Devo 43: My Delight to Give You the Kingdom

“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Luke 12:32

Yesterday, I was praying for a lady with pancreas cancer and said, “Lord, You are a Good Father who loves to give good gifts to Your children. You said to ask anything in Your name and You would give it to us. So Lord, I ask You to give us the good gift of completely healing this lady of cancer” (Lk 11: 9-13)

As I prayed that, I saw a picture of the hands of Jesus extending toward me. In His hands, He had the kingdom. It was like a lighted model of a city, except it looked like a real city and it was the entire kingdom of God. It just looked small because it was in His hands.

He was extending His hands toward me, giving it to me as a gift, and He said, “It is my delight to give you the Kingdom.”

I began to weep, and I felt the power of God as I prayed for this lady. I believe she will be healed if she is not already.

Afterwards, I went and looked up that verse and it continued to minister to me. Can you believe it? It is the DELIGHT of God the Father to give us the Kingdom. It is something that makes Him happy. He is laughing and joyful when He gives us the kingdom.

He has made us kings and priests and also heirs (Rev. 5, Gal 3, Rom. 8). We are heirs to the kingdom and we will reign with Him.

When Jesus came to the earth, He came proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. He told His disciples to proclaim the “kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 10:7). Jesus also instructed us to pray for the kingdom to come on earth (Mt. 6, Lk 11).

This is what many commentators and teachers refer to as the “already, but not yet” reality of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God will not come in its fullness until King Jesus is reigning from His throne in Jerusalem after the Second Coming (ref: see entire Bible). However, there are already elements of the kingdom here on earth and tokens of the kingdom are released through His saints as a testimony that the kingdom of heaven is at hand (see Gospels).

However, it is the absolute joy of God to give His kingdom to His children—those who accept Him as Lord and partner with Him.

I realized that the verse the Lord spoke to me in Luke 12 was in the chapter following the verse I quoted to Him in Luke 11 (He knows the Bible so well, imagine that!) Also, the Luke 12 verse was in the context of Jesus telling His disciples not to worry about what they would eat or what they would wear—or in my case, not to worry about my friend’s cancer.

Sometimes, our weak intercession turns into attempts to twist God’s arm to give us what we want, and what we think He does not want us to have. We worry and have anxiety over situations in our lives. However, the Lord is eagerly waiting to give His entire kingdom to us. It is His delight. He is a Good Father who loves to give good gifts.

We lose heart sometimes because His answers to prayer are not always what we had hoped, but we must realize that it is the Father’s joy to call us sons and heirs of the kingdom and to let us partner with Him. If we realize that, it will decrease our devastation when things do not turn out the way we planned; yet we can still eagerly pursue gifts of the kingdom with the full expectancy of faith.

This week, read Luke 11, 12 and Matthew 6, 10, and 11. Focus on the verses about prayer and the kingdom. As you read them, picture the Lord handing You the kingdom of heaven. Picture Him smiling—and even laughing as He does it.

Ask Him to give you the faith to see the kingdom of heaven on earth. Ask Him to give you a revelation of the kingdom. Ask Him to give you the keys of the kingdom that whatever you bind and lose on earth will be bound and loosed in heaven (Mt. 18:18).

Blessings,

Amanda
 
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