“Let all that I am praise the LORD; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!” (Psalm 103:1-5 NLT)
“Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4-6 BSB)
“So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:16-21 NKJV)
For far too long I thought that being a disciple of Jesus (Christian) was primarily about being forgiven and going to Heaven some day. I think many of us who follow Jesus miss out on much of what Jesus has for us today as we “hold on” waiting for the “sweet bye and bye.” Jesus did not focus on the Kingdom yet to come, or going to Heaven some day. He proclaimed that the Kingdom was at hand and demonstrated the impact on life of the Kingdom today. While I am thrilled at the prospect of my eternal destiny in the presence of my Heavenly Father, I am also amazed at what is available for today.
For the next few days we are going to look at what Jesus purchased for us in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension for today. There are so many benefits that belong to us. Get ready to experience “days of Heaven on Earth” as we learn to pray with expectancy, “Heavenly Father, You are holy. I worship You and pray that your Kingdom fully manifest in my life today and Your will be completely done in my life today as it is in Heaven.”
Help me to understand and anticipate…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 31: “There are benefits to living in the Kingdom of Heaven today (and even more yet to come).” Part 1: Kingdom…Now