Have you ever witnessed a historic moment\u2014something so significant you thought, \u201cI can\u2019t believe I was there to see that!\u201d Was it the birth of a child or the death of a loved one? Maybe you survived a natural disaster or witnessed a global event.
My husband and I had just started our life together when we found ourselves in the middle of a historic transition of power. Our quiet Capitol Hill neighborhood transformed into the spectacular backdrop of a presidential inauguration. We watched as helicopters left the White House lawn and flew directly over our heads, whisking the former president away. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Bearing witness is a powerful thing. Witnesses testify to truth and reality. The authors of today\u2019s readings\u2014and the people featured in them\u2014were eyewitnesses to some of the most important events in human history.
What they witnessed was so much more than a political event\u2014it was the inauguration of a long-awaited kingdom. Synagogue-goers watched as Jesus, God in the flesh, unrolled the scroll and declared that Old Testament promises were fulfilled in their very presence (Luke 4:16\u201321). A scribe heard the true law-giver praise his grasp of the greatest commandment (Mark 12:28\u201334). Pilate listened as the forever King explained that He came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:36\u201337).
The moment all creation was pining for since the fall of man had finally arrived. The prophesied Son was here, freeing captives, healing the brokenhearted, and shedding light on those trapped in darkness. And He extends an open invitation to His kingdom, saying, \u201cRepent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near\u201d (Matthew 4:17).
Entry into this kingdom isn\u2019t earned. It comes by God\u2019s grace, through the gifts of repentance and faith. Repentance is turning from the kingdom of darkness we\u2019ve been born into; faith is trusting that Jesus has done everything necessary to make us citizens of His kingdom.
In God\u2019s kindness, we who were far off were brought near into His glorious kingdom. Though we haven\u2019t seen Him with physical eyes, we love Him, believe in Him, and rejoice with inexpressible joy (1Peter 1:8).
As those who have seen and tasted the goodness of this King, it\u2019s our privilege to invite others into the fellowship we\u2019ve enjoyed with the Father and the Son (1John 1:3). For our God is patient, not wanting people to perish but to come to repentance (2Peter 3:9).
Take time today to reflect on how God has kept His promises of old and how His faithfulness extends to you today. Rejoice\u2014our King has come, He will come again, and His kingdom will never end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever witnessed a historic moment\u2014something so significant you thought, \u201cI can\u2019t believe I was there to see that!\u201d Was it the birth of a child or the death of a loved one? Maybe you survived a natural disaster or witnessed a global event. My husband and I had just started our life together […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":72668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[307],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72991],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"JESUS REVEALS HIS KINGDOM<\/b>
\r\nby Beverly Berrus<\/i>
\r\n
Have you ever witnessed a historic moment\u2014something so significant you thought, \u201cI can\u2019t believe I was there to see that!\u201d Was it the birth of a child or the death of a loved one? Maybe you survived a natural disaster or witnessed a global event.<\/p>
\r\n
My husband and I had just started our life together when we found ourselves in the middle of a historic transition of power. Our quiet Capitol Hill neighborhood transformed into the spectacular backdrop of a presidential inauguration. We watched as helicopters left the White House lawn and flew directly over our heads, whisking the former president away. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime moment.<\/p>
\r\n
Bearing witness is a powerful thing. Witnesses testify to truth and reality. The authors of today\u2019s readings\u2014and the people featured in them\u2014were eyewitnesses to some of the most important events in human history.<\/p>
\r\n
What they witnessed was so much more than a political event\u2014it was the inauguration of a long-awaited kingdom. Synagogue-goers watched as Jesus, God in the flesh, unrolled the scroll and declared that Old Testament promises were fulfilled in their very presence (Luke 4:16\u201321). A scribe heard the true law-giver praise his grasp of the greatest commandment (Mark 12:28\u201334). Pilate listened as the forever King explained that He came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:36\u201337).<\/p>
\r\n
The moment all creation was pining for since the fall of man had finally arrived. The prophesied Son was here, freeing captives, healing the brokenhearted, and shedding light on those trapped in darkness. And He extends an open invitation to His kingdom, saying, \u201cRepent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near\u201d (Matthew 4:17).<\/p>
\r\n
Entry into this kingdom isn\u2019t earned. It comes by God\u2019s grace, through the gifts of repentance and faith. Repentance is turning from the kingdom of darkness we\u2019ve been born into; faith is trusting that Jesus has done everything necessary to make us citizens of His kingdom.<\/p>
\r\n
In God\u2019s kindness, we who were far off were brought near into His glorious kingdom. Though we haven\u2019t seen Him with physical eyes, we love Him, believe in Him, and rejoice with inexpressible joy (1Peter 1:8).<\/p>
\r\n
As those who have seen and tasted the goodness of this King, it\u2019s our privilege to invite others into the fellowship we\u2019ve enjoyed with the Father and the Son (1John 1:3). For our God is patient, not wanting people to perish but to come to repentance (2Peter 3:9).<\/p>
\r\n
Take time today to reflect on how God has kept His promises of old and how His faithfulness extends to you today. Rejoice\u2014our King has come, He will come again, and His kingdom will never end.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"31","scripture":"Matthew 4:13-17, Matthew 4:23-25, Luke 4:16-21, Mark 12:28-34, John 18:36-37, Hebrews 1:8-9","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}