| E-MAIL SERVICE | Sign me up to receive the daily Word of Righteousness free via my E-mail address! ( ONLY AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH ) | |
| ARCHIVES | I want to check out the daily Words of Righteousness for any of the last fourteen days or from previous weeks. ( ENGLISH ONLY ) | |
| FEEDBACK | I have a question or comment about today's Word of Righteousness. ( ENGLISH AND SPANISH ONLY ) | |
| BOOK LIST | I would like to see the complete book list of the Words of Righteousness author Robert B. Thompson. (SOME SPANISH TITLES AVAILABLE ) |
The Daily Word of Righteousness
Suffering and Rulership, continued
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. (I John 2:15,16—NIV)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24—NIV)
Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. (Luke 22:42—NIV)
Deliverance from the world, from the passions and appetites of the flesh, and from self-will is not easy to achieve. Such release requires that we obey the commandments found in the New Testament, that we pray much, that we meditate constantly in the Scriptures, that we assemble with fervent believers, that we stay in the prison where God places us, that we confess our sins and turn away from them, that we flee from temptation, that we count ourselves crucified with Christ and risen with Christ.
"Oh Brother Thompson this is too hard." The problem is not that the Gospel is too hard. It is that American Christians are too soft.
Think for a minute. Are you prepared to govern a group of self-seeking, rebellious people such as we will find on earth during the thousand-year Kingdom Age? Do you have the fortitude, the patience, the wisdom, the desire, to work with people? How would you like to have been Moses, doing his best for people who responded by periodically wanting to stone him? Is this what you really want—to rule with Christ?
Training for rulership includes much suffering, much patience, much learning of obedience. You will go through many deep waters, many dark valleys, before God deems you ready to be raised with Christ in the first resurrection, the resurrection of the royal priesthood.
The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: "When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, He is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth."(II Samuel 23:3,4—NIV)
Is this you? Do you think you are able to rule over men in righteousness? Are you able to rule in the fear of God? How about today? Are you governing successfully the kingdom God has given you? Are you "like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth"? Is this true of you?
If not, when do you think you will be prepared to rule with Christ? Do you suppose at some point while you are being "raptured" you will be changed from a lukewarm, casual follower of Christ to "the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning"?
You know, the Kingdom of God is coming to the earth. Christ and His coheirs will actually govern the saved nations. Are you competent to do this at the present time? If not, when do you suppose you will be transformed from what you are now into one of God's rulers? Are you waiting for the ability to govern to be imputed to you or given to you magically?
To be continued.