To get what God has for you - You may have to take aggressive action!

To get what God has for you -

You may have to take aggressive action!

 

 A dear pastor friend of mine, Ted Evans, used to say,

“Never minister out of your cup.

Minister out of your saucer”

Is your cup dry?

Or over flowing?

 

 You can gage how badly you want something
by the determination you have to get it.

Ever thought about what you would fight for.

Is there anything you would not give up on.

You could say you have enough determination to never give up?

I think this is the type of thinking we need

to understand Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:12 AMP.

“And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time,

 the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault,

and violent men seize it by force

[as a precious prize —

a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought

 with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].”

In the text of this verse,

Jesus contrast Himself with John the Baptist.

He describes John as a rough desert man

not the type of guy that would be found at a nice dinner party.

On the other hand, Jesus describes Himself

as the guy that parties with tax collectors and sinners.

Both John and Jesus came preaching

the Kingdom of Heaven.

Both of them suffered violently

for what they believed and promoted.  

The point is this:

 If you want the Kingdom of God

there is strong resistance to it!

The person who wants the kingdom of God,

and the benefits of the Kingdom,

will have to be violent

or as the forceful

according to the NIV.

Many of us wonder why we do not see

more of the things in the Kingdom.

Reading the Gospels

is like reading a book about another world.

Could it be that the difference is in the determination?

How badly do we want God in our lives?

Have you ever felt empty

and cried out for more of God?

For us to forcefully lay hold

of God and His Kingdom

we will have to aggressively push

some things out of our lives.

How badly do you want the things God has to offer you?

Scripture Reading

Matthew 11:1-19 AMP

11:1 WHEN JESUS had finished His charge to His twelve disciples,

He left there to teach and to preach in their [Galilean] cities.

2 Now when John in prison heard about the activities of Christ,

he sent a message by his disciples

3 And asked Him, Are You the One Who was to come,

or should we keep on expecting a different one? [Gen 49:10; Num 24:17.] 

4 And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see:

5 The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing)

and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them. [Isa 35:5,6; 61:1.] 

6 And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.

7 Then as these men went their way, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: What did you go out in the wilderness (desert) to see? A reed swayed by the wind?

8 What did you go out to see then? A man clothed in soft garments?

Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in the houses of kings.

9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one [out of the common, more eminent, more remarkable, and]  superior to a prophet.

10 This is the one of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, who shall make ready Your way before You. [Mal 3:1.] 

11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time,

 the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault,

and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize — a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].

13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied up until John.

14 And if you are willing to receive and accept it,

John himself is Elijah who was to come [before the kingdom]. [Mal 4:5.] 

15 He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider

and perceive and comprehend by hearing.

16 But to what shall I liken this generation?

It is like little children sitting in the marketplaces who call to their playmates,

17 We piped to you [playing wedding],

and you did not dance; we wailed dirges [playing funeral],

and you did not mourn and beat your breasts and weep aloud.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking [with others],

and they say, He has a demon!

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking [with others], and they say,

Behold, a glutton and a wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors

and [especially wicked] sinners!

Yet wisdom is justified and vindicated by what she does (her deeds) and by her children.