Morning Devotion - Rich Swanson

Take out a piece of paper:

What do you worry about? What are you fearful of?

Many fears boil down to whether God will take care of me and the people who are important to me.

When we have fears we often turn to passages of scripture than recall God's peace in the midst of anxiety:

Jeremiah 29:11
¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The Sermon on the Mount is a picture of the Kingdom:

Matthew 6:25-33
²⁵ "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Inside the Kingdom God cares for me.

The Kingdom is not eternal life in the future, but the kind of life that can be lived out right now. Generosity, peace, provision, all of these are part of Kingdom rule. Redemption, nearness to God,

3 Applications:

This kind of Kingdom fights evil in every form. God's Kingdom does battle against evil. When Jesus described the Kingdom for John the Baptist: blind see, lame walk, deaf hear, poor raised up, good news preached. Schindler's List contrasts great evil with great generosity. This is like unto the Kingdom.

In the Kingdom, I don't have to worry about what comes next. Jesus cares for me so I can meet the needs of others.

In the Kingdom, my story matters to God. But it also matters to the world around me. Eugene Peterson's 5 Smooth Stones for Pastoral Work mentions the book of Ruth. It is the story of a seemingly insignificant story that actually affects the world. My story can impact the world and matters to God. The message that we bring about the Kingdom is the best news available today. The best news is that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

I love times like these because we talk about expanding our heart for others and helping our students to the same. We talk about the Kingdom and our stories and our student's stories and how they matter to God. The Gospel is a message of hope in a dark and fallen world. This message is so important that we who carry it, Jesus called the Light of the World. As we reflect Jesus we reflect his light. I am so encouraged to be with you because you are people who desire to reflect the light of the Gospel.