The KING Will Return

Want some advice you didn’t ask for?

Begin 2023 in the Bible. It is where hope and truth are found. The Bible is God’s personal letter to you and me.

Dear friend…do you know where your Bible is? Find it. Don’t have one? Message me… we’ll find a way to get you one. First, get a Bible, then put it where you can find it each day-so you can read from it daily. And, another thing about beginning a habit of daily Bible reading: we need “A Plan.”

Click on the button. This is the one I intend to use for 2023: It is a one-page printable plan …so…print it out. (Yes, I know I am old school.) There is another way. Find a Bible with a plan printed at the back. These are the easy parts. Reading the Bible through in a year is harder. Honest, it is the best thing you could do for 2023.

Determine in your heart to read the Bible through in one year. Want to know the truth? It’s not hard. Read the Bible each day to prepare. Prepare for what?

Read to prepare for each day of life in the year ahead…and for when the King WILL return. Jesus told this parable because the disciples thought the Kingdom of God would come when Jesus reached Jerusalem. They were misinformed. They wanted the Roman rule to end in Israel. They thought Jesus was going to Jerusalem to end the tyranny of Rome. Jesus told the parable of the 10 minas in response to the misconception held by the disciples.

In the parable of the “10 minas” the King is the central figure. Jesus is the King. This is true in reality. Every day on this earth…Jesus is the King. As this devotional was being composed Jesus is not physically present on earth. While He is everywhere present-currently, we cannot see Him. One day this will change.

So…we would be wise to title this parable:  “The King Will Return.”

“The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’  And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’  He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’  And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’  ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.  But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’” Luke 19:16-27

Are you surprised at how the parable ends? There is a word you and I should remember in seeking to understand this parable.

It’s misconception.

What confused ideas do we have about who Jesus is? The devil has one goal-our destruction. Yes, our physical destruction. Regularly, he sends out lies about who Jesus is. The world is filled with them…in books, media, even our personal communication with others. The end result of this misinformation can be summed up with these statements: Jesus was just a good man. There is no such thing as a “second coming” of Jesus.

Now read verse 14 again:  “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’” Like 19:14

This verse fits the attitude of many people today. May it not fit you or I. But-Why do we deny God, scoff at Jesus, even hate God? Why do so many refuse to believe He is THE KING?

It’s misconception.

Then how might we correct our misunderstanding of Jesus? Our enemy, the devil sends dozens of lies to create misunderstanding about Jesus-every day. Truth frees us from misconception.

Dear friend, as 2023 begins do something different. Eliminate misconceptions. Read God’s personal love letter to us-the Bible. Knowing God and His infinite love for you and me is the most important thing we can do in 2023. God’s eternal word is truth base on love. Why is this so important you ask?

THE KING WILL RETURN.

He will reward those who use the gifts God has given them to advance the Kingdom of God. Remember the King returned and gave rewards to those who used His gifts and punishment to those who denied His power?

This is God’s plan.

My friend, read about the King in your Bible.