Tag: pride

The Father’s Kingdom Revealed

It would seem that upon His act of proving life beyond the flesh, He also revealed the “place” of His Father’s kingdom…

Meditation Thought: “I shall not drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29)

The “next time” Jesus ate (and presumably drank) with His disciples was after His death and resurrection. This would indicate that He considered His “Father’s kingdom” where He and the disciples were eating together – which was in Galilee, which was in the world, where the disciples were – where Jesus had requested they meet Him.

It would seem that upon His act of proving life beyond the flesh, He also revealed the “place” of His Father’s kingdom: the place being wherever the resurrected Christ meets a believer. Or perhaps, more accurately, the place where a believer meets the resurrected Christ, as he proceeds according to directions given to him by Christ.

The directions for us are “spelled out” in His direction to His original disciples. His teachings concerning God and God’s kingdom were intended for all: this was His very purpose of birth and death and resurrection in the flesh.

As was true of the disciples, we can be with Him only by joining Him – and He is in the Father’s kingdom. This is where we shall find Him: not in a church building, nor in another’s faith – but in our own inner spirit and mind, with a contrite and searching heart. Only when we begin to grasp the awesomeness – and the power – of the resurrection can we have the courage and fortitude to find the kingdom where we can meet our Lord, and allow Him to teach us about our Father and our Father’s kingdom.

This kingdom is so unlike our physical environment that it takes adjustments in many areas to even begin to comprehend it. It is more like traveling to a new planet than a new country. Not only is there a difference of language (consider how many ways Jesus attempted to describe what the kingdom is like – there seemed to be no adequate words in our language to reveal it accurately) – but a difference of cultural values, of perception of priorities, and a totally new environment, requiring a different style of living in every area.

No wonder it takes us a long time to have even a remote conception of what we are encountering in this kingdom where we meet Him!

It is made even more difficult to stay with Him as the world attempts to get us to remain focused upon it, and remain concerned only with the physical and with the self-interest aspects of life. Only by conscious, consistent effort are we able to stay focused on Christ and thus remain in His Presence in the kingdom.

We simply do not have the stamina to do this alone: we must admit we do not have that much power within ourselves, and ask Him to hold us close, and lend us His strength to do all that we need to do as the Father’s children – obedient and reflective of Him in character and in deeds. This is the only way that it is possible to be with Jesus in the Father’s kingdom.

In one respect, it costs us dearly – our pride must be paid as ransom – but in another respect it is free – Jesus has paid the ransom for our sin of rebellion against the Father.

When we are able to be willing to pay the pride and to accept the gift, we have found the key to unlock the gate to the Father’s kingdom. April 26, 1983

A Humble Posture

Meditation Thought: “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble… humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.” (James 4:6 & 10)

Do not be a rebellious child, opposing the will of your Father, who has your best interest at heart, and who has infinitely greater wisdom and knowledge than do you.

Do you understand that for you to be proud is for you to rebel against your Father, and to distort the personality that is to be true to His image?

When you approach life – spirit life or physical life – with an attitude of humility – which is an attitude of being open to learn, of accepting the rights of others as equal to your own – and then choose to give them more rights than your own out of love, because you are the child of Love and you have come to know that if you give in love, you receive in love plus interest.

At first it appears a sacrifice to be humble – that you are giving up position, or are putting yourself down, not giving credit for your assets.

But these are not the attributes of true humility: true humility is the recognition of the fact that you are the child, and the Father is the Father, that He loves His other children as He loves you, and He desires good for all of you. He desires you love each other as He loves you, and He desires that you seek to encourage and uplift each other as He does His transforming works, bringing all to maturity under His teaching.

It is right to be proud of being the child of God; that is having true position. But humility is expressed when you recognize that this position is not of your own doing, but an act of loving grace from your Father.

To seek to be the very best you can be, as a unique child of the most powerful Force in the universe is to realize that, though the Father grants you many privileges, they are gifts to you, and not the results of your won creating, your own power.

So long as you seek to receive the gifts your Father delights in giving you in an attitude of gratitude and an eagerness to use the gifts as He intends them to be used for good, then you remain in an humble posture, and a flexible posture in which the Father is able to teach you and guide you effectively.

If you begin to delude yourself that the privileges are yours because you are so great within yourself that they are your “due” – and you take them for granted, and give no thanks for them – then you have become proud, and your Father needs to withhold the privileges in order for you to once again come into the proper attitude which is pleasing to Him and which is for your own good.

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