their own selfishness demanded they resent someone working only a fraction of the length of time and getting the same pay. The cry, 'Not fair! Not fair!' ringing out loudly, and it would be the same today.  Would you feel the same resentment? Answer honestly.  Our flesh nature almost demands it.

The last shall be first.
The first shall be last.
Many will be called.
Few will be chosen.

The kingdom of heaven is like this man who hired laborers, many laborers and treated them all with fairness from the first hired to the last hired.

There is no special treatment in heaven. There will be no favored. The idea of such stuff is foreign to heaven.  It's our fleshy sinful nature that demands to be first, that demands special treatment, special consideration. We somehow think we deserve to be treated in certain ways and when we are not we cry out- NO FAIR! NO FAIR! 

We've been taught from our youth to indulge our selfishness. Maybe not in a deliberate way, but by society itself. 

Satan wants us self centered, self motivated, self indulgent, self absorbed, self obsessed, you get the picture.  As long as our minds are upon ourselves we are lost.

Christ came to save us, from the worst sinner to the least of sinners. Christ didn't come to find the most well behaved, Christ came to bring hope to the worst behaved.  Christ wanted all to have HOPE and that HOPE is found in HIM.

By His grace may WE find our hope in HIM. May we look to Him and only Him and not to ourselves. Please Lord, take our selfishness from us, teach us to be more like you.

All by YOUR LOVE, all by YOUR GRACE!

Who then can be saved?

Entering the kingdom of heaven. How many people would buy their way into heaven if they could? We've all watched, read, heard about the very rich using their riches to gain access to things those without riches could never have access to.  We've seen some of their grand palaces, we've heard tell about stores that are closed to all but that rich person, we've heard about rich people having a restaurant closed to all but their personal dining party. These things we've heard and seen in fictional movies portrayed are great shows of wealth. Many a movie has a plot where the rich use their money to buy things that are outrageous to most. Many a movie has created an envy in people to be rich so they too can enjoy such a lavish, powerful life. So when I ask, 'How many people would buy their way into heaven if they could?' The answer very truthfully would be if heaven were accessible by wealth many would give their life savings to buy their way in and most assuredly the rich and very rich would reserve their place in heaven.   Heaven is absolutely beyond any doubt inaccessible by riches. Not a single person will ever be able to buy their way into heaven. From the wealthiest person to the poorest, not a million dollars nor a single cent will buy entrance into the kingdom of heaven.  It's a sad truth that riches corrupt and many a rich person will try to buy favors from men of God, hoping those men of God will use their influence to help them into the kingdom. If a single man of God accepts any money in such a way you can be assured of one thing, that man of God is NOT a true man of God.

Riches will NOT buy entrance to the kingdom of heaven.

And Jesus said the following--

Mat 19:23  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus' words.  So why would anyone ever want to be rich?! 

Why? If you're almost guaranteed NOT to gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven if you are rich, why would you seek riches? Why would you long for riches? Why would you strive to obtain them? Why would you mourn your inability to get them?

We've been conditioned to believe that the things of this earth matter more than anything else. We've been conditioned to believe that our lives are hard and thankless when we have to struggle for every penny. We are taught to long for the life free of worry over money and the things it can do for us.  We are taught to desire so much more than we have living a very simple life.  We are taught to pity those who have never once in their life ever gone on a trip away from their home. We are taught to pity the less fortunate because surely they live their entire lives just wanting to be rich. We are taught to feel awful for those who struggle just to eat, drink, have clothing, and a roof over their heads. Surely they have to want to live a life free of all that horrendous extremely, life threatening poverty.  No, I'm not saying we shouldn't feel pity for them and a desire to help the less fortunate, but in truth those who are poor are closer to the kingdom of heaven than any who have riches. 

Jesus could say that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven because it's TRUTH.  The rich have their focus on earth not on the kingdom of heaven.  Their hearts are with their riches, not in heaven with Christ.

Jesus went on to say the following--

Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle (an IMPOSSIBILITY) than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Riches tie us to earth. Riches tie us to self and selfishness.

What did Jesus' disciples think of what Jesus said? --

Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

They were AMAZED. Why? Because they understood that desire to be rich, to want riches, to aspire for riches, to envy the rich. All of that was a way of life they were brought up with. To look upon the rich as the favored, as those meant to be envied if not personally then envied simply for their wealth. That desire for wealth to ease life's burdens has been around for a very, very long time it's become a part of us. The disciples understood that and were amazed that Jesus would say that it's an impossibility for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.

Jesus responded--

Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

ONLY God can give us entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 
Nothing we do, nothing we imagine we can do, no amount of money can buy us entrance into the kingdom of God.

Not that million dollars, not that single penny will give us that access. Riches from the greatest to the least will not give us heaven. Only God can give us heaven, only GOD and God alone! With God all things are possible, with men of their own accord nothing is possible when it comes to the kingdom of heaven.

We must be solely dependent upon God, upon our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior!

So while we long for riches in what seems to be a natural way in our sinful flesh, we have to comprehend no amount of money in the entire world will give us the greatest treasure in existence- the Kingdom of God. 

Everything, absolutely everything in our lives except Christ and His love, the love He gives us to give others, is temporary to eternity.  The clothes we wear, the houses we live in, the treasure we reap upon earth all of them are only temporary and quite meaningless when it comes to eternity. 

We will have to answer for our stewardship of the money we do get. Do we want to spend our money on ourselves or on the things of Christ? It's so hard for us who live in such a materialistic existence, where our ease and pleasure is so important to us, to imagine not living as we do. Please LORD, help us to live for you and the things You would have us live for. Please LORD, we know that none of our riches mean a single thing unless we can use them for You, the greatest riches or the least riches, must be YOURS. Teach us to do with our money as YOU will, not as we will. Create a clean heart within us, by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, please Lord let us be YOURS in all things! Help us! Satan would keep us as His, free us from HIM, make us YOURS, please LORD we believe, help our unbelief. Please Lord we will, help us keep our minds upon YOU always in all things! Please Lord, You and You alone can do what is impossible for us to do, we need You to do the impossible in us! Heal us! Help us be YOURS!

By YOUR GRACE LORD, by YOUR LOVE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR FORGIVENESS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! IN YOU LORD, ALL IN YOU!  All GLORY PRAISE AND HONOR UNTO YOU!

Suffer the children and forbid them not to come unto me

Mat 19:14  But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.



Again, little children are mentioned in connection with the kingdom of heaven.



Remember the previous time?



Mat_18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.



When something is converted, is it changed?



If I convert a dog house into a storage unit, I'm changing it, right? If I convert a small closet into a large one, I'm changing it, yes? If I convert from one religion to another, I'm changing my religion. Converting means changing.



'To change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product; transform: convert water into ice.'



Pasted from



Jesus said- except we be converted (changed)- except we be changed and that change makes us as little children, we will NOT enter into the kingdom of heaven.



Jesus also said- suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven.



The kingdom of heaven is to be filled with little children and WE must be those little children- converted into the children that will fill the kingdom of heaven. Those who desire to be with Christ. Those who need to be with Christ. Those who would go to Christ eagerly. A child seeking the affection, the security, the comfort, the teaching from a trusted, faithful Christ.  Crawling up onto the lap of Christ, feeling the love of his arms encircling you, giving you the security you need, knowing He will never let you fall. Trusting in Christ to teach you all you need to know. Being loved unconditionally. Giving love to the One who is there to protect you eternally.



Christ Jesus our Savior wants us to be converted, changed to love Him, to trust Him, to depend upon Him as a child would. We are His children.  We are the children of God and we have to fully comprehend this. We are not gods, which too many people believe they are in their own right.  Our Savior wants us to remember we are CHILDREN, forever, HIS CHILDREN, Children of the Kingdom.



I want to be a child of the King.  I want to be converted and become as a little child again for the Kingdom of Heaven. Please Lord, You and You alone can make this possible. You and You alone can make this conversion possible. Please Lord.



In His LOVE, His amazing LOVE.

For the kingdom of heaven's sake

For the kingdom of heaven's sake.

When we say we do something for someone's sake, we are doing it for them. When we say we are doing something for a purpose was say for the sake of that purpose we are doing it. For the sake of the kingdom of heaven, we might do the following, read till the end.

Mat 19:3  The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
Mat 19:4  And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Mat 19:5  And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Mat 19:6  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mat 19:7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
Mat 19:8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
Mat 19:9  And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
Mat 19:10  His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
Mat 19:11  But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
Mat 19:12  For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

*******

Marriage isn't easy we all know that. Two people being in agreement isn't easy. Two people being as one- not easy, not like it was meant to be. Because of sin we are at odds with each other more often than not. It's not surprise that men and women want to divorce each other. It isn't easy, it takes hard work and dedication to remain married especially today when divorce is so easy to obtain. 

Marriage is also an analogy for Christ and His people- the church.  When God's people went astray they were adulterers.  Betraying God for which there is no, absolutely no excuse. We can't and shouldn't even want to divorce ourselves from God. He is everything!  Is it any wonder that God doesn't want us to as married couples to divorce? The symbolism is there.

Moses allowed for divorce, why? Because of the hardness of the peoples hearts. For our weakness it was allowed.  Jesus said- if a man puts away his wife (except for adultery) then he is sinning, breaking one of the ten moral laws.  After saying this, the disciples said- if this is how it is, it's better not to marry.

Did Jesus dispute that? Yes.

He said-  ALL men CANNOT receive this. All men could NOT remain unmarried.

Jesus explained further- Some men would remain unmarried because they would be physically unable to be married- to consummate marriage. Some men would become unable to consummate marriage because they'd be physically incapacitated by other men making them so.  Also, there would be those who would incapacitate themselves and they would do that for the kingdom of heaven's sake.  Not all would or could do it.

We also know this--

1Co 7:4  The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
1Co 7:5  Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
1Co 7:6  But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.
1Co 7:7  For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

It IS better not to marry- but EVERY man has his proper gift of God, not every man is to be unmarried.

We have a whole religion - the Catholic religion that makes it mandatory for their priests to remain unmarried- something that is NOT Biblically sanctioned but a man made decree. Paul, himself, said not all would remain unmarried. Peter was married.

Mat 8:14  And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
Mat 8:15  And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.

Yet, for some reason the Catholic church has decided that to serve God you must remain unmarried. Not even Christ said that, yet they want it to be so.

Christ said- some would do this for the kingdom of heaven's sake. Some would refrain from marriage. Some would deny themselves marriage and ALL that entails so they could keep on their path to the kingdom of heaven.

Is it harder to be married and enter the kingdom of heaven?

Yes.

Because a man has to take his wife into consideration in things and a wife can lead a man astray, and vice versa.

Solomon the wisest man was led astray by his wives, wives that were not God's but worshipped false gods and idols.

The power of being led astray is something we (who are far from being wise on the same scale as Solomon) cannot deny. We might want to deny it but we can't.

Being married is a huge undertaking and only by the grace of God may we be married remain HIS and find in Him the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you're not married and you're reading this and you are honestly thinking about remaining unmarried because you realize that it is God's will for you, then may God bless you in this decision. May God help you and give you the strength you need.

May God help all of us.

Those of us who are married have to understand that being married isn't right for everyone and if we can encourage those who are called to remain unmarried, then that's what we should do, all by the grace of God.

The kingdom of heaven, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven we put self last in all things.

The kingdom of heaven -our Lord Jesus Christ!

IN HIM, through HIS LOVE!

Forgiveness- the kingdom of heaven

Mat 18:21  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Mat 18:22  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Mat 18:23  Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
Mat 18:24  And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
Mat 18:25  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Mat 18:26  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:27  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
Mat 18:28  But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
Mat 18:29  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
Mat 18:30  And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
Mat 18:31  So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Mat 18:32  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
Mat 18:33  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Mat 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat 18:35  So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

*******

We must forgive.
And we must forgive from our hearts.

We live in a world full of payback.  We demand payback from others and often with interest attached. We prey upon the weak, the less fortunate and we do so while happily counting our fortunes, or...maybe not.  Maybe we simply get slighted by someone and feel the desire- the instant desire- to slight back.  Do we forgive much?  Do we forgive little things, just let them go and no longer hold them over the head of the offender?

The offenders- those who hurt us.

Have you forgiven everyone, every slight?  Or do you pass by someone who has hurt you and still feel the pang of injury they caused you?  Do you hear the mere mention of the name of someone who hurt you, and cringe inwardly? 

How are people to forgive great offenders?

How are people to let go of the trauma an offense brings with it?

When an offense has forever altered our lives, day in and day out the reminders are all around us, how then do we forgive?

Is forgiveness forgetting?

We can't deliberately erase our memories, we don't have that capability. The best we can do is as we remember we forgive again and again, and again. Forgiveness is a living entity all its own that must be fed. Sometimes the creature of forgiveness only needs a tiny bit of feeding to survive, that forgiveness is so complete. Other times, that forgiveness needs to be feed several times in one day because of our inability to lay the offense to rest in our minds. Time often has a way of lessening the hunger but even then there might be days when the forgiveness needs to feed more than others. Sometimes we think we've completely put to rest a certain creature of forgiveness and then we are surprised when it rears up roaring to be fed all over again.  We must feed forgiveness and the feeding IS actively forgiving over and over and over.

How often do we forgive?

We forgive endlessly. Yes, endlessly.

Why?

Because we need endless forgiveness from our God.

The kingdom of heaven is like a forgiving king.

If we are not forgiving, we will not be forgiving.

If we are not forgiving we will not be in the kingdom of heaven where forgiveness is paramount. 

Forgiveness- the kingdom of heaven.

Please Lord, we would be in the Kingdom with You, we would be YOURS, we would be forgiven, we would forgive.

Help us to forgive over and over again, forever forgiving, forgiving without end.

By Your LOVE!

As this little child

The greatest- the least.

This is a concept we don't quite fully comprehend, do we?  It's contradictory. The greatest cannot be the least it's an impossibility. 

Mat 23:11  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

Again, the greatest, a servant?!

Somewhere we all got this twisted up and backwards didn't we?

Those who are great have servants.
Those who are great are far from the least.

Those two things are what we believe to be true, but they're not true according to our Savior Jesus Christ.  The greatest among people here on earth were to be the least, to be servants.

The greatest in the kingdom of heaven...

Mat 18:1  At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
Mat 18:2  And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3  And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

These verses bear a bit of discussion…

First, Jesus says EXCEPT you are converted, EXCEPT you become as little children, you SHALL NOT enter the kingdom.

Do you see, the Disciples asked a question, they asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, but Jesus didn't just tell them the answer. He first told them there was a possibility they wouldn't even enter the kingdom.  Just imagine hearing that as you're waiting for a reply to your question. 

Except you are converted from your adulthood and become as a little child, you're NOT getting into Heaven.

Converted to a child.

We spend all our childhood being told to grow up, and then here you are grown up and you're being told to be like a child.  What defines being a child?  Jesus went on to say- 'Whosever therefore shall humble himself as this little child- the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.' 

Does humbleness define a child?  Nowadays you'd be hard pressed to say that it does, wouldn't you? A lot of children are defiant and victims of their upbringings, society, and the times we live in.  Still, a lot of children keep their innocent inquiries, don't they? They keep a certain innocence about them till they're around seven or eight.

We don't know how old the child was that Jesus held, but the child was old enough to listen to Jesus and come to Him when he was called. 

Humble like a child.  What makes a child humble? Their innocence, their eagerness to learn because there is so much they don't know? Their ability to love just because you are there for them to love you? Their total dependability on you for all their needs?

Our Savior wants us to totally depend upon Him for all our needs, He wants to be looked to for everything. We need to recognize our need of total dependence upon Christ, and no dependence upon ourselves. In a world that stresses independence Christ stresses dependence. We will NEVER be too old to depend totally upon Christ, never! Like a child, because we ARE CHILDREN of the KING.  We are CHILDREN! CHILDREN!  And even while we are to move from milk to solid food, even young children have that experience- weaning doesn't mean grown up, weaning means going from infancy, from toddling, to being a child, then from child to preteen, then teenager and then adult. There is a progression of aging and we are forever children with our Heavenly Father, forever our Father.  We will truly only enter the Kingdom of Heaven by being like that little child sitting upon Jesus' lap.  That total dependence upon another to supply everything for us- food, clothing, a home, love. Someone to teach us all we need to know about life. And Christ will teach us all we need to know about eternal life.

Please, LORD, we would be Your children! We would enter the kingdom of heaven to be with You for eternity!  Please, LORD, teach us all we need to know, we trust that you and you alone will be our way to the Kingdom! Through YOUR LOVE, YOUR MERCY, YOUR FORGIVENESS! All through YOU!