Having God in our lives is the best! We have the Creator of the universe living in our hearts: Jesus Christ!

8 A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it; he thinks success will come at every turn [we know that charms are deceptive; eventually, they fail and the person pays the price for putting his faith in elusive ventures. Only Jesus is completely trustworthy].

I read a verse yesterday that I have read a hundred times, but this time it stuck out at me as I read. Here it is:

²⁶ And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Let’s use our study technique or literal, moral and spiritual inspection.

Literal– Jesus is having a conversation with His disciples. He has just invited a rich young ruler to join Him, but the ruler turned Him down. His statement was that it is difficult for rich people to choose heaven because of their investment here on earth. The disciples were astonished because the thought of the day was that material blessing equaled spiritual blessing. They asked, “Who then can be saved?” Thus, Jesus’ reply.

Moral– This whole encounter is good news for us regular folks. If material blessing does not equal spiritual blessing, then we have an advantage over those who are wealthy. At the same time, we should take note of the fact that physical possessions and the desire for them can cause us to lose spiritual blessings. Staying true to Jesus is extremely important. We learn that in the next few verses where Peter says, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” Jesus gives them great encouragement, for He tells them that they will sit on twelve thrones with Him at “the renewal of all things.” Since that renewal did not happen upon His resurrection and ascension, we must assume that it is either a future event or a heaven event. Since we are already seated with Him in heavenly places (but not necessarily thrones), we, too, will be blessed on that Day.

Spiritual– To me, Jesus is indicating two things here:

1. God is capable of all good things; we have Him as our heavenly Father; He will do for us whatever is needed.
2. We were never meant to be alone; God has always wanted to be with us, and later on, for us to be with Him.

This verse exposes the heart of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, which is that the kingdom of heaven has come in human form (Him) and is headed for our hearts. He made it possible by what He accomplished on the cross, and then, He accomplished heaven in us, which is Him in us, at Pentecost. I thought it interesting that He had them wait 10 days in Jerusalem for that particular feast. It was the ingathering celebration of the barley harvest. Jesus made a great ingathering that day, didn’t He?

We are to be about our Father’s business, but WITH Him, not FOR Him. Otherwise, we’ve missed the point of what Christ did on the cross and then at Pentecost. Let’s enjoy His Presence and Participation in our lives today.

Abba, I enjoy You. Thank You for the promise that You will provide everything I need for salvation, my walk with You, and then being with You in Your kingdom. Keep teaching me, Abba. I want to learn all I can before I get to where You are. I’m sure it will come in handy somehow. Amen.