Good Pleasure part 2
The part about our key verse for this Rant series, Luke 12:32, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom," that we didn't even really get to look at yesterday, that I really like, is the "fear not" part. Because we, as a human race, are very anxious people. We live in an almost constant state of worry and fear. We have such a hard time living in the present. Either we're upset about the past (which we can't do anything about, except learn from it and move forward) or we're worried about the future (which we can't do anything about except take it as it comes and do the best we can with it). It's the old saying, "The past is history, the future is a mystery, that's why they call right now the present--because it's a gift." And, if you believe the words of Jesus, the thing is... we don't have to be afraid. We can be safe and sound in the arms of our loving heavenly Father. God's got this. That's the point for today. It's His good pleasure to give us the Kingdom. He wanted to do it... and then on the cross He did it. We don't have to wait for the Kingdom to come. It's already here. It's... us. We live IN the Kingdom because we ARE the Kingdom. We don't have to work for it, or earn it, or anything like that. In fact, all we have to do is seek it. Look at Matthew 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." But don't think of it in terms of seeking in order to find something you don't have. Think of it in terms of seeking to find out what you DO have! Think of "seek" in the sense of "explore." Explore the Kingdom. Think of it in terms of Ephesians 3:17-19, "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." It's that USING of God's love that allows us to comprehend it. It's the seeking (of what we already have... what it was His good pleasure to give us) of the Kingdom that allows us to experience the Kingdom. And, listen, we don't have to have it all figured out. As long as we're rooted and gounded in love we can figure it out from there. We can know the love of Christ. In our hearts. A knowledge that passes knowledge is not just head knowledge, or book learning. It is heart knowledge. Experiential knowledge. It is knowing and believing that God loves us because we LET Him love us. Because we accept His love. Because we receive it and release it. Receive it BY releasing it. And release it by receiving it. Filling ourselves to overflowing with what we've already been filled with. Letting what's already inside come out. That is how we experience the happy God that "grace preachers" are so fond of talking about. A God who is happy because He successfully took care (and continues to take care) of His children. A God who wanted us to have the Kingdom... so He gave it to us. That's what the cross was about (and there's more to it than that, yes, but I'm just saying). God gave us what He wanted us to have. His Son. His Spirit. His life. His love. And He did it because He loves us. It was His good pleasure!