11-28-2007, 05:10 PM
Good afternoon everyone ... :hibye::D
What a BEAUTIFUL day it is outside right now with the sun shining brightly in a cloudless blue sky, with warm(er) temperatures ... after all it isn't Summer anymore ...!! ;) We had rain most of yesterday, and so the grass is pretty green in our backyard right now ... almost like Spring out there! I hope that wherever you live you are admiring whatever the loveliness of Creation is bringing your way ... for 'everything' is beautiful in its own way ... (sorry just had to say that ... as I started typing 'everything is' ... a song popped into mind ... maybe it did to you to as well ... :whistle: ;) )
Well, on to text Scripture for today ... Matt. 13:11 ...
To you it is granted to understand the sacred secrets of the kingdom of the heavens.
Watchtower comments ...
''During one of his preaching tours of Galilee, Jesus indicated
that the sacred secret was closely related to his Messianic Kingdom government. One aspect of that secret involved Jehovah's selecting a ''little flock'' of 144,000 humans to be associated with his Son as part of the seed, to reign with him in heaven. (Luke 12:32) Since humans were created to live on earth ''a new creation'' by Jehovah was required in order for some humans to go to heaven. (2 Cor. 5:17) Speaking as one of those with the heavenly hope, the apostle Peter wrote: ''Blessed be the child and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for according to his great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for you.''--I Pet. 1:3,4. w2/15/06 12,13
My thoughts ...
Hmmm ... this may take me a while to think upon ... :scratchhead:
I am kind of thinking right now about the statement above about the 'Messianic kingdom GOVERNMENT' ... :thinking:
Is the kingdom of God 'just' a 'government' ... or is it MUCH MORE ...? Hoping for a comment or two here ... ;):P
What a PRIVILEGE the apostles had to be able to 'understand' the parables Jesus spoke about ...
But did they always understand right away ...? Did they not have to ASK what Jesus meant at times ... and yet even in some of his answers they still did not FULLY understand until the 'helper' was sent ... the holy spirit to open their hearts to understand ...
Yes, IMHO, unless one has the holy spirit operating upon one in some way, we cannot understand some of the 'sacred secrets' that are written down for us ...
So, because we are now beginning to 'see' things more clearly ... is this not an indication that the holy spirit IS upon us ... and doesn't that thought bring us GREAT JOY and COMFORT ...!! :cheer::hug:
I had a thought on 1Pet.1:3,4 ...
(Darby) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead,
4 to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance, reserved in the heavens for you,
RESERVED in the heavens ...
I am sitting here thinking for some reason about Abraham and his inheritance and that of his 'offspring' or 'heirs' that would come after him. Was not his inheritance or hope also 'reserved in the heavens' ... kept safe in the hands of God himself so that no one would be able to take it away from him ...? And WHERE was Abrahams HOPE to live ... was it not on the earth ...?
So, does the expression in Peter then just mean a 'heavenly hope' or does it mean instead that our FUTURE EVERLASTING LIFE is kept safe in the all-protective hands of our Heavenly Father?
The Greek word for 'reserved' is tereo and has these as some of its meaning ...
from teros, (a watch); to guard (from loss or injury, prop. by keeping the eye upon); to detain (in custody; fig. to maintain); hold fast, keep (er) (pre- re-) serve, watch
Soooo ... I'm left to thinking with some of these definitions in mind that it is the 'inheritance itself' ... the 'result' (the promise of endless life) that Jehovah is guarding or watching over ... the keeping of his word to us that if we are faithful he will 'reward' us or give as our inheritance an unfading crown of victory of eternal or everlasting life ...
It is 'reserved' or 'preserved' in the HEAVENS perhaps for this reason ...
Matt. 6:20 ...
(ASV) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Yes, with our inheritance (or the will of the Father so to speak) in such a safe place, (an indestructible vault as it were) and what could be safer than with Jehovah, we can be assured that if we live according to the 'will of our Father' ... then when the time comes for us to 'inherit' ... our inheritance will be there waiting for us ... and NO ONE will be able to 'contest it' or 'overturn it' ...!!!
Well, that my thought for today ... hopefully someone else has something better ... :giverose:
Luv to ya'll ... BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts:
What a BEAUTIFUL day it is outside right now with the sun shining brightly in a cloudless blue sky, with warm(er) temperatures ... after all it isn't Summer anymore ...!! ;) We had rain most of yesterday, and so the grass is pretty green in our backyard right now ... almost like Spring out there! I hope that wherever you live you are admiring whatever the loveliness of Creation is bringing your way ... for 'everything' is beautiful in its own way ... (sorry just had to say that ... as I started typing 'everything is' ... a song popped into mind ... maybe it did to you to as well ... :whistle: ;) )
Well, on to text Scripture for today ... Matt. 13:11 ...
To you it is granted to understand the sacred secrets of the kingdom of the heavens.
Watchtower comments ...
''During one of his preaching tours of Galilee, Jesus indicated
that the sacred secret was closely related to his Messianic Kingdom government. One aspect of that secret involved Jehovah's selecting a ''little flock'' of 144,000 humans to be associated with his Son as part of the seed, to reign with him in heaven. (Luke 12:32) Since humans were created to live on earth ''a new creation'' by Jehovah was required in order for some humans to go to heaven. (2 Cor. 5:17) Speaking as one of those with the heavenly hope, the apostle Peter wrote: ''Blessed be the child and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for according to his great mercy he gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance. It is reserved in the heavens for you.''--I Pet. 1:3,4. w2/15/06 12,13
My thoughts ...
Hmmm ... this may take me a while to think upon ... :scratchhead:
I am kind of thinking right now about the statement above about the 'Messianic kingdom GOVERNMENT' ... :thinking:
Is the kingdom of God 'just' a 'government' ... or is it MUCH MORE ...? Hoping for a comment or two here ... ;):P
What a PRIVILEGE the apostles had to be able to 'understand' the parables Jesus spoke about ...
But did they always understand right away ...? Did they not have to ASK what Jesus meant at times ... and yet even in some of his answers they still did not FULLY understand until the 'helper' was sent ... the holy spirit to open their hearts to understand ...
Yes, IMHO, unless one has the holy spirit operating upon one in some way, we cannot understand some of the 'sacred secrets' that are written down for us ...
So, because we are now beginning to 'see' things more clearly ... is this not an indication that the holy spirit IS upon us ... and doesn't that thought bring us GREAT JOY and COMFORT ...!! :cheer::hug:
I had a thought on 1Pet.1:3,4 ...
(Darby) 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his great mercy, has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead,
4 to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance, reserved in the heavens for you,
RESERVED in the heavens ...
I am sitting here thinking for some reason about Abraham and his inheritance and that of his 'offspring' or 'heirs' that would come after him. Was not his inheritance or hope also 'reserved in the heavens' ... kept safe in the hands of God himself so that no one would be able to take it away from him ...? And WHERE was Abrahams HOPE to live ... was it not on the earth ...?
So, does the expression in Peter then just mean a 'heavenly hope' or does it mean instead that our FUTURE EVERLASTING LIFE is kept safe in the all-protective hands of our Heavenly Father?
The Greek word for 'reserved' is tereo and has these as some of its meaning ...
from teros, (a watch); to guard (from loss or injury, prop. by keeping the eye upon); to detain (in custody; fig. to maintain); hold fast, keep (er) (pre- re-) serve, watch
Soooo ... I'm left to thinking with some of these definitions in mind that it is the 'inheritance itself' ... the 'result' (the promise of endless life) that Jehovah is guarding or watching over ... the keeping of his word to us that if we are faithful he will 'reward' us or give as our inheritance an unfading crown of victory of eternal or everlasting life ...
It is 'reserved' or 'preserved' in the HEAVENS perhaps for this reason ...
Matt. 6:20 ...
(ASV) but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Yes, with our inheritance (or the will of the Father so to speak) in such a safe place, (an indestructible vault as it were) and what could be safer than with Jehovah, we can be assured that if we live according to the 'will of our Father' ... then when the time comes for us to 'inherit' ... our inheritance will be there waiting for us ... and NO ONE will be able to 'contest it' or 'overturn it' ...!!!
Well, that my thought for today ... hopefully someone else has something better ... :giverose:
Luv to ya'll ... BR :sheepy: :bouncyhearts: