SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/6/2020
9:44 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “The
Motive”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt. 3:2b
Message of the verses: “2 “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
We
have been talking about the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of heaven and the
question has come up as to what kind of kingdom are living in now, now that the
King has returned to heaven being turned down by the nation of Israel. The first prophesied kingdom such as the one
foretold by Daniel, and the second phrase is the “present kingdom,” the one
that existed at the time of John the Baptist that we see he mentions here. Then there is a third phase and that may be
referred to as the “interim” kingdom, the kingdom that has come into existence because,
as mentioned because the Jews rejected her King. We mentioned that the King is now in heaven
and His kingdom on earth now exists only in a mystery form. MacArthur writes “Christ is Lord of the earth
in the sense of His being its Creator and its ultimate Ruler; but He does not
presently exercise His full divine will over the earth. He is, so to speak, in a voluntary exile in
heaven until it is time for Him to return again. He reigns only in the hearts of those who
know Him as Savior and Lord. For those ‘the
kingdom of God is…righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Rom.
14:17).”
Now
for those of you who have looked at my study of Revelation we have talked about
a fourth phase which can be described as the “manifest” kingdom, and in that
phase Jesus Christ will return to earth and reign from David’s throne in
Jerusalem for 1000 years, the Millennial Kingdom. Christ will rule in this kingdom both
externally and internally as He rules externally over all mankind, and also
internally in the hearts of those who belong to Him by faith. There is a fifth kingdom phrase, and that is
the “eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,’ which ‘will be
abundantly supplied’ to all of His own, (2 Peter 1:11).
If
the people of Israel would had accepted their King when He first came to earth
then there would have been no interim kingdom, but they did not. MacArthur concludes “The kingdom ‘at hand’
would have become the kingdom of a thousand years, which, in turn, would have
ushered in the eternal kingdom. But
because they killed the forerunner of the King and then the King Himself, the
millennial kingdom, and consequently the eternal kingdom, were sovereignly
postponed.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It has been good for me to be reminded that I
am a part of the interim kingdom as the Lord, in the person of the Holy Spirit
lives in me. I am thankful for that.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To continue to ask the Lord to give me joy as
I study His Word, and another thing that I desire is to have more conversations
with my Lord: pray without ceasing.”
Our quotation from “Love in Action”
today comes from the book of Romans.
Let love be without hypocrisy.
Romans
12:9
Not lagging in diligence, fervent in
spirit, serving the Lord.
Romans
12:11
Distributing to the needs of the saints,
given to hospitality.
Romans
12:13
1/6/2020 10:26 AM
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