Amazing God of grace; pour out Thy Spirit on this dear reader and their needs today; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text comes from Colossians 1:11 We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul - not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, 12 thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us. 13 God rescued us from dead-end alleys and dark dungeons. He's set us up in the kingdom of the Son he loves so much, 14 the Son who got us out of the pit we were in, got rid of the sins we were doomed to keep repeating. 15 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. 16 For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels - everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. 17 He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. 18 And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. 19 So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. 20 Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe - people and things, animals and atoms - get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the Cross. (The Message Translation)
My Old Testament professor would lament that we as Americans did not fully understand what it means to live under a king or queen. Another professor said that because we were not Jews, we did not fully understand what keeping Kosher meant. And while they may have been right in some regards, the matter was about identity and relationship. For those who have monarchs and love them, they identify themselves as subjects of the crown. For the little Jewish boy who opens his refrigerator looking for a snack sees the word Kosher on the jar of pickles and it is a reminder of who he is. Again, identity and relationship. You and I have a King. And unlike the earthly monarchs who sometimes disappoint their subjects with their antics and misdeeds, ours never lets us down. We find in our King strength. As Paul says in this modern translation, it is "glory strength." Thinking back about Great Britain and World War II, it was not in the queen that they found their strength is was in their prime minister. But it was that secondary strength that Paul mentions about gritting our teeth and just seeing it through. Ours is a strength that leads to glory, both God's and ours. Our King provides the strength that leads us from the very hard to endure to the place where we will feel joy. God has established a kingdom in Jesus and it is a place of love and light, very different and very far from the dark and dismal places of suffering. We should see Jesus in our worship, our prayers, our devotional time and see the Father who sent Him. And it is in this that we find our purpose and identity.
Smile, for you are a King's Kid! In Jesus your brokenness can find wholeness. In Jesus your sorrows can find comfort. In Jesus your being lost can result in finding where you are and getting you where you need to be. All in Jesus our King!
PRAYER: I thank You, God, for the Kingdom in which I can find my strength and purpose. In Jesus I have the King who gives to me all that I need to live and overcome in this life. In Jesus I have my all in all. Make me worthy, in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
PS My dad underwent an angioplasty in his left leg yesterday and thank God it was a success! He is spending the night recovering in the hospital and should be going home today. Please keep Eradio, Sr., in your prayers. Those of you who knew of my dental pain can thank God that I was sent to a very good dentist and now I can endure! I am losing the tooth but for now it did not keep me up all night like it did yesterday! Your prayers are appreciated!
