You
Are
Not
Far
From The Kingdom Of God.
Scripture
Mark
12
28 One
of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating.
Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of
all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 “The
most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear,
O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
30 Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this:
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater
than these.”
32 “Well
said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that
God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him
with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your
strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important
than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 When
Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You
are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one
dared ask him any more questions.
Observation
I
am sure that you have heard the old saying, “Being close doesn't
count unless you are playing horseshoes or unless you are throwing
hand grenades.”
How
close are you from the kingdom of God?
If
you were to die today where would you spend Eternity? If you were
standing at Heaven's gate and God were to ask you, “Why should I
let you into my Heaven” … what would you say to Him?
Maybe
you believe in your head that there is a God. Well the Bibles says
that even the demons believe that there is a God and they tremble!
(James 2:19) Believing in your head, having just a head knowledge
about the existence of God is not enough ... you and I must believe
in our hearts. Let's not miss Heaven by 18 inches! (The distance from
our head to our heart.)
Are
you closer now than ever before in believing with all of your heart
that Jesus Christ came and died on a cross for you?
God
will continue to pursue you. He will continue to bring people into
your life who will urge you to put your faith and your trust in Jesus
Christ as your Lord and Savior. God loves you.
Listen
to His message of love from the people that He sends your way. Trust
Him!
John
14:1-6
1
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in
God; believe also in me.
2 My
Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have
told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
3 And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to
be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the
way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said
to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we
know the way?”
6 Jesus
answered, “I am the way and the truth and the
life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John
1:12
12 Yet
to all who did receive him, to those who believed in
his name, he
gave the right to become children of God—
John
5:24
24 “Very
truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent
me has
eternal life and
will not be judged but
has crossed over from death to life.
Romans
10:9-10,13
9 If you
declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. 10 For it is
with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with
your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. … 13 for,
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will
be saved.”
Ephesians
2:8-9
8 For it is
by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is
not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not
by works, so that no one can boast.
Application
I
will share this Bible story with those at Mission Tampa this morning.
How about you? Have you made the decision to trust Jesus with all of
your heart?
Prayer
Heavenly
Father, You know that it is the desire of my heart that all of the
people that read this blog have a personal relationship with You. I
pray that everyone of them would open up his or her heart and trust
Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. I know that You will never
give up on them. You will continue pursuing them just like You did
me. Thank You for the people that You sent into my life that shared
Jesus with me. Help me to do the same for those that you bring into
my life. Give me boldness, courage, and the love to be a faithful
witness for You.
Daily
Bible Reading: Deuteronomy 1,2; Mark 12
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