January 24, 2012
Today’s Text: Read Matthew 6:9-13
Today we’ll continue to explore the ideas of stewardship found in Jesus’ model prayer.
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done….heaven”– The natural question to ask here is “What is the kingdom of God and what is it like?”. That is a pretty large question with an answer that can’t be fully discussed in this format. With that being said we can understand this idea: The values and perspectives on earthly things that we have should be influenced by the eternal values of God’s kingdom more than a man-made kingdom on earth. God’s kingdom recognizes His absolute authority and ownership of everything. God’s kingdom values the eternal over the temporary. God’s kingdom and God’s will ought to be our highest value and our will should bend to what He wants first and foremost. We should say, as Jesus said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
Here is an interesting point- when we submit to God’s will and God’s Kingdom and begin to allow His desires for us to become our desires for ourselves, we become a part of the winning team. In the end, God’s Kingdom wins!
Application:
Here is a personal question that you must answer:
Can you honestly say to God right now “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in my life just like your will is done in heaven. God I’m submitting to you want in every area of my life as your faithful servant.” ?
Study the Scriptures with Ben Jennings 
Truthfully, it is usually “My kingdom come, my will be done.” I have gotten real good at that——-or have I? It is easy to take our eyes off of eternal things when we can’t tangibly see them all the time. We need to have faith it that which we can’t see. I know logically that it is better to submit completely to God, so why do I have a tendency to forget this? I guess my humanness continues to get in my way. I get going with my day, and don’t always give thought to what God’s will is for my day because I am too busy making my own plans without even inviting God into the conversation. I do know what God’s will is for my life right now, but I still need to check in daily with the Lord to get direction and wisdom in what He has for me. I need to take myself out of the equation, and say “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.”
I can say to God ”Thy kingdom come” but I can take my eyes off what is really important like my relationship with God and start focising on stuff that’s not as important like some times I will be more focused on my friends than God but as I do my devotions more and more it gets a lot less hard. Sorry if I missed the point it was kind of confussing.
Sometimes there are hard questions. Like the song “Nothing Between” . For a long time I didn’t sing parts of that song when the congregation sang it.
I can honestly say that this to God, because I’m tired of not doing what I should be. I’m tired of living my own will, and just considering His. God is most important in my life, and He’s blessed me with more then I can even explain. Everyday i’m in awe, of the way God works in my life. I’m not playing games anymore. God’s will for my life and every decision I make should match up to the will I want to have. If God is number one, then it’s easy to consider His will, because I’m already considering Him in everything. I want to be accountable to God and really show Him, that when I say I’m His, that means everything, my time, money, life, -everything-, that He’ll believe me, and I’ll stay true to His word. It’s a daily accountability, but able to be done if we actually have it set in our hearts.
Love you guys, see you tomorrow night 🙂
It’s hard to keep your eyes focused on His will sometimes, but I can say that I’m really trying to make it “His” will and not “my” will. Easier said than done, but as I’m doing my devotions it becomes easier to seperate my will from His. To be honest, for the most I already knew the difference between my will and His i just didn’t want to give up mine for His. Lately, I have been asking God to help me not be weak and to submit to His will. Because I’m so dissappointed with myself that over and over again I listen to what God has to say and then think “hmmm good idea God, but I’m still gonna do it my way” and that skit with the stool from the student conference is like a perfect example of what is going on in my life and I just want to give every last piece to Him! Every last piece, I want to give up the stool. God take my stool, please. It’s yours. I promise you can keep it this time.
And pastor Ben did you get my fb message about singing a song for valentines day?