June 26, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“‘As they go forth, they will see the corpses of those who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all humankind.‘ says the LORD.”

(Isaiah 66.24)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now [know this,] My kingdom is from another place.” (John 18.36) It is been said, in light of this word which Jesus spoke to Pilate during His trial leading to His death and crucifixion at the behest of the Jewish leadership in the Temple, “this world is not my home.” The castle is not being stormed. The nation is not being overthrown. The people are not threatened with earthly exile. Sure, the presence of the Roman Empire would have intimated such thinking. By 70 A.D., the Temple would be destroyed and the priestly function essentially nullified. The power of the Pharisees with their legalism would still have their influence because it never truly was derived from the Temple. Their influence was not so much spiritual as it was legal under the guise, as Paul had already been pointing out in his writing to “The Romans,” of righteousness. The rabbinic influence would continue on as the religion of Israel was not destroyed. But the image of Israel’s prominence and indeed of Jerusalem herself, that being the Temple, was now desecrated. It remains so to this day as warring nations fight over the very spot where one day a new Temple will be constructed. Yet, Jesus had already declared to those priests and elder representatives of “every tribe and nation,” ‘Destroy this temple and I will rebuild it in three days.’ (John 2.19) He said this when He was being questioned early on in His ministry, according to John’s gospel narrative, about His actions in the Temple when He essentially “took it by storm.” Of course, He wasn’t speaking of the Temple building itself as it stood. The disciples’ questions and Jesus’ response which followed help us to understand that. He was speaking of Himself as the seat of God’s righteousness among the people of the world on earth. He was the presence of God “on earth as it was in Heaven.” His teaching on authoritative prayer and daily remembrance speaks to that. We do well to keep the fullness of what Jesus was intimating in that prayer.

When we pray, we do not merely pray as human beings hoping to invoke the blessing of God for ourselves. In praying the Lord’s Prayer, as it is called, we are standing as “the priesthood of all believers.” In 1 Peter 2.9, the Church is addressed by him as “a royal priesthood.” There is a strong message in that address. Being a member of the royal priesthood intimates that the members of the Church as the spiritual ambassadors and emissaries of “the King of kings and Lord of lords.” We are not confined by the laws of the world. We are guided by the rules of Kingdom righteousness. Jesus said, in The Sermon on the Mount, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6.33) It is another way of saying “this world is not our home any more than it was the home of Jesus.” That does not mean we are not citizens and a people who dwell on earth. Our bodies are derived from the dust out of which God first created His image of man and woman, male and female. Yet, those bodies are purposed to be the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit sparked within us at conception (regardless of the circumstance… pro-choicers beware), breathed into us at our first breath and poured out on us upon our decision to be disciples commissioned to make disciples in and of all nations (reference 1 Corinthians 6.19-20). Our true identity comes from God. He is ours and we are His. Our purpose and mission is to live into the image by which and for which we have been created. Accommodating the worldview of “you get to choose” points us in the direction of “this world is my home and no one can tell me what to do with my life.” Ah, there it is: my body, my choice. Indeed we each get to choose what we do with it. We can live in obedience or in disobedience. The template and framework for making that decision is based on the very essence, nature and character of the Creator which is “faith, hope and love; the greatest of these is love. (I Corinthians 13.13) That is where we are most “at home” in the world on earth as it will be in Heaven.

Mighty ones of God, and in your desire to make disciples in and of all nations, are you making life decisions with that template in mind? Are you remembering, as when we share in the breaking of bread, that we are not just members of a faith fellowship. We are a “royal” priesthood and representatives of the King of kings, Lord of lords, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace upon whose shoulders rests the governance of the world and of all creation? We have a solemn, sanctified and holy duty given to no one and nothing else. It falls upon the heart, mind and spirit of every person. It comes alive upon one’s confession and profession of faith. It comes to a tragic end upon one’s dismissal and denial of faith in the Son of Yahweh Elohim who is Jesus of Nazareth. Mighty ones of God, all of this is based on the prophetic word given to Isaiah that he might restore the vision which God had first given to those who are in exile. He did so that they might be truly free to be all that He has intended not based on “our will but His be done.” Shalom.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works leading others to call Jesus Lord in faith, hope and love. AMEN.