SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/12/2024 11:37 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Reckoning We Face”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
25:19-27
Message of the verses: “19 "Now after
a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.
20 "The one who had received the
five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you
entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’ 21 “His
master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with
a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of
your master.’ 22 "Also the one who had received the two talents
came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained
two more talents.’ 23 “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful
slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many
things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 “And the one also who had
received the one talent came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man,
reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.
25 ‘And I was afraid, and went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you
have what is yours.’ 26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You wicked,
lazy slave, you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I
scattered no seed. 27 ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank,
and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest.”
I have mentioned that there are
times as I read through the commentaries of John MacArthur that he writes a lot
of things between the verses that he is commenting on and that is the time when
I will usually quote from his commentaries as I prepare my Spiritual Diaries,
and today I will begin with one of those sections, a section that speaks about
the subject of heaven.
“Of the many things heaven will be,
it will not be boring. Our heavenly
perfection, for example, will not be a matter simply of never making a
mistake. Nor will it be always making a
hole in one or a home run, as it were.
Rather it will be a time of ever-expanding and increasing joyous
service, and the saints who then will serve the most and rejoice the most will
be those who have served the Lord most steadfastly while on earth. Every soul in heaven will equally possess
eternal life and will be equally righteous, equally Christlike, and equally
glorious. Everyone will be equally
perfect, because perfection has no degrees.
The difference will be in opportunities and levels of service. Just as the angels serve God in ranks, so
will redeemed men and women, and the degree of their heavenly service will have
been determined by the devotedness of their earthly service.
“Heaven will not involve differing
qualities of service, because everything heavenly is perfect. Everything done for the Lord will be
perfectly right and perfectly satisfying.
There will be no distinctions of superiority or inferiority, and there
will be no envy, jealously, or any other remnant of sinful human nature. Whatever one’s rank or responsibility or
opportunity, those will be God’s perfect will for that individual and
therefore, will be perfectly enjoyed. In
a way that is beyond our present comprehension, believers will be both equal
and unequal in the Millennium and in the eternal state.
“In the parable of the pounds, the
nobleman who was going into a far country to receive a kingdom gave ten of his
servants one mina each to do business with until he returned. When the nobleman came back the servant who
had multiplied his mina tenfold was rewarded with authority over ten cities and
the one who had multiplied his mina fivefosd was given authority over five
cities (Luke 10:12-19). In that parable
it is even more explicit that Jesus was speaking of millennial and eternal
rewards, because they are specifically bestowed after the nobleman’s kingdom
was established. And as in the parable
of the talents, the kingdom rewards are in proportion to earthly
faithfulness.
“Jesus also mentions a second reward the master gives to the faithful slave: enter into the joy of your master. Not only will believers be rewarded in heaven with still greater opportunity for service, but they will even share the divine joy of their master. In addition to sharing the Lord’s divine sinlessness and holiness they will also share His divine joy.
“Imagine the consummate ecstasy believers will have
when they fully comprehend the significance of having their sins forever
abolished and their righteousness forever established! It was the joyful prospect of providing that
gracious redemption that motivated Christ to endure the cross and despise its
shame (Heb. 12:2).”
Lord willing we will begin to talk
about the second slave as we begin the next SD.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is really
good to hear about some things that will be going on in heaven as I think at
times that the Lord does not talk that much about heaven is because it would be
hard for us to not want to get there right away and experience all that will go
on there.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust the
Lord to get me through the very difficult things that I am going through at
this time and for the last month. I have
been emotionally depressed, along with spiritually depressed, and have been
physically sick most of the time in the last month. I think that the reason for this is because
of the enemy of my soul has been attacking me over some of the things that have
been happening on the two blogs that I write.
That is all I will say about that.
3/12/2024
12:04 PM
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