MONDAY 16 NOVEMBER
2 Samuel 23.1-7
The Brightness after the rain or reign
Sometimes in the morning, when I wake up and see the sun shining after it has been raining for a few days, all the plants look so beautiful; the grass is so green and the flowers so beautiful. There is nothing more beautiful than the brightness after the rain.
In today’s reading we are looking at King David’s last words before he died. Under the wonderful inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David compared the rule of a godly king who rules over his people according to the way God directed him, to the brightness after the rain. This was a prophetic message of what it would be like under the rule of Jesus - Christ the King. Life becomes so beautiful, so wonderful, so fantastic for us when we let Him reign. This is the brightness after the Reign.
When we become born again Christians, we do two things. We accept Jesus as Saviour, who deals with all that is rotten in our lives and gets rid of it and we accept Jesus as Lord - we accept the Reign of Christ the King in our hearts. A life which has Jesus ruling is so beautiful, like the brightness after the rain.
PRAYER: Come rule in my heart Lord Jesus Christ my King and my Master. May everyone come to experience the brightness after the rain - Reign. Amen.
TUESDAY 17 NOVEMBER
Psalm 93
No Constitutional Monarch
What does it mean to accept Jesus as Lord and King of our lives? Before we give the correct answer to this question, we lay aside what it does not mean. It does not mean Jesus is our Constitutional Monarch. Constitutional Monarchies are absolutely powerless. We acknowledge them as King or Queen, then don’t let them interfere at all in the running of our country. England and Australia are Constitutional Monarchies.
A lot of Christians accept Jesus as Lord, but only as a Constitutional Monarch. They do what they like and don’t let Jesus have any influence in the way they live their lives.
Jesus wants to rule us with absolute authority, like the King of England before the Magna Carta. He shows us how He wants us to live and He wants us to obey Him in everything.
When we come under Jesus’ rule we become very safe and secure. Jesus is all powerful. He is victorious over all His enemies, so under His rule nothing can separate us from His love and we become more than conquerors (see Romans 8.28-end). His Kingdom is unconquerable. He has ruled since the beginning of time and will rule for ever. Under His rule we are unshakable, we are so strong. We can obey Jesus as King because all His laws can be trusted. Bible-believing and Bible-obeying people become holy people. If we doubt His commands and let ourselves fall into the trap of living like the non-Christians and saying it’s okay to go against what the Bible says, then we completely lose our holiness, and our lives fall apart. His rules make a fence so when we are inside it we are 100% safe and secure.
PRAYER: Jesus, we acknowledge you to be our absolute Monarch. We feel so safe with you. Keep us ever willing to trust your commands and obey them always. Amen.
WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER
Revelation 1.5-8
Jesus Christ, Ruler of the Kings of the Earth
In 1066 William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings and became King of England, the first of a line of Monarchs up to Elizabeth II. William gained control of England by conquering. He defeated the forces of the English.
Jesus the Conqueror, who is more than a conqueror, gained control in a different way. He didn’t make up an army and replace any political rulers. Jesus conquered our hearts. He is the King of hearts!
In our natural state each one of us is ruled by our own selfish desires. The Bible calls these sins. They are very rebellious against the rule of God. Our sinful selves always want independence and self-rule. They always resist the interference of the King of Kings. Satan, instead, takes control. He lures us all into believing that if we are independent from God we are free. But he’s a liar. When we are not under God’s rule, Satan comes in and takes over and we lose our freedom.
On the cross Jesus fought Satan and won. The battle of the cross was the battle for our hearts. Once we accept Jesus as King, He makes us into a Kingdom of Priests. Our task is to serve our God and to tell everyone the good news that Jesus has set them free and encourage them to believe they have been set free and to come under His Kingly rule.
On the last day when Jesus comes again, everyone will see Him, even those who crucify Him by their rebellious lives. All those who see Jesus will wish they had accepted Him as King, but for many it will be too late.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, my King and my Saviour, thank you for setting me free from my sins on the cross. I willingly accept you as my King and want to serve you and be part of your Kingdom of Priests, helping to bring many others out of the kingdom of darkness into your Kingdom. Amen.
THURSDAY 19 NOVEMBER
Daniel 7.9-14
King Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God
Jesus often referred to Himself as the Son of Man. In our reading today we see a prophecy of one like the Son of Man being ushered into the presence of the Ancient of Days - another name for God. When Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man, He was saying that in Him the prophecy in our reading today is being fulfilled in Himself. Sometimes Jesus is referred to as the Son of God. He is both Son of Man and Son of God. God was His Father and Mary was His mother, which makes Jesus fully God and fully human.
God wanted Jesus to become Man so that we could all have a relationship with Him and be made one with Him. Jesus’ death on the cross achieved this. Jesus is our King and our God. In the vision all nations worship Him. Praise be to God that today He is worshipped in almost every land and the number of people coming to Him is growing very fast, particularly in Africa, China and Latin America.
Jesus is a wonderful King to have because He has been given authority and sovereign power against the enemy, Satan. However much Satan tries to destroy Jesus’ subjects, he can’t. He is trying very hard today, but he knows that he is a defeated enemy and his days are numbered. Jesus’ Kingdom is eternal. It will never end and never be destroyed.
PRAYER: Jesus our Majesty, we fall down before you and worship and adore you. You are our King. We can never be destroyed because we belong to your eternal, indestructible Kingdom. Hail King Jesus. Amen.
FRIDAY 20 NOVEMBER
John 12.20-33
The Son of Man is glorified
God is true love. True love is total self-giving. God sent His Son into the world because He loved the world so much (John 3.16). His Son put into action what true love was all about. He gave Himself completely in His death. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is love being poured out over all the peoples of the world. When Jesus, the Son of Man, made the final decision to express His love for us by dying for us, God spoke to all those around Him and told them that Jesus was glorified. The very reason Jesus came into the world was to be glorified by His going to the cross. He wanted to show us all just how much God loved us. When Jesus poured out His life for us, God was glorified too. God’s love is very powerful. When we were crucifying Him (all sin helps to crucify Jesus), He retaliated with love and forgave us and drew us to Himself. He said, “When I am lifted up I will draw all men unto me” (v33). As His powerful love went out, Satan was completely bowled over. The power of Jesus’ love defeated him for ever. He was driven out.
As we follow Jesus, He gives us the power to love like He loved. We become like grains of wheat, willing to die to self and live for God and live for others. As Jesus was glorified by pouring out His love, so we will be honoured by serving Him in the power of His love (v26).
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank you for loving us so much that you made the decision to give yourself to us in your death so we can be drawn into fellowship with you and your Father. We glorify you. Fill us with the power of your love that we may die to self and serve you and help you pour out your love on all peoples. Amen.
SATURDAY 21 NOVEMBER
John 18.33-37
My Kingdom is not of this world
Poor old Pontius Pilate, he couldn’t understand how Jesus could be King of the Jews because the Jewish people were bent on getting rid of Him. When Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, the people recognised Him as their Messiah and proclaimed Him to be King, but when He went into the temple and taught instead of raising an army to overthrow the Roman Government, all the people lost faith in Him and those who cried “Hosannah to the Son of David” on Palm Sunday, cried out “Crucify Him” on Good Friday. Pilate was so puzzled that he said strai Tght out to Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus then answered him and said, “My kingdom is not of this world”. He said that He would have instructed his followers to defend Him if He was an earthly king.
Jesus’ Kingdom is from another place. It is from Heaven. Heaven is a place where God and all those who have been made to be like Him by Jesus, live. Jesus was the man born to be King. He didn’t get a Kingdom by fighting for it and killing others to attain it. He fought for the hearts of those who would become His subjects. He won that battle and now everyone who chooses to accept the truth that Jesus is King of the Universe and King of Heaven will enjoy the safety and security of His Kingdom for ever. The Kingdom of Heaven is where people accept Jesus as King and Saviour of their lives.
PRAYER: Jesus, we are on the side of truth. We believe the truth that you died to conquer our hearts so we can be your subjects for ever. We give ourselves completely to you. We lay our lives before you, we worship and adore you. Amen.
SUNDAY 22 NOVEMBER
CHRIST THE KING
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
Today we reach the final Climax of the Church’s year as we acclaim Jesus Christ to be our King. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
When Pontius Pilate Questioned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
He answered “You are right in saying I am a King. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth, everyone on the side of truth listens to me” He also said, “My kingdom id not of this world!”
The Jews were expecting the Messiah to be a political king who would conquer and rule the whole world. After they had welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday they expected him to overthrow the Roman Government because they recognized that He was the Messiah. Jesus told Pilate that his servants would have prevented His arrest if he were a political king, a king of this world. The Jews were very disappointed when Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested and crucified. They just could not understand what was happening.
What they all did not recognize at the time was that Jesus was making a huge conquest when He died on the cross. He was conquering the hearts of all the men and women He had created. He was snatching them out of Satan’s clutches. Jesus set us all free when He sacrificed Himself on the cross! He set us free from being slaves of our own selfish human natures. He gave us the power to love and forgive He made us holy.
Jesus died for all but only those who accept His Kingly Rule in their lives become members of His Kingdom. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour and the Ruler of our lives we become very special to Him He makes us a Kingdom of Priests.
Our priestly role is to help Him bring all people and God together. Our job is to gather as many people as we can into His Kingdom.
We are to show everyone how absolutely fantastic life really is under Jesus’ rule.
King David describes life under the rule of the Lord as the “Brightness After the Rain.”
When the Sun comes up after a rainy period the countryside is always so wonderfully fresh and beautiful. It makes us feel so good to be alive! When we let The Son of Righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ take over our lives the Sonshine of His love makes us want to jump for joy as we experience life as we have never known it before!!!!!!!!!!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords we crown you as the King of our lives. Thank you for winning the battle for our hearts when you gave your life on the cross. As your loyal subjects help us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to draw many people into your kingdom. Help us to show the world How fantastic it is to be under your rule. Amen.