A King and His Kingdom

This morning brings a lot of deep thoughts, some of which I wanted to share with my Mirror Time family.

Has anyone ever been saved from danger before? Were you grateful to the person that rescued you? To what degree? How long did your gratitude last after things went back to normal again in your life? After you shared your harrowing tale with friends and family a hundred times, how many times after that did you share it? Do you still continue to remember the intricate details? Is it still fresh in your mind after all this time?

Or have you forgotten how it felt to be in need of rescuing due to the demands of your busy life?

On small levels, we’ve all helped someone out of scrapes, or been a help to them when they were seemingly without viable options. There’s always a danger of the rescuer being quickly forgotten over time. No more trouble, no more need for a rescuer, I suppose?

The concern is that once we get past the rough patches, we forget who helped us get through and how we got there in the first place. We’re in a good place so we become forgetful, ungrateful, and simply living in our moment, without consideration or hope for the future. We just tend to do what we want when we want and do our own thing. But is that what we were born to do? Is that the impact we were created to produce?

As believers in Christ, we recognize the sacrifices of greater men and women than us, including and above all, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ are still seen in the liberties and freedoms we enjoy today. We have been rescued from a destructive lifestyle that leads to separation from God but we are still being kept. Every single day.

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:28-29 KJV)

As a Christian, I am blowing it if I acknowledge that I’m saved and revel in that but daily ignore my Kingdom responsibilities. We cry out for healing, we receive, then run off with our certification of healing, neglecting to thank the Healer as well as the added responsibility to let the world (and those that may still be afflicted) that healing is possible, despite how dire things may seem. I have dropped that ball but I doubt I’m alone.

Many are under the belief that what we are currently experiencing is all that there is and we have no future beyond our now. Israel begged and pleaded for a king to rule over them, to be up to par with their neighbors and rivals, essentially ignoring the one they already had. I’m choosing the King they denied and the Kingdom yet to arrive.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:13-14)

Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.” (Mark 4:30-32)

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:31-33)