"The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all" Psalm 103:19
Well, that settles it. End of this week's blog post. Join me here next week for me discussing baseball or comic book artwork.
It's interesting when something you truly believe is pointed out, and you get thinking about it. It's that "oh yeah that's right" moment. One of our pastors said "Jesus sits on the throne regardless of what we think" (Thanks Dave). And, I went "Oh yeah that's right I believe that. Don't I?"
In a lot of ways we don't believe that because we didn't put him on the throne. We can feel that God's sovereignty over creation relies on us putting him there. Regardless of how we might feel in the moment, Jesus is king and Lord of the universe. We decide how we want to react to that news.
2 Chronicles 20:6 states "O Lord, God of our Fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you"
In John 5:16-47, Jesus points out His authority very explicitly. He also points out who testifies to this. Jesus says he doesn't testify about himself - but he points out that John the Baptist, Moses, and God himself testifies to that fact. All of creation testifies to that fact even when we don't.
I like the fact that Jesus, himself, in this passage , doesn't put the glory on himself as he deserves from us. He points that He is only doing what His Father does and shows Him. Jesus is always pointing to His Father. He says in verse 24, "whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life". Jesus, even in all His authority and kingship keeps the focus on the Father. That's very hard to understand in today's society of "look at me" and "see what I am doing". In this, Jesus gives us the model for all our ministries. The focus should, and always should, be on God and not what we are doing.
So, if Jesus the ruler of all, ministers like this, who are we to put the glory on ourselves? It's easy to get caught up in what we are doing, or what sacrifices we are making, or the problems we are facing in our ministries and we lose sight of the real reason for why we are involved in ministry. As a matter of fact, its not our ministry - so that should help us focus. But, instead it's an easy trap to fall into.
It's easy to even put our church, or our leaders, or our programs on the throne instead of Jesus. If we have good preaching or good ministries, we might get suckered into believing that it's our own stuff that is doing the work. I'm not saying good solid preachers and programs are bad things (these are important things too). My statement is to make sure who is glorified. God blesses us with His vision and allows us to implement our ideas (as long as they don't cross purposes with God's plans or He has something better). He gets the glory for the results, not us. If we keep ourselves focused on God's glory, the rest tends to work itself out.
Why do I ignore Jesus' sovereignty on the throne then? Usually when Jesus' plans don't line up with my ideas or when I have to wait. Then, it's easier for me to believe He's not completely in charge. However, because I don't place Him on the throne of my heart, doesn't mean He's really not in charge. That would be like me saying I don't believe its oxygen I am breathing even if I don't see it just on a greater scale. They are still true despite my best efforts to place other things on the throne. If I don't see it, maybe its not true.
The truth is Jesus reigns supreme. He doesn't force me to believe it, nor does He force you to accept. He introduces Himself into our lives, reveals Himself, and all the things that have been done for us. Then, we get the chance to respond to that with our hearts and minds. Who sits on the throne of your heart? People can tell based on where we put the glory in our lives.
Well, that settles it. End of this week's blog post. Join me here next week for me discussing baseball or comic book artwork.
It's interesting when something you truly believe is pointed out, and you get thinking about it. It's that "oh yeah that's right" moment. One of our pastors said "Jesus sits on the throne regardless of what we think" (Thanks Dave). And, I went "Oh yeah that's right I believe that. Don't I?"
In a lot of ways we don't believe that because we didn't put him on the throne. We can feel that God's sovereignty over creation relies on us putting him there. Regardless of how we might feel in the moment, Jesus is king and Lord of the universe. We decide how we want to react to that news.
2 Chronicles 20:6 states "O Lord, God of our Fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you"
In John 5:16-47, Jesus points out His authority very explicitly. He also points out who testifies to this. Jesus says he doesn't testify about himself - but he points out that John the Baptist, Moses, and God himself testifies to that fact. All of creation testifies to that fact even when we don't.
I like the fact that Jesus, himself, in this passage , doesn't put the glory on himself as he deserves from us. He points that He is only doing what His Father does and shows Him. Jesus is always pointing to His Father. He says in verse 24, "whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life". Jesus, even in all His authority and kingship keeps the focus on the Father. That's very hard to understand in today's society of "look at me" and "see what I am doing". In this, Jesus gives us the model for all our ministries. The focus should, and always should, be on God and not what we are doing.
So, if Jesus the ruler of all, ministers like this, who are we to put the glory on ourselves? It's easy to get caught up in what we are doing, or what sacrifices we are making, or the problems we are facing in our ministries and we lose sight of the real reason for why we are involved in ministry. As a matter of fact, its not our ministry - so that should help us focus. But, instead it's an easy trap to fall into.
It's easy to even put our church, or our leaders, or our programs on the throne instead of Jesus. If we have good preaching or good ministries, we might get suckered into believing that it's our own stuff that is doing the work. I'm not saying good solid preachers and programs are bad things (these are important things too). My statement is to make sure who is glorified. God blesses us with His vision and allows us to implement our ideas (as long as they don't cross purposes with God's plans or He has something better). He gets the glory for the results, not us. If we keep ourselves focused on God's glory, the rest tends to work itself out.
Why do I ignore Jesus' sovereignty on the throne then? Usually when Jesus' plans don't line up with my ideas or when I have to wait. Then, it's easier for me to believe He's not completely in charge. However, because I don't place Him on the throne of my heart, doesn't mean He's really not in charge. That would be like me saying I don't believe its oxygen I am breathing even if I don't see it just on a greater scale. They are still true despite my best efforts to place other things on the throne. If I don't see it, maybe its not true.
The truth is Jesus reigns supreme. He doesn't force me to believe it, nor does He force you to accept. He introduces Himself into our lives, reveals Himself, and all the things that have been done for us. Then, we get the chance to respond to that with our hearts and minds. Who sits on the throne of your heart? People can tell based on where we put the glory in our lives.
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