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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :John the Baptist Appears Bible Verse:Matthew 3:1-6 (ESV) "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." Message:
Matthew’s themes of Christ the King and Christ as the fulfillment of the prophets are combined in John the Baptist’s proclamation, that Christ is the fulfillment of the prophecy of a coming king. John preaches that Kingdom of Heaven is about to arrive; but what does this mean, exactly?
The concept of “Christ the King” can sound a little artificial, until we fully appreciate that it is (at least in part) a metaphor or analogy. Christ would not become a king in the general sense of the word: to call him “king” redefines the word. He did not sit as the supreme political ruler over a temporal land and its inhabitants. He did not make laws to be enforced by policemen or soldiers, collect taxes, wear a crown of gold and jewels, or equip an army with swords to compel obedience by threat of physical violence or death.
Instead, he transcended the kings of earth and turned the notion of royalty upside-down. Instead of ruling by killing, he ruled by dying; he transcended death, the ultimate foundation of political power. His crown was thorns and his throne, a cross. He and his “court” were at the bottom of the earthly hierarchy: poor, humble, and victimized.
Today, we would call this a “paradigm shift.” Instead of playing the game, he changed it.
And so his herald, John the Baptist, did not come with trumpets and men in fine regalia; he came in utter poverty, living in an uninhabited scrubland, wearing the cheapest, coarsest clothes, eating like a survivalist.
Jesus rides a donkey
The King of Meekness
riding a donkey.
The sentence demanding that paths be made straight is a perfect illustration of this. When a great Eastern ruler made a journey, he would send hundreds or thousands of slaves ahead of him, smoothing and straightening the road. Obviously, people were not pulling up rocks and smoothing pavements for a carpenter from Nazareth. Jesus would walk on primitive paths filled with rocks and brambles, like the humblest commoner. Preparing a road for a monarch is an analogy for penitence; the rocks in the road to salvation are sinful acts, and the crooks and bends in the road, attitudes that veer away from love of God.
John did not want his listeners to make a pretty road for Jesus. He wanted them to clear their hearts and souls and straighten out their lives, that they might be prepared for the gospel.
Christ the so-called “king” will rule the realm of spirit, the souls of every human being on earth. What was considered important — the wealth and great struggles for power in the world of kings — he will trivialize into nothingness, and prove to be mere vanity.
Meditation : Prayer : Now may the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal high priest himself, the Son of God Jesus Christ, build up myself, and all Christians, in faith and truth, and in all gentleness and in all freedom from anger and forbearance and steadfastness and patient endurance and purity.......Amen |
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