|
Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus, part of the growing repentance remnant:
Matthew 13:44
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; which when a man has found it, he hides it again, and for the joy thereof go and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
Matthew 13 is a chapter that is full of Parables, one after the other Jesus shared special insights that requires us to listen carefully to understand the spiritual message He was aiming for us to receive. He even went out of His way to explain these parables to His disciples, and then telling them in Matt 13:11 that the crowds aren't able to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God thus the reason why He was teaching in parables, as it is only given to those that are following Him - His disciples. We can only fully understand His parables, when we spend time in His presence, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise most of the parables don't make much sense, and we struggle to get the deeper meaning.
And if you study all the parables that Jesus shared - you'll notice that about 70% of His parables are all about God's Kingdom. In fact, His Father's Kingdom is of the utmost importance to Jesus. He even started His ministry by preaching to everyone, saying "Repent, for the KINGDOM OF GOD is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). It was the very same message that God gave to John the baptist to preach (Matt 3:2), and He also taught His disciples later to do the same, when He sent them out (Mark 6:7-13)
Thus, From this one short message, it is clear, that God's Kingdom is somehow linked to Repentance!
Meaning that if we want to see, understand, receive, enter and even inherit God's Kingdom, we first need to Repent of all our sins, and receive the Holy Spirit - be Born from Above. And then the Holy Spirit will open up our understanding and our eyes in order to see and also enter God's Kingdom (which was part of the insights Jesus was sharing with Nicodemus in John 3:1-21 when Jesus told him he must be born from above).
So now looking at Matt 13:44 again - we can see that this 1 verse parable is giving us a glimpse of how valuable the Kingdom of God really is. Like Jesus said - It is like a very special treasure, so valuable, that the person finding it, is willing to give up everything they have, in order to have that treasure for himself.
So the question is - What is it about God’s Kingdom that makes it so valuable?
NOW: The VALUE of an item is really determined by the JOY it will bring once you possess that item. Just think of a famous Art piece or a painting, that the owner of those art pieces or paintings will sit for hours just staring at it, and he or she, won't rest till have the full set. They find a certain "joy" in it, and will give or pay substantial amounts to have that full set. And if you ask them about it, they will spend hours just talking about that art piece they have, and what it means to them...
So to give us an idea of the True Joy God's Kingdom brings, we can look at how much it meant to Jesus - and Heb 12:2 gives us a glimpse of it: "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. "
Meaning - Jesus saw such a JOY in what He was about to receive if He is willing to go through the sorrow of the Cross, that it motivated Him to the point of enduring the pain, suffering and shame of the cross. As the JOY in having us as His Bride with Him in His Father's Kingdom, was so valuable to Him, that He was willing to give up everything, even His blood and His life, in order to have it all. He was willing to die as an innocent man, in our stead, taking all our guilt, and shame on Himself, and take it all to the grave with Him.
And thus we as believers need to dig deeper into the Word, and make it a priority to spend time in the Presence of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to see and understand the depth and the power hidden in God's Kingdom, receiving it all with Joy - and to be like that man who discovered the treasure in the field - willing to give up everything in this world, in order to receive/inherit it all.
But, if we are still holding back, and stubbornly refuse to fully repent of everything tripping us up and holding us back in this world - not letting go of the "temporary joys" of this world - we will struggle to fully see and receive the Full Power of God's Kingdom. We might see the promises in the Word, but without fully submitting to God, in repentance, we will struggle to receive anything from God.
In Matt 6:33 Jesus tells us the importance of seeking God's Kingdom together with God's Righteousness - then: "...all things will be added unto you"!
Thus, the Secret Key in Receiving God's Kingdom, is by Submitting unto God's Righteousness through Repentance, and then all God's promises will come into fulfillment for us - Which will give us Great Joy !! (Have a look at John 15:11, and John 16:24 - Jesus telling His disciples that when His words remain in us, and when we ask anything in His Name - our Joy will be Full!!)
Meaning: We need to repent of this fleshly, sinful life, letting go of this world's prides, desires and lusts (1 John 2:15-17), and fully submit our lives as a living sacrifice to God (Rom 12:1). Like the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 2 - that all lusts and desires etc. are all temporary and will pass away. And thus, anyone holding onto these "temporary" desires of this world, will also pass away with it, unless they let go of it all, and turn away from it all, and choose God's ways.
The importance of God's Kingdom, to Repent and Receiving Jesus together with all of God's Promises - having the Joy of the Lord in a person's life - is what is driving Evangelist and Pastor William Joshua Dunbar together with his wife Bless V Dunbar and a small team of pastors and people in his church all on fire for God, to go out weekly into the streets of Liberia. They are earnestly seeking whom they can tell about God's Love for them, taking the time in sharing the word, even having discussions with the people they find about the Word and what they believe, and eventually leading them one by one to receive Jesus in their lives.
Like Evang. Dunbar shared with us - it brings them great joy for every soul that is saved!!
Here follows just a short letter from Evang. Dunbar, after one of their recent outreaches, where first 4 youths, with others following afterwards, decided to come to church, and eventually 13 youths gave their lives to the Lord:
Sister Susan, I am very grateful and thankful to God Almighty for the way in which the Sovereign LORD touched the lives and souls of all of those youth in a little village called Glazon. They were so touched until four of them attended our Blessed Ministry EWHOGOAFI divine Worship service on Sunday.
Blissfully, 13 of them gave their lives and souls to our all times Jehovah Jirah which brought too much joy and peace.
1) Samuel Alison
2) Abraham W. Kparyee
3) Glorious P. Willie
4) Hahla S. Tamba
5) Fred Garlo
6) Daniel Tamba
7) Jenneh Fahn
8) Favor Taylor
9) Peter Paye
10) Nuch Flomo
11) Ruth Moses
12) Blessing C. Yeah
13) James Williams
May YESHUA keep their precious lives and souls saved so that the cares of this very wicked and dark 🌑 world takes their precious souls to hell Sister.
Thanks so much Pastor Jeff/NDR and our incredible hard working Sister Susan Hammer for all of your countless supports and sacrifices. Thanks 🙏
Will you join us and the angels in rejoicing before the Lord for these 13 youths, and pray for their spiritual growth in the Lord🙏
***********************************************
| 
