Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The return of our King

Isaiah 11:1-5
The return of our King

     Then a shoot will spring up from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear; but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; and He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt around His loins, and faithfulness the belt about His waist.
     This is our King! Sometimes it feels like a great story that is supposed to come to pass eventually but doesn’t feel like we’ll be in the middle of the fulfillment of it. I long for the day of His return! I long to see His kingdom in complete control of the earth. Our enemy the devil is continually trying to establish himself here but he knows that it truly is impossible, for Jesus has promised to return and rule over us. The devil’s kingdom cannot stand before Him. Therefore the only ones who will be in trouble at the return of our king are the proud of heart who love breaking His laws.
     What does it matter if the devil opposes us – his reign is at an end. Jesus not only prevailed against him but has also given us the power to do the same. Jesus is returning and when He left He called us to be care-takers of His property and to work diligently with it until He returns and settles accounts with us.

What are you doing with His property?

     Is it growing under your care and bearing fruit? When Jesus returns will you present Him with a handful of weeds or with the fruit of earnest toil in what He has given you to work with? It is not too late to assess what God has given you and to begin making the most of it for His kingdom. All earthly gain will be burned up at His return, but all spiritual work will remain and be accounted for. I guarantee that when Jesus returns none of us will say, “I wish I had worked more so that I had a bigger house or more stuff.” Rather, we will be wishing we had done more for Him with what we had and not wasted so much time and energy on ourselves. God has given each of us something, whether it is time, talents, or money to work with and how faithful we are to use it for Him is up to us. When Jesus returns the work is finished and what we have done will be measured. I’m pretty sure that when we stand before Him that none of us will say, “I wish I had watched a lot more movies!” No, if we want real wages for our labor we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added to us. – Matt. 6:33
     Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. We hear these words and are stirred to action but soon we get distracted and forget the urgency of them. This is where we need to burn some bridges so that our flesh doesn’t choke out the fruit. We need to fast from TV, Movies, books and Magazines that don’t glorify God. We need to put them away so that we can open up room in our minds for the Light of Christ. Jesus says that if what our eye sees is darkness then our whole body will be full of darkness, but if our eye is full of light our body will be full of light also. This world is full of media that pollutes our minds with evil desires and destroys innocence. How can a polluted mind think spiritual thoughts? The things of this world pollute the soul and drive out all purity. The world does not produce what is holy therefore we must put it aside and seek the things of God that we might be made new by the renewing of our mind. Romans 12:2
     Let us seek the Lord and separate ourselves unto His service. Let us bear fruit and work diligently with all that He has given us to work with! 
     May God bless you and fill you with the refreshing joy of His Holy Spirit!
                                                                                                                                - Seth

11 comments:

  1. Seth's right about the tv , movies, and books that do not glorify our God and King. I am going to cut a lot of this stuff out of my life. I going to only watch Christian movies and shows like National Geographic Wildlife, God's Creation, and maybe the news( I many times when viewing the news, pray for the victims, etc). I'm also going to stop going to the theaters with my friends too. 99% of the time when we go, we see and hear stuff I know God abhors. I always try to tell myself, "oh it's ok....it's just fun with my friends", or when I am watching one of those movies on tv, with profanity, nudity, God's name in vane, etc,
    "oh, it's ok. God will overlook it". But no matter what I try telling myself I keep getting a very clear message from God saying, "Do not do thist".
    I'm going rely on the Power Jesus has given me, to overcome this... the power Seth is talking about above. Thanks Seth for bringing this tv, magazines, movies to my attention.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I cannot speak for anyone but myself, when I try to do something on my own I always fail. Such as New Year’s resolution, I always fail within a day, week or a month. I’m always reminded of Isaiah 64:6 KJV : But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness’s are filthy rags.

    My prayer is not give up things but to give more of me to the Lord. In Colossians 2:9 (NIV) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity live in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ. For me this verse tells me All That God is, is in Christ, Christ is in us then we have all that God is. The problem is I have only given a small portion over to the Lord. The more I give him, and then Christ replaces those things with himself.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Larry. I love the way you say in your prayer, you want to give more of yourself to The Lord and the more you give Him, the more He replaces Himself . It reminds me of the verse, where Jesus says, "I in him, him in me..." You remember that verse? I wish I had my concordance to quote it. Thank you for your inspiring words.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think that both Claudette and Larry have very valid points. Larry, your analysis of Col 2:9 is excellent: "For me this verse tells me All That God is, is in Christ, Christ is in us then we have all that God is." That is some marvelous, clear reasoning I plan to meditate and reflect on! But Claudette's points are also extremely true. If Seth's inspiring words have brought to her mind the "voice of God" calling to Claudette to turn from the world and the noise thereof, only acting on these things and turning off useless, worthless, and often sinful TV, movies, and magazines will give her the space in her heart to be open to the fullness of Christ within her. Only freedom from noise will open up those parts of her heart distracted by the noise so she CAN receive more of the fullness of the Lord. 2 things cannot occupy the same space--it's noise OR the still, small voice of God!

    However, Larry, I completely agree with you when you mention that "if I try to do something on my own I always fail." This is 100% true for me also. I now pray, "Lord, this is impossible for me so I give you permission to come deeply within me and do this for me by Your presence and grace, for it is written, "But with God nothing is impossible." I pray this prayer as I walk toward the TV nob to turn it on. I pray and pray and pray! "I give You permission to stop me, Lord!" I believe God appreciates every time we humble ourselves and act honestly before Him.

    So far I have been consistly able to turn off the TV. Interestingly, Claudette, I recently walked out on a movie that I had gone to with 6 of my friends. I thought, "I can look like a fool now, or I can explain to a Holy God later why I watched this trash!!" For me, it's the magazines in the grocery store that are now my constant battle!!--Aunt Sue

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'd like to ask everyone what they think about, when Jesus comes back. How do you picture it? When do you see Jesus on the white horse, "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True....He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God...On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS". REV 19:11-16. Can you visualize this? And How about His Reign on this earth for 1000 years? Rev 20:4 ? How do you all picture this in relationship to what Seth is saying on The Return Of Our King?????

    ReplyDelete
  6. Until the Lord returns we’ll always have battles, thank the Lord the battles are not ours alone to fight.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Larry The Lord say the battle belongs to him. But trails we will always have, but be of good cheer He has overcome the world.

      Delete
  7. I’ve been in a few studies on Rev and they all were a little difference, but there’s one thing that is true. The Lord will return and all will be judge. How would I react when he comes on a white horse, scared.
    As for the 1000 year reign, I don’t know. I’m just trying to live thru these years I have now. Sorry I have to be honest.

    ReplyDelete
  8. As far as I understand it, if we do not prove ourselves worthy in the time we have, we won't *want* to be with Christ when He returns to reign, kind of like when we are in total darkness all night long and someone suddenly turns the light on. We squint, and it's uncomfortable, and we want to rush to turn the light off. So I imagine it will be if we don't open our eyes to the Light now, while we can. I just read this quote, paraphrased "Those who do not move do not recognize their chains". Blessings to you all and I am enjoying your thoughtful and good comments. Patti

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Larry in your first question Rev. 19:11 says now I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse .And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in rightousness He judges and makes war. We don't know when our time is up thats where our trust in the Lord and stay close to Him.Its a daily walk.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Bible tells us that there’s only one that’s worthy and that’s Our Lord, I cannot count myself worthy. Paul writes in Roman 7: 19-24 that whatever he wanted to do he didn’t and whatever he didn’t want to do that’s what he did.
    All I know is that Christ is my everything, if I need faith, he’s my faith; if I need trust he’s my trust; he’s whatever I need. I’m only worthy for what he did.

    ReplyDelete