Daily Bread

Your Kingdom Come

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Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10 ESV

How many times have we prayed this prayer wondering how or when we might see God’s kingdom without considering that He might be most interested in it coming in our home? Maybe that is because we are more accustomed to think of God’s kingdom as only a heavenly place with gold streets and pearly gates. But that part of God’s kingdom is not in need of coming; it already is.

When Jesus taught us how to pray it was all about worship and change. We worship our Father in Heaven, then item by item we pray for Him to change our hearts to be like His.

The title of the well known hymn “I surrender all” is exactly how we should come to the Lord’s Prayer. Why not start a surrender list this morning something like this; Your kingdom come your will be done in my choices relationships and schedule, as it is in heaven? We will be amazed to see what our day may be when it all belongs to Him!

Packing a Suitcase For Heaven

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Cast your burden on the Lord , and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Psalms 55:22 ESV

Some burdens feel like an overweight suitcase dragging behind us as we run through the airport of life.  But God promises us that if we ask Him, He will carry it for us. In God’s calendar He has marked a day for our departure from our planet and like every other trip we must pack our suitcases. We have a close friend who has traveled so often that he joked that he could pack for overseas in 15 minutes. The reason for his boast was that he had learned the secret not only of what to bring, but also what to leave behind. When we pack for heaven that is doubly true. First be sure to include lots of mercy. Mercy takes up almost no space at all and considering how often we mess up here on earth I need plenty! 

Second be sure to include the portion of faith that God has given you. Remember that in heaven we will still walk by faith because even after we see His face we still need to trust in His goodness. And don’t forget to stuff in so much love, joy and praise that you may need to sit on your suitcase to get it closed. The way to have enough room for all these is learning what to leave behind. The first thing to take out is bitterness because it will make our luggage way too heavy. And as you are tossing that out you can put complaining back on the shelf as well. God won’t be interested to hear from us about our brother or sisters faults. He will instead show us how much it cost Him to forgive ours. God is so good and any day one of us will stand before Him. What we choose to pack or not pack for our most important journey will stay with us forever. Be sure to travel light!

 

 

Slow Down!

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But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.            Matthew 6:6 NIV

There are always dangerous curves ahead in life, but if you are anything like me you find the urge to I hit the ground running in the morning. We are anxious to not fall behind, but speeding ahead is not great if you are on the Titanic sailing straight into an iceberg!

Jesus teaches us that before we talk to anyone, do anything or make any plans we need to go alone with our Father. Remember that angels fly, the unbelieving world is always on the run but throughout the Bible we read that God walks. If we want to spend our day close to Him we must find a way to slow down our pace so that we can hear His voice and walk one step at a time with Jesus!

Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly. Mother Teresa

sunset over schooley pond