Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today, we’ll close out the week with a reminder of whose Kingdom we belong to.

In today’s scripture, Matthew 6:10‭, ‬13 (KJV), Jesus taught us to pray…
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven…And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Consider…
There’s a saying that the old folks used to say, decrying the depravity of this world. They would say, the world is “going to hell in a handbasket.” The contemporary version is “people are going to hell with gasoline underwear.”

These judgemental sentiments are not new. In Psalm 94:3 (KJV), David whined…
LORD, how long shall the wicked, How long shall the wicked triumph?

And in 1 Kings 19:14 (KJV), Elijah whined…
I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Even Jesus tired of the faithlessness of this world. He responded to yet another request for a miracle, in Mark 9:19 (KJV)…
O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

It’s easy to look at the depravity of this world and everyone around us and think things are out of control. At times we may be tempted to think God has lost control, because of all the evil that prevails. Yet in Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT) Jesus said…

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way…But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

This tells me that God is a civil engineer. He has prepared two roads to eternity, one road leads to life and the other to death. And He made them wide enough to handle the traffic He knew would travel along them. The multi-lane highway to hell is as much a part of God’s sovereign plan, as His one-way, blood soaked street to eternal life, by way of Calvary, through Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is impressing upon me to exhort us believers to…

• Keep our eyes on the road set before us, by focusing on our street sign Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2)
• Navigate through this foreign land following God’s Providential Sanctification (GPS) guidance. (Galatians 5:25)

He is also showing me that our spiritual rebirth was an exit from our sinful nature expressway to death, onto the Jesus Christ one way street to everlasting life. (John 14:6)

Then the Holy Spirit pivoted and admonished me to stop worrying about unrepentant sinners sinning, they’re just being true to their nature. Romans 8:7‭-‬9 (NLT) explains…
For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

And with that revelation, He hit a nerve, asking the question what or who is controling you? Ouch! 🤕.

While I was still wobbly from His piercing question, He backed me up a couple of verses and said…
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. – Romans 8:5‭-‬6 NLT

And there He delivered a knock out blow. Be careful with obsessing where you SEE everyone going or what others are doing, because it may be an indicator that you’re in close proximity. 🥺

Then He flipped His roadmap to Galatians 6:1 (NLT), to re-emphasize His point…
Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. AND BE CAREFUL NOT TO FALL INTO THE SAME TEMPTATION YOURSELF.

While God wants us to redirect traffic for Christ, He wants us to make sure that we’re only sending people Jesus’ way, but don’t get hit in the process. 🙄

After that, the Holy Spirit picked me up off the mat and reminded me…
The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein…For he hath founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the floods…Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place?…He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully…He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation. – Psalm 24:1‭-‬5 KJV

With this scripture He emphasized, the Kingdom belongs to the King and He has designed it according to His specifications. He is Sovereign and HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING!

He said stop obsessing on what you think the King is doing right or wrong, and instead focus on being right with Him!

So the next time you’re tempted to declare a person to hellbound, make sure you’re not leading them there. You might be surprised who’s following you. That’s why it’s so important that as Kingdom ambassador-citizen, you always follow the Holy Spirit’s GPS guidance here on earth.

And don’t complain to God about what you see, He’d rather hear you pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”.

Thst just struck me, praying “Thy Kingdom come” is inviting God to be King, to reign and rule over, and in, our lives! Which begs the final question, is Jesus your King? If so, always remember that you’re part of His Kingdom, not vice versa. Thus life’s not about my will, but “Thy will be done”! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

Today’s song is…
Thy Will Be Done
https://youtu.be/ArqZeSBdxfg?si=EjR3z6jS6WRE5Vn7

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)