Whose kingdom will you build?

 4 Jan 26

Today's devotional: taken from YouVersion, Devotions on F.I.R.E. Year One


Readings:

Genesis 9

Genesis 10

Genesis 11

Matthew 4


Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory (Matthew 4:8). 


Whose kingdom will you build?

Nimrod, whose name derives from the Hebrew meaning “rebel”, builds for himself a kingdom. Moses records, “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar” (Genesis 10:10). Satan, who is called “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31), tries to divert Jesus from His calling by showing and then offering Him the kingdoms of this world. Our Lord isn’t distracted because He stays focused on the Word. “It is written” gives us the first recorded words of Jesus from the New Testament (Matthew 4:4). He preaches about a different kingdom than the one embraced by Nimrod and Satan. Jesus proclaims, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). 


Employment Point: Partner with Jesus to build His enduring kingdom.

——————-

Reflections

The reading of Matthew 4 reminded me how Simon, Andrew, James and John left their only livelihood and their father to follow Jesus. What were they thinking? They don’t even really know who Jesus is?!


Today, we know who is Jesus. We know what He does and we know who we are to Him as well. But do we have the kind of faith like Peter, John, James and Andrew to leave everything and everyone (even family), to follow Him? Many may say it is unreasonable to leave our own parents to follow someone whom we barely knew. Some may even say that we are demon-possessed and had lost our minds, etc. The fact is, we should know better, to choose what is better and to do what is better.


After reading the word and writing reflections daily for almost 3-4 years, I asked myself. Whatever I am doing now, would that be considered as building God’s kingdom or am I just building something for myself?


Father help us to anchor ourselves to You. Men will always be men and nobody is perfect. Help us to keep seeking You and Your righteousness and obey Your commands and Your word. In Jesus’s most powerful name we pray. Amen 🙏🏻 

———————

Why Can’t I Follow Now?

BY OSWALD CHAMBERS

January 04


Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now?” —John 13:37


There are times when we can’t do what we want, and we don’t understand why. When this happens, wait. It is God who brings these blank spaces into our lives, and it is God who must fill them.


A blank space might come before we are sanctified, to teach us what sanctification means. Or it might come after, to teach us what service means. Whatever the reason, we must not try to fill it on our own. Never run before God’s guidance. If there is the slightest doubt, then he is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt, don’t.
Sometimes, we have a clear picture of an outcome God wants for us—the end of a certain friendship or business relationship, for example—but we are not sure about how God wants to accomplish it. If it isn’t clear that God wishes us to act, we must wait. If we act impulsively, on a feeling, we will end up causing difficulties that could take years to put right. Wait for God, and he will accomplish the task without any heartbreak or disappointment.


In John 13, Peter doesn’t want to wait. “I will lay down my life for you,” he declares to Jesus (v. 37). It’s an honest declaration, but an ignorant one: Peter doesn’t know himself as Jesus does. “Jesus answered . . . ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!’” (v. 38). The feeling Peter wants to act on, his natural devotion to Jesus, is a good one. But Jesus wants him to act on something else—not devotion but discipleship. He uses the blank space, the “not now,” to discipline Peter and bring about the thing Peter wants in the proper way and at the proper time.


Genesis 10-12; Matthew 4


WISDOM FROM OSWALD

Wherever the providence of God may dump us down, in a slum, in a shop, in the desert, we have to labour along the line of His direction. Never allow this thought—“I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly can be of no use where you are not! Wherever He has engineered your circumstances, pray.

———————-

Reflections

Sometimes the season of waiting is also a season or preparation 2-in-1. No amount of waiting will go to waste. He definitely knows us better than ourselves when He wants us to wait. Not to torture us but to teach us to rely on Him. He knows what we do not and He knows how others think when we don’t. The only and best way to do is just to obey Him. For sure, He loves us and wants the best for us. He allows negotiations but we too need to be careful what we asked for.


Sometimes we decide and we go on a detour, it doesn’t change the ultimate goal in His plan but it changes the route of how it will go. A normal straight path in His plan may become winding as if we run 40 years in the wilderness. But in the end, He still has the ability to bring us home. However, we do need to know that we cannot keep choosing to avoid. Avoidance does not solve any issue and it is a total waste of time. We could have faced the problems head on and it will be done in no time.


So trust in the Lord’s timing and just flow with Him. Let Him and let be.

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