The Unshakable Kingdom
November 26, 2020
Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire. Hebrews 12:28-29 NLT
Have you ever been in a season when it feels as though everything around you is being shaken? The losses you experienced, the pain you endured, the changes you never expected have beaten you so hard you feel like you can’t find a solid place to stand. Then the global pandemic came. What else could happen? How can you find a place of thanksgiving when the world under you keeps shifting and shaking?
We don’t know the writer of Hebrews, so we don’t know the details of his or her life. But we do know this. The world surrounding the author was at least as tough as ours. The political scene had never been favorable. But it was shifting. The favor the early Christians had enjoyed at one time with most of the people was changing. Persecution was very real. When they had physical issues like we do now, they had few resources for help. They were subject to hard work and unjust circumstances. Stability was nowhere in sight. How could they experience gratitude? How could they honestly give thanks?
The author urged his/her readers to a certain reason for thanksgiving that didn’t depend on their circumstances—it depended on the present and future hope: the promise of Jesus that is being fulfilled right now. We can be unfailingly thankful in shaky times when we understand that we are right now in the process of receiving an unshakable Kingdom.
Jesus is forever the unshakable Person. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He ushered in the Kingdom of God here and now. Jesus swept onto the scene declaring that the Kingdom of God had arrived! He proclaimed that we would experience life at its fullest only when we organize our lives around that Kingdom NOW. E. Stanley Jones, an incredible author, said from centuries of experience from Jesus-followers, that life in any other way is a muddled, maddening, and impossible way to live. Kingdom living, living like Jesus, is a clearly defined and workable system for order and influence and satisfaction in our daily lives. We have reduced the Kingdom and upped our insecurity by not seeing it as Jesus taught. He said it is God's total answer to mankind's total need now. We claim our spiritual heritage and the abundant life promised us by embracing the Kingdom and Person of Jesus and living in that thankfulness.
When in the midst of a quaking world we are full of gratitude, we will worship Jesus with holy awe. Then we will find that God is our devouring fire, and He will take responsibility for “devouring” the things that would harm me. His Kingdom is winning now.
- Pray: Jesus, help me live thankfully as a grateful citizen of Your Kingdom right now. Amen.