The King and His Kingdom

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post in the archives, dated November 12, 2008, where I introduce myself and the blog.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Devotions: Ps 45, 47, 48; Ezra 5:1-17; Rev 4; Mt 13:1-9

My heart overflows with gratitude for God and His Messiah. Lord, You are the fairest of men; grace pours over You; ride forth in glory and majesty! You are King forever; God has anointed You with the oil of gladness. Your Bride, the church, comes to You in joy. And You have many sons and daughters! Let all God’s people praise our Lord forever! YHWH Most High is awesome; let us praise Him with shouts and songs of acclamation. God reigns over the nations and sits on His holy throne. His earthly headquarters are in Jerusalem, city of awesome spiritual power and great majesty. This is our God forever, Who guides us for eternity.

Haggai and Zechariah prophesied for God to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem, and Jeshua and Zerubbabel began to rebuild God’s temple in Jerusalem, aided by God’s prophets. They were immediately challenged by Tattenai, the provincial governor and his associates, officials of Darius the king. They reported to the king that YHWH’s temple was being rebuilt. ‘We questioned those doing this work, and they told us: “We are servants of the God of heaven and earth, rebuilding His house of long ago, built and finished by a great king of Israel. But because our ancestors angered the God of heaven, He gave them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the temple and carried the people into exile in Babylonia. However, in the first year of Cyrus, he decreed that the temple should be rebuilt and sent the temple’s furnishings to his governor Sheshbazzar, with directions to place the vessels in the temple of God in Jerusalem, and to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. We’ve been on this job for some time, but it is not yet finished.”' The Babylonian officials petitioned Darius to search the royal archives to look into these representations, and to let them know what his pleasure would be in the matter of the temple of YHWH and its builders.

John’s apocalypse continues: ‘I beheld an open door in heaven, and the voice I heard first summoned me to heaven, to witness what would come to pass in the future. At once, I was in the Spirit, and there was a great throne in heaven, and One sitting upon it. He appeared like jasper and carnelian; around the throne was a rainbow that looked like emerald. Arrayed around the central throne were 24 thrones; on each sat an elder dressed in white and crowned with gold. From the central throne issued flashes of lightning and voices, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burn seven torches of fire, the seven spirits of God; and there is something like a great vessel of glass, like a sea of crystal. At the four sides of the throne are four living creatures covered with eyes—one like a lion, one like an ox, a third with a human face, and the fourth like an eagle. Each creature has six wings; each is covered with eyes; and together they never cease singing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” As the four creatures praise, the 24 elders fall down before Him Who is on the throne and worship Him, Who lives forever! They cast their crowns before the throne and sing: “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created!”’

Jesus stepped outside the house and sat beside the Sea of Galilee. Great crowds gathered around Him, so He sat in a boat just offshore, with the people standing on the beach. He told them many things in parables. Here's one: ‘A sower went out to sow; some of his seeds fell along the path, where birds devoured them. Some fell on rocky ground; there was not much soil, so they sprung up quickly, but then were scorched and withered away, since they had no root. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew and choked them out. And some seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain—some a hundred fold, some sixty and some thirty. Let all hear who have ears!’