DEVOTIONAL FOR MONDAY SEPTEMBER 30TH
Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Life in the kingdom”
Our Bible verse for today: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! Together with Christ Jesus He also raised us up and seated us in the heavens, so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7
Our thought for today: “We already live in the kingdom”
God’s kingdom already exists, right now, and if you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you are a part of it. It is an accomplished fact. Please note in the passage above that Paul writes that God “made us alive”; “You are saved”; “He raised us up”; He “seated us in the heavens.”
Yup, it’s all in the past tense. It has already happened. You are already in the kingdom.
For now you and I are enjoying life in God’s kingdom on earth, and we’re helping to build and spread it throughout the earth. But we’re headed toward the eternal kingdom – essentially a new Eden. I want to leave you with some thoughts from Randy Alcorn as written in his book “Heaven”:
“I’ve never been to Heaven, yet I miss it. Eden’s in my blood. The best things of life are souvenirs from Eden, appetizers of the New Earth. There’s just enough of them to keep us going, but never enough to make us satisfied with the world as it is, or ourselves as we are. We live between Eden and the New Earth, pulled toward what we once were and what we yet will be.”
“Desire is a signpost pointing to Heaven. Every longing for better health is a longing for the New Earth. Every longing for romance is a longing for the ultimate romance with Christ. Every desire for intimacy is a desire for Christ. Every thirst for beauty is a thirst for Christ. Every taste of joy is but a foretaste of a greater and more vibrant joy than can be found on Earth as it is now.”
“Informed by the doctrines of creation, redemption, resurrection, and the New Earth, our present lives take on greater importance, infusing us with purpose. Understanding Heaven doesn’t just tell us what to do, but why. What God tells us about our future lives enables us to interpret our past and serve him in our present.”
“Eternal life doesn’t begin when we die – it has already begun.”
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 