June 11, 2009
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Forgive us for not bowing to You, O King
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
–Psalm 103:19When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? 40 And the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. 41 Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. 44 Then they also will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you? 45 Then he will answer them, saying, Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
–Matthew 25:31-46
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.
Psalm 2:1-3For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes...16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel.
–Romans 10:3-4
So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? 23 And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. 24 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
–Matthew 7:17-24
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 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.
–Matthew 6:9-13
God in heaven, hear us today from Your holy hill of Zion, where You reign over all,
Holy Father and Blessed Son of God, Please send us Your Holy Spirit this day so we might rightly examine our hearts. Our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked.
If we have truly obeyed the Gospel, Christ's life has come to us through Your Holy Spirit. And then Your commandments to us are not burdensome. If we are Christ's, then God is our Father, and we ought to be more and more be desiring our Father's will as the Son did. As Your Holy Spirit reigns in us, we ought to be more and more delighting to do the Father's will and submitting ourselves to the Kingship of Jesus Christ.
How often do we make ourselves kings and place ourselves on the throne! How often we serve ourselves rather than serving You with fear. Forgive us. Cleanse us and purify us from our desire to be king and to serve ourselves. Sanctify our hearts, souls and mind so we might desire to make You alone King.
You have said that by our works we ought to be known. Father, we confess that our works are often not works of Your Kingdom. So often our works do not spring from Your Kingdom power. So often our works do not reflect Your Kingdom priorities. We confess that we do not always do the things You say. We confess that we work out of our own power. We confess that we seek our own kingdoms rather than seeking first Your Kingdom. Forgive us our sins, O Father, for Jesus' sake, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You have put Your Holy Spirit into us that we might seek first Your Kingdom. Forgive us for the times we have grieved and quenched Your Holy Spirit.
We have been united with Christ, and therefore, we have the Spirit of Christ. Help us to live in perfect union with You. We ought to be growing more and more like Your Son for we have been buried with Him in baptism and raised Him in resurrection life. Yet, we still struggle here with our sin. Help us to reckon ourselves dead to sin but alive to righteousness. Help us to mortify sin so we might live to You alone. O King, You alone ought to have dominion over us. Sin ought not have dominion over us, but we confess it still does. We cannot defeat indwelling sin in our own power, we cannot fight the world's temptations or Satan's schemes in our power power. May Your resurrection power descend once more into our hearts so we might no longer live our lives for the lusts of our flesh but live our lives for You, O King. Help us not to grieve or quench Your Holy Spirit.
May we no longer battle with You for the kingship of our souls, but may we bow our hearts, souls, minds and strength to You alone. May we treat You as King, for that is Who You are. May Your Kingdom grow in us so each one of us might truly love You with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength and love our neighbors as ourselves and so bring glory to You. For You have created us to love You and obey You and glorify You. We can only love You and obey You because You first loved us. You have placed Your love in us. Help us love you, O Father, as You demand and as You deserve and as You desire. We confess that our love for You is so small, yet we can say that we love You because You first loved us through Jesus Christ. And because we love You, we ought to love Your commands. Increase our love for You. The more we love You, the more we will love Your Word and love Your commandments and love to do Your will. We thank You that You have promised to complete this work in us. Help us now to work out our salvation with fear and trembling because it is You who works in us to will and to do of Your good pleasure.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
–Isaiah 9:7
Come before our King now and ask His Holy Spirit to show you where you have not made Him King. Ask Him to give You a heart of repentance, so you might confess your sin and ask for His forgiveness and cleansing. Then ask for His power to dwell in you to make Him King as you ought. May His Spirit sanctify us so we might live our lives in submission to His Kingship. May His Kingdom power come to us so that in and through us His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven so His Name might be hallowed and King exalted. Amen.
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